Leadership
Leadership can be defined as the ability of the management to make sound decisions and inspire others to perform well. It is the process of directing the behavior of others towards achieving a common goal. In short, leadership is getting things done through others.
Leadership is the ability to build up confidence and zeal among people and to create an urge in them to be led. To be a successful leader, a manager must possess the qualities of foresight, drive, initiative, self-confidence and personal integrity. Different situations may demand different types of leadership.
Definitions
Leadership has been defined in various ways.
Peter Drucker, “Leadership is not making friends and influencing people, i.e., salesmanship it is the lifting of man’s visions to higher sights, the raising of man’s personality beyond its normal limitations.”
Koontz and O’Donnell, “Leadership is the ability of a manager to induce subordinates to work with confidence and zeal.
George R. Terry, “Leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group objectives.”
Thus, ‘ we can say that leadership is the practice of influence that stimulates subordinates or followers to do their best towards the achievement of desired goals.
Nature and Characteristics of Leadership:
- Leadership is a personal quality.
- It exists only with followers. If there are no followers, there is no leadership
- It is the willingness of people to follow that makes person a leader.
- Leadership is a process of influence. A leader must be able to influence the behaviour, attitude and beliefs of his subordinates.
- exists only for the realization of common goals.
- It involves readiness to accept complete responsibility in all situations.
- Leadership is the function of stimulating the followers to strive willingly to attain organizational objectives.
- Leadership styles do change under different circumstances.
- Leadership is neither bossism nor synonymous with; management.
Leadership Styles
Different leadership styles exist in work environments. The culture and goal of an organization determine which leadership style fits best. Some organizations offer different leadership styles within an organization, depending on the necessary tasks to complete and departmental needs.
1. Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leadership style is centered on the boss. In this leadership the leader holds all authority and responsibility. In this leadership, leaders make decisions on their own without consulting subordinates. They reach decisions, communicate them to subordinates and expect prompt implementation. Autocratic work environment does normally have little or no flexibility.
2. Democratic Leadership
In this leadership style, subordinates are involved in making decisions. Unlike autocratic, this headship is centered on subordinates’ contributions. The democratic leader holds final responsibility, but he or she is known to delegate authority to other people, who determine work projects.
3. Strategic Leadership Style
Strategic leadership is one that involves a leader who is essentially the head of an organization. The strategic leader is not limited to those at the top of the organization. It is geared to a wider audience at all levels who want to create a high performance life, team or organization.
4. Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is all about initiating change in organizations, groups, oneself and others.Transformational leaders motivate others to do more than they originally intended and often even more than they thought possible. They set more challenging expectations and typically achieve higher performance.
5.Cross-Cultural Leadership
This form of leadership normally exists where there are various cultures in the society. This leadership has also industrialized as a way to recognize front runners who work in the contemporary globalized market.Organizations, particularly international ones require leaders who can effectively adjust their leadership to work in different environs.
6. Facilitative Leadership
Facilitative leadership is too dependent on measurements and outcomes – not a skill, although it takes much skill to master. The effectiveness of a group is directly related to the efficacy of its process. If the group is high functioning, the facilitative leader uses a light hand on the process.
On the other hand, if the group is low functioning, the facilitative leader will be more directives in helping the group run its process.
7.Laissez-faire Leadership
Laissez-faire leadership gives authority to employees. According to azcentral, departments or subordinates are allowed to work as they choose with minimal or no interference. According to research, this kind of leadership has been consistently found to be the least satisfying and least effective management style.
8.Transactional Leadership
This is a leadership that maintains or continues the status quo. It is also the leadership that involves an exchange process, whereby followers get immediate, tangible rewards for carrying out the leader’s orders. Transactional leadership can sound rather basic, with its focus on exchange.
9.Coaching Leadership
Coaching leadership involves teaching and supervising followers. A coaching leader is highly operational in setting where results/ performance require improvement. Basically, in this kind of leadership, followers are helped to improve their skills. Coaching leadership does the following: motivates followers, inspires followers and encourages followers.
10.Charismatic Leadership
In this leadership, the charismatic leader manifests his or her revolutionary power. Charisma does not mean sheer behavioral change. It actually involves a transformation of followers’ values and beliefs.
11.Visionary Leadership
This form of leadership involves leaders who recognize that the methods, steps and processes of leadership are all obtained with and through people. Most great and successful leaders have the aspects of vision in them.
Leadership Functions:
Following are the important functions of a leader:
1. Setting Goals:
A leader is expected to perform creative function of laying out goals and policies to persuade the subordinates to work with zeal and confidence.
2. Organizing:
The second function of a leader is to create and shape the organization on scientific lines by assigning roles appropriate to individual abilities with the view to make its various components to operate sensitively towards the achievement of enterprise goals.
3. Initiating Action:
The next function of a leader is to take the initiative in all matters of interest to the group. He should not depend upon others for decision and judgment. He should float new ideas and his decisions should reflect original thinking.
4. Co-Ordination:
A leader has to reconcile the interests of the individual members of the group with that of the organization. He has to ensure voluntary co-operation from the group in realizing the common objectives.
5. Direction and Motivation:
It is the primary function of a leader to guide and direct his group and motivate people to do their best in the achievement of desired goals, he should build up confidence and zeal in the work group.
6. Link between Management and Workers:
A leader works as a necessary link between the management and the workers. He interprets the policies and programmes of the management to his subordinates and represents the subordinates’ interests before the management. He can prove effective only when he can act as the true guardian of the interests of his subordinates.
The importance of leadership can be highlighted from the following:
1. It Improves Motivation and Morale:
Through dynamic leadership managers can improve motivation and morale of their subordinates. A good leader influences the behaviour of an individual in such a manner that he voluntarily works towards the achievement of enterprise goals.
2. It Acts as a Motive Power to Group Efforts:
Leadership serves as a motive power to group efforts. It leads the group to a higher level of performance through its persistent efforts and impact on human relations.
3. It Acts as an Aid to Authority:
The use of authority alone cannot always bring the desired results. Leadership acts as an aid to authority by influencing, inspiring and initiating action.
4. It is Needed at All Levels of Management:
Leadership plays a pivotal role at all levels of management because in the absence of effective leadership no management can achieve the desired results.
5. It Rectifies the Imperfectness of the Formal Organisational Relationships:
No organizational structure can provide all types of relationships and people with common interest may work beyond the confines of formal relationships. Such informal relationships are more effective in controlling and regulating the behaviour of the subordinates. Effective leadership uses there informal relationships to accomplish the enterprise goals.
6. It Provides the Basis for Co-operation:
Effective leadership increases the understanding between the subordinates and the management and promotes co-operation among them.
