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Essay Investigating Leadership

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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 …show more content…

(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

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