Theory XY and Its Applications

This past month, my class has discussed multiple leadership theories, starting with Great Man Theory and Trait-Based theory. We then moved on to behavior-based theories like People vs. Task-Oriented and Leadership Styles. One of the most compelling theories to me that we have discussed has been TheoryXY. Out of all the theories so far, TheoryXY is the only one that begins to look at a leaders perception of their employees, which I believe has a very big impact on leadership style. Theory X assumes that employees dislike work, are unmotivated, and cannot be trusted. A leader who leaned toward this theory would be more likely to micro-manage and be much more hands on with their employees. They could also struggle with delegating tasks because they might not trust their employees to do their job correctly. Theory Y assumes that employees are motivated to do well and work hard, seek responsibility, and are capable of making their own decisions. Leaders who lean toward this theory are probably going to tend to be more delegative, because they will trust their employees with the task at hand.

I think that sometimes we get caught up in the idea that everything has to be black or white, that leaders are either people oriented or task oriented, Theory X or Theory Y. A lot of the time our leadership style depends on the situation and we could all be better leaders if we understood how to adapt and change our style to apply it to the situation at hand. I generally tend to lean more towards Theory Y, but I can see when Theory X would be useful. For instance, when there is a new hire who has not yet learned the correct process or system to do their job, or a new program is being introduced that would require more training, Theory X would be much better to apply to this situation because the employees might need a more hands on approach at that time. However, when it comes to general day-to-day operations, a more hands-off Theory Y approach might be the better option. Overall, Theory XY can be a useful tool when correctly applied to different situations and therefore it is important to be able to adapt as a leader.