Tagged With "theory"

"There's nothing so practical as a good theory." - Dr. Kurt Lewin To fully understand where we are on our leadership journey it's important to see how far we've come in our thinking about leadership. Here are 10 of the most common leadership theories... 1. The Great Man Theory (1840s) -The thought that Great Leaders are born...not developed. 2. The Trait Theory of Leadership (1930s - 1940s) -The thought that there are ideal characteristics for Leaders. 3. The Skills Theory of Leadership...

I enjoyed this summary of theories. You can see how things have changed over time and the generations. Thank you for pulling all this together a d providing a thought provoking summary. Maria

I appreciate the summary. What's filling that massive void from the 1980's until now?? The prevailing leadership model today includes the best of each theory, plus the traits you identified. We just need to come up with a cool name for it. Simon Sinek has a great book (or two) on leadership called 'The 5 Why's'. And here's a good talk of his on leadership: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

@John Tindall Thanks for your comment! Totally agree, we need to come up with a cool name for where leadership is today. The label we use will help others connect to the current evolution and keep moving us forward. What ideas do you have? Love to connect with you on this sometime! Keep leading! -Karl

Karl, I like the idea Simon Sinek encapsulates in the phrase "Noble Cause". A leader who goes first, proffers hope and focuses on others casts the vision of the Noble Cause, and people buy-in because they grasp the greater good outcome of their contribution to the cause, company, or idea. Like the old story of the three stonemasons working, when asked what they are doing; one says he's laying bricks, the second says he's building a wall, and the third, and most engaged, said he's creating a...

The practice of leadership has been going on as far back as we can observe. In a previous offering " 10 Leadership Theories " we looked at where we've come in the recent past regarding thinking and approach to leadership. In one post we can't possibly hit everything related to leadership, so it's a reality we left out a ton of stuff. We're going to continue this journey by looking at a few more influencers in the leadership area from centuries and millennia ago to today. Hang on! Lao Tzu -...

I gathered some insights from an AI language (ChatGPT). It provided some relevant information. It also provided several suggestions for a name, one being “21st Century Servant Leadership.” From ChatGPT: Servant leadership theory has evolved significantly from its origins in the 1970s and 1980s to 2024. Initially proposed by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970, the theory emphasizes leaders serving their followers' needs, empowering them, and helping them develop and perform to their best abilities.