Leadership Theories

Please view the scoring guide to complete this assignment.

In 3–5 pages, summarize three leadership theories, explain how the theories can be used to influence others and build trust, and give examples of how the theories might be used as strategies for leading in the workplace or community.
To be effective, a leader should understand leadership theory. An effective leader should recognize his or her own leadership style, in order to develop strategies for influencing and rewarding others and develop the interpersonal skills that build trust. By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 1: Evaluate the purpose and relevance of leadership. 

Analyze leadership theories.
Explain how leadership theories can be used to influence others.
Explain how leadership theories can be used to develop interpersonal skills that build trust.

Competency 2: Evaluate how leadership strengths apply in the workplace and within the community. 

Use examples to explain how leadership theories can be used to lead in a work environment or community.

Suggested Resources
The resources provided here are optional. You may use other resources of your choice to prepare for this assessment; however, you will need to ensure that they are appropriate, credible, and valid. The BUS-FP3012 – Fundamentals of Leadership Library Guide can help direct your research, and the Supplemental Resources and Research Resources, both linked from the left navigation menu in your courseroom, provide additional resources to help support you.
Capella University Library Resources

Badshah, S. (2012). Historical study of leadership theories. Journal of Strategic Human Resource Management, 1(1), 49–59.
Lee, W-J., Koenigsberg, M. R., Davidson, C., & Beto, D. R. (2010). A pilot survey linking personality, leadership style, and leadership success among probation directors in the U.S. Federal Probation, 74(3), 34–42, 56.

NBC Learn Video

Brzezinski, M. (Reporter) & Scarborough, J. (Anchor). (2011, October 4). Starbucks launches profit sharing stores in NYC and LA [Video]. MSNBC, Morning Joe.

Bookstore Resources
These resources are available from the Capella University Bookstore: 

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2017). The leadership challenge: How to make extraordinary things happen in organizations (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. 

Chapter 5, “Envision the Future.”
Chapter 6, “Enlist Others.”

Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths based leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why people follow. New York, NY: Gallup Press. 

“Part Two: Maximizing Your Team.”

Assessment Instructions
Leadership will be a particularly important component of the business skills you utilize throughout your career, and it will play an even larger role as you take on additional responsibilities and work in higher level positions. For this assessment, you will learn more about some prominent leadership theories, and can undoubtedly apply those to achieve greater individual and organizational success.
To complete this assessment, research at least three of the leadership theories from the list below. Use the Capella library and the Internet to research scholarly literature on the theories you have chosen.
Leadership Theories

Great man theory.
Trait theory.
Behavioral theories: 

Role theory.
The managerial theory.

Participative leadership: 

Lewin’s leadership styles.
Likert’s leadership styles.

Situational leadership: 

Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership.
Vroom and Yetton’s normative model.
House’s path-goal theory of leadership.

Contingency theories: 

Fiedler’s least-preferred coworker (LPC) theory.
Cognitive resource theory.
Strategic contingencies theory.

Transactional leadership: 

Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory.

Transformational leadership: 

Bass’s transformational leadership theory.
Burns’s transformational leadership theory.

Based on your research, address the following:

Analyze each of the three theories you selected. In each analysis be sure you identify the theorists.
Use each of the three theories to analyze the following: 

How the theory can be used by a leader to influence others.
How the theory can be used by a leader to develop the interpersonal skills needed to build trust.

For each theory analysis, provide examples of how the theory can be used as a strategy for leading in a work environment or in a community.

Your paper should be well organized and written in clear, succinct language. It should be approximately 3–5 pages in length. Follow APA rules for attributing sources that support your analysis and conclusions.
Academic Integrity and APA Formatting
As a reminder related to using APA rules to ensure academic honesty:

When using a direct quote (using exact or nearly exact wording), you must enclose the quoted wording in quotation marks, immediately followed by an in-text citation. The source must then be listed in your references page.
When paraphrasing (using your own words to describe a non-original idea), the paraphrased idea must be immediately followed by an in-text citation and the source must be listed in your references page.

Example Assessment: You may use the assessment example, linked in the Assessment Example section of the Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like