Leadership Theories and Emotional Intelligence for RBI Grade B
Last updated: 2026-11-10 · MockMentor
"Leadership: Trait, Behavioural, Contingency, Charismatic, Transactional and Transformational; Emotional Intelligence" is a line of the RBI Grade B Phase 2 Management syllabus. Leadership is one of the two Management topics, with communication, that examiners keep returning to for descriptive questions.
In the exam: leadership theories were asked as descriptive questions twice in 2024 and again in 2026, including a 15-mark question on trait versus behavioural theories. They also appeared in the objective section in 2023, 2024 and 2026.
How leadership theories developed
| Group | Central question | Main theories |
|---|---|---|
| Trait | What is a leader? | Great Man theory, trait theory |
| Behavioural | What does a leader do? | Lewin's styles, Ohio State and Michigan studies, Blake and Mouton's grid |
| Contingency | Which style works in which situation? | Fiedler, Hersey–Blanchard, House's path–goal, Vroom–Yetton–Jago |
| Modern | How do leaders transform followers? | Charismatic, transactional, transformational |
Trait theory
Trait theory looks for stable qualities that separate leaders from non-leaders: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability. It focuses on what the leader is, not on what the leader does. Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991) concluded that traits do matter: they give a person the potential to lead, which skills and the right actions then turn into results. The weakness is that no single list of traits predicts leadership in every situation.
Blake and Mouton's managerial grid
Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (1964) plotted concern for production against concern for people on a nine-by-nine grid. Five positions are the main styles:
| Style | Grid position | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Impoverished | 1,1 | Little interest in either work or people |
| Country club | 1,9 | Friendly atmosphere, weak results |
| Authority–compliance | 9,1 | Results through strict control; people's needs ignored |
| Middle of the road | 5,5 | Adequate results and adequate morale |
| Team management | 9,9 | High results through committed, trusted people: the ideal |
Fiedler's contingency model
Fred Fiedler (1967) said a leader's style is fixed and measured it with the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale: leaders who describe their least liked colleague favourably are relationship-oriented; those who describe that person harshly are task-oriented. Whether a style works depends on how favourable the situation is, judged by leader–member relations, task structure and the leader's position power. Since style cannot change, the answer is to change the situation or move the leader.
Transactional and transformational leadership
Transactional leaders exchange rewards for performance and correct mistakes: they manage within the existing system. Transformational leaders inspire followers to look beyond their own interest to a shared vision, and raise their motivation and capability. Good leaders use both.
Goleman's emotional intelligence
Daniel Goleman's model of emotional intelligence has five components:
- Self-awareness: knowing your own emotions and their effect on others.
- Self-regulation: controlling disruptive impulses and thinking before acting.
- Motivation: drive to achieve for its own sake.
- Empathy: understanding other people's feelings.
- Social skills: managing relationships and building networks.
The first three are about managing yourself; the last two are about managing relationships.
What the full chapter covers
Our complete chapter has 36 sections. Beyond this page, it covers the meaning, characteristics and importance of leadership, leadership versus management, sources of a leader's power, Adair's action-centred leadership, Lewin's styles, the Tannenbaum–Schmidt continuum, the Ohio State and Michigan studies, Fiedler and Garcia's cognitive resource theory, Hersey–Blanchard, path–goal and Vroom–Yetton–Jago models, Reddin's 3-D theory and substitutes for leadership, LMX (leader–member exchange) theory, charismatic and visionary leadership and the Kouzes–Posner model, other leadership styles, the importance of emotional intelligence, and emotional labour.
The full chapter, with chapter-wise MCQs and evaluated descriptive practice, is part of our RBI Grade A/B courses.
More in Management
- Introduction to Management
- Evolution of Management Thought
- Personality & Perception
- Motivation Theories
- Communication
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