Leadership theories and the role of leadership behaviours in community development

1. LEADERSHIP THEORIES AND THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOURS IN
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1 INTRODUCTION
2 DEFINITION OF CONTETS
2.1 Leadership
2.2 people centred theories of leadership
2.3 Economic development
2.4 Theory
3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LEADERSHIP
3.1 Great Man theories
3.2 Trait theory
3.3 Skills theory
3.4 Behavioural theories
4 CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE LEADER

3. 1 INTRODUCTION
This assignment will critically evaluate leadership theories and furthermore, discuss
the role of leadership behaviours in a community development. Leadership theories
such as great man theories, trait theory, skills theory and behavioural theory will be
first discussed. The assignment will also discuss the qualities of a good leader which
includes respect, honesty, healing and listening. The way in which leadership and
civil capacity related will be discussed.
2 DEFINITION OF CONTENTS
2.1 Leadership refers to the power of a superior to persuade thebehaviour of
subordinates and convince them to follow a certain course of action. Leadership is
also about a person who has certain skills that enable him or her to lead and
influence a group of people ().
2.2 people centred theories of leadership
2.3 Economic development according to UN (20150) “refers to the sustained,
concerted actions of communities and policymakers that improve the standard of
living and economic health of a specific locality”.
2.4 Theoryhas many meaning but some define “it as supposition or a system of
ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles
independent of the thing to be explained” (UN, 2015).
3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LEADERSHIP THEORIES
3.1 Great Man theories
This theory believes that the leader is not the same as the average human being in
terms of the determination, aptitude and ambition. It also believes that human beings
are born with hereditary traits. According to UN “the theory assumes that good
leaders are born not made”. The Great Man theory name was used because back
then, leadership was considered of primarily as a male quality, mainly in terms of
military leadership. The theory was given fame by a Scottish author called Thomas
Carlyle during the 1840’s. He assumed that heroes used their divine intervention or
personal attributes to shape the past. His well known quote “the history of the world

4. is but the bibliography of a great man” shows that he believed in leaders are born
and not made.
A lot of of the traits refer to as being important to be a successful leader are typical
male traits which is something that some theorists could argue about. In a current
research, there is a large shift in such a frame of mind. This theory basically was
made during the past decades where gender inequalities were not paid that much of
the attention and great leaders were only men.
3.2 Trait theory
Trait theory can be named as another branch of great man theory meaning that this
theory was a way to illustrate the key characteristics of a great leadership. These
theories theorize that the precise personality of a person provide them better
inclination to be a leader. These behavioural features are inherent in relatives and
can be passed on hereditarily. The main focus is that many leaders share
characteristics and common personality that make them successfully.
Moreover, the challenge with the trait approach is the fact so as to roughly as many
traits as studies undertaken were acknowledged. After a number of years of
research, it was discovered that no steady trait could be identified. While a few traits
were found in a large figure of studies, the outcomes were commonly
inclusive.Several leaders may have been possessed particular traits but the lack of
them did not imply that the individual was not a leader.
3.3 Contingency theories
The contingency theories assume that no leadership style can work alone without
including factors such as circumstances, quality of the supporters or a number of
other variables. Based on this theory no leadership style works better in all situations
that are faced. This theory assumes that there is no one precise best way in leading,
organising and leadership style that is effective in some situation but sometimes may
not be successful in others.
Furthermore, the contingency theories challenge is that it fails to deal with
organisational change and adjustment. Also when it comes to organising, there is a
problem because there is no best way in organising in the contingency theories and

5. anyway of organising is not equally effective. Basically the best way of organising
depends on the nature of the environment to which the organization relates.
3. 4 Behavioural theories
In straight contrast to the Great Man Theory, Behavioural Theories theorize that
goodleaders are made, not born. The theory is based on the performance of leaders
not on personalities or characteristics they have. This theory states that there could
be a great leader if a does observation, teaching and experience. This theory
focuses on how leaders perform in given circumstances with the thought that the
leaders can be trained to take action that is correctly when faced with different
situations. This theory believes that leaders are made rather than born. In
behavioural theory theorists such as skinner B.F, Watson, J, and Lewin K have been
related with behavioural theory.
4 QUALITIES OF A GOOD LEADER
An effective leader is someone who has the ability to balance between abilities,
traits, and behaviours, source of control and aspects of the situation. Before being a
good leader one has to believe in themselves and have confidence in everything that
they do.
4.1 Listening
Listening according to () refers to“the ability to accurately receive and interpret
messages in the communication process”. In order to become a good leader one
needs to be good in listening in what other people are saying such as the followers.
Listening, together with periods of reflection, is necessary to the progress and well-
being of the servant leader. By listening to people as a leader you will get an
opportunity to be able to learn new things from the people and be able to get
generative themes that people strongly feel about. A listening leader is able to
understand that people are different though listening to their values, experiences and
frame of references which are different. In some situations leaders need to listen to
all ideas one cannot or can be approved, this makes people working with the leader
to keep coming with other new ideas and more willingly or later one will be brilliant.().
4.2 Honesty

