Throughout history there have been leaders and famous people for that matter that have been looked at as leaders. A leader is someone who people choose to follow and influences others to do things that they may not otherwise do. Ideally one would expect the effective leader to be a person of integrity. But is that really always the case? There are five different leadership styles that would apply to leaders of yesterday as well as today. The first theory would be the trait theory. An example of a leader that falls into the trait theory would be motivational speaker Tony Robins, because he has charisma. The attributes that give off his persona of charisma is his magnetic personality, paired with superb communication skills. His approach to this is pulling people in with his smile. When he takes the floor, people listen. He proves to have the magnetic personality as he speaks people attract to him as if they were metal being drawn to the magnet. Of the five leadership styles, the trait theory is more salient for Tony Robbins because with the charisma the he exudes it does not matter. For example the type of behavior he presents good or bad for that matter gets over looked once he begins to speak. He takes on the Autocratic approach as what he “preaches” is the belief that he expects his listeners to take on. That is the right way and the only way it should be done. Ronald Reagan “the people’s president,” would be an example of the contingency theory. He would be categorized in this theory because of his relationship oriented leadership style. The attributes to a relationship oriented leader is the ability to bond people together, to ease tension, and to be well liked. They also anticipate conflicts and build bridges. Ronald Reagan’s approaches to achieve this were by bringing the American People together. He listened to what the people wanted and asked for. He built his popularity through building relationships with the American People. Of all the leadership styles the relationship oriented style is more salient for Ronald Regan because that was how he was able to relate to people. Although he did possess other styles the relationship style is what made Ronald Reagan great and “the people’s president.” Being that Regan was our president one would believe that he would fall under the Democratic system, which to a point he had to be as that is the way government works. But really he took on more of the Laissez Faire approach as he would sit back and listen to the people and do more along the lines of what they wanted and asked for.
Oprah Winfrey, the most influential woman in the world is a prime example of the behavioral leadership theory. Oprah falls into this category because she draws people into her by her actions. The attributes that classify a behavioral leader are influential through actions. They are also very opinionated in what they believe and teach. Oprah’s approach to this is through her talk shows where she tells her audience her opinions on books, politics, and current affairs. She also expresses her views through her magazine. She has been arguably named the most influential woman in the world by CNN and Time.com. The behavioral style of leadership is more salient for Oprah because in all honesty she does not possess any other style and as the world has shown she does not need to. Some people would like to believe that Oprah takes on a Democratic style and she is very good at making people believe that however, she really takes on the Autocratic style, because when it comes to Oprah Winfrey what she believes is what matters and she will use her power and fame to make sure as many people as she can influence will believe the same. As people want to believe that a leader is one that has integrity and leads with that notion. That of course is not always the case, as Osama bin Laden is not a leader with integrity. However he could be classified as a transformational leader. The attributes to this leadership style are mutual dependency, being an emotional symbol for their followers, and the way they develop their relationships. Osama’s approach to this is by having his followers believe that his word is the truth. That they must live by the Wahhabi beliefs. How he does this is through the group called Al-Qaeda where he has the people believe that if they follow through with the acts of terrorism they will go to the chosen world. By his example he has produced other leaders again with questionable integrity but still leaders such as United States born Adam Gahdan. With all of this in consideration there is no question that Osama bin Ladin leads through an Autocratic system. In his world there is no other belief than what he believes and as the world has seen he will go as far as killing to make sure that his point is made. Mahatma Ghandi could be classified as a transactional leader as he was task oriented but only got involved when it was necessary. The attributes of a transactional leader are creating clear structures, and they delegate the task as they only get involved when necessary. The delegates are considered to be fully responsible for the tasks given. Ghandi’s approach to this was he would let the people of India know what needed to be achieved to get the civil rights that they deserved however he would sit back and go with the flow and let the people achieve this. When it was necessary he would step in and contribute in the assistance of his people however he was very much a go with the flow leader. His approach to his leadership style was more salient because he showed the people that things could be achieved through truth and non violence. It is what made him great. Ghandi lead through a Laissez Faire system. He believed that there was no need to be involved that the people could achieve the goals and tasks that were set. However when it was needed he was involved. Throughout time there have been great leaders. There have been people leaders and there have even been leaders with questionable values and integrity. No one leader is the same or takes on the same styles to lead. All one can hope is that the future leaders will try to lead for the good of mankind.