Investigating Leadership
Introduction
After conducting some research on leadership, many questions have been brought to my attention. Some questions include the following: What is a leader? Are leaders made or born? What is the difference between leadership and management? What are the theories concerning leadership? Answers to these questions, and many others, should become clear enough at the end of this research.
Schermerhorn defines leadership as 'a special case of interpersonal influence that gets an individual or group to do what the leader wants done' (287). On the other hand, Kathryn Bartol defines leadership as ?the process of influencing others to achieve organizational goals? (415). After analyzing the two
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(5). On the other hand, the author describes leading as the process of
?Influencing others to engage in the work behaviors necessary to reach organizational goals? (7). Therefore, by analyzing Bartol?s definition of management, it becomes clear that leading is a management function. Even though there is an interrelation between leadership and management, leaders and managers are not the same. Leaders consider their goals personal, and they motivate others by creating ambitious goals. Job titles and organizational standings are not an issue for leaders, for they search for self-achievement and self-satisfaction through the accomplishment of goals and the sense of power (Georgiades 97). On the other hand, managers do not consider their goals as personal; it is more of a monetary based goal in which they can govern others, and achieve the end result of uniting the members subordinate to them to function in a productive manner. They organize the subordinates and resources in order to achieve the previously determined organizational goals. They also relate to other people according to job titles and organizational standings, therefore search for high organizational standings (Georgiades 97). In the book ?Leadership for Competitive Advantage,? the author explains James MacGregor-Burns? comparison of managers and leaders; Burns is the author of
goal setting and goal attainment”. The two leadership theories which I will compare and contrast are
In the changing business environment, leaders of all organisations may face unprecedented uncertainty, especially the technology advancement and changes among the employees. To survive and succeed, leaders should have some necessary attributes. Meanwhile, some changes for leadership skills have to be made to confront the challenges.
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
When talking about leadership, one cannot help but wonder how it relates to nursing. If the focus of nursing should be caring for patients who are either well or ill, then why is there a need to tackle leadership? Unlike before, today’s health care environment is complex, rapid and continuously changing. This development prompts an upcoming danger to the nurse’s skills, identity and ability to coordinate with other health care professionals. On the other hand, this also makes nurses challenge their own into taking the lead, developing goals, consolidating a purpose and moving towards an attainable vision. A nurse leader then needs to combine clinical, administrative, financial and operational skills to effectively solve various clinical
Leadership is a highly sought-after and highly valued commodity. In the 20 years since the first edition of this book was published, the public has become increasingly captivated by the idea of leadership. People continue to ask themselves and others what makes good leaders. As individuals, they seek more information on how to become effective leaders. Thus, bookstore shelves are filled with popular books about leaders and advice on how to be a leader. Many people believe that leadership is a way to improve their personal, social, and professional lives. Corporations seek those with leadership ability because they believe
Being a leader is not necessarily being a manager and being a manager is not always being a leader. Being able to distinguish the differences between a leader and manager is not always simple. Today's demanding business unquestionably adds to the level of difficulty in determining, who is what. This paper will be illustrating the differences that separate a leader from a manager and vise versa. This paper will also review the duties and roles of a leader and what is needed to create and sustain a strong organization.
Leaders play a crucial role in the society and organizations, especially with regards to helping the organization achieve its objectives and purposes. These individuals use varying approaches to leadership that inform their practices in motivating organizational members towards the accomplishment of common objectives. Through their practices, leaders not only influence the behaviors of their followers or subordinates but also help in shaping organizational culture. The use of different leadership styles and philosophies is also attributed to the difference in concept and practices of the leader. Moreover, leaders can improve their effectiveness through adopting strategies that address the weaknesses of their leadership approaches since every leadership style or approach has certain weaknesses.
The book entitled Successful Leadership by, Carol O’ Conner discusses seven areas that are essential for successful leadership. Developing Awareness, understanding people, power and authority, communication, decision making, creating a vision, and taking charge are important leadership requirements and skills. Seven chapters in this book are based on the seven concepts just mentioned.
Leadership is defined as the art of getting people to do what they may not want to do on their own. It may involve getting people do things that seem to be against their own self-interest and a leader uses various tools to achieve their goals. Yet another definition of leadership is from the US Army, for over two hundred years the US Army has produced leaders who have led its organization and later gone on to become President of the United States. They continue to produce leaders for the nation and define leadership as “influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” (US Army) A more refined definition of leadership is offered by B. Wintson and K. Patterson, “The leader throughout each leader-follower-audience interaction demonstrates his/her commitment to the values of (a) humility, (b) concern for others, (c) controlled discipline, (d) seeking what is right and good for the organization, (e) showing mercy in beliefs and actions with all people, (f) focusing on the purpose of the organization and on the well-being of the followers, and (g) creating and sustaining peace in the organization–not a lack of conflict but a place where peace grows.” (Winston and Patterson, 2006) For our uses in this paper we will use a combination of definition of leadership is the art of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, while accomplishing
A successful leader is most importantly a mentor. This person grooms his or her staff to take his or her place, by teaching, inspiring and helping one to reach personal goals as well as the goals of the organization. Sam Adams, one of the leaders of the Boston Tea Party, was quoted as saying: "Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish (Government Leaders, 2011)."
Leadership is a complex term to define because different people define it differently. Proper leadership is essential for the success of every organization. A leader is supposed to influence the others towards the achievement of the organizational goals. Moreover, he is also supposed to motivate the employees to work hard, towards the achievement of common goals. Some people believe that the leaders are, nurtured, while others believe that the leaders are born, depending on their different perspectives. Many theories have arisen, trying to explain the concept of leadership, according to different theorists. However, these philosophers have not come to an agreement, and debates about leadership have
I still struggle with feeling like there are enough hours in the day to do everything that needs to be done. I find that there are still many days that I will work 10 hours, then handle family commitments, then exercise, then try to spend time with friends, only to find that it’s time to go to bed and I haven’t checked everything off my to-do list. I have been trying to improve upon this skill in a few ways including, choosing to be proactive, carefully considering how making a commitment impacts my overall well-being, and using a new calendar so that I can clearly see what commitments I have already made and how adding a new one would impact my schedule.
While there will be a plethora of obstacles that I anticipate to face as a leader, I feel as though there a few fundamental leadership elements that will come naturally, and others that I will have to work hard to obtain and utilize. While authenticity and effective communication has always came naturally to me, I have always struggled with appealing to common ideals and delegating authority to members of a team. I hope to improve my leadership skills and overcome obstacles by learning from other successful leaders around me, and understanding that becoming a successful leader is a process that requires patience, and cannot be transformed overnight.
According to Stogdill (1974, p7) “There are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept.” Leadership has been defined in a variety of different ways; most definitions of leadership share processual, contextual and evaluative components. Taking a chronological view, Hollander (1978, p1) defined leadership as “A process of influence between a leader and those who are followers.” Leadership is an interaction between two or more members of a group that often involves a structuring or restricting of the situation and the perceptions and expectations
When running a business it is inportant for you to explicilty write in detail what everyones roles are in every aspect of your dance studio. Many dance studios have an executive role that is broken into two as the business manger and artistic directior, we will look more into the brakedowns below. Depending on your studios needs you may need to adjust what each of the roles do, in some cases you may need to brake down what is needed even more than into two parts.