“The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.”

Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.
 

• It's a process. Leadership isn't a trait someone is born with. It's an ongoing two-way exchange between the leader and their followers.
• It involves influence. Leadership is about how the leader affects the people they lead. Without influence, there's no leadership.
• It happens in groups. A leader influences a group of people, whether that's a small team or a whole organisation.
• It's about common goals. The leader and followers work towards a purpose they share.

Trait Approach is the idea that some people make great leaders because they have certain inborn qualities, such as intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability. It looks at the leader's personality, not at the followers or the situation. In the trait view, leadership belongs to special individuals. In the process view, leadership comes from the interaction between leaders and followers, so anyone can lead.

The Skills Approach says good leadership comes from skills a person can learn and develop, not from traits they're born with. It is a process anyone can take part in.

 The Behavioural Approach looks at what leaders actually do, not who they are or what skills they have. It says leaders do two main kinds of things:

• Task behaviours: Helping the group get the work done by setting goals, organising work and making sure people know their roles.
• Relationship behaviours: Helping people feel comfortable with themselves, each other and the situation by being supportive, friendly and respectful.

The Situational Approach says no single leadership style fits every situation. A good leader changes their style to suit how ready their followers are for a particular task, which means how skilled and how committed they are.

It's based on Hersey and Blanchard's model, which mixes two kinds of leader behaviour, directive (telling people what to do and how) and supportive (encouraging, listening and building confidence). That gives four styles:

• S1 Directing: Lots of direction and little support. This suits keen beginners who lack skills.
• S2 Coaching: Lots of direction and lots of support. This suits people with some skills who've lost motivation.
• S3 Supporting: Little direction and lots of support. This suits capable people who lack confidence or commitment.
• S4 Delegating: Little direction and little support. This suits skilled, motivated people who can work on their own.

Path–Goal Theory is about how leaders motivate followers to reach their goals. The leader's job is to make the path to the goal clearer and easier by removing obstacles, giving guidance and making the reward worth the effort. It's based on expectancy theory, the idea that people work harder when they believe their effort will pay off.

The four leader behaviours:

• Directive: Giving clear instructions, standards and deadlines. This suits unclear or complicated tasks.
• Supportive: Being friendly and caring about followers' wellbeing. This suits boring, stressful or frustrating work.
• Participative: Asking for followers' ideas and involving them in decisions. This suits unclear tasks and people who want control.
• Achievement-oriented: Setting challenging goals and showing confidence in people. This suits complex tasks and people who want to excel.

Northouse, P. G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). SAGE Publications.