THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP Running Head: THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP Theories of leadership LaShanda Lewis April 30, 2015 Theories of leadership A pubic leader is a servant of the people. He or she is supposed to put interest of the members of the public first. A public leader should uphold values such as integrity, honesty, intelligence and unselfishness. Public leaders are supposed to have good communication skills, excellent convincing power and good public relations skills. Public leaders are therefore supposed to do the right things. They are not supposed to break the laws and justify their acts. Members of public are always keen to note characteristics and behaviors of public leaders. Therefore, a public leader who upholds good values in leadership is likely to have many followers who believe in his or her leadership capabilities. Researchers and public relations experts have developed various theories and styles that can be applied in public leaderships. There are different theories that have been developed by researchers. Contingency and transformational leadership theories are the most suitable theories that can be applied in modern public leadership. This is due to the fact that the two theories are flexible. As a matter of fact, leaders who embrace the two theories are able to have easy time during their time of public leadership. The two theories are opposed to traditional ways of leaderships that assume people are born to be leaders. The theories discourage rigid leadership skills that are made to harm the society and promote dictatorial leaderships ( Hafford, 2014). Contingency theory promotes effective leadership. This is a theory that encourages some sense of flexibility. The theory calls for critical thinking to enable leaders to take appropriate actions and make good decisions concerning the situation that they are confronted with in the course of their public service. The theory acknowledges the diversity that exists in the modern world. This theory encourages leaders to understand the people they are leading in order to make decisions that are in line with dynamics that exist within the oranization. For example, a military leader is not supposed to act the same way as a university vice chancellor. The two leaders should employ different tactics to deal with situations in their respective areas of leadership. A military leader is supposed to employ leadership skills that will promote discipline and fighting skills among the soldiers. If a military leader tries to embrace democracy among the soldiers, the military work will be compromised. This is due to the fact that military forces are supposed to ensure that the country is protected in proper way. Therefore, there should be chain of command that does entertain nonsense that may compromise military operations. As a matter of fact, military business does not involve consultations within the forces. The ...

1. THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
Running Head: THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
Theories of leadership
LaShanda Lewis
April 30, 2015
Theories of leadership
A pubic leader is a servant of the people. He or she is supposed
to put interest of the members of the public first. A public
leader should uphold values such as integrity, honesty,
intelligence and unselfishness. Public leaders are supposed to
have good communication skills, excellent convincing power
and good public relations skills. Public leaders are therefore
supposed to do the right things. They are not supposed to break
the laws and justify their acts. Members of public are always
keen to note characteristics and behaviors of public leaders.
Therefore, a public leader who upholds good values in
leadership is likely to have many followers who believe in his
or her leadership capabilities. Researchers and public relations
experts have developed various theories and styles that can be
applied in public leaderships.
There are different theories that have been developed by
researchers. Contingency and transformational leadership
theories are the most suitable theories that can be applied in
modern public leadership. This is due to the fact that the two
theories are flexible. As a matter of fact, leaders who embrace
the two theories are able to have easy time during their time of

2. public leadership. The two theories are opposed to traditional
ways of leaderships that assume people are born to be leaders.
The theories discourage rigid leadership skills that are made to
harm the society and promote dictatorial leaderships ( Hafford,
2014).
Contingency theory promotes effective leadership. This is a
theory that encourages some sense of flexibility. The theory
calls for critical thinking to enable leaders to take appropriate
actions and make good decisions concerning the situation that
they are confronted with in the course of their public service.
The theory acknowledges the diversity that exists in the modern
world. This theory encourages leaders to understand the people
they are leading in order to make decisions that are in line with
dynamics that exist within the oranization.
For example, a military leader is not supposed to act the same
way as a university vice chancellor. The two leaders should
employ different tactics to deal with situations in their
respective areas of leadership. A military leader is supposed to
employ leadership skills that will promote discipline and
fighting skills among the soldiers. If a military leader tries to
embrace democracy among the soldiers, the military work will
be compromised. This is due to the fact that military forces are
supposed to ensure that the country is protected in proper way.
Therefore, there should be chain of command that does entertain
nonsense that may compromise military operations. As a matter
of fact, military business does not involve consultations within
the forces. The decisions are supposed to be made from the top
people in order to flow down to the implementation level by the
junior members of the military (Freeman, 2013).
On the other hand, there is a leader-a university vice chancellor.
This leader is leading a collection of young and old
intellectuals. These are the think tongues of the nation. They are
supposed to have freedom to think and do what they think is
right based on their knowledge. Therefore, this is a different
situation from military set up. The mission is to manufacture
knowledge in abundance. The contingency theory encourages

