What Is Leadership About

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP ALL ABOUT?

Definition of Leadership What is leadership all about? This can be the proverbial $64,000 question. In order to know what leadership is all about, one has to first accept a definition of the term leadership. Defining the term leadership can be a hazardous task and many schools of thought and as many authors have offered their very own meaning of the term leadership. If one accepts the notion that one is not born a leader but that acquiring the status of a leader is a process, then a plausible definition of leadership is the process of influencing an organized group toward accomplishing its goals. Although the ability to influence is a hallmark attribute of a leader, leadership displayed will need the agreement of followers towards achieving the outcome desired. Thus, another acceptable definition as expounded by Richard L. Daft is leadership being an influence relationship among leaders and followers who want substantive changes that will lead to outcomes that both want.

Leadership – Art or Science What then is leadership really about? Is leadership a science or an art? One school of thought accepts the notion that leadership appears to be an art of getting others to do something that the leader is convinced should be done. On the other hand, the science of leadership is reflected in the many research studies undertaken. These research studies provide a great deal of knowledge and facts that describes the leadership process and how one is able to use leadership skills to achieve the goals of the organization.

Leadership – a process, not a position Current thinking has most definitions of leadership being a process, not a position. Therefore, if leadership involves the intentional influence exerted by the leaders over the organized groups of followers towards accomplishing their goals, the consequential argument that will follow will be whether leadership is a specialized role or a shared influence process? Daft suggests that leadership is a people activity and is distinct from administrative paperwork or planning activities. There is the leader and there are the followers and both show intent and are actively involved in the pursuit of change with each person taking responsibilities to achieve the desired goals. In his writings on leadership, Gary Yukl summarized two views on the influencing process of leadership. One is that there are role specializations for every person in the group, with the person taking on the specialized leadership role recognised as the leader. The other view is that the leadership influencing process occurs naturally within the organised group and is shared among its members. Thus, any member can exhibit leadership at any time in undertaking roles and functions that influence the group at the particular point in time. Therefore, it can be viewed that leadership is actually is shared responsibility with everyone being a leader or follower depending on the task or role undertaken at any given time and who exercises influence. Thus, leadership qualities and capabilities are not the sole domain of managers and supervisors as employees can also exhibit leadership in the manner they carry out their daily functions and as they interact with their fellow workers.

Leadership and Manager Thus, what then is the difference between a manager and a leader? A person can be a leader and yet may not be a good manager and conversely,

a good manager is not necessarily a good leader. Bennis and Nanus (1985, p.21) suggested that “managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right things”. Therefore, managers are linked to tasks such as administer, maintain and control, whilst leaders are said to innovate, develop and inspire. Such a notion will result in two personality types where one is not necessarily better or worse compared to the other. However, it is possible for a person to exhibit both personality types and be a manager and leader at the same time. So, just as leadership can be defined as a process, one can view managing and leading as two distinct processes that can be not mutually exclusive and can be effectively integrated in a person who displays both leadership and managerial qualities.

Leadership Theories The concept of leadership has been researched extensively and over time theories have evolved with various approaches still being researched. Two main theories dwell on the trait approach and the behavioral approach with the latter also considering the notion of individualized leadership, the relationship between the leader and follower. The trait approach is one the earliest approaches studied, concentrating on the attributes of leaders. The assumption is that leaders are endowed with certain leadership traits and innate abilities that are not found in others. The traits generally researched are physical characteristics, ability and personality. However, they do not guarantee success as a leader. Nevertheless, it is found that certain traits will make a leader more effective in certain situations. Thus, a leader, immaterial of the level of success of a particular endeavour, needs to have optimism, self-confidence and drive to face the challenges ahead in seeing through the changes or goals to be achieved. Whilst it may not be so obvious or needful in certain communities or organization, leaders that have positive attitudes such as honesty and integrity that align

themselves to the perception of the followers requiring such attitudes will be effective leaders. The next approach studied is the behavioral approach with focus on the leadership styles. The behaviour of leaders towards their followers can determine the effectiveness of leadership and it is generally found that leadership styles are consistent with the personalities of the leaders. The autocratic leader leaves no doubt who is in charge and would centralize authority, deriving power from leadership position, coercion and control of rewards. On the other hand, the participative leaders involve the followers in decision making via consultative or democratic means. Whilst both invites and encourages participation, the consultative leader requires a high level of involvement from the followers but leaves no doubt that the leader makes the final decision whereas the democratic leader would delegate and confer authority to followers and relies mainly on their expertise and knowledge to complete a task. However, leaders need to understand the challenges and be able to offer solutions to solve them from their own experiences if they are to gain a higher level of respect from each of their followers. Such respect from followers or influence on them will depend on how the leaders behave towards the followers and the response from the followers. This gives rise to the notion of individualized leadership where the leadership behavior of the leader in developing a very special relationship and interaction with each follower is key to effective leadership.

Leadership and Situation The results of effective leadership are dependent not only on the leader and followers but also on situation as the third variable. Situational factors can constrain or facilitate a leader’s effectiveness and the leader can change such factors to enhance leadership effectiveness. Thus, analyzing the interactional framework that links the leader to the follower and situation is important in determining effective leadership.

The many contingency theories attempt to describe this interactional framework and the need for a good fit between the leadership styles and the conditions in the situation. Effective leadership displayed in one situation may not bring the same result in another situation. The situation variable and the manner in which to cope with it is perhaps the most difficult to ascertain in this framework as it can refer to a host of variables like task, structure, and environment. The 3 key situational elements generally accepted are the leader-follower relations (referring to the group atmosphere and the relationship between the leader and followers), the task structure (referring to whether the tasks performed by the group are interesting and enjoyable as well as being well-defined with clear explicit goals) and position power (referring to the extent the leader has authority over the followers). There are other situational contingencies such as personal characteristics of group members and the work environment that can affect the outcome of effective leadership.

Conclusion In conclusion, there is no simple answer to the question on what leadership is all about. It is many things to many people and how it is defined depends on the perspective of each individual. Nevertheless, an important attribute of leadership is the ability to influence others to undertake the work or changes necessary to achieve desired goals. In understanding leadership, one also has to understand the leader and his leadership styles, the followers and their “followership” styles and the situations they are in. Therefore, leadership is often the result of the complex set of interactions amongst the leader, the follower and the situation.

References: a) Richard L. Daft, “The leadership Experience” 4th Edition, Thomson South-Western

b) Gary Yukl, “Leadership in Organisation” 4th Edition,Prentice-Hall International, Inc. c) Richad L. Hughes, Robert C. Ginnet, Gordon J. Curphy, “Leadership – Enhancing the Lessons of Experience” 6th Edition, Mcgraw-Hill