WHAT IS LEADERSHIP ALL ABOUT?

Definition of Leadership

What is leadership all about? This can be the proverbial $64,000 question.
In order to know what leadership is all about, one has to first accept a
definition of the term leadership. Defining the term leadership can be a
hazardous task and many schools of thought and as many authors have
offered their very own meaning of the term leadership. If one accepts the
notion that one is not born a leader but that acquiring the status of a leader
is a process, then a plausible definition of leadership is the process of
influencing an organized group toward accomplishing its goals.

Although the ability to influence is a hallmark attribute of a leader,

leadership displayed will need the agreement of followers towards
achieving the outcome desired. Thus, another acceptable definition as
expounded by Richard L. Daft is leadership being an influence relationship
among leaders and followers who want substantive changes that will lead
to outcomes that both want.

Leadership – Art or Science

What then is leadership really about? Is leadership a science or an art? One

school of thought accepts the notion that leadership appears to be an art of
getting others to do something that the leader is convinced should be done.
On the other hand, the science of leadership is reflected in the many
research studies undertaken. These research studies provide a great deal of
knowledge and facts that describes the leadership process and how one is
able to use leadership skills to achieve the goals of the organization.
Leadership – a process, not a position

Current thinking has most definitions of leadership being a process, not a

position. Therefore, if leadership involves the intentional influence exerted
by the leaders over the organized groups of followers towards
accomplishing their goals, the consequential argument that will follow will
be whether leadership is a specialized role or a shared influence process?
Daft suggests that leadership is a people activity and is distinct from
administrative paperwork or planning activities. There is the leader and
there are the followers and both show intent and are actively involved in
the pursuit of change with each person taking responsibilities to achieve
the desired goals.

In his writings on leadership, Gary Yukl summarized two views on the

influencing process of leadership. One is that there are role specializations
for every person in the group, with the person taking on the specialized
leadership role recognised as the leader. The other view is that the
leadership influencing process occurs naturally within the organised group
and is shared among its members. Thus, any member can exhibit leadership
at any time in undertaking roles and functions that influence the group at
the particular point in time.

Therefore, it can be viewed that leadership is actually is shared

responsibility with everyone being a leader or follower depending on the
task or role undertaken at any given time and who exercises influence. Thus,
leadership qualities and capabilities are not the sole domain of managers
and supervisors as employees can also exhibit leadership in the manner
they carry out their daily functions and as they interact with their fellow
workers.

Leadership and Manager

Thus, what then is the difference between a manager and a leader? A

person can be a leader and yet may not be a good manager and conversely,
a good manager is not necessarily a good leader. Bennis and Nanus (1985,
p.21) suggested that “managers are people who do things right and leaders
are people who do the right things”. Therefore, managers are linked to
tasks such as administer, maintain and control, whilst leaders are said to
innovate, develop and inspire. Such a notion will result in two personality
types where one is not necessarily better or worse compared to the other.

However, it is possible for a person to exhibit both personality types and be

a manager and leader at the same time. So, just as leadership can be
defined as a process, one can view managing and leading as two distinct
processes that can be not mutually exclusive and can be effectively
integrated in a person who displays both leadership and managerial
qualities.

Leadership Theories

The concept of leadership has been researched extensively and over time
theories have evolved with various approaches still being researched. Two
main theories dwell on the trait approach and the behavioral approach
with the latter also considering the notion of individualized leadership, the
relationship between the leader and follower.

The trait approach is one the earliest approaches studied, concentrating on

the attributes of leaders. The assumption is that leaders are endowed with
certain leadership traits and innate abilities that are not found in others.
The traits generally researched are physical characteristics, ability and
personality. However, they do not guarantee success as a leader.
Nevertheless, it is found that certain traits will make a leader more
effective in certain situations.

Thus, a leader, immaterial of the level of success of a particular endeavour,

needs to have optimism, self-confidence and drive to face the challenges
ahead in seeing through the changes or goals to be achieved. Whilst it may
not be so obvious or needful in certain communities or organization,
leaders that have positive attitudes such as honesty and integrity that align
themselves to the perception of the followers requiring such attitudes will
be effective leaders.

The next approach studied is the behavioral approach with focus on the
leadership styles. The behaviour of leaders towards their followers can
determine the effectiveness of leadership and it is generally found that
leadership styles are consistent with the personalities of the leaders. The
autocratic leader leaves no doubt who is in charge and would centralize
authority, deriving power from leadership position, coercion and control of
rewards. On the other hand, the participative leaders involve the followers
in decision making via consultative or democratic means.

Whilst both invites and encourages participation, the consultative leader

requires a high level of involvement from the followers but leaves no doubt
that the leader makes the final decision whereas the democratic leader
would delegate and confer authority to followers and relies mainly on their
expertise and knowledge to complete a task.

However, leaders need to understand the challenges and be able to offer

solutions to solve them from their own experiences if they are to gain a
higher level of respect from each of their followers. Such respect from
followers or influence on them will depend on how the leaders behave
towards the followers and the response from the followers. This gives rise
to the notion of individualized leadership where the leadership behavior of
the leader in developing a very special relationship and interaction with
each follower is key to effective leadership.

Leadership and Situation

The results of effective leadership are dependent not only on the leader
and followers but also on situation as the third variable. Situational factors
can constrain or facilitate a leader’s effectiveness and the leader can
change such factors to enhance leadership effectiveness. Thus, analyzing
the interactional framework that links the leader to the follower and
situation is important in determining effective leadership.
The many contingency theories attempt to describe this interactional
framework and the need for a good fit between the leadership styles and
the conditions in the situation. Effective leadership displayed in one
situation may not bring the same result in another situation. The situation
variable and the manner in which to cope with it is perhaps the most
difficult to ascertain in this framework as it can refer to a host of variables
like task, structure, and environment. The 3 key situational elements
generally accepted are the leader-follower relations (referring to the group
atmosphere and the relationship between the leader and followers), the
task structure (referring to whether the tasks performed by the group are
interesting and enjoyable as well as being well-defined with clear explicit
goals) and position power (referring to the extent the leader has authority
over the followers). There are other situational contingencies such as
personal characteristics of group members and the work environment that
can affect the outcome of effective leadership.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is no simple answer to the question on what leadership

is all about. It is many things to many people and how it is defined depends
on the perspective of each individual. Nevertheless, an important attribute
of leadership is the ability to influence others to undertake the work or
changes necessary to achieve desired goals.

In understanding leadership, one also has to understand the leader and his
leadership styles, the followers and their “followership” styles and the
situations they are in. Therefore, leadership is often the result of the
complex set of interactions amongst the leader, the follower and the
situation.

References:

a) Richard L. Daft, “The leadership Experience” 4th Edition, Thomson South-Western

b) Gary Yukl, “Leadership in Organisation” 4th Edition,Prentice-Hall International,
Inc.

c) Richad L. Hughes, Robert C. Ginnet, Gordon J. Curphy, “Leadership – Enhancing

the Lessons of Experience” 6th Edition, Mcgraw-Hill