Leadership theory and its application: Bridging the gap

Early arguments on the concept of leadership often recommended that such abilities were purely skills that people had from birth. In other words, old theories on leadership suggested that certain people are simply “born to lead”. However, with the advent of the industrial revolution and the need for more leaders in new fields, recent theories have suggested that apart from having certain characteristics that help in making people natural born leaders, other factors like experience and circumstantial variables are also key to being a good leader. But then again, these are simply theories. How to bridge the gap between essential leadership theories and its application? Here’s a complete guide –

Creating a detailed, well-defined and powerful result

Studying leadership theories can only serve two reasons – either to improve in a way or to attain a certain objective. The more specific, well-defined and powerful one can make the desired goals, the more is the need for action. Setting up clear objectives and dig everything that it takes until you succeed is the only clear pathway for a leader to mature and realize his or her full potential.

Simplifying the principles or mindset modification needed in order to achieve the set objectives

All great leadership theories come with the need for a strong mentality. Without having a clear mindset on how to achieve certain goals, no number of tips or little techniques offered by management gurus will ever help an aspiring leader.

Typically, when leaders try to implement a new procedure and it does not work, it is for the reason that their core mindset was not up to the task. Make a clear distinction between the exact mindset shifts required to assimilate a theory into how one thinks and acts in real life. Learn what you need to do and make sure your brain is ready to correct you every time you move away from the desired behavior needed to achieve your goals. This is the root of linking the gap between leadership theories and action.

Accountability

Putting a leadership theory into practice entails the need for the leader to change himself or herself in many ways, both in thought and action. Transformation is never comfortable and always brings about some level of distress. The finest way to guarantee that you see through this adaptation period is to share your result and mindset changes with a trustworthy and experienced associate who can determine your accountability levels. Set up an arrangement. Meet on specific days of the month or week and make sure your goals are achieved accordingly.

These 3 steps will make any aspiring leader prepared for the tough tasks ahead. Setting yourself up to effectively apply any leadership or supervision theory can be difficult. This is the reason is why immediate action is super important in order to cross that bridge! A leader must also be eager to constantly evolve his or her thought processes as the situations demand and continue taking necessary action until the organizational goals are achieved.

Summary

There is a lot of difference between thinking about something and putting it into action, and the same applies in case of leadership theories. The gap between theories and their application can be bridged through proper adaptation on the leader’s part, having a clear mindset and creation of well-defined goals.

Reshali Balasubramaniam

Head of HR, HR Counselor and adviser at https://work.lk/. Do you offer a Service? Signup for an account at work.lk