Leadership

Leadership

Abstract

The questions of leadership skills evoked people interests since the ancient times. There are still no strict definition about what leadership is and how it should be studied. According to Stogdill (1974) there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it. As soon one tries to define leadership, they immediately discover that leadership has many different meanings. Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.

Leadership

Introduction

The aim of this article is to present what leadership is, and to analyze how the leadership of people can contribute to effective organizational behavior and development. In order to do this, it is important to define what the difference between management and leadership. After that, there will be the definition of all functions of leadership, such as: establishing direction function of leadership, the aligning people function of leadership and motivating and inspiring function of leadership. Also, the theories of different types of leadership and relationship will be present.

Differences between management and leadership

When looking at how the leadership can contribute to effective organizational behavior, development through leadership it is important to establish the differences between management and leadership. Some theorists hold the opinion that leadership is one area of the management role and in order to be a successful manager they must possess some leadership skills by default. The argument for differentiating between leaders and managers was started by Jay (2007) in 'Manager and Leaders: Are they different?' where he argued "the difference between managers and leaders lies in the conceptions they hold, deep in their psyches, of chaos and order". A more recent argument suggests that "a manager can be regarded as someone who by definition is assigned a position of leadership in an organization"(Cardona 2000). This definition suggests that managers are in positions of leadership but may not necessarily be leaders. The definition therefore suggests that leadership is in some way an extension of the management function Bass (1985).

In 'what leaders really do' Kotter (2001) argues that "Leadership is not necessarily better than management. Rather leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities". In the article Kotter identifies what he sees as the key functions of leadership and management.

Influence map

Management roles are concerned with "bringing a degree of order and consistency to key dimensions like the quality and profitability of products" (Kotter, 2001). Key aspects of the management function are planning and budgeting, organizing and staffing, controlling and problem solving. The emergence of management roles is connected with the growth of large companies where there is a requirement to control subordinates to prevent chaos emerging. The outcomes of good management can be viewed in terms of consistent performance through the implementation of common procedures and practices.

Leadership roles are concerned with coping with change. Kotter states that "part of the reason leadership has become so important is that the business world has become ...