LEADERSHIP

Leadership Theories And Styles

Leadership Theories And Styles

There are many ways to differentiate leaders from others persons. A recognised leader is someone who has followers; whose focus is not on popularity but on results; a role model - he/she is highly visible and leads by example - is a "doer"; Blazer of new trails - through innovative actions and courage, has acted as a change agent and demonstrated a willingness to take risks; Facilitator - he/she recognizes the diverse individuals and talents within the organization by creating an environment where individuals can best apply their individual talents; Person who maintains the highest ethical standards - he/she constantly submits to the "mirror test" by making sure the person reflected in the mirror consistently honors the highest ethical and moral code; Visionary - he/she is always measuring decisions against the question - Does this fulfill the mission and goal of the organization? How will performance and results be measured?

Further, according to James Macgregor Burns, "Executive leaders have effective power (rather than mere formal authority) to the degree that they can activate the need and motivational bases of other leaders and subordinates in the organisation. This power in essence is the traditional power to reward and penalize - but what do the respondents or power recipients consider being rewards and penalties? In a large organisation there motivations are likely to be as varied as human needs can be - not only for security, higher income and better working conditions but for affection, recognition, deference, esteem, and for both autonomy towards and dependence on the executive leader, for both conformity and individuality - traits that can exist in the same person. Other things being equal, the stronger the motivational base the leader taps the greater control over that person the leader can exercise."

Thus, leaders are persons who use different methods to ensure that the right work gets done. Hence, not only do leaders need to know how to deal with persons but also must know what the right things are.

Leadership

Leadership is defined in a dictionary as: the position or function of a leader; the ability to lead; or an act or instance of leading. In a business environment real leadership is the act of pulling your employees forward to a desired level of performance.

A distinction can be made between a leader who gets people to achieve specific goals and a leader who gets people to achieve specific goals and develops a self actualisation belief system or culture. Both are exercising leadership. However, one is dealing with "transactions" and the other is "transforming" the character of the organisation. Thus, transactional leadership is when leaders determine what subordinates need to do to achieve objectives, classify the requirements to achieve the objectives and help subordinates become confident they can reach their objectives. On the other hand transformational leadership works on the vision for the organisational as a whole and prepares the employees of the organisation to meet the challenges of the future and deal with all of ...