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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 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 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 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: 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.