Leadership and Team Building

“A manager manages using authority-or the right to get others to do things by virtue of their positional power. While a leader leads through the ability to influence other people to do things using a certain degree of personal power or charisma” (McLean, 2005, p. 16). By definition, leadership is about influence. Therefore, it is impossible to discuss the theme of leadership without including followers or to try to explain the idea of team building without explaining the influence of a leader. While each concept is unique, both have a direct affect on the other. A leader is not a leader without someone following him or her and a team will always develop a leader whether indirectly or directly appointed. However, leadership and team building are much like the preverbal chicken and egg; and many theories have developed over several years trying to explain the influence on each other and the successful development of teams and leaders.

While it is clear that leadership is about influencing others, what has been the subject of theoretical debate has been what creates a leader. Is a leader born, is it learned, or is it a matter of circumstance? Perhaps, better yet, since leadership is about influence, then leadership is a matter of relationships. Although there are many leadership theories, three theories set out to explain leadership development: trait theories, behavioral theories, and relationship theories.

Trait theorists believe that leaders are born that way and leadership is part of an individuals DNA. In the 19th century, Thomas Carlyle, a historian proposed “The Great Man Theory” based on his research of many great men such as Gandhi, Lincoln, and Alexander the Great. He believed that these men were destined ...

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McLean, J. (2005). Management and leadership: Dispelling the myths. British Journal of Administrative Management, 9(1), 16-17. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=20&sid=5c780ccf-104d-49c6-9368-db4615f766bd%40sessionmgr113&hid=108

Nickels, D. W., Parris, J. B., Gossett, C. H., & Alexander, A. (2010). Developing collaboration skills: A mixed temperament approach to teamwork. Business Studies Journal, 2(2), 101-116. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=26&sid=519c905d-9766-46a2-99b0-a06ac3146743%40sessionmgr12&hid=12

Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2007). Management (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.