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Introduction: Leadership has a dominant role in the management of an organization, especially when dealing with the employees of the organization and motivating the group to achieve the objectives of the organization in a smooth manner (Northouse 2009). This paper is a report about the presentation about leadership, comparing two main leadership theories called as trait theory of leadership and situational leadership theory. 2. Leadership Definition: There are many definitions available for the concept of leadership. Most of the definitions relate leadership to as the social influence created on other people such that recipient is inspired, directed, managed and co-ordinated, which results in the accomplishment of the common goals of the leader or the organization (Daft, 2008). There are many qualities that a leader is supposed to possess. The importance of these qualities depends on the situation and the circumstances. According to Adiar (2013), a leader must be able to insert an influence on the employees, focussed on achievement, confident, charismatic, creative and flexible. A leader with appropriate qualities and skills can inspire the workers and create a better organizational culture. These benefits from an efficient leader make leadership an important component in the organization. 3. Leadership Theories: Starting from the introduction of the concept of leadership in the 1900s, many theories have been evolved on a regular basis signifying the definition and characteristics of a leadership (Daft, 2008). Two main leadership theories, Trait theory of Leadership and Situational Leadership is briefly described below, 3.1. Trait Theory of Leadership: Trait theory is one of the oldest theories of leadership, where the theory defines that leadership is a skill that is inborn in an individual and cannot be created. The character of the leader will lead to leadership roles (Shriberg, 2011). Based on its characteristics, trait theory of leadership is also referred to quality leadership.

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The main strengths trait theory of leadership is as follows, The goals can be achieved through the person centred traits or skills Difficult issues can be solved easily through the concept of trait theory of leadership People provide maximum efficiency towards the job according to trait leadership theory (Lussier, Achua, 2009) The weakness of trait theory of leadership is as follows, The trait theory is hardly practicable at all times Sometimes the trait theory may result in giving a negative shade to leaders Problems are largely created with trait leadership theory (Lussier, Achua, 2009)

3.2. Situational Leadership Theory: The situational leadership theory comes under the contingency theory of leadership introduced in 1980s (Fairholm, 2009). The theory simply refers to the idea that there does not exist a single pre-defined format of leadership that will satisfy all types of situations. Rather, different leadership styles must be used based on the situation that is present at the moment or may appear in future. The negatives of the trait theory and other former theories of leadership were solved by the situational theory of leadership (Mayer, 2008). The people behind this concept of leadership were Hersey and Blanchard. An effective leader will have the capability to adapt to different leadership styles depending on the present circumstances. The situational leadership is based on two main ideas. The first concept is that situational leadership can have a supportive dimension. This path of the situational leadership is considered as a two-way communication and the principal components are social commitment and emotional attachment between the leader and the followers (Mayer, 2008). The employees are more motivated through this concept of situational leadership. The second concept is that situational leadership can have a directive dimension. According to the directive dimension, the goals of the organization are given more emphasis. The communication created between the leaders and the followers is one dimensional (Griffin, Moorhead, 2011). The efficiency of leader will be to set different goals and demonstrate the methods for attaining the set goals. The different dimensions of situational leadership based on variations are given in figure 1.

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Figure.1 Situational Leadership

Source: Griffin Morrhead, 2011 The strength of situational leadership is as follows, This is one of the simples leadership forms and is widely acceptable Employees are best motivated or inspired through the situational leadership

The weakness of situational leadership is as follows, There are limitations in terms of number of research made on this form of leadership The success of the leadership is dependent on the co-operation of the employees The methodology used must be clear and failure will cause frustration (Mayer, 2008)

4. Assessment of best leadership theory: Based on the research, the author considers that situational leadership is far better compared to trait theory of leadership. The assessment is based on the following information identified,

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The situational leadership is applicable to different sections within the organization. The owner of the organization can utilise the situational leadership for motivating the top management including the directors of the organization. The management can use this to motivate the employees. Leadership can even generate among the employees motivating other employees. Therefore, the concept of situational leadership is flexible and simple. Another main advantage of this leadership is that the emotional and social factors are defined well using the situational leadership. Normally a relationship is developed between the employees and the leader through the situational leadership. This can support and direct the employees equally. All these elements gives a efficient leadership tag to situational leadership. It is reported that the top management of many Fortune 500 companies uses situational leadership for the effective management of the staff (Daft, 2008). 5. Conclusion: This paper describes the concept of leadership and compares two leadership theories called as situational leadership and trait theory of leadership. After the discussion, it can be concluded that situational leadership is best acceptable form of leadership style based on its characteristics and advantages.

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References: Adiar, J., (2013). Develop Your Leadership Skills. Kogan Page Publishers, 2nd Edition Daft. R.L., (2008). The Leadership Experience. Cengage Learning. 4th Edition Fairholm, M., (2009). Understanding Leadership Perspectives, Springer Publications Griffin, R., Moorhead, G., (2011). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. Cengage Learning. 10th Edition Lussier, R., Achua, C., (2009). Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development, Cengage Learning. 4th Edition Mayer, T., (2008). What Makes a Good Leader & How Might the Performance of Leaders Be Measured, Grin Verlag Publishing Northouse, P.G., (2009). Leadership: Theory and Practice. SAGE. 5th Edition Shriberg, A., (2011). Practicing Leadership Principles and Applications, John Wiley and Sons, 4th Edition

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