Therapeutic Recreation

Words: 755
Pages: 4

Leadership is one of the most important components to working in professional environment, especially within Therapeutic Recreation. This essay will be discussing four categories of leadership theories and how they relate to Therapeutic Recreation. There are several different types and styles of leadership. Leadership is a key aspect in a successful work environment.

The first model to be discussed is the Contingency Model. Within this model there is Fielder’s Contingency theory. Fielder’s contingency theory states that if the leader is not motivated with the task at hand how are they suppose to motivate their followers. This exercises the thought that maintaining effective leadership depends on a match between the leader’s style and the
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A recreation therapist must have specific traits and behaviours associated with the position. This is referred to as trait model of leadership. Trait model expresses the notion that leaders are naturally born and are not made. Specific traits involved with this that are corresponded with recreation therapy are leadership motivation, creativity, responsibility, intelligence, and emotional maturity. A specific trait theory is The Great Man Theory. This theory was one of the first and most straightforward. The Great Man Theory focuses on the overall expertise of the leader. Factors that are associated with this theory are birthing order, family background, education, and overall upbringing. This theory takes into account that leaders are born with the particular traits and will acquire more along the way to assist them to excel. Therefor great leaders such as recreation therapists inherit these particular traits to assist them in the promotion of their …show more content…
Behavioural theories presume that leadership capabilities can be learned. This is based on the behaviours that are exhibited by leaders and measure the cause and effect. Within the behavioural theories there is a Two Factor Model. This concept focuses solely on behaviour and can divide leaders into one of two categories. The two categories are leaders that are concerned with results, and leaders that are concerned with people. Task oriented leaders prefer behaviours that are in correlation with organization, initiation, clarification, and information gathering. Leaders that are concerned with people, prefer behaviours in correlation with observation, inspiration, mentoring, and listening. Not only should we focus on the traits of recreation therapists but also the behaviour in which they