leadership

What is leadership?

Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct, guide and influence the behavior and work of others towards the accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. Leadership is the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence and zeal. Leadership is the potential to influence the behavior of others. It is also defined as the capacity to influence a group towards the realization of a goal. Leaders are required to develop future visions, and to motivate the organizational members to want to achieve the visions.  

Key Leadership Theories

1. Great Man Theory

Much of the work on this theory is linked to the work of the historian Thomas Carlyle. According to him, a leader is the one gifted with unique qualities that capture the imagination of the masses. This theory states that some people are born with the necessary attributes that set them apart from others and that these traits are responsible for their assuming positions of power and authority. The theory suggests that the ability to lead is inherent – that the best leaders are born, not made. The leaders are born with just the right traits and abilities for leading – charisma, intellect, confidence, communication, skills and social skills. Furthermore, it contends that these traits remain stable over time and across different groups.

2. Traits Theory

The trait theory is very similar to the Great Man Theory. It is founded on the characteristics of different leaders – both the successful and unsuccessful ones. It is used to predict effective leadership. The resulting lists of traits are then compared to those of potential leaders to assess their likelihood of success or failure. Successful leaders have interests, abilities, and personality traits that are different from those of the less effective leaders. There are six traits that differentiate leaders from non-leaders in trait theory of leadership:

1. Drive
2. The desire to lead
3. Honesty and integrity
4. Self-confidence
5. Intelligence
6. Job relevant knowledge

3. Contingency Theory

Developed by Fred Fiedler, this theory states that a leader’s effectiveness is contingent upon with how his or her leadership style matches to the situation. That is, the leader must find out what kind of leadership style and the situation he or she thrives in. The Contingency Theory is concerned with the following:

• There is no one best style of leadership
• A leader is effective when his or her style of leadership fits with the situation

The best form of leadership is one that finds the perfect balance between behaviors, needs, and context. One’s effectiveness to lead depended on their control of the situation and the style of leadership. This theory assumes that styles are fixed and that they cannot be adapted or modified. A leader is most effective when his or her attributes and style of leadership is matched with the situation and environment around them. The Contingency theory is not concerned with having the leader adapt to a situation, rather the goal is to match the leader’s style with a compatible situation.

4. Situational Theory

The term “situational leadership” is most commonly derived from and connected with Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory. This approach to leadership suggests the need to match two key elements appropriately: the leader’s leadership style and the follower’s maturity or preparedness levels.

The theory identifies four main leadership approaches:

• Telling – Directive and authoritative approach. The leader makes decisions and tells employees what to do.
• Selling – The leader is still the decision-maker, but he communicates and works to persuade the employees rather than simply directing them.
• Participating – The leader works with the team members to make decisions together. He supports and encourages them and is more democratic.
• Delegating – The leader assigns decision-making responsibility to team members but oversees their work.

In addition to these four approaches to leadership, there are also four levels of follower maturity:

• Level M1 – Team members do not possess the motivation or tactical skills to complete necessary jobs
• Level M2 – Team members are willing and ambitious to achieve something, but they lack the necessary ability
• Level M3 – Team members possess the skills and capacity to accomplish tasks, but they’re not willing to take accountability
• Level M4 – Team members possess all the right talents and are motivated to complete projects.

According to situational theory, a leader exercises a particular form of leadership based on the maturity level of his or her team.

In Hershey and Blanchard’s approach, the key to successful leadership is matching the proper leadership style to the corresponding maturity level of the employees. As a general rule, each of the four leadership styles is appropriate for the corresponding employee maturity level:

• Telling style works best for leading employees at the M1 level (low competence, low commitment)
• Selling style works best for leading employees at the M2 level (low competence, high commitment)
• Participating style works best for leading employees at the M3 level (high competence, low commitment/confidence)
• Delegating style works best for leading employees at the M4 level (high competence, high commitment/confidence)

5. Behavioral Theory

This is different from Traits Theory. The most important assumption underlying the behavioral theory is that the leaders can be made. It tries to show that not all are born leaders but there are particular behaviors that can be learned to become leaders. So, this would mean that people can be trained to become leaders. The behavioral theories have in this way provided a better perspective on leadership by showing that leadership is not meant only for specific people but that anybody can be a leader given that he can properly demonstrate leadership behavior. It shows leadership in a more positive light and helps us take a more open-minded approach towards leadership. However, the emphasis of the behavioral theories is on behavior and skills. The theory suggests that effective leadership is the result of many learned skills. Individuals need three primary skills to lead their followers - technical, human and conceptual skills. 

• Technical skills refer to a leader’s knowledge of the process or technique
• Human skills mean that one is able to interact with other individuals
• Conceptual skills enable the leader to come up with ideas for running the organization or society smoothly

Differences between leadership and management

Leadership differs from management in a sense that

• While managers lay down the structure and delegates authority and responsibility, leaders provide direction by developing the organizational vision and communicating it to the employees and inspiring them to achieve it
• While management includes focussing on planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling; leadership is mainly a part of directing function of management. Leaders focus on listening, building relationships, teamwork, inspiring, motivating and persuading the followers
• While a leader gets his authority from his followers, a manager gets his authority by virtue of his position in the organization
• While managers follow the organization’s policies and procedure, the leaders follow their own instinct.
• Management is more of science as the managers are exact, planned, standard, logical and more of mind. Leadership, on the other hand, is an art. In an organization, if the managers are required, then leaders are a must/essential.
• While management measures and evaluates people by their name, past records, and present performance; leadership deals with the people aspects of an organization.
• If management is reactive, leadership is proactive.
• Management is based more on written communication, while leadership is based more on verbal communication.

The organizations which are over-managed and under-led do not perform up to the benchmark. Leadership accompanied by management sets a new direction and makes efficient use of resources to achieve it. Both leadership and management are essential for the individual as well as organizational success.