Chapter 9: Leadership

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Leadership
Leadership can be defined as the ability of the management to make sound decisions and inspire
others to perform well. It is the process of directing the behavior of others towards achieving a
common goal. In short, leadership is getting things done through others.

Leader Vs Manager
A leader is someone whom people follow or someone who guides or directs others. A manager is
someone who is responsible for directing and controlling the work and staff in an organization,
or of a department within it.
The main difference between the two is that a leader works by example, while a manager dictates
expectations. If a manager goes against the rules, that will tarnish his position as a manager. If a
leader goes against the example he or she is trying to set, that will be seen as a setback.
Following are a few subtle differences between the two –
- A leader is an innovator and creator whereas a manager is a commander.
- A leader can’t be a manager but the opposite is possible, a manager is more than a leader.
- A leader does what is right, while the manager makes things right.
- A leader deals with change whereas a manager plans for a change.
- A leader gives direction to do something whereas the manager plans for everything that is
to be done.
- A leader encourages people whereas the manager controls people.
- A leader handles communication, credibility, and empowerment whereas a manager deals
with organizing and staffing.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Functions of Effective Leadership

1. Develop Team Work
One of the primary functions of the leader is to develop his work group as a team.
2. Determine the Goal of Organization
A managerial leader should determine the goal of an organization. For the achievement of
organizational goal, he must inform followers about the plan, policies and goals of an
organization, so that the subordinates can act collectively in the process of achieving the
predetermined goal of an organization.
3. Act as a Representative of the Work Group
The leader of work group is expected to act as a link between the workers group and top
management. The leader has to communicate the problems and grievances of his subordinates to
the top management whenever necessary.
4. Provide Guidance
When the subordinates face problem in connection with their performance at work, the leader
has to guide and advice the subordinates to solve their problems. The problems may be technical
or emotional in nature. So, a manager must be pioneer to his subordinates.
5. Time Management
The function of leaders includes not only ensuring the quality and efficiency of work performed
by the team but also checking that the different stages of works are completed on time. So, the
managerial leader has to manage the time for effective supervision of the work done by the
subordinates on time.
6. Coordination
A manager cannot do all the activities by himself. Hence, he needs coordination from all the
subordinates. For that, he tries his best to get coordination for the achievement of organization
goal.
7. Good Human Relations
A managerial leader must make a good relationship among the employees. He must be loyal to
the staffs and able to solve the problems. He must be well informed regarding human problems
and act accordingly.
8. Proper Use of Power
While exercising power in relation to his subordinates, the leader must be careful and use his
power in different way according to the environment and situation. It may be necessary to use
reward power, coercive / expert power, formal or informal power depending on what will
stimulate positive response from the subordinates.

Leadership Styles
Different leadership styles exist in work environments. The culture and goal of an organization
determine which leadership style fits best. Some organizations offer different leadership styles
within an organization, depending on the necessary tasks to complete and departmental needs.
We find five different leadership styles in the corporate world.
They are as follows –
Laissez-Faire
A laissez-faire leader does not directly supervise employees and fails to provide regular updates
to those under his supervision. Highly experienced and trained employees with minimal
requirement of supervision fall under the laissez-faire leadership style. But, not all employees
possess these features. This leadership style blocks the production of employees needing
supervision. The laissez-faire style implements no leadership or supervision efforts from
managers, which can lead to poor production, lack of control and increasing costs.
Autocratic
The autocratic leadership style permits managers to make decisions alone without the input of
others. Managers access total authority and impose their will on employees. No one opposes the
decisions of autocratic leaders. Countries like Cuba and North Korea operate under the autocratic
leadership style. This leadership style benefits those who require direct supervision. Creative
employees who participate in group functions detest this leadership style.

