Leadership Basics

What is Leadership

Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct, guide and influence the behavior
and work of others towards accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. Leadership
is the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence and zeal.

Leadership is the potential to influence behaviour of others. It is also defined as the

capacity to influence a group towards the realization of a goal. Leaders are required to
develop future visions, and to motivate the organizational members to want to achieve the
visions.

According to Keith Davis, “Leadership is the ability to persuade others to seek defined
objectives enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group together and motivates
it towards goals.”

Characteristics of Leadership

1. It is a inter-personal process in which a manager is into influencing and guiding

workers towards attainment of goals.
2. It denotes a few qualities to be present in a person which includes intelligence,
maturity and personality.
3. It is a group process. It involves two or more people interacting with each other.
4. A leader is involved in shaping and moulding the behaviour of the group towards
accomplishment of organizational goals.
5. Leadership is situation bound. There is no best style of leadership. It all depends upon
tackling with the situations.

Importance of Leadership
Leadership is an important function of management which helps to maximize efficiency and
to achieve organizational goals.

The following points justify the importance of leadership in a concern.

1. Initiates action- Leader is a person who starts the work by communicating the
policies and plans to the subordinates from where the work actually starts.
2. Motivation- A leader proves to be playing an incentive role in the concern’s working.
He motivates the employees with economic and non-economic rewards and thereby
gets the work from the subordinates.
3. Providing guidance- A leader has to not only supervise but also play a guiding role
for the subordinates. Guidance here means instructing the subordinates the way they
have to perform their work effectively and efficiently.
4. Creating confidence- Confidence is an important factor which can be achieved
through expressing the work efforts to the subordinates, explaining them clearly their
 role and giving them guidelines to achieve the goals effectively. It is also important to
hear the employees with regards to their complaints and problems.
5. Building morale- Morale denotes willing co-operation of the employees towards their
work and getting them into confidence and winning their trust. A leader can be a
morale booster by achieving full co-operation so that they perform with best of their
abilities as they work to achieve goals.
6. Builds work environment- Management is getting things done from people. An
efficient work environment helps in sound and stable growth. Therefore, human
relations should be kept into mind by a leader. He should have personal contacts with
employees and should listen to their problems and solve them. He should treat
employees on humanitarian terms.
7. Co-ordination- Co-ordination can be achieved through reconciling personal interests
with organizational goals. This synchronization can be achieved through proper and
effective co-ordination which should be primary motive of a leader.

Role of a Leader
Following are the main roles of a leader in an organization :

1. Required at all levels- Leadership is a function which is important at all levels of

management.

In the top level, it is important for getting co-operation in formulation of plans and
policies.

In the middle and lower level, it is required for interpretation and execution of plans
and programmes framed by the top management.

Leadership can be exercised through guidance and counseling of the subordinates at

the time of execution of plans.

2. Representative of the organization- A leader, i.e., a manager is said to be the

representative of the enterprise.

He/She has to represent the concern at seminars, conferences, general meetings, etc.

His/Her role is to communicate the rationale of the enterprise to outside public.

He/She is also representative of the own department which he leads.

3. Integrates and reconciles the personal goals with organizational goals- A leader
through leadership traits helps in reconciling/integrating the personal goals of the
employees with the organizational goals.

A Leader is trying to co-ordinate the efforts of people towards a common purpose and
thereby achieves objectives. This can be done only if he can influence and get willing
co-operation and urge to accomplish the objectives.
 4. He/She solicits support- A leader is a manager and besides that he is a person who
entertains and invites support and co-operation of subordinates. This he can do by his
personality, intelligence, maturity and experience which can provide him positive
result.

In this regard, a leader has to invite suggestions and if possible implement them into
plans and programmes of enterprise. This way, he can solicit full support of employees
which results in willingness to work and thereby effectiveness in running of a concern.

5. As a friend, philosopher and guide- A leader must possess the three dimensional
traits in him. He can be a friend by sharing the feelings, opinions and desires with the
employees.

A Leader can be a philosopher by utilizing his intelligence and experience and thereby
guiding the employees as and when time requires.

