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Great Man Theory Of Leadership

High Performance Leadership

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Thomas Carlyle

The Great Man Theory was introduced in 19th centuryby Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle.

The history of the world is but the biographyof great men.

Book : On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History

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Heroes Shape History

Heroes shape history through :-

The vision of their Intellect ( Sir IsaacNewton, Albert Einstein)

The beauty of their Art (Beethoven,Shakespeare, )

The Prowess of their leadership( NapoleonBonaparte)

Their Divine Inspiration(Mother Teresa,Swami Vivekananda)

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Assumptions

The leaders are born and not made.

Leaders posses certain traits which are

inherited.

Great leaders can arise when there is a great

need.

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Criticism

In 1860 Herbert Spencer formulated a

counter-argument that remained influential

throughout the 20th century.

He said that such great men are the products

of their societies, and that their actions would

be impossible without the social conditions

built before their lifetime.

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Conclusion

Prompted by the great man theory ofleadership, and the emerging interest inunderstanding what leadership is

Researchers focused on the leaderWho is a leader?

What are the distinguishing characteristics of

great and effective leaders? This gave rise to the early research efforts to

the trait approach to leadership.