Participative
This is also known as the democratic leadership style. It values the input of team members and
peers, but the responsibility of making the final decision rests with the participative leader.
Participative leadership motivates employee morale because employees make contributions to
the decision-making process. It accounts to a feeling that their opinions matter. When an
organization needs to make changes within itself, that is internally, the participative leadership
style helps employees accept changes easily as they play a role in the process. This leadership
style meets challenges when companies need to make a decision in a short period of time.
Transactional
Transactional leadership style is formed by the concept of reward and punishment. Transactional
leaders believe that the employee's performance is completely dependent on these two factors.
When there is an encouragement, the workers put in their best effort and the bonus is in
monetary terms in most of the cases. In case they fail to achieve the set target they are given a
negative appraisal. Transactional leaders pay more attention to physical and security
requirements of the employees.
Transformational
Transformational leadership has the ability to affect employee's perceptions through the returns
that organization gets in the form of human capital benefits. These leaders have the ability to
reap higher benefits by introducing knowledge management processes, encouraging
interpersonal communication among employees and creating healthy organizational culture. It
helps in flourishing organizational innovation by creating a participative environment or culture.
It promotes a culture where the employees have autonomy to speak about their experiences and
share knowledge. It has been seen that transformational leaders are more innovative than
transactional and laisse-faire leaders.
Traditional Theory
Traditional theory is a theory based on different traits of a human beings. It assumes that leaders
are born and not made. According to this theory, leadership behavior is the sum total of all traits
that a leader possess. Thus this theory gives the profile of a successful and complete leader.
According to this theory, there are five human traits. They are − Physical trait − it includes
energy, activity, appearance, and height. Ability trait − it includes judgement, knowledge, and
fluency in speech. Personal trait − it includes self-confidence, creativity, and enthusiasm. Work
trait − it includes organization and achievement. Social trait − it includes interpersonal skill,
cooperativeness, popularity and prestige.
Drawbacks
Following are the major drawbacks of this theory –
- Traits are not arranged according to their importance.
- There is no quantitative tool to judge the human traits.
- This trait can’t be used universally.
- This trait can be achieved and developed.
- Situational factors are avoided.

What is Path-Goal Theory?

Path-Goal Theory states that the leader is responsible for providing followers with the
information, support, or other resources necessary to achieve their goals. Path-Goal theory
indicates that a leader must properly set a path to a goal and guide and explain how to achieve
the goal successfully to followers.
The term ‘path-goal’ denotes that a leader must illuminate the path to the goal and explain how to
make the journey successful to the followers. The path-goal theory of leadership indicates that a
leader is in charge of clarifying the subordinates about the actions and behavior, which, if
followed, will lead to goal attainment.
Four Components or Types of Path-Goal Theory
Path goal theory suggests 4 various styles which can be and are used by the same leader in
different situations.
Four components or types of the path-goal theory are;
Directive: Here the leader provides guidelines, lets subordinates know what is expected of them,
sets performance standards for them, and controls behavior when performance standards are not
met. He/She makes judicious use of rewards and disciplinary action. The style is the same as
task-oriented one.
Supportive: The leader is friendly towards subordinates and displays personal concern for their
needs, welfare, and well-being. This style is the same as people-oriented leadership.
Participative: The leader believes in group decision-making and shares information with
subordinates. He/She consults his subordinates on important decisions related to work, task
goals, and paths to resolve goals.
Achievement-oriented: The leader sets challenging goals and encourages employees to reach
their peak performance. The leader believes that employees are responsible enough to
accomplish challenging goals. This is the same as goal-setting theory. According to the theory,
these leadership styles are not mutually excusive and leaders are capable of selecting more than
one kind of a style suited for a particular situation.
Conclusion
The theory has been subjected to empirical testing in several studies and has received
considerable research support. This theory consistently reminds the leaders that their main role as
a leader is to assist the subordinates in defining their goals and then to assist them in
accomplishing those goals in the most efficient and effective manner. This theory gives a guide
map to the leaders about how to increase subordinates satisfaction and performance level.

Emerging Approaches to Leadership

Leadership is a term that conjures up different images in different people while to some it means
charisma, to other, it means power and authority. Leadership skills emerge out of spontaneity and
contagion needs, spontaneity refers to the need for initiating a wide range of activities or creating
opportunities for other with a view to influence people. In contracts, people with contagion needs
are influenced by others and will develop leadership skills. In fact, effective leadership is the
mixture of both needs. Leadership thus, plays a crucial role in organizational dynamics. It fill
many of the voids left in conventional organization design, allows for greater organizational
flexibilities and responsiveness to environmental changes, provides a way to coordinate the effort
of diverse groups within the organization, and facilitates organizational membership and
personal needs satisfaction. It is the quality of managerial leadership that often differentiates
effective from ineffective organizations. Therefore, rational leader should know different
emerging approach of the leadership and also they should be aware of current issue in leadership.
There are different approaches emerging in the field of leadership.
Some of them are:
Attribution theory of leadership:
It deals with people trying to make sense out of cause-effect relationships. When something
happens, they want to attributes it to something. This theory tells that leadership is merely an
attribution that people make about other individuals. Effective leaders are generally considered
consistent or unwavering in their decisions.
Charismatic leadership theory: Followers make attributions of heroic or extraordinary abilities
when they observe certain behaviors. Some examples of charismatic leaders are John F.
Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. Walt Disney, Ted Turner, Barack Obama etc. They are found to
have extremely high confidence, dominance and strong convictions in his or her beliefs.
Transactional or transformational leadership:
Transactional leaders guide or motive their followers in the direction of established goals and
clarifying role and task requirements. Transactional leader, on the other hand, inspired followers
to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the organization, and they are capable of
having a profound and extraordinary effect on his or her followers. Transformational leadership
is about leading, changing the organizations strategies and culture so that they have a better bit
with the surrounding environment. They are change agents who energies employees and direct
them to a new set of corporate values and behaviors.
Visionary leadership: The ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, attractive vision of
the future for an organization unit that grows out of and improves upon the present. This vision,
if properly selected and implemented, is so energizing that leads to great success of the
organization. A vision has clear and compelling imagery that offer an innovative way to improve,
which recognizes and draws on traditions, and connects to action that people can take to realize
change. Vision taps people’s emotions and energy, properly articulated a vision creates the
enthusiasm that people have for sporting events and other lei

