LEADERSHIP
The term leadership has been defined in many ways according to Howard Gardner (1995). President Harry Truman, an infamous leader could lead people to do what they do not want to do yet like it (Gardner, 1995; cited in Parker & Begnaud, 2004). Eileen Ford from a well established modeling agency defines leadership as the “ability to convince people to do what you want them to do as if they have thought of it themselves“(Karns & Bean, cited in Parker & Begnaud, 2004).
Leadership guru Warren Bennis describes leadership as “those who make a contribution makes a difference in the organization, thus giving meaning to his or her work” (Czarnecki, 2010). Leadership occurs when one tries to influence the behavior of an individual or group (Bennis & Nanus 1995; cited in Morley, Moore, Heraty, Gunnigle).
LEADERSHIP THEORIES
Early leadership theories were called universalism theories because studies focused on universal characteristics of good leaders – which are the personality traits or styles that make leaders effective ( Brain, 2002).
Trait theories suggest that certain individuals possess innate or in born characteristics that can be assigned to leaders and non leaders. Trait theory also suggests that personal qualities such as” physical” factors, for example, height, personality and other features such as extroversion, intelligence and communication skills are also a key feature of this theory (Guy, 2010).
Further research led to behavioral theories examining the behavior of effective leaders rather than their personal characteristics on the grounds that the secret to good leadership is in ones actions (Brain, 2002).
Modern research tends to lead to contingency theories, which emphasis the relationship...
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According to Business Dictionary.com, leadership is defined as the individuals who are the leaders in an organization, regarded collectively. It also can be define as the activity of leading a group of people or an organization or the ability to do this. Leadership involves the establishing of a clear vision, sharing the vision with other so that they will follow willingly, providing the needed information, knowledge, and methods to realize the vision and coordinating and balancing the conflicts interests of all members and stakeholders.
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The trait theory prevailed until the forties, passing these characteristics to be studied within a universalistic perspective....
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The behavioural theories came in reaction to the trait leadership theory. These theories are offering a new perspective which focuses on the behaviours of the leaders as opposed to their mental, physical or social characteristics. Thus, with the evolutions in psychometrics, notably the factor analysis, researchers were able to measure the cause and effects relationship of specific human behaviours from leaders. From this point forward anyone with the right conditioning could have access to the once before elite club of naturally gifted leaders. In other words, it believes that leaders are made and not
There are lots of definitions and interpretations for the term LEADERSHIP. One is “A relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people” (Mullins, L.J. 2002, Management and Organisational Behaviour, 6th Edition, FT Publishing, p904). Another popular definition would be, “the process of influencing an organization or groups within an organization in its efforts towards achieving a goal” (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2005, Exploring Corporate Strategy, 7th Edition, FT Prentice Hall, p.519)
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Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and inspire others (Gill, 2006). It is therefore defined as a process whereby a leader influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2013). A leader has to make a decision for something to happen and provide his followers with clear direction (Rost et al, 1991). It will evoke feelings of challenge, excitement and involvement for the followers to proceed with the task (Gill, 2006).
Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
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