Sabado, Nobyembre 17, 2012

GREAT-MAN THEORY


Introduction:
The great man theory argues that a few people are born with the necessary characteristics to be great. Early research about leadership was based on the study of men who were already considered great leaders and were usually from the aristocracy.
Leaders may be well rounded and simultaneously display both instrumental and supportive leadership behavior. Instrumental activities include planning, organizing and controlling the activities of subordinates to accomplish the organization’s goals. Obtaining and allocating resources such as people, equipment, materials, funds, and space are particularly important. Supportive leadership is socially oriented and allows for participation and consultation from subordinates for decisions that affect them. Men who use both instrumental and supportive leadership behaviors were considered “great men” and supposedly can be effective leaders in any situation. Contrary contemporary thought is that leadership skills can be developed even when they are not inborn (Marquis & Huston, 2006).
 The Great Man Theory is a 19th-century idea according to which history can be largely explained by the impact of "great men", or heroes: highly influential individuals who, due to either their personal charisma, intelligence, wisdom, or political skill utilized their power in a way that had a decisive historical impact. The theory was popularized in the 1840s by Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle, and in 1860 Herbert Spencer formulated a counter-argument that has remained influential throughout the 20th century to the present; Spencer said that such great men are the products of their societies, and that their actions would be impossible without the social conditions built before their lifetimes.

Assumptions
Leaders are born and not made.
Great leaders will arise when there is a great need.

Description
Early research on leadership was based on the the study of people who were already great leaders. These people were often from the aristocracy, as few from lower classes had the opportunity to lead. This contributed to the notion that leadership had something to do with breeding.
The idea of the Great Man also strayed into the mythic domain, with notions that in times of need, a Great Man would arise, almost by magic. This was easy to verify, by pointing to people such as Eisenhower and Churchill, let alone those further back along the timeline, even to Jesus, Moses, Mohammed and the Buddah.

Discussion
The 'great man' theory was originally proposed by Thomas Carlyle.
Gender issues were not on the table when the 'Great Man' theory was proposed. Most leaders were male and the thought of a Great Woman was generally in areas other than leadership. Most researchers were also male, and concerns about androcentric bias were a long way from being realized.
It has been said that history is nothing but stories of great men. Certainly, much has this bias, although there is of course also much about peoples and broader life.

Criticism
Many of the traits cited as being important to be an effective leader are typical masculine traits. In contemporary research, there is a significant shift in such a mentality.

Conclusion
Prompted by the great man theory of leadership, and the emerging interest in understanding what leadership is, researchers focused on the leader - Who is a leader? What are the distinguishing characteristics of great and effective leaders? This gave rise to the early research efforts to the trait approach to leadership.

References:
Nursing Management and Leadership 8th Edition pp. 182 Great Man Theory





Walang komento:

Mag-post ng isang Komento