WEEK 1

LEADERSHIP: DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT

The term leader and leadership is one that exists in all communities and cultures which man
inhabits. Leadership is a necessary component of the human society, at different levels and
facets of life. From traditional settings to the religious scenery, political to the military,
educational, business, entertainment and even the international world, leaders are existent.
This only implies that leadership is pivotal for group, communal, national and organizational
growth and development.

WHO A LEADER IS…

There are several views of who a leader should be, while some subject the term to the
knowledge or skills people possess, some others define it according to the specific traits and
qualities people exhibit and their ability to manage social interactions.

More often, writers who attempt to give meanings to the term leader, convey the essence of
leadership from their own point of view for instance, in a typical community or society, the
term may refer to anyone in the community who has relatively high visibility, such as elected
officials. In an organization, it is often used to highlight the executive director, president,
and/or Board members. However, a leader is certainly more than someone who is widely
recognized or possesses organizational authority (Kolzow, 2014).

The following however are definitions of a Leader;

A leader is a person who selects, equips, trains, and influences one or more followers who
have diverse gifts, abilities, and skills and focuses the follower(s) to the organisation’s
objectives, causing the follower(s) to willingly and enthusiastically expend energy in a
concerted coordinated effort to achieve the organizational objectives.

In addition, Sorenson & Epps (1996) see a leader as a forceful and dynamic personality who
really leads from the front; an architect and implementer of strategy; a mediator in conflict
situations; an integrator who assures the climate of the organization; a person able to motivate
subordinates and who, by persuasion, compulsion or example to others; succeeds in getting
others to follow the leader’s wishes.
A leader is therefore responsible for inspiring and creating the enabling environment for
his/her followers to productively harness their abilities into achieving individual growth and
meeting organizational goals. One could conclude as John Seaman Garn opined, “Leaders are
just ordinary people with extraordinary determination.”

DEFINING THE TERM LEADERSHIP

The term leadership means different things to different people, teams and organisations; thus,
its definition is varied depending on perspectives, personalities, philosophies and professions.
Consequently, there are as many definitions as there are writers on the concept of leadership.

Some definition provided by different writers are:

“Leadership is the relationship between two or more people in which the leader attempts to
influence the follower(s) toward the accomplishment of some common goal or goals, which
are worthwhile, meaningful, and challenging goals.”

“Leadership is the ability to exert interpersonal influence by means of communication

towards the achievement of a goal.” It is also the “art of mobilising others to want to struggle
for shared aspirations.”

“Leadership is an influence process that enable managers to get their people to do willingly
what must be done, do well what ought to be done.” (Cribbin, J.J. ‘Leadership: strategies for
organizational effectiveness’)

“Leadership is that process in which one person sets the purpose or direction for one or more
other persons and gets them to move along together with him or her and with each other in
that direction with competence and full commitment.” (Jaques E. & Clement, 1994)

“Leadership is the raising of a man’s performance to a higher standard, through stimulation

and motivation; which eventually leads to the building of a man’s personality beyond its
normal limitations.”

Harvard Professor Rosabeth Ross Kanter suggests that leadership is the art of mastering
change . . . the ability to mobilize others’ efforts in new directions. Buttressing the thrust of
this definition, Vance Packard, defined the term as the art of getting others to want to do
something you are convinced should be done; while Harry Truman succinctly see leadership
as the ability to get men to do what they don’t want to do and like it.

While there are diverse definitions of leadership, the varied definitions have a few common
elements (denominators):

 Influence exerted by leader

 Art of persuasion
 Leader-follower interactions/ relationships
 Set objectives/ shared aspirations

Notably, leadership as seen from the above definitions is not a person or a position. It is a
complex moral relationship between people, based on trust, obligation, commitment,
emotion, and a shared vision of the goal.

Class Discuss (The Leaders are BORN or MADE Debate)

“Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the
price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.”
Vince Lombardi
The belief that only a few people are born to this world with the natural abilities to lead is
untrue and misleading. Leaders are NOT BORN but NURTURED. While a potential leader
can be born with innate qualities that predispose them to being leaders, such as natural
intelligence and the ability to learn, this doesn’t mean that effective leaders are the smartest
people in an organization. However, they have to be smart enough to make decisions and to
mobilize resources to do the work that is needed. Hence, it’s not about how leadership was
acquired by someone; it’s more about how he or she acted on it that makes the difference
Kolzow (2014).

More so, it is a fallacy that leadership is exclusively reserved for individuals with certain sex,
physical trait, quality or position or it is the private reserve of a few charismatic men and
women. Leadership in fact is a process ordinary people use when they are bringing forth the
best from themselves and others. Hence, everyone and anyone have the capacity to lead at
some level despite their sex, physical trait, qualities or even the position they find themselves
in an organization.
While it isn’t likely that everyone will become a leader, which regrettably Kolzow (2014)
attributed to the lack of will by too many people to change or to develop their leadership
potential. To him, more often, many people find it easier to “go with the flow” and be content
with their circumstances. And even if they aren’t content, they would rather complain about
their situation than do what is necessary to change it.

Becoming a leader means having the will to pursue a path that builds competency and
capacity. This path, however, is not any easy one that is quickly mastered, its development is
an ongoing process, not an event or the implementation of a specific program. And as John C.
Maxwell (2005) in his book “The 3600 Leader” noted, “Leading is not a one-time event; it is
an ongoing process that takes time.”