He/She can be a guide by supervising and communicating the employees the plans
and policies of top management and secure their co-operation to achieve the goals of
a concern.

At times he can also play the role of a counselor by counseling and a problem-solving
approach. He can listen to the problems of the employees and try to solve them.

Qualities of a Leader
A leader has got multidimensional traits in him which makes him appealing and effective in
behavior. The following are the requisites to be present in a good leader:

1. Physical appearance- A leader must have a pleasing appearance. Physique and

health are very important for a good leader.
2. Vision and foresight- A leader cannot maintain influence unless he exhibits that he
is forward looking. He has to visualize situations and thereby has to frame logical
programmes.
3. Intelligence- A leader should be intelligent enough to examine problems and difficult
situations. He should be analytical who weighs pros and cons and then summarizes
the situation. Therefore, a positive bent of mind and mature outlook is very important.
4. Communicative skills- A leader must be able to communicate the policies and
procedures clearly, precisely and effectively. This can be helpful in persuasion and
stimulation.
5. Objective- A leader has to be having a fair outlook which is free from bias and which
does not reflects his willingness towards a particular individual. He should develop his
own opinion and should base his judgement on facts and logic.
6. Knowledge of work- A leader should be very precisely knowing the nature of work of
his subordinates because it is then he can win the trust and confidence of his
subordinates.
7. Sense of responsibility- Responsibility and accountability towards an individual’s
work is very important to bring a sense of influence. A leader must have a sense of
responsibility towards organizational goals because only then he can get maximum of
 capabilities exploited in a real sense. For this, he has to motivate himself and arouse
and urge to give best of his abilities. Only then he can motivate the subordinates to
the best.
8. Self-confidence and will-power- Confidence in himself is important to earn the
confidence of the subordinates. He should be trustworthy and should handle the
situations with full will power.
9. Humanist-This trait to be present in a leader is essential because he deals with human
beings and is in personal contact with them. He has to handle the personal problems
of his subordinates with great care and attention. Therefore, treating the human
beings on humanitarian grounds is essential for building a congenial environment.
10. Empathy- It is an old adage “Stepping into the shoes of others”. This is very important
because fair judgement and objectivity comes only then. A leader should understand
the problems and complaints of employees and should also have a complete view of
the needs and aspirations of the employees. This helps in improving human relations
and personal contacts with the employees.

From the above qualities present in a leader, one can understand the scope of leadership and
it’s importance for scope of business. A leader cannot have all traits at one time. But a few of
them helps in achieving effective results.

Leadership and Management -

Relationship & Differences
Leadership and management are the terms that are often considered synonymous. It is
essential to understand that leadership is an essential part of effective management.

As a crucial component of management, remarkable leadership behaviour stresses upon

building an environment in which each and every employee develops and excels.

Leadership is defined as the potential to influence and drive the group efforts towards
the accomplishment of goals. This influence may originate from formal sources, such as
that provided by acquisition of managerial position in an organization.

A manager must have traits of a leader, i.e., he/she must possess leadership qualities. Leaders
develop and begin strategies that build and sustain competitive advantage.

Organizations require robust leadership and robust management for optimal organizational
efficiency.

Differences between Leadership and Management

Leadership differs from management in a sense that:

1. While managers lay down the structure and delegates authority and responsibility,
leaders provides direction by developing the organizational vision and communicating
it to the employees and inspiring them to achieve it.
 2. While management includes focus on planning, organizing, staffing, directing and
controlling; leadership is mainly a part of directing function of management. Leaders
focus on listening, building relationships, teamwork, inspiring, motivating and
persuading the followers.
3. While a leader gets his authority from his followers, a manager gets his authority by
virtue of his position in the organization.
4. While managers follow the organization’s policies and procedure, the leaders follow
their own instinct.
5. Management is more of science as the managers are exact, planned, standard, logical
and more of mind.

Leadership, on the other hand, is an art. In an organization, if the managers are

required, then leaders are a must/essential.

