Process Theory

.......I need help on this one.

Behaviroal and Situational Theory

Behavioral theory was popular in the 1950’s to around the 1960’s. This theory focuses mostly on how a leader behaves and how leaders can be made not necessarily just born. Behavioral studies in leaders don’t just seek traits or capabilities of a certain leader but what they will do with their power and how they do it. The idea that if leadership is described and pinpointed down into certain traits then why should they be so hard to copy? Creating leaders aren’t that hard, it just matters if they can handle and succeed at it.

            Situational theory was popular from the 1950’s to the 1980’s. Situational leadership deals with the idea that there many not be just one single “best” way to perform leadership. In fact, as leaders mature, their style tends to change based on situations, circumstances and what exactly is on the line by their decision making. It can change with the people they are surrounded with and who will be with them throughout the decision making process. Dealing with leadership in a situational scenario can be easier because you are more prepared to handle certain dilemmas, but it can be hard too. Sometimes poor leaders are flustered or cant handle all situations, making them come off as weak. Situational leadership is tricky but can be done through many forms and versions of leadership techniques.

Great Man and Trait Theories

Leaders have always fallen into categories or stereotypes for as long as time can remember. From warriors, kings, chiefs, president and so on, whether it is your lineage or your aggression for power, people expect something from them and these people tend to deliver.

            When I think of great man theory, I think so someone who stood tall when others had fallen and were the backbone for so many. Someone that pulls not just themselves but everyone around them through tough times and strives to make sure everything will be ok. One person who exemplifies this would be the former first African American President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. He fought Apartheid in his country, fought against racism, worked hard for his people and fought for them. He faced many trivial times or imprisonment, threats and death but kept going, and kept going strong. For doing just that but he led his people to be where they are today which is free of all segregation and hatred.

            Trait theory on the other hand takes a more psychological look at a person. It based a leader more on his or her personality rather than their position of power or lineage. There are many qualities in which go into a good leader, but not all are the same. Sometimes a person can posses a few and be great or possess many and still be great. It is a very case-by-case issue depending on person but this all goes into what accounts for the makings of a good leader.

History of Leadership

I thought I would take a little from our reading, class and some of my peers thoughts and give this a shot. Leadership means many different things to people but the general consensus is usually about the same. Leadership is an act personified into a person. They are trusted to make decisions, be a understanding, to be strong and courageous, to be confident and caring, yet be discerning and be able to handle being the head honcho and the person in charge. People come to you with plenty of things and a leader has to know how to handle situations and themselves in times like that. Its hard to just pinpoint a quality in a person and say its leadership because leadership means different things to different people, and how leaders conduct themselves is entirely up to them and their own strategies of doing so. When I think of a leader in our world, I naturally turn to our president. Regardless of political stand, Obama is our nations leader and was chosen by the people to govern us as fairly and as strong as he knows how. But this doesn't just end there. That power extends to his cabinet, to his administrators, to congress, to the senate, the voted of our country themselves. We all hold the power in one way or another to be leaders and to make effecting decisions. We have to hold our selves accountable for the leadership roles we hold no matter how big or small. Whether you are the leader of a country or a CEO or even just a student like myself. I have to hold myself accountable to get out of bed every morning and go to class. No one is going to make sure I do that, I have to do that on my own. Be my own leader so that I go to class, pass, eventually graduate and go into the world. I need to be my own leader and start small before I can do something big. Whether I am planning a group assignment, making dinner reservations and need to get a final count, or planning a night out with friends. Leadership is displayed in all forms and in every day activities. Leadership can be small but it counts.

My Greatest Leadership Moment

When I look back on my leadership experiences, I would have to say my greatest leadership role was in high school on my basketball teams. My freshmen year, I was new to school and tried out for the team and I made it on the JV basketball team. Not too much time later I became the Captain of my team, being the leader of girls that were not only my age (freshmen) but also sophomores, juniors and seniors. They had to look to me to lead on the team and to support our team throughout the season. The next year, my sophomore year, I was on Varsity. I was voted most spirited and received coaches award my sophomore and junior year. Lastly my senior year, I was Varsity Captain. This was a great honor for me because I loved my teammates and was so passionate about our game, my girls and our success. At the beginning of the year, our team was struggling. We were really disheartened playing harder teams and not winning as much as we’d like. We were getting down on each other, and worse, getting down on ourselves. I saw this and it made me so upset to see our team so disheveled. I quickly started planning team meetings, mandatory team lunches on game days, and team pump up and cheers before games. In little to no time, our team was closer and hanging out all of the time together. We’d go out together to dinner the night before games and after games, have team sleepovers and pool parties, all of the bonding stuff a girls basketball team could do. One night I even decorated our locker room with posters of quotes and team goals for the year. I had a sharpie on the board and had the girls write a personal goal for themselves that year and for our team. My coach even pulled me a side after doing that because he was so proud. I hadn’t even told him I was doing it. It was a surprise to everyone and everyone seemed to be inspired by it. Later that year we got second place in our league, which sucked because we were so close to winning League, but went far into the playoffs. We got to semi-finals before we lost and my team made me the biggest posters for senior night, wrote me a huge message on this poster board explaining how much they would miss my leadership on the team. It made me cry because I knew that the girls would continue on the traditions I had started that year, and they have stuck even now. My younger sister is a junior on the team now and told me they still do all of the cheers, chants and pre-game rituals I started with my team in high school. It makes me happy to know that my leadership was appreciated, respected, admired and even lives on today. I know this isn’t a moment, but it was a season filled with moments that made up one of the best leadership experience of my life.