Does leadership make a difference? One could venture to say that the answer depends on the perspective of the leader or the organization. This is a question that often irked me when it comes to professional sports. A team has a poor season and the coach is fired. For example, former Eagles coach Andy Reid will lead the Kansas City Chiefs to the playoffs this year while his replacement, Coach Chip Kelly, was fired last month by the Eagles (Ducey, 2015). From the organization’s perspective, it would appear that leadership had a significant impact on organizational performance. Eagles CEO stated that he “spent the last three seasons evaluating the many factors involved in our performance as a team. As I watched this season unfold, I determined …show more content…
According to Josh Bersin, it isn’t the leader but the leadership strategy that makes the difference (2012). In his article, “It’s not the CEO, it’s the leadership strategy that matters, Bersin offered why several newly hired CEOs for organizations like Apple have managed to “pull it off” (2012, p.1). In other words, be successful after replacing the previous CEO. Moreover, after conducting extensive research on companies and their correlated business performance, Bersin identified several best practices which include “high-performing organizations directly link leadership strategy to business strategy” and “high-performers develop leaders at all levels” (2012, …show more content…
However, I also believe that it is not leadership alone that makes the difference. I agree with Bersin that the leadership strategy also plays a significant role. I currently work for a global financial services organization. In 2014, the organization implemented a number of restructuring initiatives which both reduced its workforce and its footprint domestically. I was impacted by said restructuring along with several other middle level managers. In November of last year, almost a year later, I returned in a different non-leadership position. The entire management structure of my department has changed. Ironically, it is better than what it was before. What changed? The leadership and the
According to Dr. Karlene Kerfoot, “research tells us that the leadership traits of the person in charge work either as a magnet to attract, retain, and inspire or as a force that repels” (Kerfoot 2006, p. 25) and in support of this statement she makes reference to the fact that many persons go to work for a specific company with enthusiasm and eagerness and ultimately leave disappointed because of the management. “People are generally hungry for personalized leadership that speaks to their hearts”, says Dr.Kerfoot and this type of leadership motivates them to accomplish task and complete projects they deem difficult or impossible (Kerfoot 2006, p. 25)
A leadership theory is a clarification of some features of leadership; theories have practical importance as they are being used for better understanding, anticipating, and controlling successful leadership. Hence, the main principle of any theory is to inform practice(Lussier and Achua 2009). Leadership theories could be classified into eight main categories: Great man, trait, behavioral, contingency, Situational, Participative, Relationship , management (Cherry 2010).
Leadership is strength. Though it is strength, what makes a leader? Is a leader someone who is in front of the line in the game ‘follow the leader’? Technically yes because that is their name in the game, but this essay isn’t about a game. It is about reality. Is a leader made up of a variety of skills, talents, morals, and values? Or perhaps a leader is someone who tells people what to do? Or maybe a leader is someone who can make a difference? To an extent, a leader is built up of all of those possibilities. A leader is someone with a variety of skills, talents, morals and values, and someone who knows how to make a difference, and someone who can guide people into doing what needs to happen. Leadership can’t just be broken up
Everything in leadership will be determined by the competency of the leader. John C Maxwell is credited with saying “everything rises and falls on leadership. The leaders are often the ones making the decisions influencing success or failure. When I think of competency, I believe it is important to acknowledge the difference between competency and confidence. Confidence is the belief that I can lead; competence requires results of successful leadership. Confidence is the place people get the idea a person is a “good guy.” Being a good guy or even being confident is not a qualification of competency; it merely means one has the right to have dinner. Being a good guy allows
Leadership directly impacts an organization's bottom line, employee satisfaction, and turnover; it can impact how the organization is viewed by society and in particular its marketing audience. This is particularly significant during a downturn in economic markets. Organizations must meet budgetary controls, and need to communicate...
In an increasingly competitive world, organisational structure and effectiveness within companies are key concepts. Effective leadership skills can enhance the growth and success of an organisation as well as on an internal level, create a healthy and functional work environment for employees. It is important to recognise the importance of good leadership skills and how they affect the working process in an organisation. This essay will identify leadership and provide definitions and how it is assessed. It will furthermore identify the commonly known traits of a successful leader and importance of emotional intelligence. Lastly, this essay will explain ‘contingency theory’ in order to gain an understanding on other factors, besides personal traits and characteristics, that can influence the effectiveness within a leader.
