Meaning of Leadership

Leadership is an important element of the directing function of management. Wherever, there is an

organised group of people working towards a common goal, some type of leadership become essential.
The Power of Leadership is the power of integrating. Leadership is the ability to build up the confidence
and zeal among people and to create an urge in them to be led. Different situations may demand
different types of Leadership like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lenin etc are the great
Political Leaders or our great industrialists Like JRD Tata, GD Birla, Dhirubhai Ambani, who created
vast industrial empires because of their vision, energy and Entrepreneurship.

Definition of Leadership: According to Peter Drucker: "The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers."

SITUATION
LEADERS

======

FOLLOWERS

COMMUNICATION
According to John C Maxwell: "Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less."
According to Warren Bennis: "Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well
communicated, building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realize your own
leadership potential."
According to Murray Johannsen: Managers have subordinatesleaders have followers.

Nature or characteristics or Features of Leadership

Leadership is a personal quality.
It exists only with followers. If there are no followers, there is no leadership?
It is the willingness of people to follow that makes person a leader.
Leadership is a process of influence. A leader must be able to influence the behaviour, attitude
and beliefs of his subordinates.
Leadership is a continuous process of behaviour.

 Leadership gives an experience of help to followers to attain common goals.

It exists only for the realization of common goals.
It involves readiness to accept complete responsibility in all situations.
Leadership styles do change under different circumstances.

Leadership Styles
The role of leadership in management is largely determined by the organisational culture of the
company. It has been argued that managers' beliefs, values and assumptions are of critical importance to
the overall style of leadership that they adopt.
There are several different leadership styles that can be identified within each of the following
Management techniques. Each technique has its own set of good and not-so-good characteristics, and
each uses leadership in a different way.

Understanding Leadership Styles

Autocratic leadership
Bureaucratic leadership
Charismatic leadership
Democratic leadership or Participative leadership
Laissez-faire leadership
People-oriented leadership or Relations-Oriented leadership
Servant leadership
Task-oriented leadership
Transactional leadership
Transformational leadership
Delegative (free reign)

Autocratic leadership
The autocratic leader dominates team-members, using unilateralism to achieve a singular objective. This
style is used when the leader tells his employees what he wants done and how he wants it done, without
getting the advice of his followers. Some of the appropriate conditions to use it is when you have all the
information to solve the problem, you are short on time, and your employees are well motivated. Some
people tend to think of this style as a vehicle for yelling, using demeaning language, and leading by
threats and abusing their power.

Bureaucratic Leadership
Bureaucratic leaders work by the book, ensuring that their staff follow procedures exactly. This is a
very appropriate style for work involving serious safety risks (such as working with machinery, with
toxic substances or at heights) or where large sums of money are involved (such as cash-handling).

Charismatic Leadership

A charismatic leadership style can appear similar to a transformational leadership style, in that the leader
injects huge doses of enthusiasm into his or her team, and is very energetic in driving others forward.
However, a charismatic leader tends to believe more in him- or herself than in their team. This can create
a risk that a project, or even an entire organization, might collapse if the leader were to leave: In the eyes
of their followers, success is tied up with the presence of the charismatic leader. As such, charismatic
leadership carries great responsibility, and needs long-term commitment from the leader.

Democratic Leadership or Participative Leadership

The democratic leader makes decisions by consulting his team, whilst still maintaining control of the
group. The democratic leader allows his team to decide how the task will be tackled and who will
perform which task. Although a democratic leader will make the final decision, he or she invites other
members of the team to contribute to the decision-making process. This not only increases job
satisfaction by involving employees or team members in whats going on, but it also helps to develop
peoples skills.

Laissez-faire Leadership
This French phrase means leave it be and is used to describe a leader who leaves his or her colleagues
to get on with their work. It can be effective if the leader monitors what is being achieved and
communicates this back to his or her team regularly. Most often, laissez-faire leadership works for teams
in which the individuals are very experienced and skilled self-starters. Unfortunately, it can also refer to
situations where managers are not exerting sufficient control.

People-Oriented Leadership or Relations-Oriented Leadership

The style of leadership is the opposite of task-oriented leadership: the leader is totally focused on
organizing, supporting and developing the people in the leaders team. A participative style, it tends to
lead to good teamwork and creative collaboration.

Servant Leadership
This term, coined by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, describes a leader who is often not formally
recognized as such. When someone, at any level within an organization, leads simply by virtue of
meeting the needs of his or her team, he or she is described as a servant leader.

Task-Oriented Leadership
A highly task-oriented leader focuses only on getting the job done, and can be quite autocratic. He or she
will actively define the work and the roles required, put structures in place, plan, organise and monitor.