6. According to Salmann (2003:8) “honesty is telling the truth and doing what you say
you will do”.Strong leaders treat people as they want to be treated. Honesty is like
virginity and once lost, cannot be regained.They are very decent and have faith in
that honesty, determination, and reliability create the ground work of success.
Furthermore, a leader stand for these values so openly that no member of the
organisation doubts their integrity for a minute. A good leader share information
openly and avoid spin control.In sharing information openly it is to show that the
leader is not hiding anything and he/she is honest to the organisation ().
4.3 RESPECT
According to UN (2015)”respect is a positive feeling of esteem or deference for a
person or other entity (such as a nation or a religion)”. Good leaders know that they
must always treat every human being with dignity and respect in all situations. As
leaders you must ‘treat others as you wish to be treated’. Respect is important
because when the leader and his followers respect each other, they work effectively
well and their work becomes easy.
4.4 HEALING
The healing of relationships is a great force for change and integration. Some of the
great strong point of good leadership is the potential for healing one’s self and one’s
relationship to others. Various individuals have shattered spirits and have felt pain
from a range of emotional pains. Even though this is falls part of being a human
being, good leaders know that they have a chance to support make whole those with
whom they come interaction ().
4.5 Persuasion
An additional characteristic of good leaders is faith on persuasion, rather than on
one’s positional authority, in creating resolutions inside an association. The great
leader strive topersuade others, rather than forceobedience. This preciseportion
offers one of the vibrantdifferencesconcerning the traditional authoritarian model and
that of good leadership. A leader is activeat building agreement within groups. This
emphasis on persuasion over pressurediscovers its roots in the beliefs of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) the denominational body to which Robert
Greenleaf belonged().

7. 5 POWER IS DIFFERENT FROM NFLUENCE IN LEDERSHIP CONTEXT
Power refers to the ability or potential of a leader to impact decisions and control
resources whereas influence refers to the ability to alter another person’s perception
of the situation ().When someone has power he/ she has certain rights to take
decision making and so forth and when one has influence it is when that person has
a right to say his opinion about a certain issue. An example can be the premier
having the power to make certain provincial laws and the people leaving in that
province being able to say what they need and those things that they need will
influence the premier to consider them.
As noted leadership includes influencing others, mainly with respect to embracing
the leader’s ideas. Meanwhile power might be defined as the ability to influence the
actions of others, leadership might be seen as the effective usage of power. Power
as defined by Stephen (1991) “is having the strength and courage to accomplish
something”. It is the ability and the desire to createselections and conclusions. As a
good leader, the suitable use of this power should be influencing others to holdon to
those choices and decisions.
6 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND CIVIL CAPACITY
civic capacity refer to the opinions, knowledge, and skills essential for different
citizens social organizations in the private and non-profit sectors, and formal
institutions of governance to work together in a way that improves the integrated
ability of local communities to become more self-consciously directed in shaping
their futures. Leadership is also about different opinions and skills that different
individual work together in shaping their future (Williams, Nishishiba, & Morgan
2002:243)
There is a solid connection between leadership and civil capacity. Effective leaders
can assist to improve communications, trust, networks and shared values among
diverse groups in a community, thus enabling community and economic
development. Civil leadership obviouslyneeds strong and knowledgeablepeople. On
the other hand, the overall intent of these leaders should be to empower others and
increase involvement in community life in order to build better future for all
(transformational leaders). The strategies used to improve civil capacity consist of

