Leadership There Are a Number Research Paper

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By the same token, by not having any specific policy implications, servant leadership theory does not expressly reject the transformational, situational or results-focused ideas of leadership. It is merely an adjunct to these theories, and is mostly useful for deciding on whether or not somebody should become a leader in the first place.

Situational Leadership and Results-Focused Leadership

These two leadership theories are opposed to one another, but they share the same philosophical underpinnings. The underlying theory of each of these leadership styles is that the leadership style is flexible, and the best leaders have the ability to utilize different styles and techniques depending on the needs of the day. Where the two differ is in the understanding of the most important determinant of leadership style. Situational leadership theory argues that leaders need to adapt to the different circumstances, changing their style to suit the challenges with which they are faced. Different external environments will result in different leadership styles, for example.

Results-oriented leadership theory argues that the leadership style should vary according to the results that the leader hopes to achieve. The external and internal environments are inputs, and therefore unimportant to the choice of leadership style. The leader must choose his or her style based on the outcomes achieved, and these will be consistent no matter what the environmental situation is. In contrast, situational leadership theory argues the opposite -- that the situation dictates the leadership style, regardless of the desired outcomes. Different outcomes may call for different tactics, but not different style.

Under both of these theories, the ideas of transformational leadership are rejected. The situation or the desired results could dictate either a transactional style or a transformational style; the use of one exclusively would lead to inferior leadership. The choice of leadership style must be determined by inputs or desired outputs, and any notion of one true correct way to lead is rejected. To be fair, while transformational and transactional leadership styles are largely mutually exclusive at any given point in time, neither theory expressly rejects the idea that a leader cannot simply move back and forth between them, based on the situation.

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They do, however, imply that most leaders naturally gravitate to one or the other, which makes the idea of transformational/transactional leaders somewhat incompatible with the idea of situational or results-oriented leadership.

These two leadership styles do not have much relationship with servant leadership. A servant leader could adopt either approach, or neither should he or she choose. What is of interest is the degree to which situational and results-oriented leadership are mutually exclusive. While positioned as opposites, situational leadership implies that an understanding of inputs could in theory result in a focus on specific outputs.

Conclusion

These four leadership theories vary significantly, both in terms of their underlying theory and in terms of practical application. Leadership theories have arisen over the years from a wide range of philosophical perspectives, each trying to determine a universal set of antecedents for good leadership. That no single leadership theory has emerged as definitive may seem to imply that situation or results-oriented leadership is the most accurate. These two theories, however, leave the policy prescriptions with respect to different styles of action and communication open-ended.

The result is that any one leadership theory can really only explain certain specific aspects of leadership. Transformational/transactional leadership theory explains leadership in terms of how leaders get things accomplished in their organization. Servant leadership explains leadership in terms of the best underlying motivations for someone to become a leader. Situational and results-oriented leadership explain leadership in terms of how a leader should decide strategy formulation and implementation methodology. In order to best understand leadership, all of these different theories need to be understood, because their vastly different underlying perspectives are not mutually exclusive.

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