Leadership Philosophies
Many leadership theories fall under philosophy as they deal with knowledge, beliefs, concepts, attitudes, and values, mostly in the ways that leaders should treat others, such as their followers and coworkers. Thus, while a leadership theory, model, or concept may have valid scientific facts underpinning it, a theory often argues about the value that leaders should place upon their workers or followers.
For example, the only value autocratic leaders place on their workers is that the workers can get something accomplished for them. While on the other hand, servant-leaders place the most value on others, as they want to serve them.
Some of the leadership theories and concepts that fall under leadership philosophies are:
-
Team Leadership Model: a road map to help diagnose team problems and then take appropriate action to correct team problems
-
Path-Goal Theory of Leadership: using a leadership style or behavior that best fits the employee, situation, and and work environment in order to achieve a goal.
-
Transformational Leadership: changing the basic political and cultural systems of an organization while placing the most value on the workers.
-
Social Leadership: using social interactions and social media to create great teams.
-
Authentic Leadership and Social Influence: being consistent with your personality and core values, while being honest, ethical, and practical.
-
Servant Leadership: sharing power, putting the needs of others first, and helping people develop and perform as highly as possible.
-
Leadership Styles: the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people.
-
Character and Traits of Good Leaders: being a person of honorable character.
-
Ethos and Leadership: moving beyond the talk of ethics by actually displaying core beliefs (walking the talk, rather than just talking the talk).
The Continuum of Leadership Philosophies
Many of the leadership philosophies may be placed on a continuum ranging from Self to Others as shown below:
Autocratic leadership is placed on the far left of the continuum under Self, servant leadership is placed on the far right under Others, while the other theories are placed along the middle of the continuum.
Next Steps
Next chapter: Path-Goal Theory of Leadership