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What Does Leadership Mean To You
How leadership influences others
What Does Leadership Mean To You
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Leadership is a subject studied for many years in the pursuit to understand the topic. It is a complex phenomenon, better studied across a wide array of scholarly fields. No matter what one believes or understands about the subject, the reality about understanding leadership is that it is a multidimensional subject that is best viewed or studied from the theory perspective rather than from the maxim. Leadership is a process, which involves influence, which occurs within a group context and it involves goal attainment. These components are used to define leadership as a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. These four components provide direction to understanding leadership theory. This theory provides the best approach to understanding the subject because it is grounded in the use of scientifically collected data that is used to create an explanation and then recommendation for leaders and or leadership situations. One should recognize that the theory is based on the examination of the topic from the standpoint of an empirically based explanation, grounded in scientific evidence and theory.
Leadership: An Introduction
The word “leadership” has always confused people for many years. Constant attempts to solve, define, and better understand the subject have resulted in numerous conflicting definitions of the term, along with just as many different scholarly approaches to the study of the subject. Some will say, “to truly comprehend the topic, it requires a holistic understanding across a multitude of disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, sociology and several other fields of knowledge”, while others will tell you that they know exactly what the meaning of...
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...mpirically based explanation, grounded in scientific evidence) that is used to create its explanation, rather than from a maxim approach, which is mostly unfounded option derived from a single case study. Maxims can be productive in the study of leadership when gap in knowledge are identified, but the for the most part maxims are like one contributors case study that shapes its explanation through the confirmation basis. This is why leadership theory is the best course of action to pursue when trying to further the study of current and future leadership issues.
Works Cited
1. Northouse, Peter G. (2013) Leadership: Theory and Practice. Sixth Edition. Sage Publications. 2013.
2. Lucia, A. D., & Lepsinger, R. (1999). The art and science of competency models. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
3. Hunt, J. G. J. (2004). What is leadership? Sage Publications, Inc.
Introduction According to the Oxford Dictionary, a leader is defined as “the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). Though there is a definition for what a leader is, people still have different ideas about what a leader should be and how he or she should act. There has never been a concrete idea of what a leader is; the only thing we know is that this person is the one in charge of the unit. We look at characteristics of those people we see as leaders and use those attributes to compare other people to see if they are able to be as good as, or even better than, those aforementioned leaders. We have to keep in mind that in different situations, leaders must do different tasks which indicates the need for different qualities.
The topic of leadership has been explored and written about by thousands of authors who are considerably more qualified than I am to write about the subject. However, I’ve always maintained that developing, evolving and articulating one’s own leadership philosophy is an essential part of a professional’s growth. Through academics and experience, I’ve concluded that leadership is a “soft” skill, more art than science, and that leadership principles can be universally applied. As a topic of discussion, leadership can be ambiguous and seldom does everyone agree on a single definition. Organizations and the people they consist of crave leadership, even if not overtly. Undeniably, strong leadership is essential to achieving
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
Before you can summarize the concepts related to leadership theory, you have to define what leadership is. Leadership is a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task or goals. The fundamental concept of leadership is indirection. In any organization, the leader indirectly impacts the performance of the organization through the performance of individual team members. To make that impact, the leader takes on the role of the coach, and the inspiratory. As the coach, the leader improves the performer's skills. As the inspiratory, the leader inspires the passion required for optimal performance. A good leader can make decisions with a clear mind and will listen to theirs but can run through every consequence and possibility in their head. They take every angle and come out with the best answer for the majority of the people or situations it effects. And will not let their emotions be shut off but will have feeling where it is needed.
Leadership has been written about millions of times in the past, and heading in the future, it will be the topic of many debates, books and newspaper articles asking, and in some cases answering the question, “What is leadership?” According to Peter Drucker: “leadership is lifting a person’s vision, raising his performance and building personality”.