6. While management deals with the technical dimension in an organization or the job
content; leadership deals with the people aspect in an organization.
7. While management measures/evaluates people by their name, past records, present
performance;

Leadership sees and evaluates individuals as having potential for things that can’t be
measured, i.e., it deals with future and the performance of people if their potential is
fully extracted.

8. If management is reactive, leadership is proactive.

9. Management is based more on written communication, while leadership is based
more on verbal communication.

The organizations which are over managed and under-led do not perform upto the
benchmark.

Leadership accompanied by management sets a new direction and makes efficient use
of resources to achieve it.

Both leadership and management are essential for individual as well as organizational
success.
Leader versus Manager
“Leadership and managership are two synonymous terms” is an incorrect statement.
Leadership doesn’t require any managerial position to act as a leader. On the other hand, a
manager can be a true manager only if he has got the traits of leader in him. By virtue of
his/her position, manager has to provide leadership to his group.

A manager has to perform all five functions to achieve goals, i.e., Planning, Organizing,
Staffing, Directing, and Controlling. Leadership is a part of these functions.

Leadership as a general term is not related to managership. A person can be a leader by virtue
of qualities in him. For example: leader of a club, class, welfare association, social
organization, etc. Therefore, it is true to say that, “All managers are leaders, but all leaders are
not managers.”

A leader is one who influences the behavior and work of others in group efforts towards
achievement of specified goals in a given situation. On the other hand, manager can be a true
manager only if he has got traits of leader in him. Manager at all levels are expected to be the
leaders of work groups so that subordinates willingly carry instructions and accept their
guidance. A person can be a leader by virtue of all qualities in him.

Leaders and Managers can be compared on the following basis:

Basis Manager Leader

A person becomes a manager by A person becomes a leader on basis

Origin
virtue of his position. of his personal qualities.

Manager has got formal rights in

Formal Rights an organization because of his Rights are not available to a leader.
status.

The subordinates are the The group of employees whom the

Followers
followers of managers. leaders leads are his followers.

A manager performs all five Leader influences people to work

Functions
functions of management. willingly for group objectives.

A leader is required to create cordial

A manager is very essential to a
Necessity relation between person working in
concern.
and for organization.
 Stability It is more stable. Leadership is temporary.

Mutual
All managers are leaders. All leaders are not managers.
Relationship

Manager is accountable for self

Leaders have no well defined
Accountability and subordinates behaviour and
accountability.
performance.

A manager’s concern is A leader’s concern is group goals

Concern
organizational goals. and member’s satisfaction.

People follow manager by virtue People follow them on voluntary

Followers
of job description. basis.

A manager can continue in office

A leader can maintain his position
Role till he performs his duties
only through day to day wishes of
continuation satisfactorily in congruence with
followers.
organizational goals.

A leader has command over

Manager has command over
different sanctions and related task
Sanctions allocation and distribution of
records. These sanctions are
sanctions.
essentially of informal nature.

Authority vs Leadership
The authority exercised is a kind of legitimate power and people follow figures exercising it,
because their positions demand so irrespective of the person holding the position. Leaders
in organizations and elsewhere may have formal authorities but they mostly rely on
the informal authority that they exercise on people to influence them.

Leaders are trusted for their judgment and respected for their expertise, integrity etc and
hence followed and not because they hold a certain position. For e.g. M.K. Gandhi for most part
did not hold any official position to lead the Indian freedom struggle.

It is also important to understand that a formal authority and power emerging from it, might
not always be able to influence people in the desired manner as; in times of crisis and
difficulties people view it as coercion.
On the other hand leadership tends to create followers out of free will and choice without
forcing them to accept anything thrown their way.

Authority rarely provides a scope for feedback, constructive criticism or opinions of the people
on whom it is exercised however leaders provide ample platform to their followers to voice
their thoughts and feedback.

When dealing with adults, the sole use of authority to direct and discipline them hardly works,
leadership provides a better approach of sharing and involving thus building rapports with
followers and creating long term relationships.

Authority can hardly make people change their attitudes and behaviors with lasting effects and
results however a leader inspires followers through self modeled ways and hence leadership
displays greater effectiveness in addressing attitudes and behaviors of people.