Leadership, command, and management are three overlapping activities which are often difficult to differentiate and easy to confuse. An individual can be doing all the three at anyone point in time; all the three are always required in varying proportions for the successful accomplishment of a mission, duty or respnsibility. Understanding how the three competences relate or how they tend to be similar or different helps us to understand their relevance especially in as far as they contribute singularly or in concert to the prosperity of organisations both in the corporate and military world. Steven Bungay defines the difference between management and leadership, and borrowing from the military, proposes a third concept of command, which is essential for providing the direction of an organization’s activities .
There are many different ideas about what it means to be a good leader and what the leadership means. In a simple explanation, leadership is a technique that an individual influence a group of people to achieve a common goal. A good leader can be a supervisor, manager or a business owner. Leaders are people who have expertise in achieving goals, no matter what their job titles are. Leadership is about coping with change. In a modern age we live, especially in the twentieth century, “more companies are looking for people with great leadership skills” because they can solve problems (2015, P. 13). In my idea a good leader has a vision and motivation to a team so that they can work together toward achieving
Leadership is not defined by position. Leadership is an extraordinary responsibility given only to those willing to exude selflessness, decisiveness, and wisdom. CSM William R. Hambrick, Jr is an accomplished leader that embodies the values, attributes, and competencies that I aspire to convey to my subordinates. The impact that CSM Hambrick has had on my career and leadership philosophy is immeasurable. His far-reaching legacy is one of confidence, sound judgment, and empathy.
Within leadership, there is the opportunity for many issues in itself. Leadership styles and practices, one of the most vital aspects determining productivity in organizations, is truly what sets the standard for every level of management within a company. If a proper leadership style is not chosen and followed to lead a team within an organization, there will be no one to follow and the team will certainly not be successful. The repercussions of poor leadership will certainly make a drastic difference in a company. This can include the needs of not only employees, but
This study aims to determine the impact of leadership styles on job satisfaction and job commitment. Leadership is an art of influencing thoughts and activities of followers for the achievement of established goals and standards. A good leader influences the followers in such a way that they put more effort for the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives. The impact of transactional and transformational leadership styles on job satisfaction and job commitment of education sector of Pakistan is observed. The result of study has shown that both leadership styles have effect on job satisfaction and job commitment. Transactional and transformational leadership styles play a vital role in every organization with respect to job satisfaction and commitment. The study indicates that transactional and transformational leadership style intensifies job satisfaction and commitment. But in Pakistan context transformational leadership style has more influence on job satisfaction and job commitment. Employees would like to work with transformational leader as they know the leader is a source of motivation, inspiration and build confidence. Transformational leader inspires their follower because employees feel trust, loyalty, appreciation and respect. Employees put more energy and effort for the betterment of the organization. They work beyond the established standards by meeting all the organizational goals and objective. Transformational leader arouses the awareness in the employees and change the perspective of employees. Transformational leader build a sense of achievement and growth. Here are some recommendations on the behalf of my study for the leaders of education sector for the enhancement of job satisfaction...
Leadership is defined as a process by which an individual influences others to obtain goals. There are three aspects that should be addressed when explaining leadership. One aspect is that leadership is a social influence process; leadership could not exist without a leader and one or more followers. Another leadership aspect is compliance; all of the leader’s directions must be complied with voluntarily. Compliance is what separates leadership from other influence-based formal authority. Finally, leadership results in the followers’ behavior, that is purposeful and goal-directed which must be in some organized setting (Leadership Theories and Studies, 2009).
When we work together in a team, or in a broader sense as a society, the leader takes on the most important role. It is the leader that helps prioritize activities and direct people’s thought process in the right direction. They are the ones who have the ability to bring the group together as a whole. Because of this, not anyone can be a leader. Only people with certain qualities and abilities are able to fill this role. So what makes a good leader? There is a defined path and specific characteristics that makes someone a good leader.
Leadership, without doubt, is a significantly important function of management. It helps to aggrandize efficiency and to fulfil an organization’s goals. Leadership is the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence, determination, courage and zeal. It is also defined as ability to influence a group towards the realization of a goal. Leaders should have the capability of developing future visions, and to drive the organizational members to want to attain the visions. This paper states my points in which I duly believe, justifies the importance of an outstanding leader in any organization.
What is leadership? Leadership is defined as a process by which a individual will influence others to obtain goals. Leaders will guide, direct motivate, or inspire others. Leadership is defined by not only traits but actions as well. Leaders are inspirational, trustworthy and charismatic. Many people may think a manger is leader. Although leadership and management go hand in hand, they are not the same. Everyone has their own beliefs about what characteristics an effective leader should have. To me, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and having a vision are few characteristics of becoming an effective leader. A leader is not only born, but made. Some are born as leaders or some are made to be leaders.