Leadership Definition 5 “Managers have subordinates?leaders have followers. ” Leadership Definition 6 “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. Leadership Definition 7 A simple definition of leadership is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. Put even more simply, the leader is the inspiration and director of the action. He or she is the person in the group that possesses the combination of personality and skills that makes others want to follow his or her direction. Definition of a Leader A leader is “a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal”.
A mnemonic for this definition would be up’s – Person, People and Purpose as illustrated by the following diagram. Person Is leadership a position of office or authority? Or, is leadership an ability in the sense that he is a leader because he leads? We all may know or hear of people who are in positions of leadership but who are not providing leadership. A session of office is no guarantee of leadership but it helps in the sense that a leadership position usually commands a listening ear from its people and that is a good starting point for anyone who desires to be a leader.
A leader by its meaning is one who goes first and leads by example, so that others are motivated to follow him. This is a basic requirement. To be a leader, a person must have a deep-rooted commitment to the goal that he will strive to achieve it even if nobody follows him! Purpose A requirement for leadership is personal vision – the ability to visualize your goal as an accomplished fact; a thing already achieved. The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. The next requirement is the realization that the goal cannot be achieved alone, without the help of others. Is there a natural grouping of people from whom you can elicit help? Or do you have to recruit your followers? In the latter, you face a greater challenge. But whatever the situation, the leader must integrate his (or the organization’s) goal with his followers’ personal goals and then communicates this goal in such a way that they embrace it too and the goal becomes a common goal. I [pica]The leader has to be practical and a realist, yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist. pica] I Eric Hoofer In communicating your goal, bear in mind that it should meet the following criteria: Achievable realistic yet faith stretching Inspiring challenging your people to give of their best Measurable quantifiable Shared declaring your conviction in and commitment to the goal People I [pica]He who thinker he leaders and hath no one following him is only taking a walk. [pica] I I Anonymous To be a leader, one must have followers. To have followers, one must have their trust. How do you win their trust? Why would others trust you?
Most important, are you worthy of their trust? Why are some individuals more effective than others at influencing people? Effectiveness in leadership has been attributed to (1) persuasion skills, (2) leadership styles and (3) personal attributes of the leader. We will explore these further in another article or two. Now, we will consider one critical element of leadership (influence) – love for people. Leadership theories Over time, a number of theories of leadership have been proposed. Here are some of the main ideas. Great Man Theory Trait Theory Behavioral Theories o Role Theory The Managerial Grid Participative Leadership o Linen’s leadership styles o Like’s leadership styles Situational Leadership o Hershey and Blanchard Situational Leadership o Broom and Yeti’s Normative Model o House’s Path-Goal Theory of Leadership Contingency Theories o Fiddler’s Least Preferred Co-worker (LIP) Theory Resource Theory o Strategic Contingencies Theory Transactional Leadership o Leader-Member Exchange (ELM) Theory Transformational Leadership o Bass’ Transformational Leadership Theory o Burns’ Transformational Leadership Theory o Cognitive o Souses and Poser’s Leadership Participation Inventory Great Man Theory Assumptions Leaders are born and not made. Great leaders will arise when there is a great need. Description Early research on leadership was based on the study of people who were already great leaders. These people were often from the aristocracy, as few from lower classes had the opportunity to lead. This contributed to the notion that leadership had something to do with breeding. Trait Theory I Assumptions I I People are born with inherited traits. I I I Some traits are particularly suited to leadership.
I I People who make good leaders have the right (or sufficient) combination of traits. I I Description I I Early research on leadership was based on the psychological focus of the day, which was of people having inherited characteristics or traits. Attention was thus put on discovering these traits, often by studying successful leaders, but with the underlying assumption that I I life other people could also be found with these traits, then they, too, could also become great leaders. I I I Stodgily (1974) identified the following traits and skills as critical to leaders. Traits I Skills I I Adaptable to situations I I I Alert to social environment I I I Ambitious and achievement- orientated
I I Cooperative I I I Decisive I I I Dependable I I I Dominant (desire to influence others) I I I Energetic (high activity level) I I Self-confident I I I Tolerant of stress I I I Willing to assume responsibility I I Clever (intelligent) I I I Conceptually skilled Creative I Diplomatic and tactful in speaking I I Knowledgeable about group task I I I Organized (administrative ability) I I I Socially Behavioral Theory I I I Assertive Persistent I I Fluent I Persuasive Successful leadership is based in definable, learnable behavior. Behavioral theories of leadership do not seek inborn traits or capabilities. Rather, they look at what leaders actually do. If success can be defined in terms of describable actions, then it should be relatively easy for other people to act in the same way.
This is easier to teach and learn then to adopt the more ephemeral ‘traits’ or ‘capabilities’. Motivation Motivation is the driving force which causes us to achieve goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic Motivation concepts Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation Motivation comes from two sources: oneself, and other people. These two sources are called intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. It is usually associated with high educational achievement and enjoyment by students.
Students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they: attribute their educational results to internal factors that they can control (e. G. The amount of effort they put in), believe they can be effective agents in reaching desired goals (i. E. The results are not determined by luck), are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote-learning to achieve good grades. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades, coercion and threat of punishment. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity. A crowd cheering on the individual and trophies are also extrinsic incentives.
Motivation Theories (1)Need hierarchy theory Mason’s hierarchy of needs Abraham Mason’s theory is one of the most widely discussed theories of motivation. The theory can be summarized as follows: Human beings have wants and desires which influence their behavior. Only unsatisfied needs influence behavior, satisfied needs do not. Since needs are many, they are arranged in order of importance, from the basic to the complex. The person advances to the next level of needs only after the lower level need is at least minimally satisfied. The further the progress up the hierarchy, the more individuality, humanness and psychological health a person will show.
The needs, listed from basic (lowest-earliest) to most complex (highest-latest) are as follows: Physiology (hunger, thirst, sleep, etc. ) Safety/Security/Shiites/Health Belongingness/Love/Friendship Self-esteem/Recognition/Achievement Self actualization (2)Herbage’s two-factor theory Frederick Herbert Frederick Herbage’s two-factor theory, a. K. A. Intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, concludes that certain factors in the workplace result in job satisfaction, but if absent, they don’t lead to dissatisfaction but no satisfaction. [7] The factors that motivate people can change over their lifetime, but “respect for me as a person” is one of the top motivating factors at any stage of life.
He distinguished between: Motivators; (e. G. Hellenizing work, recognition, responsibility) which give positive satisfaction, and Hygiene factors; (e. G. Status, job security, salary and fringe benefits) that do not motivate if present, but, if absent, result in De- motivation. The name Hygiene factors is used because, like hygiene, the presence will not make you healthier, but absence can cause health deterioration. The theory is sometimes called the “Motivator-Hygiene Theory” and/or “The Dual Structure Theory. ” Herbage’s theory has found application in such occupational fields as information systems and in studies of user satisfaction (see Computer user satisfaction).
