There are many theories on leadership such as the great man theory, behavioral theory, principal-centered theory, trait theory, contingency theory, situational theory, participative theory, transactional/management theory, and transformational/relationship theory. An emerging leadership theory that I believe is relevant to modern business is the supportive leadership theory. It states that supporting and building relationships with employees will increase the chances that they will be positively influenced and motivated to work toward the leader's vision. This theory is founded upon studies of organizational behavior, which suggests that people are happier and more satisfied with their jobs when they have supportive leaders who empathize with their personal sides (Bartolomei, 2010).
According to Bartolomei (2010), the supportive leadership theory recently emerged from an educational study sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. According to the survey results, 68 percent of the respondents said that supportive leadership was needed to retain good teachers (Anderson, 2010). Therefore, I believe that the adoption of supportive leadership will increase if business leaders want to retain their top performers. This will be especially relevant during the US economic recovery because top performers will be the first ones to leave once conditions improve.
To effectively leverage this theory I believe that leaders need to improve their social intelligence skills. This skill is defined as developing a genuine interest in and talent for fostering positive feelings in the people whose cooperation and support you need (Goleman & Boyatzis, 2008). This is important because this style of leadership is best suited for leaders who have a lot of daily interaction with employees (Bartolomei, 2010).
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