“I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep” (Talleyrand). The significance of leadership can be summed up so soundly in such a simple quote. Leadership can be defined in countless ways, but one way to identify a leader is as a person who can positively or negatively affect the thoughts and behaviors of others. A leader is someone who forms the direction for others to readily follow. One person may be identified as a leader or several may share it. An individual may be appointed as leader or they may be elected. Leaders can influence others to perform beyond the expectations. It is not just a wide spread concept, but a way of life and an aspect of continuous evolution. Trying to narrow down or pinpoint one exact model definition to be applied to leadership is obviously difficult. The value of leadership and the various aspects are much easier to identify.
That significant ability to influences others cannot truly be understood without addressing the interrelated topic of power. To this extent, power is necessary for leadership. It has been said that while an individual may exert power without being a leader, an individual cannot be a leader without having power (Bal, Campbell, Steed, & Meddings, 2008). As a result, several studies on leadership have attempted to understand how various leaders use power to affect others. Some of these studies examine the bases and sources of power leader’s use and the types of responses that are may result. It was from these studies that the various foundations of power were identified. Sager (2008) addresses ten different sources of power, seven of which will be touched on here; legitimate, expert, information, referent, connections, coerci...
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Pierce, Jon L. and John W. Newstrom (2011) 6th edition. Leaders and the Leadership Process.
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.
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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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I define Leadership as a person’s ability to guide or shepherd a herd through/to a common destination – a destination of common beliefs. The leader possesses qualities/traits that can persuade others to follow them because they believe and trust them – regardless of their “human” traits and imperfections. The herd trusts that they will stay on course to the common destination.
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Leadership is all about having the right amount of heart and determination to help make a difference in someone’s life. It takes certain qualities to be considered a good leader. A leader should want to help inspire others to make a change and to be the best that they can be. A true leader does not need to feel powerful, instead they empower those around them. Throughout my life I have come across various leaders who have made an impact on my life. It takes a very special person to inspire and touch people’s lives. Leadership is so much deeper than having power and bossing people around.
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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)
Schmidt, K. D.,Wilkinson, S. (1990). Intraorganizational influence tactics:exploration in getting one’s way. Journal of Applied Psychology 58(4):440-452.
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).
According to Shockley and Zalabak (2009) "Leadership is a process of guiding individuals, groups, and entire organization in establishing goals and sustaining action to support goals.Leadership is like mapping out where you need to go to win". A Leader is a person who has a strong personality and who has an ability to manage people and work. He is also the person who is able to direct people .Usually a leaders has a lot of attributes that
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.