Leadership is the ability to motivate a group of people toward a common goal ("Leadership,”n.d). There are several theories dating back to centuries ago that relates on how to achieve an effective leadership. There are five approaches that explicate these theories and how to study leadership. Behavior approach is included in these five approaches. This approach puts emphasis on people’s behavior and how the environment easily influences their behavior. Just like any other approach for leadership, there are strengths and weaknesses that are associated when studying leadership.
Behavioral Approach
The behavioral approach is based on the concept of explaining behavior through observation, and the belief that our environment causes us to behave differently or suffer illnesses ("Behavioral Approach,” n.d). Behavioral approach believes that one is not born a leader but taught by observation and teaching instead. One’s environment in this approach plays a significant role. People are surrounded by their environment daily that makes their environment a huge influence in their lives. Creating a leader involves someone to watch others behaviors and learn what makes them act in a certain way.
Behaviorists believe that the only things worth studying are things that can be observed. You will have a better comprehension on a certain subject if you observe it first. We cannot see the mind, the id, or the unconscious, but we can see how people act, react and behave. From behavior we may be able to make inferences about the minds and the brain, but they are not the primary focus of the investigation ("The Behavioral Approach,” 1996).
Strengths
The main strength of the behavior approach is that behavior can be observed and therefore manipulated. It is easy to experiment and observe behavior in laboratories using independent and dependent variables. To conduct these experiments, scientists use several methods for different results. In a controlled experiment,...