The Meaning of Leadership
There is no overall definition of
leadership as it can have many different interpretations and
theorists have been hypothesising about the ideal characteristics and
behaviour for effective leadership for many years. Put simply leadership is "a
relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of
other people" (Mullins 2007, p363). This incorporates the leadership behaviour
with the social interactions of groups and how the actions of others are
influenced by the leader. It is described by Keith Davis as;
"Leadership is the ability to persuade others to seek defined objectives
enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group together and
motivates it towards goals" (Management Study Guide
2012). Increasingly leadership is not associated with command and
control but with inspiration, by engaging well with others and creating a
vision that they can identify with and be influenced to follow (Pearson
Education Ltd 2013).
Characteristics of leadership:
- An interpersonal process involving the manager influencing and guiding followers towards achieving goals.
- A minimum number of essential leadership qualities such as intelligence, maturity and personality.
- A group process involving two or more people interacting.
- The leader is capable of shaping and moulding the group's and individuals' behaviour to motivate the group towards goal attainment.
- No best style of leadership because it is situation bound. The leader is able to utilise different behaviours and leadership styles appropriate to the situation to maximise performance of the followers.
There have been four major theories of leadership:
Management Versus Leadership
There is a continuing debate on the differences between management
and leadership. They are increasingly being perceived as interrelated because it
depends on the situation as to which is required.
The McKinsey 7-s model describes
the differences between management and leadership. Watson suggests that
managers tend to rely on strategy, structure and systems, but that leaders are
able to utilise the soft characteristics of style, staff, skills and shared
goals. It is essentially a leadership model because managers are usually unable
to attain mastery of all 7 elements to consistently achieve a higher level of
organisational performance (Pearson Education Ltd 2013).
Management and leadership are
frequently perceived as synonymous; management can be viewed as 'getting work
done through the efforts of other people. To be an effective manager it is
necessary to exercise the role of Leadership' (Pearson Education Ltd 2013,
p284).
Despite this view, it is possible to be
a manager and not be seen as a leader, this could be more aptly described as
being an administrator. Alternatively leaders can maintain a position of
influence whilst remaining outside the boundaries of the organisation, whilst
managers generally work more closely with their subordinates. This type of
management has a valuable role where situations require a manager to have a
more in depth knowledge of organisational practices and procedures, focusing
more on short term goals and functions of the organisation to get work done
(Sun 2013).
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