Originated at about 20th century, it was thought that people had certain traits which made them great leaders. It started with the “Great Man hypothesis” (Carlyle, 1907 ,On heroes, hero-worship, and the heroic in history).There were a list of certain traits which were thought to be the main pillars of leadership ability in a person based on different researches carried on years after years. Stogdill carried out a survey in 1948 which identified some of the traits responsible for leadership qualities, but he focused that situational factors are responsible for leadership. However, in 1974, when he carried out a second survey, it was more distinct stating that both traits and situational factors are equally responsible factors for leadership. Mann (1945) also identified certain traits which differentiated leaders and non-leaders but didn’t take situational contributions into account. Lord et al (1986) used meta-analysis procedure and considered again the results of Mann’s (1959) study. Similarly, Kirkpatrick et al (“1991) and Zaccaro et al (2004) carried out their surveys and listed out similar …show more content…
It focuses on the actions performed by leaders and how they act. It is mainly categorized in to two types: task behaviour and relationship behaviour. Task behaviour of leaders helps in achieving goals. Relationship behaviours help followers feel relaxed in presence of peer and at difficult situations. Among the different studies carried out to study the behavioural approach, Ohio State Studies and University of Michigan studies were noteworthy. The Ohio State Studies focused on the behaviours of leaders while leading a group. University of Michigan studies focused on the effects of actions or behaviours on their groups by differentiating it into employee orientation and production orientation. The behaviour can be segregated into two parts: Initiating Structure and