Management Essentials CA3

- Gunreet Marwah, 21060322059

Why is leadership important?

Leadership is the ability of an executive to manage, guide, and influence the behaviour and
work of colleagues to achieve specific goals in a given scenario. The capacity of a manager to
inspire zeal and confidence in their employees is known as leadership. It’s the capacity to
affect how others behave. It may also mean having the power to persuade a group to achieve
a particular objective. Leaders must develop future visions and inspire the organisation's
members to desire to realise the concepts.
Principles of Leadership:
1. A manager influences and leads employees toward achieving goals through an
interpersonal process.
2. It indicates that a person must possess several characteristics, such as intellect,
maturity, and personality.
3. It involves a team effort and interactions between two or more persons.
4. The leader shapes and moulds the group's behaviour to achieve organisational
objectives.
Effective leadership is critical to every organisation's efficient operation. Regardless of how
big or small the job is, a leader is necessary to direct the team, assure satisfactory delivery,
and deliver the output. The concept of leadership has been developing over time. After many
years of being considered a personal attribute, the definition has started changing for many
people.
According to experts, leadership is a complicated phenomenon in which the followers and the
setting play a crucial role. It is much more than just a personal quality.
The British resistance during World War II is maybe an ideal scenario to exemplify the
contemporary concept of leadership. When the British population felt in danger by Germans
at the outset of the war, they looked towards Churchill as their leader. Churchill was chosen
for the First Lord of the Admiralty post based on his reputation as a warrior, especially in
light of his First World War service. He soon took over as prime minister, leading England to
victory in the war five years later. Three months after the war ended, Churchill lost the prime
minister election. Churchill was not seen favourably by British civilians as the best leader for
the nation's restoration. Churchill was seen as the ideal leader during times of war but not
during times of peace.
Meaning, a leader may not be suitable for every situation he’s put in, but even when not
ready, they should be able to adapt and overcome obstacles. Hence, to lead an organisation
towards the road of success, a leader who guides while motivating the employees is necessary
at every step.
Do you agree that people are born leaders?
Leadership is not a science but rather an art. It is a collection of intrinsic qualities that have
been improved and honed through time via education, training, and experience.
So, what this essentially means is that everyone has the potential to lead and can become a
leader. So, the question is, how far can they develop it? For instance, a woman raising a kid is
the pinnacle of leadership. Hence, raising, controlling, and imparting principles in a child is
leadership. So, it's evident that leadership is something people are born with to some level.
According to behavioural theories, leaders are developed through teaching, learning, and
observing. Leadership is a collection of abilities that one may acquire via education,
experience, practice, and observation through time. Learning about leadership is a lifetime
endeavour.
The solution to the born leader's dilemma is neither neat nor straightforward. The truth is that
numerous huge clichés about leadership can be true and have a significant impact. 
"Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard
work.” Vince Lombardi, a hall-of-fame football coach, is the author of these enduring
remarks. This quote conveys the concept that true leadership is a result of maturity,
perseverance, and enthusiasm. However, some may argue that many leaders possess these
qualities from birth. These born leaders do well under stress because it is instinctive to them.
Therefore, the question, "Are leaders born or made?" continues. Each side of the coin has a
grain of truth. Most of these skills are acquired through time, but outstanding leaders are
well-rounded in many different areas. Leaders emerge through honing their innate talents,
whether in charge of a large firm or a budding company.
And while some may still contend that certain people are born leaders, being an effective
leader still takes effort. This shows that if you want to acquire the abilities required for your
position, leadership development is something you must undertake. If genuine leadership is
something only a select few possess at birth, then only a few people would be qualified to
lead. According to Warren G. Bennis, the most destructive leadership myth is that leadership
is inherited or has a genetic component.
Leadership is a continuous learning process. Thus, it is essential to consider if it can be taught
to someone. It is each person's responsibility to develop their leadership skills.
However, the "born" explanation ignores the significance of learning and experience on one’s
personalities, and behaviours—both a talent and a habit, leadership. "Practice makes a man
perfect," is true for most abilities. As one gets better at something, the pattern takes control.
Whether in business, athletics, or politics, being able to successfully lead, inspire, and
manage a group of people involves a very sophisticated set of abilities, most of which are
learned via experiences, self-development, and access to further education.
Based on what we understand about group dynamics, expecting someone to be a fully
developed, competent leader with the capacity to motivate and influence their Team from
birth just doesn't make sense. So, the verdict for this one states that leaders are mostly made,
not born.

