Leadership And Governance
Introduction
Like love, death, money, politics, and war, the subject of leadership is one that is continuously under discussion. Yet, despite all the attention given to leadership and its recognized importance, leadership still remains pretty much of an unexplained and confusing concept. There are innumerable theories that explain various facets of the leadership phenomena but unfortunately there is no comprehensive and general theory of leadership, which can make our overall task of understanding leadership easy and simple. One of the best ways in which we can enhance our understanding of leadership is to see how various students of the subject have defined
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However a closer examination of the following definitions of leadership will reveal that there is a growing awareness that in leadership "influence or persuasion" which leads to "willing or motivated goal achievement behavior" is the key concept.
Leadership researchers have defined leadership in the following different ways:
· The creative and directive force of morale (Munson 1981).
· The process by which an agent induces a subordinate to behave in a desired manner (Bennis 1959).
· The presence of a particular influence relationship between two or more persons (Hollander & Julian 1969).
· Directing and coordinating the work of group members (Fielder 1967).
· An interpersonal relation in which others comply because they want to, not because they have to (Hogan et al. 1994).
· Transforming followers, creating visions of the goals that may be attained, and articulating for the followers the ways to attain those goals (Tichy & Devanna 1986).
Regardless of the definitions used, leadership must have a worthwhile purpose. Without a specific goal, leadership can degrade into an exercise in self-enrichment rather than mission accomplishment. For example, you should not aspire to be an executive vice president for the large salary. Rather, you should aspire for high office in order to accomplish specific goals for the improvement of the
As a Naval Officer I had the opportunity to experience both leadership and management. Today's Navy operates with fewer people and resources than before. Therefore, leadership and management are more important than ever. Very early in my career I was taught leadership and as I advanced through the ranks I experienced management.
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.
Ultimately these factors would result in my behaviour being that of an affiliative and democratic style of leadership. It is also possible that a coaching style my also become apparent, where the factor is that of a personal situation.
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”...
Leadership entails guiding others to realize particular goals using a variety of skills (Sullivan & Garland, 2011); Weihrich & Koontz, 2008). Likewise, Spector (2006) defined leadership as the art of influencing others to readily and actively endeavour towards achieving goals set by the team. Additionally, Spector (2006) emphasized that there is a shared theme that leadership comprises influencing individual belief systems, behaviours and feelings. As such, the smooth running of an organization requires effective leadership.
My Leadership Philosophy consist of three major parts that can be sub-divided into many smaller parts. As a Non-Commissioned Officer I know that the mission and the welfare of my Soldiers are my main priority and I will instill that. It is my responsibility to ensure that my Soldiers are also guided to success. I believe that there are three major parts of Leadership, dedication and hard work, honesty and empathy, and confidence.
Masters of Arts in educational leadership is a study field that interested me deciding on the master program to pursue (Green, 2010). The program is essential in academic institutions since it views leadership as a relational process. In other words, it has an all-inclusive attitude towards people and their diverse points of views sharing a common goal and vision among individuals in the institution. The strong interest and desire of pursuing the art program resulted from the interest of understanding the cultural aspects of people that leads to their diversified points of view. Additional interests in educational leadership arose from the increased urge of expounding knowledge on leadership. Furthermore, based on the dynamic nature of the modern society, pursuing the master program aimed at understanding different management styles and required skills for these styles (Green, 2010). The discussion paper has the objective of expounding and reflecting on the different aspects of educational leadership learnt in the MA in educational leadership program.
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
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
Is every good manager a good leader? Is every leader a good manager? Leadership and management are often used in similar perspectives, yet they do not share the same meaning. Leaders are exactly what the name says - they lead team members to success. Managers, like leaders, have the meaning referenced in the name. Managers manage over employees, striving for success. The two titles can be used simultaneously with one person, but this is a rare occurrence.
Change is when a person does not follow their everyday routine. They may want to try something different, or be forced to. Change can be for the good and the bad. Places can deal with change ranging from the weather, to the animals present, or the seasons changing. Also, objects can deal with change too. Objects like an iceberg can start to melt, or a forest fire can kill many trees in an area. As a human, we are the ones deciding on change. We are in a position to make big decisions and possibly even become a leader in order for change to happen. If one person starts to change, others will follow and hopefully, the change benefits all.
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.
Within each organization there should be effective leaders who should be able to maintain an organization’s vision and mission. These leaders are part of the management that can effectively lead a growing organization to succeed. There are various tools such as character traits, influence, persuasion, and change which can help an effective leader manage. A manger/leader should be prepared to persuade and influence others by using their character traits. Theories of leadership, management, and influence and change will be a major topic in this paper. This paper will discuss each of the elements of leadership and management, and how influence, persuasion, and change can affect the outcome.
One of the topics in organizational development today is leadership. Leadership is what individuals do to mobilize other people in organizations and communities. According to Kouzes & Posner, there are five practices and ten commitments of exemplary leadership. The five practices of exemplary leadership include: Model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. In the Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner found similar patterns and actions of leadership that created the essentials to achieve success. Utilizing the research conducted by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, I have created a leadership plan that would apply to the Admission Department at Texas Wesleyan University.
Taking a deep further look at the definition, we can consider Leadership as ‘the process of influencing an organized group’, engaging them to maximize group effectiveness, ‘towards the accomplishment of a goal’. (Hughes, Ginnet & Curphy 2015, p. 5)