3. the Vice Chancellor to think critically and apply his or her
leadership skills considering that a university is the highest
institution of higher learning. As a matter of fact, there are
professors in the university. These are charismatic scholars who
have made great impact in research and development. They have
different ideas and opinions. Therefore, they should be heard.
They cannot be ignored at all. Contingency theory requires the
Vice Chancellor to involve them in decision making process.
They should be consulted in every development that will cause
changes in the university (Schriesheim, 2013).
The theory of transformative leadership encourages leaders to
interact with their followers. The theory is effective because it
allows leaders to learn from people who they lead. Leaders who
use this style of leadership are required to use charismatic skills
in order to influence their followers in the course of their
leadership. When people are influenced, they start believing in
their leaders. The positive reaction from people will also
motivate the leaders to continue with good leadership spirit.
When the leader and the followers are interacting and moving
towards the same direction, a lot will be achieved leading to
transformation of the society (Freeman, 2013).
Kurt Lewin is a researcher who did great work to help leaders to
embrace proper leadership styles that are applicable in the
public service. Democratic and Laissez-faire are styles of
leadership that were developed by Kurt. These are the modern
leadership styles that are applicable in a civilized world. The
two styles recognize existence and importance of the followers.
These styles are made to create leaders who listen and
appreciate the contribution of those who they lead. These are
the modern leadership styles because they go against the
traditional way of leadership styles that create more dictators
than leaders (Whitelaw, 2013).
The world is becoming a global village. The philosophy of
democracy is becoming more popular day by day. Democracy is
being applied in different areas of leadership. This is a
leadership style that is against the tradition authoritative style

4. that promotes dictatorship and oppression. This leadership style
has proved to be effective in many ways. First and foremost, it
is a style that recognizes existence of everyone. In democratic
leadership everyone has a right to be heard. This means that a
democratic leader is supposed to take views and ideas of
different people. The style calls for inclusive form of leadership
where there are leaders who are willing to listen and act
according to the wishes of the people (Whitelaw, 2013).
Laissez-faire is a leadership style that encourages leaders to
have minimal supervision. This style is effective because it
makes people to have freedom, think and act in order to deliver
from best of their abilities. In this case leaders allow people to
have their own mind in order to be assessed on basis of their
performance. This leadership style is crucial in ensuring
responsibility among workers in an organization. Leaders who
embrace this style usually cause minimal stress to their
employees. When employees are operating under minimal stress
they will be able to improve their performance with time. This
will lead to high output in an organization. This leadership style
helps to promote the spirit of team work. When people are
working as a team they are able to deliver excellent services. A
good team work is crucial in transformation of public service.
Leaders who use this theory are able to ensure proper delivery
of public services since their workers are working as a team,
hence there will be no communication gaps that can cause
inadequate delivery of services in the public sector (Whitelaw,
2013).
Public leadership is supposed to make a positive change in the
society. As a matter of fact, it is supposed to improve the lives
of members of public in an important way. Employing
appropriate leadership theories and styles is essential in
promoting good leadership that is for the benefit of the society.
References
Hafford-Letchfield, T., & Harper, W. (2013). State of the Arts:

5. Using Literary Works to Explore and Learn about Theories and
Models of Leadership. Social Work Education, 1-15.
Schriesheim, C. (n.d.). The Leadership Quarterly Yearly Review
for 2014: Advances in traditional leadership theory and
research. The Leadership Quarterly, 797-797.
Whitelaw, P. (2013). Leadership up the ladder: The construction
of leadership styles in the hospitality industry. Journal of
Contemporary Issues in Business and Government, 65-65.
Freeman, T. (2013). Comparing the content of leadership
theories and managers' shared perceptions of effective
leadership: A Q-method study of trainee managers in the
English NHS. Health Services Management Research, 43-53.