Top 4 Leadership Theories and What Your Team Can Learn from Them

Today’s business environment is full of complexities. Many organizations experience challenges with leadership. As much as leadership is crucial for organizations to thrive, there are many uncertainties. 

That’s why businesses are going back to the fundamentals of leadership. They are doing this to increase leadership efficiency and productivity. And they also want to lay a strong foundation for tomorrow’s leaders. 

Studies reveal that participants who undergo leadership training tend to improve their learning capacities by 25%. More so, their performances go up by 20%. Most of these programs equip learners with leadership theories and practices. And they also show them how to apply the theories in an office setting.

Our article explores important leadership theories and what your teams can learn from them. This will enable managers and other leaders to remain relevant in today’s competitive business environment. 

But first, let’s find out what leadership theories are and their qualities.

What Are Leadership Theories and Their Qualities?

Leadership theories are important. They emphasize the qualities of good leaders. Some of the common qualities and behavior patterns of strong leaders include:

• Visionary: it entails management through confidence and inspiration.
• Servant leadership: Focus on helping team members attain fulfillment.
• Laissez-faire: the ability to delegate tasks and provide little to no supervision.
• Democracy: Ability to consider the opinion of others before decision-making.
• Pacesetter: Setting high organizational standards and focusing on performance.
• Bureaucracy: Following a certain order or hierarchy and expecting team members to work with the set procedure.
• Vision transparency: An ambitious, strong leader builds organizational success by sharing a clear vision and encouraging teams to perform at their topmost levels.

Leadership Theories and What Your Teams Can Learn from Them

1. Theory of Transformation

This theory focuses on the relationship between leaders and staff. It states that effective leadership motivates staff members to exceed their capacities. 

Think about an organization where leaders develop a clear vision for their team members and equip and inspire the team to actualize the vision. Indeed, this is a remarkable theory. 

The experts who help build a fearless organizational culture state that you can rock the boat with high-performing teams. Here, your company gets to excel with organized management that prioritizes a people-first culture.

Such skilled personnel that help businesses succeed and rock the boat often design, implement, and coach teams appropriately. They guide organizations to ensure:

• Employees change for the better
• Attain excellent facilitation of team discussions
• Build good organizational cultures

In this case, employee morale goes up, and they’re encouraged by transformational leaders to perform their best each day. Managers here learn how to motivate their teams through their actions, not just their words. They focus on setting a good example for the employees to emulate.

Leaders who employ the transformational theory display the following virtues, which their teams get to learn from: 

• Self-management
• Set a good example
• Interaction as a key to success
• Proactiveness in work
• Ability to take bold steps
• Promote workers’ all-round development

Transformational leaders will often consider failed processes. They bring together the right personnel that can accomplish common corporate goals. Often, people learn to work together in teams and attain long-term objectives.

2. Situational Theory

This theory emphasizes the importance of context. It states that people should be flexible enough to adjust to any new context to achieve business goals. The extent to which the team members are competent and dedicated can influence how well the leaders lead and succeed.

Based on this theory, situational leadership benefits your team in the following ways:

• They become adaptable enough to easily connect with the entire organizational workforce.
• It encourages employees to give their best in any context.

Situational theory helps leaders establish when alternative leadership philosophies are needed in a particular situation. Hence, they can easily build new teams and develop important organizational units.

More so, this theory also establishes four key leadership styles that benefit the entire organization. They make it easier for managers to cooperate with team members. And we know the immense benefits of teamwork and cooperation. 

The key leadership styles include:

• Telling: It’s where managers appropriately instruct staff members on what they should do and how to do it. As a result, the team manages to do it right.

• Selling: Team members are easily persuaded to adopt the ideas and concepts of the leader, and they can easily apply them in their work settings.

• Participating: Leaders exercise effectiveness by encouraging their team members to actively engage in decision-making and problem-solving processes.

• Delegating: Team members get empowered so leaders can hand off most of the work to the teams. Such leaders lay back and let the team members handle most key issues but are always available for consultation and decision-making.

Ultimately, this theory brings out the full traits of a situational leader as those of:

• Trust
• Adaptability
• Problem-solving
• Insightful
• Coaching abilities

3. Behaviorist Theory

This theory holds that an individual’s leadership ability results from their environment. When a person is equipped with diverse learning talents, they can effectively handle management. 

The idea affirms that leaders are not born but are created and trained. Thus, a leader’s work performance is not determined by their inborn traits but by the leadership qualities they gain from their behavior and coaching. 

So, according to behaviorist theory, with appropriate training and instruction, anyone can become a successful leader. As a result, managers must be mindful of their actions to boost the morale and output of their teams. 

This theory categorizes managers into some classes based on their leadership styles and capacity to mold a productive team. The classes are:

• Leaders with a “people first” mentality
• Task-focused leaders
• Empathetic leaders
• Effective leaders
• Dictatorial leaders
• Current authorities
• Reliable leaders
• Daddy-like authorities
• Apathetic leaders

Using the above classes, organizations can easily establish their leadership styles for team leaders, construction professionals, or any other skilled leader. Usually, task-focused leaders will produce an effective team. 

On the other hand, dictatorial leaders are likely to produce teams that may need more time to achieve results. In this case, a powerful personality becomes an aggressor that dominates discussions, acting as if there’s no alternative solution. This results to double trouble for power, and work situations where:

• Decisions and ideas become facts.
• Team members may feel belittled or forced into accepting decisions.
• Instead of building consensus, you order your subordinates, who may not value their work or the organization.

Exercising too much power can create a feeling of dictatorial leadership. You inspire fear in your employees instead of nurturing loyalty amongst your teams. 

So, this theory stresses that the level of productivity and effectiveness in the company will depend on how you lead. 

4. The Management or Transactional Theory

The transactional theory was developed during the industrial revolution. It aimed to boost work productivity. This leadership approach emphasizes the significance of hierarchy to enhance organizational effectiveness. 

Managers place value on organizational structure. And they use their authority to instill rules that inspire staff members to perform at their best capacities. This is an excellent philosophy where employees get rewarded for achieving particular goals and objectives. So, the staff enjoys their jobs and complies with managerial rules. 

Therefore, managers who employ the transactional leadership philosophy will always focus on their staff. They ensure that team members are recognized for reaching milestones and remain disciplined according to the managerial directives. 

Hence, the executives focus on upholding the organization’s high work standards. They ensure that everything works out as planned. 

In short, the leaders who practice management or transactional theory value both the employees and the organizational policies. They target the following outcome:

• Achieving immediate objectives
• Implementing standardized processes and regulations
• Adapting to recent changes 
• Emphasis on the individual’s interests and capabilities
• Encourage performance

Transactional leadership is effective with both managers and team members. Here, employees feel valued; hence, they are encouraged to value their work and give their best.

Final Thoughts

Leadership styles show how leaders approach and manage their team members. Each style brings out distinct qualities. Nonetheless, the best theories will emphasize putting employees first. 

Here, you recognize the strengths and weaknesses of your workforce. Hence, you get to bring out the best in your teams and guide them to focus on attaining the set goals.

The discussion above reveals the best leadership theories you can work with to enhance your organizational capacities. Fortunately, you can choose the best theories that align with your organization’s leadership style.

Indeed, it’s high time businesses and organizations adopt leadership theories that can help them stand the test of time. This will enable both the new workforce and experienced leaders to adapt to diverse work environments. 

Most importantly, it helps to seek the expertise of proficient coaches who can help you manage excellent and highly productive team members. Taking such bold steps is for the ultimate good of your organization’s growth and success.