Leadership has been defined in different ways, a definitaion of leadership that would be most commonly accepted would be “the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organization…”(House et al., 1999, p. 184 as cited in Yukl, 2013, p. 19). After a comprehensive review of different leadership literature, Stogdill (1974, p. 259, as cited in Yukl, 2013, p. 18) concluded that “There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept." Leadership can be viewed from two different angles one is shared influence process and other as a specialized role. Researcher who view leadership as a specialized role consider attributes as a factor in selecting a designated leader. On the contrast, theorist who emphasises on influence process considers “Leadership” as a social process or a pattern of relationship.
A leader can be defined as a person who influences a group of people, organization, etc. in to achieving a set out or common goal. The aim of this paper is to identify the different approaches to leadership, but there is no single definition of leadership, as it can mean many different things to many people depending of their profession, environment and leadership style (Mielach, 2012).
Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
The leadership is a privilege and it is such a privilege and an honor which will carry the tremendous responsibility which will inspire others to direct them to accomplish goals and vision of the organization. Leadership is about influencing the people, by producing direction, purpose and motivating in order to accomplish the mission, vision and improving the organization. The leadership philosophy is evolved based on the experiences, both positive and negative, in most of the initiatives and activities that we undertake. It is also one among the collaboration and teamwork within which the team members can utilize each other’s strengths to counter the weaknesses of the individuals. By observing, introspecting and experimenting we can developed a leadership paradigm which is inclusive, collaborative and proactive. We can develop the ability to recognize which will approach in order to reach the productive conclusion. The great leaders know their limitations and are capable at utilize their strengths and also the strengths of others to compensate.
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 (Elliott, 2009). Leadership is supposed to guide people to attain a particular set vision. Motivation is fundamental in the process of leadership as if there is no motivation there will be laxity among the people involved. It is also a critical scenario for leadership to have followers; this will infer a relationship between leaders and followers (Frank, 2003).
”Leadership involves the exhibition of style or behavior by managers or supervisors while dealing with subordinates; leadership is a critical determinant of the employees ' actions toward the achievement of the organizational goals” (Saeed, Almas, Anis-ul-Haq, & Niazi, 2014). Leadership is a strength that initiates, inspires, and guides the cooperation and attitudes of others on the way to set vision. Leadership is influential and involves several styles of approaches that involve trust, accomplishment and focus to reach a projected result. Using and implementing the ideas of others motivates new thinking and gains the confidence to build the trust and encourage everyone to work to the same goals (Northouse,
Some people believe leadership and management are one in the same; however, this is not true because management involves planning, staffing, directing and controlling and, a manager is a person who performs these functions (Leadership Theories and Studies, 2009). The term manager is a formal title given to a person who has authority by virtue of his or her position or office. (Leadership Theories and Studies, 2009) Leadership, by contrast, is about influence; leaders use factors other than just their formal authority to influence subordinates. There are three major leadership theories developed from the 1930s to the 1970s which attempt to explain why some leaders are better than others, these theories are: trait leadership (1930s and 1940s), behavior leadership (1940s and 1950s), and contingency leadership (1960s and 1970s).
Leadership is found not just at work but all around us. In any situation, leaders take a step forward and take charge of the situation. It can be at home, at work or at any other place. Leaders are never born, they become leaders because they have the credibility and people would love to follow them.
We can divide the theories that deal with leadership in 3 chronological groups. First were the trait theories. Until the 1940's, research in the field of leadership was dominated by these theories. Second came the behavioral theories which were very influent until the late 1960's. Finally, contingency theories are the most modern theories about leadership.
Many people associate leadership with a specific job title or form of power within an organization. However, through personal experience, I have concluded that leadership can come in many forms and position as well as from multiple sources of roles and job titles both with and without power. Based on the definition of leadership, anyone can be considered a leader as long as they have the ability to influence people to achieve a particular result or goal which benefits the organization or group as a whole. Individuals with a secure sense of self and understanding, acceptance of diversity within an organization tend to be the strongest leaders that not only make others want to follow, but they also encourage other leaders to gravitate to their