Exercising authority sometimes limits the approaches to arrive at solutions for issues and
problems while leadership encourages people to look beyond the obvious and think
innovatively and sometimes emerge with radical solutions.

Apart from it, the biggest difference between the two as cited by Stephen R Covey is the
moral authority held by leaders over the followers which is absent in the case of power from
authority.

Within the organizational setup when leaders also have moral authority on their subordinates
by establishing a synchrony in their words and actions; the rest of the structure and processes
of the organization also get aligned to it, thus creating a robust and transparent culture.

Authoritative way of working also encourages individuals to work in silos while in the
organizations of today; the leaders need to have a complete picture and coordinate with other
functions and departments as and when required.

It is indeed difficult for mangers and leaders to move out of their circle of authority and
coordinate and interact with external people.

However the need of the hour and the more effective approach to leadership and
management is when leaders come out of their comfort zone and move from exercising
authority on a small group to leading the entire organization.

Individuals, who do not rely on authority but lead people, are the ones who enjoy the
privilege of their ideologies and thoughts practiced by later generations long after they
are gone. Even with individuals who held positions of responsibilities, the ones who actually
led their people are the ones remembered and followed.

Leadership and Motivation

Motivation is a goal-oriented characteristic that helps a person achieve his objectives. It
pushes an individual to work hard at achieving his or her goals.

An executive must have the right leadership traits to influence motivation. However, there is
no specific blueprint for motivation.
As a leader, one should keep an open perspective on human nature. Knowing different needs
of subordinates will certainly make the decision-making process easier.

Both an employee as well as manager must possess leadership and motivational traits.

An effective leader must have a thorough knowledge of motivational factors for others. He/She
must understand the basic needs of employees, peers and his superiors. Leadership is used
as a means of motivating others.

Given below are important guidelines that outline the basic view of motivation:

▪ Harmonize and match the subordinate needs with the organizational needs. As
a leader, the executive must ensure that the business has the same morals and ethics
that he seeks in his employees.

He/She should make sure that the subordinates are encouraged and trained in a
manner that meets the needs of the business.

▪ Appreciation and rewards are key motivators that influence a person to achieve a
desired goal. Rewarding good/ exceptional behavior with a small token of
appreciation, certificate or letter can be a great motivator.

If a certificate is awarded to a person, it should mention the particular act or the quality
for which the individual is being rewarded.

▪ Being a role model is also a key motivator that influences people in reaching their
goals. A leader should set a good example to ensure his people to grow and achieve
their goals effectively.
▪ Encouraging individuals to get involved in planning and important issues resolution
procedure not only motivates them, but also teaches the intricacies of these key
decision-making factors. Moreover, it will help everyone to get better understanding
of their role in the organization. The communication will be unambiguous and will
certainly attract acknowledgement and appreciation from the leader.
▪ Developing moral and team spirit certainly has a key impact on the well-being of an
organization. The metal or emotional state of a person constitutes his or her moral
fabric.

A leader’s actions and decisions affect the morale of his subordinates. Hence, he
should always be aware of his decisions and activities. Team spirit is the soul of the
organization.

The leader should always make sure his subordinates enjoy performing their duties
as a team and make themselves a part of the organization’s plans.

▪ A leader should step into the shoes of the subordinates and view things from
subordinate’s angle.

He/She should empathize with them during difficult times. Empathizing with their
personal problems makes them stronger-mentally and emotionally.
 ▪ A meaningful and challenging job accomplished inculcates a sense of achievement
among employees. The executive must make their employees feel they are
performing an important work that is necessary for the organization’s well-being
and success. This motivational aspect drives them to fulfill goals.

Remember, “To become an efficient leader, you must be self-motivated”. You must know
your identity, your needs and you must have a strong urge to do anything to achieve your
goals.

Once you are self-motivated, only then you can motivate others to achieve their goals and to
harmonize their personal goals with the common goals of the organization.

Organizational Leadership
Organizations need strong leadership for optimum effectiveness. Leadership, as we know, is
a trait which is both inbuilt and can be acquired also.

Organizational leadership deals with both human psychology as well as expert tactics.

