Great Man Theory

Technical Details

Name: Great Man Theory
Author: Popularized by Thomas Carlyle
Classification:Great Man Theory
Year: 1840's

Pro's

• Starting point for the understanding of which human traits make great leaders

Con's

• Leadership is a restricted community
• No scientific validity

Overview

You may have heard people saying, "Great leaders are God-gifted, not man-made"? This quote reflects the results conveyed by a very popular theory known as Great Man Theory of Leadership, which relates to the fact that leadership traits are inbuilt. In other words, there is a binary answer to the question of knowing whether you are a leader or not, meaning that you were either born as a great leader or not! Factors such as your up-bringing, education, experiences are only modeling your leadership abilities; they aren't responsible for making you a leader.

The History of Great Man Leadership Theory

During the 19th century, the Great Man Theory of Leadership became very popular. The theory was formulated mainly by analyzing the behaviors of mainly military figures of the time. In the 1800s, authoritative positions were held solely by men and were typically passed on from father to son. Thus, it's not a coincidence that the theory was named "Great Man Theory" as there weren't any women that were given the opportunity to rise when the occasion presented itself.

The famous historian, Thomas Carlyle was deeply involved with this Great Man Theory of Leadership and had even stated that the history of this world was basically the combined biographies of these great men. Mr. Thomas Carlyle believed that effective leaders were a package of Godly motivation and the right personality.

Some Arguments against Great Man Theory

Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903), famous sociologist said that great leaders were only products of the atmosphere and society they worked and lived in. In other words, society was shaping these great men as oppose to them shaping society!

Great Man Theory: Is it a myth?

The Great Man Theory is so engraved in our souls that we almost instantly connect authoritative figures has having leadership qualities that should be replicated to become successful!

For example: Think of your favorite President or Prime Minister, depending where you live. Now, think of the leadership attributes that you believe makes him or her worthy of the leadership label. Lastly, make sure you seriously consider this before continuing on. Okay, the big realization: are these traits emanating from his being or are they the fruits of all of the great leaders that are guiding him or her behind the scene and who are never or almost never given the appropriate credit!

Yes, this simple exercise really demonstrates the fact that these "Great Man" subscribers aren't alone nor are they the results of their "Godly motivation and personalities", as stated by Mr. Thomas Carlyle. I'm not saying that they aren't great leaders, they certainly can be. However, we need to realize that these "great man" weren't born great leaders, they had the potential of being a great leader just as the rest of us, and their leadership abilities have, just like us, evolved from their education, experiences and personalities combined with the social context in which they lived.

At last

There is no doubt that the Great Man Theory has no real credibility in terms of explaining how we can become a great leader other than being born a leader. However, the writings of Thomas Carlyle were definitely responsible for getting many great people thinking about leadership!