Transactional Leadership
Management theories (also known as Transactional theories) focus on the role of supervision,
organization, and group performance. The transaction is (usually) that the organization pays the team
members
in
return for
their effort and
compliance. These theories base leadership

on a system of reward and punishment. Managerial theories are often used in business; when employees
are successful, they are rewarded; when they fail, they are reprimanded or punished.

Transformational Leadership
Relationship theories (also known as Transformational theories) focus upon the connections formed
between leaders and followers. These leaders motivate and inspire people by helping group members see
the importance and higher good of the task. Transformational leaders are highly visible, and spend a lot
of time communicating. They dont necessarily lead from the front, as they tend to delegate
responsibility amongst their team. Transformational leaders are focused on the performance of group
members, but also want each person to fulfill his or her potential. These leaders often have high ethical
and moral standards.

Delegative (free reign)

In this style, the leader allows the employees to make the decision. However, the leader is still
responsible for the decisions that are made. This is used when employees are able to analyze the
situation and determine what needs to be done and how to do it. You cannot do everything! You must set
priorities and delegate certain tasks. This is not a style to use so that you can blame others when things
go wrong, rather this is a style to be used when you have the full trust and confidence in the people
below you.

Theories of Leadership
Leadership styles cannot be fully explained by behavioural models. The situation in which the group is
operating
also
determines
the
style
of
leadership,
which
is
adopted.
Several models exist which attempt to understand the relationship between style and situation, four of
which are described here:

Great Man Theories

Trait Theories
Behavioral Theories
Fiedler's Contingency Model.
Hersey-Blanchard Situational Theory.
Path-Goal Theory.
Vroom-Yetton Leadership Model

Great Man Theories

Great Man theories assume that the capacity for leadership is inherent that great leaders are born, not
made. These theories often portray great leaders as heroic, mythic, and destined to rise to
leadership when needed. The term Great Man was used because, at the time, leadership was
thought of primarily as a male quality, especially in terms of military leadership.

Trait Theories
Trait is defined as relatively enduring quality of an individual. According to this theory, there are certain
personal qualities and traits, which are essential to be a successful leader. Trait theories often
identify particular personality or behavioral characteristics shared by leaders. The Trait approach
seeks to determine what makes a successful leader from the leaders own personal

characteristics. Trait approach leadership studies were quite popular between 1930 and 1950.
Traits suggests that some factors do help differentiate leaders from non-leaders. The most
important traits are a high level of personal drive, desire to lead, personal integrity and self
confidence. Trait theory is said that leaders are born and not made. These qualities cannot be
acquired by the individuals.

Behavioral Theories
Behavioral theories of leadership are based upon the belief that great leaders are made, not born. Rooted
in behaviorism, this leadership theory focuses on the actions of leaders, not on mental qualities or
internal states. According to this theory, people can learn to become leaders through teaching and
observation.

Fiedler's Contingency Model

Fiedler's model assumes that group performance depends on:

Leadership style, described in terms of task motivation and relationship motivation.

Situational favourableness, determined by three factors:
1. Leader-member relations - Degree to which a leader is accepted and supported by the group
members.
2. Task structure - Extent to which the task is structured and defined, with clear goals and
procedures.
3. Position power - The ability of a leader to control subordinates through reward and
punishment.

High levels of these three factors give the most favourable situation, low levels, the least favourable.
Relationship-motivated leaders are most effective in moderately favourable situations. Task-motivated
leaders
are
most
effective
at
either
end
of
the
scale.
Fiedler suggests that it may be easier for leaders to change their situation to achieve effectiveness, rather
than change their leadership style.

Hersey-Blanchard Situational Theory

Situational theories propose that leaders choose the best course of action based upon situational variable.
Different styles of leadership may be more appropriate for certain types of decision-making. This theory
suggests that leadership style should be matched to the maturity of the subordinates. Maturity is assessed
in relation to a specific task and has two parts:

Psychological maturity - Their self-confidence and ability and readiness to accept responsibility.
Job maturity - Their relevant skills and technical knowledge.

As the subordinate maturity increases, leadership should be more relationship-motivated than taskmotivated. For four degrees of subordinate maturity, from highly mature to highly immature, leadership
can consist of:

Delegating to subordinates.
Participating with subordinates.
Selling ideas to subordinates.
Telling subordinates what to do

Path-Goal Theory
Evans and House suggest that the performance, satisfaction and motivation of a group can be affected by
the leader in a number of ways:

Offering rewards for the achievement of performance goals.

Clarifying paths towards these goals.
Removing performance obstacles.

Vroom-Yetton Leadership Model

This model suggests the selection a leadership style for making a decision. There are five decision
making styles:

Autocratic 1 - Problem is solved using information already available.

Autocratic 2 - Additional information is obtained from group before leader makes decision.
Consultative 1 - Leader discusses problem with subordinates individually, before making a
decision.
Consultative 2 - Problem is discussed with the group before deciding.
Group 2 - Group decides upon problem, with leader simply acting as chair.