Does Leadership Make A Difference At Organisational Performance?

A considerable amount of academic writing has been undertaken on the definition of ‘Leadership’ and ‘Management’ over the last couple of centuries. Numerous theories, models and philosophies have been developed to explain each and the different nature of the role of the leader versus the manager. To attempt to summarise all of these would be nigh on impossible but over the recent decades a few theories have resonated and become popular due to the simplicity with which they clarify the thinking.

Leadership is a facet of management. It is just one of the many assets a successful manager must possess. The main aim of a manager is to maximize the output of the organization through administrative implementation. To achieve this managers must undertake the four functions of management: planning, organization, leading and controlling. In some cases leadership is just one important component of the leading function. Predpall (1994) said, "Leaders must let vision, strategies, goals, and values be the guide-post for action and behavior rather than attempting to control others". In some circumstances, leadership is not required. For example, self-motivated groups may not require a single leader and may find leaders dominating. The fact that a leader is not always required proves that leadership is just an asset and is not essential.

Some theorists use the terms ‘leadership’ and ‘management’ reciprocally as if they are tantamount with one another, while others use them in a very purposeful sense to express that they are, in effect, rather different (Bush, 2003). Organisational successfulness, it is generally accepted, is dependant on both competent leadership and consistent management (Dimmock and Walker, 2005) According to Grace (1995) they do not follow from one or the other, but

Leadership is a term that cannot be defined or simplified with a standard definition (Bethel, 2011). The term’s complexity is a phenomenon, as it carries a different meaning for each person. During the

This writer decided to read the first three chapters of the book Leaders Without Titles by Steve Sampson. The first chapter was called “Intellectual Dimension” which was mainly an introduction to the book as a whole and introduced some of the main topics to be discussed throughout the rest of the book. What was interesting about this chapter and caused this writer to pause and seriously rethink the idea of leadership was the statement retold by Sampson (2011) which was originally spoken to him by one of his mentors (Kindle Location 224). The mentor stated that “to influence without authority was the key to leadership” (Sampson, 2011, Kindle Location 224).

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”...

Heifetz, R. A., & Laurie, D. L. (1997). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 75(1),

The principal aspects of leadership are oft debated; to attempt to define what leadership is would most certainly result in broad and varied definitions dependent on who is queried. Nonetheless, in the preeminent

There is strong sufficient evidence to support that practices in leadership have changed in the post bureaucratic era. Since the end of World War 2, leadership and it’s many forms have been altered to become even more bureaucratic through employee participation rather than task orientated. This has become a crucial pillar to society, but has possessed ethical concerns, not only in the world of political context, but also corporate structure in leadership including CEO’s all the way down to the supervisors. Winston, (2003) view’s leadership in society as sole individuals or groups of individuals who lead in different aspects of society such as organisations and politics. This includes one or more people who select, prepare, develop, and influence

Leadership is a process of influencing activities of a particular group of people with the aim of attaining certain stipulated goals. In defining leadership there is need to consider a particular group, the common goals and the duties that are allocated to specific members of the group depending on their abilities (Fiedler 1976). Leadership therefore cannot successfully occur unless members of the group are given different considerations in terms of personality, traits and responsibilities. In considering leadership, it is important to look at the leader, the group or organization they are leading, the members as individuals and the situation; these are

There has been vast amounts of research done on the topic of leadership, and yet despite this it continues to be ‘‘riddled with paradoxes, inconsistencies, and contradictions’’

Leadership has been studied extensively and many varying definitions exist. Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2015, p.4) review many of these definitions and consequently describe leadership as ‘the process of influencing an organised group towards its goals’. Leadership involves the interplay of a range of different factors, not least the leader themselves, the followers and the situation. For

Leadership could be the most valued commodity in business. People are becoming more captivated by the idea of leadership every day and how they continue to themselves and everyone else on what makes them a good leader. An individual may seek more information about leadership and how effective it can be among groups. The reason as to why people are

Over the years, a great deal of time, and research has been dedicate to the study of leadership. Even with extensive data on the topic, many still disagree on what leadership really means. Hence, leadership is a word that has many different meanings and different researched theories associated with it. On a basic level, leadership involves having and establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with followers, respecting followers, and leading an organization with excellence while ensuring that everyone is part of the team. Leadership is also a method by which a leader uses his or her influence towards getting a group of followers to take ownership or buy into a vision.

Leadership has been described as “a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”. In the case study Josh Martin uses much different leadership techniques than Tom Saunders which, in summary, can be seen as a quite different style. In the book ‘Management’ leadership is discussed in relation to management. ”Management and