A leader is a phenomenon that has accompanied human society since ancient times. Any society needs a leader to order the system and maintain its integrity. He has a specific set of qualities that distinguishes him from the average individual.
Leadership exists in any society and is its invariable feature. A leader is a person who is recognized by the community as having the right to make the most significant decisions.
Approaches to Defining Political Leadership
Leadership exists in any society and is its invariable feature. A leader is a person for whom a given society recognizes the right to make the most significant decisions.
Ancient historians also showed interest in leadership. They gave dominant attention to political leaders, seeing them as the creators of history. In the Middle Ages, the dominant idea was that the leader was chosen by God.
A great contribution was made by Nietzsche, who formulated two theses, which were further developed in political psychology. The first thesis concerns the nature of leadership as an irrational, instinctive force that binds leader and followers. The second - ascribes to a person outstanding qualities that turn him into a superman. Later, many psychologists insisted on the irrational origins of political leadership.
The first holistic concepts of political leadership were formulated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are different opinions among scientists regarding the essence of political leadership, depending on the emphasis on one or another factor of leadership. There are points of view according to which leadership is classified as a kind of power. Others understand leadership as a managerial status associated with decision making. Political leadership is also viewed as entrepreneurship in which leaders, in a competitive struggle, trade their programs for leadership positions.
Formal and informal leadership
There are two types of leadership: face-to-face leadership, exercised in small groups, and distant leadership, or leader leadership. In the first case, all participants in the process have the opportunity to directly interact with each other, and in the second, they may not be personally familiar. In the second case, an indispensable attribute of a leader is the institutionalization of his role, i.e. he must be in a position of authority. Thus, his personal qualities can fade into the background, especially if the position of power is not elective. But informal leadership in a group reflects the willingness and ability to perform leadership functions, as well as the recognition of it and the right to leadership by members of society.
Typology of political leaders
There are various approaches to classifying leaders. The most famous is the theory of M. Weber, who singled out traditional, charismatic and bureaucratic leadership. Traditional leadership is characteristic of patriarchal societies. It is based on the habits of obedience to the leader, monarch, etc. Legal leadership is impersonal leadership. In this case, the leader only fulfills his functions. Charismatic Leadership The personality of a leader and his ability to bring people together and lead them.
Leadership can be authoritarian or democratic in terms of decision-making style. By the nature of the activity, leadership can be universal and situational, when leadership qualities are manifested in a certain external environment. Leaders can be classified as a reformer leader, revolutionary, realist, romantic, pragmatist and ideologist, etc.
Leader personality traits theory
The most common theories of political leadership are personality trait theories, situational and situational personality theories. "Theories of traits" arose under the influence of the biologist F. Galton, who explained leadership on the basis of heredity. This theory considers a political leader as a bearer of aristocratic qualities that elevate him above other people and allow him to occupy an appropriate position in power.
Proponents of the approach believed that observing a leader would provide a universal list of qualities and ensure that potential leaders were identified. American scientists (E. Bogdarus, K. Byrd, E. Vyatr, R. Strogill and others) identified dozens of qualities of a leader: intelligence, will, initiative, sociability, sense of humor, enthusiasm, confidence, organizational skills, friendliness, etc. over time, the features identified by researchers began to coincide with the general set of psychological and social qualities. However, many great leaders did not have all the qualities of this set.
Situational leadership theory
Situational leadership theory arose to address the flaws in trait theory. According to her, leadership is a product of the current situation. In various situations, individuals stand out who are superior to others in their inherent sets of qualities. Those. the fact that a person becomes a leader is associated only with external factors, and not his personal qualities.
The concept of the defining role of followers
Adherents of this concept propose to consider the dominant leadership of the relationship "leader - followers". According to this theory, the leader is nothing more than an instrument of social groups. A number of researchers perceive the leader as a “puppet”. At the same time, they do not take into account the qualities that are necessary for him as a leader - independence and initiative.
The influence of the followers on the leader can also be positive: political activists largely create the image of the leader and serve as a link between him and the broad masses. The disadvantage of this approach is that the independence of the leader is underestimated.
