What is Leadership?

• Leadership is a complex phenomenon involving the leader, the

followers, and the situations.
• Leadership researchers have defined leadership in many different
ways:
• - The process by which an agent induces a subordinates to behave
in a desired manner (Bennis, 1959)
• Directing and coordinating the work of group members (Fiedler,
1967)
• An interpersonal relation in which others comply because they want
to, not because they have to (Merton, 1969).

• Transforming followers, creating visions of the goals that may

be attained, and articulating for the followers the way to
attain those goals (Bass, 1985; Tichy & Devanna, 1986)
• The process of influencing an organized group toward
accomplishing its goals (Roach & Behling, 1984)
• Actions that focus resources to create desirable opportunities
(Campbell, 1991)
• The leader’s job is to create conditions for the team to be effective
(Ginnett, 1996).

• The ends of leadership involve getting resuts through others, and the
means of leadership involve the ability to build cohesive, goal-oriented
teams. Good leaders are those who build teams to get results across
variety of situations (Hogan, Curphy, & Hogn, 1994).
• Leadership and Management

• “What is leadership?” it is natural to look at the relationship between

leadership and management.

• Management suggest words like efficiency, planning, paperwork,

procedures, regulations, control, and consistency.

• Leadership is often more associated with words like risk taking,

dynamic, creativity, change and vision.
• Leaders are thought to do the right things, whereas managers are
thought to do things right. Here are some distinctions between
managers and leaders:
• Managers administer; leaders innovate
• Managers maintain; leaders develop
• Managers control; leaders inspire.
• Managers have a short term view; leaders, along term view.
• Managers ask how and when; leaders ask what and why.
• Managers imitate; leader originate
• Managers accept the status quo; leader challenge it.
• Leadership and management complement each other, and both are
vital to organizational success.
• Leadership and Followership
• Leadership is a social influence process shared among all members of
the group.
• Leadership is not restricted to the influence exerted by someone in a
particular position or role; followers are part of the leadership
process.
• What is leadership cannot be separated from the question “What is
followership? There is no line dividing them; they merge.
• When top level executive were asked to list qualities they must
look for and admire in leaders and followers, the list were
similar but not identical.

• Ideal leaders were characterized as honest, competent,

forward looking and inspiring; ideal followers were described
as honest, competent, independent, and cooperative
• The difference could be critical in certain situations, as when a
forward looking and inspiring subordinates perceive as significant
conflict between his own goals or ethics and those of his superior.