Organizational leadership emphasizes on developing leadership skills and abilities that are
relevant across the organizations. It means the potential of the individuals to face the hard
times in the industry and still grow during those times.

It clearly identifies and distinguishes the leaders from the managers. The leader should have
potential to control the group of individuals.

An ideal organizational leader should not dominate over others. He/She should guide the
individuals under him, give them a sense of direction to achieve organizational goals
successfully and should act responsibly. He/She should be optimistic for sure. He/She should
be empathetic and should understand the need of the group members.

An organizational leader should not only lead others individually but also manage the actions
of the group.

Individuals who are highly ambitious, have high energy level, an urge to lead, self-confidence,
intelligence, have thorough knowledge of job, are honest and flexible are more likely to
succeed as organizational leaders.

Individuals who learn the organizational leadership develop abilities and skills of teamwork,
effective communication, conflict resolution, and group problem solving techniques.

Organizational leaders clearly communicate organizational mission, vision and policies; build
employees morale, ensure efficient business operations; help employees grow professionally
and contribute positively towards organizations mission.

Tips for Effective Organizational Leadership

 1. A leader must lead himself, only then He/She can lead others. A leader must be
committed on personal and professional front, and must be responsible. He/She must
be a role model for others and set an example for them.
2. A leader must boost up the morale of the employees. He/She should motivate them
well so that they are committed to the organization. He/She should be well acquainted
with them, have concern for them and encourage them to take initiatives. This will
result in more efficient and effective employees and ensure organizational success.
3. A leader must work as a team. He/She should always support his team and respect
them. He/She should not hurt any employee.

A true leader should not be too bossy and should not consider him as the supreme
authority. Leaders should realize that they are part of the organization as a whole.

Organizational leadership involves all the processes and possible results that lead to
development and achievement of organizational goals. It includes employees’ involvement,
genuineness, effective listening and strategic communication.

Leadership Styles - Important

Leadership Styles
All leaders do not possess same attitude or same perspective. As discussed earlier, few
leaders adopt the carrot approach and a few adopt the stick approach. Thus, all of the leaders
do not get the things done in the same manner. Their style varies.

The leadership style varies with the kind of people the leader interacts and deals with.
A perfect/standard leadership style is one which assists a leader in getting the best out of the
people who follow him.

Some of the important leadership styles are as follows:

1. Autocratic leadership style: In this style of leadership, a leader has complete

command and hold over their employees/team. The team cannot put forward their
views even if they are best for the team’s or organizational interests. They cannot
criticize or question the leader’s way of getting things done.

The leader himself/herself gets the things done. The advantage of this style is that it
leads to speedy decision-making and greater productivity under leader’s supervision.
Drawbacks of this leadership style are that it leads to greater employee absenteeism
and turnover.

This leadership style works only when the leader is the best in performing or when the
job is monotonous, unskilled and routine in nature or where the project is short-term
and risky.

2. The Laissez Faire Leadership Style: Here, the leader totally trusts their
employees/team to perform the job themselves. He just concentrates on the
 intellectual/rational aspect of his work and does not focus on the management aspect
of his work.

The team/employees are welcomed to share their views and provide suggestions
which are best for organizational interests. This leadership style works only when the
employees are skilled, loyal, experienced and intellectual.

3. Democratize/Participative leadership style: The leaders invite and encourage the

team members to play an important role in decision-making process, though the
ultimate decision-making power rests with the leader.

The leader guides the employees on what to perform and how to perform, while the
employees communicate to the leader their experience and the suggestions if any.
The advantages of this leadership style are that it leads to satisfied, motivated and
more skilled employees. It leads to an optimistic work environment and also
encourages creativity. This leadership style has the only drawback that it is time-
consuming.

4. Bureaucratic leadership: Here the leaders strictly adhere to the organizational rules
and policies. Also, they make sure that the employees/team also strictly follows the
rules and procedures. Promotions take place on the basis of employees’ ability to
adhere to organizational rules.

This leadership style gradually develops over time. This leadership style is more
suitable when safe work conditions and quality are required. But this leadership style
discourages creativity and does not make employees self-contented.