8. education and training, creating opportunities for active volunteer involvement,
strategic planning and good flow of information about the desires and resources of
the community
Leadership andCivic capacity are both concerned about the different sectors such as
business, parents, educators, state and local officeholders, non-profits and others
come together to act around matters of community-wide import. In establishing
tactics to build community civic capacity and leadership, it is vital to recognise the
diverse resources required for individuals, social groups or networks, organizations,
and communities to have civic capacity and a good leadership.
7 INVOLVEMENT OF LEADERS IN COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Leaders can be uplifted and motivated if they become aware of that their personal
lives and their business activities are reliant on how well the society is doing.
Leader’spassion for being involved will be criticallyimproved if they realise that they
play an significant and influential part in building a second positive living and
business environment. There are different ways to get leaders involved in community
affairs
7.1 Workshops / retreats
One good way to encourage and include leaders is to come up with a workshop or
retreat that is meant to teach them why their contribution is needed and to ask their
effort concerning the improvement needs of the society. The key matters
acknowledged by the leaders can as well be prioritised through a plannedcrowd
process. The results from this process can be incorporated into the community
development plan. This practise is also handy for the board members of the
development organisation so that they can creategovernmental priorities reliable with
those of the society at large.
It is usually desirable to hold a retreat at some distance from the community in an
unusual surrounding away from the ordinary distractions. This fosters a sense of
togetherness that facilitates dialogue and problem solving. Over the course of a day
or more, this relative isolation also permits a continuity of discussion and input
among the participants that are often impossible to achieve in a series of meeting, or

9. within a localised workshop that allows participants to come and go as their own
perceived schedules dicrate.
7.2 Advisory councils
Another way to involve leaders is to enlist their participation in various organisational
advisory councils. There are frequently formed by various agencies in the society to
encourage input and support of their programs. Local government agencies may
establish private sector advisory boards. Community development organisations may
use the councils or board for obtaining advice on a variety of key program areas.
Although advisory councils can be helpful in providing insight and a forum for ideas,
it is difficult to sustain interest in such group participation. Busy leaders may tire of
being part of something that is merely advisory. Furthermore, the advice given may
not be heeded by the organisation to which it is given, which is frustrating the giver.
As a caution, without a mechanism to address these issues systematically, advisory
councils can be reduced to public forum for airing grievances.
7.3 Leadership trips
A number of communities around the nation have initiated what have become known
as ‘leadership trips’. Typically, elected leaders or volunteers participants focus on a
particular problem in their community and then find a city that tried and ostensibly
succeeded in tackling the same problem. Visits to these selected cities can be very
productive, as these visiting leaders are able to see what the community has done
and hear from leaders how they were able to accomplish it. New ideas can then be
brought back and, through a process of dialogue and planning, possibly initiated in
their community.
7.4 Task forces
A higher and more sustained level of leadership involvement can occur through
establishing task forces to deal with specific aspects of community development.
They are called ‘task forces’ because their assignment s are usually focused on
tasks or areas of need and members are generally appointed for a specific and
reasonable length of time. Task forces can present opportunities to incorporate the
expertise and interest of leaders and volunteers into productive channels of activity
through direct membership in or consultation to the task force.

10. Enthusiasm towards their task force appointments can be much higher if the
members know they have been carefully selected and are made to feel that their
participation is an honour as well as an important contribution. A task force approach
provides the advantages of concentrated activity within a designated time frame,
working in a collective group, and being part of a network of influence. Typical
concerns of task forces established for community development programs are,
population growth and housing availability, workforce development, quality of life
trends and so forth.
7.5 Board positions
One of the most important roles that community leaders can play is membership on
the board of directors of the local development organisation. However, the board
should be an integral part of the organisation rather than only a group to whom the
executive director reports periodically. The skills and contacts of these leaders
usually offer a great deal towards implementing the community development
program. On the other hand, the board should understand that its primary
responsibilities are to set policy and evaluate results. They should not take an active
role in the day to day implementing the community development program
8 FEATURES THAT LEADERS CAN DO TO FACILITATE COMMUNITY AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
8.1 Envisioning and anticipating the future
Good leaders understand their community’s strength and weaknesses, and often
engage in community assessment, sometimes referred to as SWOT (strength,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. An example of the importance of
envisioning and anticipating the future by community which the authors have seen
repeatedly is the ‘If it is not broken, don’t fix it’ mentality. For example and one that
the authors have seen often, community leaders might think that they have no need
for economic development planning because their unemployment rate is very low.
The reality may be that industries generating most of the community’s employment
could be sunset industries such as textile and apparel that have migrated in recent
years from developed to less developed countries. A simple analysis of key

11. industries and employer in a community to gauge vulnerability (SWOT analysis)
could turn ‘not broken’ into ‘let’s fix it before it breaks’.
8.2 Continuous improvement
Probing and learning from failures makes for much more productive

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