What are the top ten qualities or skills that leaders must possess?
- Encourages Others to Self-Organise.
It's crucial to disperse authority throughout the business and rely on individuals
closest to the action to make decisions. Empowered teams demonstrate higher work
satisfaction and commitment to their team and company, are more productive and
proactive and offer superior customer service. 
- Demonstrates Openness to Fresh ideas.
Leaders must first demonstrate an openness to learning (and altering path) in order to
foster staff learning. Remind individuals that all opinions will be taken into
consideration while withholding judgement until after everyone has spoken. Leaders
must establish a culture that encourages taking risks in order to resolve and lay
foundation for developing collective intelligence so that workers may also learn from
one another's failures.
- Instils a Sense of Security and Demonstrates High Ethics.
A leader with high ethical standards exudes a dedication to impartiality and inspires
trust in their ability and willingness to uphold the law of the game. Similar to this,
when leaders make their expectations clear, they save people from being taken by
surprise and make sure that everyone is on the same page.
- Cognitive Approaches.
Because it is difficult to get expertise in before taking on a leadership position, critical
planning is frequently the sector that new leaders dislike the most. When put into
perspective, though, it just comes down to figuring out where you are, where you
want to go, and how to get there.
- Nurtures Growth.
When leaders demonstrate a commitment to our development, the same primitive
emotions are triggered within employees. Employees are compelled to reciprocate by
going the extra mile to display their gratitude or loyalty. When motivated by
admiration, work of a far different calibre is produced than when we are managed out
of fear.
- Placing Relationship Building First.
Modern leadership theories incorporate the human aspects of employees, such as their
desire to build connections with team members, and take a more comprehensive
approach to the workplace. Leaders need to be exceptional connection builders in all
facets as employees, being human beings, cannot contribute merely the part of
themselves that accomplishes the work to their companies and bring their whole self
to the table.
- Possesses a High Level of Emotional Intelligence.
 Effective leaders are self-aware and have a natural ability to discern their own
emotional responses. This makes it possible for them to keep their calm under trying
conditions. Their strong emotional threshold enables them to understand people and
determine how their team members are feeling so they can adjust how they connect
with them.
- Humility
Raising a team to succeed is part of being an effective leader. This entails admitting
when someone understands more than the leader and allowing them to take the
initiative. It means being aware of their strengths yet never allowing it to overcome
them.
- Maintaining Integrity
Rather than attempting to behave like someone else, authenticity is performing in a
way that really reflects who a person is. Authentic leaders demonstrate their actual
selves to their team members and helps team members get used to the leader's
behaviour.
- Continuity and consistency
Leaders who talk in a regular and consistent manner over time nearly become
predictable, just like with sincerity. The team learns to rely on the leader's
dependability, which fosters trust and lowers workplace stress.

What are top two reasons that you think that would lead to a failure of leadership?
Whether an organisation is in the public or private sector, leadership is frequently regarded as
a crucial element and is commonly credited with the accomplishments of a company. Despite
this, there is a chance that the existence of leadership may result in a decline in business
performance and, eventually, a collapse of the organisation.
Failure in leadership is inevitable. It's challenging to prevent it at any moment in any
business. Even if one is the most skilled leader, one could occasionally be viewed as being
impatient.
Leadership failure can result from various sources, so those in charge should know the
dangers of the job. The top 2 reasons, in my opinion, leadership might fail are:

1. Poor Communication
When a genuine leader falls because of poor communication, it almost borders on
tragedy. It is uncommon for someone to rise to the top of the leadership pyramid
without practical communication abilities. Yet, a great leader can stand still, for
example when it comes to utilising technology for better communications. Often, the
leader may resolve the issue of poor communication with the help of an executive
coach or just outright communicating with their team and accepting there are things
they're not good at. However, many leaders neglect to bring up the issue of the need
 for more vital communication skills with their people since it may be embarrassing
and sensitive.
There have been innumerable instances of poor leadership throughout human history.
There is a clear explanation for this:  Most leaders struggle to appropriately interact
with their colleagues—this breakdown in communication results in misunderstandings
between the leader and followers and failure for the leader. One of a leader's most
important skills is communicating effectively. After all, the essence of leadership is
inspiring and encouraging others. A strong leader has internalised the notion that
communication is a two-way process rather than a one-way street. People are still
capable of good communication even when they disagree.
A leader cannot communicate too much. Even when the truth is brutal, people still
want to hear from their leaders. When leaders are vague and don't communicate their
"why," they fail, leaders that are unable to clearly state their goal, establish their
course, and communicate their message will lose followers.
2. Failure to Delegate
Because no one person can accomplish everything, effective leaders delegate. When a
leader delegates too little, leaving employees to fend for themselves without guidance,
or too much, expecting them to shoulder too much responsibility without the leader's
assistance or involvement, a problem always arises. Building a solid team is one of
the most important things a leader must accomplish. A leader will struggle without a
productive team, and the business will suffer. A leader needs to first grasp the culture
in order to develop a strong team.
Leaders that don't delegate experience stress due to the heavy workload, and the staff
members suffer from boredom and lack of motivation because they aren't given the
duties and responsibilities for which they were originally employed.

Citations
1. Kibin. (2022). A comparison between leadership and management.
http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/a-comparison-between-leadership-and-
management-qftfjjl3
2. Arenas, F. J., Connelly, D., & Williams, M. D. (2017). Great Man Theory. In
Developing Your Full Range of Leadership: Leveraging a Transformational Approach
(pp. 2–2). Air University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13849.9
3. Muse, T. (2019, October 22). Are leaders born or made? HRD. Retrieved October 19,
2022, from https://www.hrdconnect.com/are-leaders-born-or-made/
4. Marr, B. (2022, October 12). 10 most important leadership skills for the 21st Century
workplace (and how to develop them). Forbes. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2022/07/26/10-most-important-leadership-
skills-for-the-21st-century-workplace-and-how-to-develop-them/?sh=361ff854de6e