Contemporary Issues in Leadership

The following are the major and important contemporary issues in leadership.
Issue No. 1: Gender issue: Do males and females lead differently?
Gender issue is taken as a very important issue in the concept of leadership development.
Traditional styles of leadership are changing day by day with the new practices and exercises in
the field of leadership. Recently most of the studies reveal that the leadership and management
styles of a male leader differ from his female counterpart. Normally, it is observed that male
leaders accent and follow directive and analytical leadership styles where women follow
participative and interactive approach for the effective leadership. The debate regarding who is
the best in the leadership style is not yet over. Some researchers believe that women are more
prone to the participative styles than their male counterparts. They are less status-oriented and
have better interpersonal skills than men. Therefore, it is a big issue in the field of leadership that
needs to be studied more in days to come. Research has shown that regardless of gender, people
will traits associated with leadership - such as intelligence, confidence and sociability - are more
likely to be perceived as leaders. However, there is found some differences in leadership styles.
For example, males tend to use a directive command and control style, while females tend to
adopt a more democratic leadership style. Issue No.
2: Is there a biological basis for leadership?
There is increasing evidence indicating that leadership has biological roots. Two chemicals-
serotonin and testosterone are found to have profound effect on becoming a leader. Increased
levels of serotonin appear to improve sociability and control aggregation. Higher levels of
testosterone increase competitive drive and they are found higher in the players like tennis.
Issue No. 3: How does national culture affect the choice of leadership style?
National culture affects leadership style by way of the subordinate. Leaders cannot choose their
styles at will. They are constrained by the cultural conditions that their subordinates have come
to expect. For example, an autocratic style is compatible with high power distance and
participation style is compatible with low power distance.
Issue No. 4: How is the current popularity of empowerment affecting the way managers
lead?
Empowerment is putting employees in charge of what they do. The problem with the current
empowerment movement is that it ignores the extent to which leadership can be shared and the
conditions facilitating success of shared leadership. Because of factors such as downsizing,
higher employee skills commitment of organizations to continuous training, implementation of
total quality management programs and introduction of self-managed teams, there seems to be no
doubt that an increasing number of situations call for a more empowering approach to leadership.
Empowerment means giving employees the authority, skills and freedom to perform their tasks.
Empowerment and shared leadership is not free from conditions. The success of effective
leadership depends in the qualities of developing teams and its members. Today, leadership is
taken as a very challenging job of a leader because of heavy competitions in the market.
Different people and the teams of people have different attitudes and expectations from the
leaders. It is very challenging or the leader for effective management on them. Therefore, the
success of leadership is contingent upon team empowerment. For teams to be effective, managers
must empower their members to make decisions.
Issue No. 5: Since leaders are not leaders until they have followers, what can managers do
to make employees more effective followers?
Successful organizations need effective follower, who can follow effective and efficient leaders.
Following are some qualities of effective followers: They manage themselves well. They can
work independently and without close supervision. They build their competence and focus their
efforts for maximum impact. They are committed to a purpose outside themselves. They are
courageous, honest and credible. They are critical thinkers who knowledge and judgement can be
trusted.
Issue No. 6: Is there a moral dimension to leadership?
Leadership is not value free. So we should look at the moral content of a leader’s goal and the
means he/she uses to achieve those goals.

Issue No. 7: How important is Training for Leadership?

Another contemporary issue in the field of leadership is training for leadership. Different
researches in the field of leadership highlighted the important of training for the effective
leadership. Some researches reveal that leadership can be taught. People can learn
communicating, empowering and visioning skills with the help of a trainer. What is important is
the supportive culture of the management to provide such opportunities.
Issue No. 8: Team Leadership rather Group Management
Team leadership idea is recently developed idea in the field of management or leadership. The
related issue is taken as a very essential matter in today's leaders. They are not trained to handle
the change to teams. Time demands team work but most of our leaders are trained to manage
groups. Different roles are necessary because teams are more interactive, conflicting and need
open communication than groups.