Leadership in Organization - Coursework Example

In every phase of life, we come across a situation where we require the guidance of an experienced person. That person is known by several names in a different context but they perform the same tasks. We know them as teachers in school, as a coach in the playground, as a mentor in office and as a leader in the political background. The common factor among all of them is that they are responsible for guiding, supporting, motivating, instructing, teaching, organizing a group of people. In general, these people are called or considered as leaders within their particular field of operation.

The term leadership simply means the method of influencing a group of people and guiding them towards the accomplishment of a common objective.  What is leadership? Leadership refers to the way by which an individual organizes a group of people so as to achieve a common goal. Leadership is a process of social influence in which an individual attempt to gain the support and help of a group of people to accomplish a common goal. Essential qualities of a leader The qualities which a leader must possess are- A leader must have an honorable character and always be lenient in offering selfless service.

A leader must be reliable and must be able to offer trust and confidence to his or her followers. A leader must be able to communicate with his or her followers clearly and efficiently. Proper supervision is essential. A leader must be modest, helpful and co-operative as because he or she has to lead a team of followers. Dictatorship is an important characteristic of a leader, but it needs to be fair and just. Overconfidence and ruling attitude has a negative impact. A leader must be capable of handling responsibilities and take strategic decisions as per requirement (van Dick and et al 2012) Leadership styles Transformational Style- in this style the leader guides and transforms the staff.

The leader makes continuous efforts to address the grievances of the employees and motivate them for improved performance. Here open communication between the staff and the leader is always encouraged and the leader follows the participative style of management. The staff gets highly influenced by the leader in Transformational Leadership Style (Ingleton 2013). Transactional Style- Here the main focus of the leader is on management’s objectives. In this style, the leader constantly motivates his followers by offering rewards for completed tasks.

These leaders are mostly work-oriented; they usually follow a particular structure and practice directive style of management. In this style of management, innovativeness and creativity are ignored and people are often motivated by the use of extrinsic motivational factors like incentive and holiday trip (RUGGIERI and ABBATE 2013). Laissez-faire Style- This is also termed as Passive Leadership which exercises the least control on the staff. The managers avoid the responsibility of setting objectives and making important decisions.

It allows the scope for macro-management and self-management. Here the interaction between the leader and his followers happen on a rare basis.