Theory and Practice of Leadership - Essay Example

Leadership can be defined through different perspectives. Defining leadership as a quality, something that is an innate characteristic of an individual, is looking at leadership through a trait perspective (Northouse, 4). Trait perspective focuses on leadership being a set of properties that people possess in varying degrees (Northouse, 4). It shows how leadership can be restricted to a limited number of individuals, because of the concept of innateness. On the other hand, the process perspective of defining leadership focuses on how individuals can be leaders through the different levels of interaction between people, showing different interaction levels between leaders and followers (Northouse, 4). This perspective sees leadership as a learned skill wherein there is a process wherein an individual undergoes to reach that level. Leadership can also be defined through forms, being assigned and emergent (Northouse, 4-5). Leadership happens either because the individual has been appointed to become a leader or because the group responds to the individual as followers. The forms of leadership depend on how the individual came to be leader. When an individual becomes leader through appointment for a certain position, that is assigned leadership. In assigned leadership, the role of a leader is given to an individual. Examples of these are team leaders, managers and administrators, all of which are positions in an organization. However, this does not assure leadership in all settings. An individual may become a leader because of the way how the group members respond to his actions. This may happen regardless of the title or position of the individual. Acceptance and support are key factors in emergent leadership. Certain personality traits are related to emergent leadership, one of which is positive communication skills (Northouse, 5). Leadership and power are two related concepts, as power is part of the influence process important in leading a group. Frenc and Raven’s bases of power show how different bases of power increase a leader’s capacity to influence attitudes, behavior and values of his group (Northouse, 5). There are five bases of power: referent, expert, legitimate, reward and coercive. Referent power is based on the followers’ identification or liking of the leader, this is strongly related to how an individual becomes an emergent leader. Expert power comes from the leader’s competence and skills on handling said position. A head surgeon with years of experience in the surgery field, in the operating room and in the research field has expert power. Legitimate power is associated to a formal job authority. An example of this is the authority of a judge to administer sentences in the court. Reward power is associated with the ability of the leader to provide rewards for his members. Coercive power, on the other hand, is the ability to punish or reprimand members. All these bases of power are used by leaders to extend their influence over their members. Use of power is related to the use of the ability and skills to influence the members into changing their behavior according to what the leader needs them to become. One of the concepts strongly associated with leadership is management. It may be thought of that the two concepts are similar or are interchangeable. However, the functions of management and leadership are two different plates. Management is more of order and consistency while leadership is more of change, movement and development (Northouse, 10). Although leadership and management focus on entirely different aspects of the organization, both are important for an organization to develop and prosper. A thriving organization needs strong leadership with good management skills as it will not only bring order and stability into the organization but also react to changes through adaptation and movement. The difference between management and leadership is related to the leadership styles or models. Leadership styles can be differentiated between task-oriented and people-oriented. A balance between both is revealed to be more effective (Gill, 42-43). It is important that the leader is able to take action in things while maintaining a hold of the entire group. Effective leaders are those who are able to balance three major levels of leadership: task, team and the individual. This is the action-centered leadership, wherein the more overlap there is between the three levels, the more effective the leader is (Gill, 43-44). In any field we may set our eyes upon around us, may it be business groups, sports, media, entertainment, arts and more, leaders are always known to stand out from these groups. Leaders are the people who possess qualities that strongly influence a group, an organization and from time to time even an industry. These qualities are essential in obtaining a certain objective. One of the most eyeing qualities that a leader must have is passion and the drive to meet and exceed goals. These two qualities are strengthened by emotional and mental factors. If an individual believes in a goal and objective then he will work hard to gain or achieve that goal. This is where personal development steps in, in which change is a must. Personal development is a process that every individual would have to go through. In every industry there are certain or even a number of skills required to achieve a group’s or organizational objective. Passion and drive would still be meaningless if an individual does not have the skill. Since we’ve manage to identify the qualities a leader should have, we must now then identify the skills a leader should have to be qualified or to be a good leader. In a general point of view, leaders should be skilled and knowledgeable in strategic planning, strategic planning involves short and long term goals, one good strategy in obtaining a group or organizational goal which is the long term plan is how to get there by phases, breaking down a long term goal to a step by step process. A leader must also have the skill in identifying the changes that would take place throughout the course. A good leader must also be able to identify the skills that each and every group member have, he must be able to maximize these skills he’s members have to further strengthen the teams strategic plans on completing or reaching the goal or target of each phase. A good leader must also be able to make outside influences to their advantage and use it for professional motivation. In every industry competition is always visible, not only from within the team, but the competition between groups is a big factor which a good leader can take advantage of for the further professional and personal development of he’s team and its members. Reaching goals and hitting targets can be a good proof that the team has a good leader, results will tell and justify this, in the event it is also proof that the leader is able to make his team work in a very productive manner. A good leader must also be open to change. Being open to change is not something you learn academically, or a skill you can develop, being open to change is a trait or ability that enables an individual to be flexible and be able to cope up with the current circumstances or situation. Being flexible can not only let you see the advantages of change, it can also be a good drive for someone to be able to develop new processes and procedures for team members that would later on affect performance and progress of a team or organization. No matter how good an individual is, personally and academically, results will always justify ones capability to decide. Flexibility will always be an essential trait of a good and effective leader, because in every industry change is a constant that makes the competition healthy and sets the standards and quality of each and every process in an industry. Decision making and critical decision making are also important skills that a good leader should have. In everyday life or personal output in life, more often than not we always get the results of the past decisions we make. In a fast paced set-up especially in business sectors, leaders are always involve in the implementation of plans and strategies. Decision making involves long term planning. Say for instance a good leader is always knowledgeable of each and every skill and capability his team members have. In decision making a leader, would say Stephen can think out of the box, he has the greatest ideas that a marketing department could maximize therefore I will put him in charge of formulating marketing strategies thus will make a change in the outcome of sales and customer acquisition that would dominate more of the market and make the organization and leader in the industry. On the other hand critical decision making is, Stephen had to leave the company because of personal issues in the middle of a program that is being implemented who should I get in replace of him? Should I push through with the program without him? Would there be a delay in the program or time frame margin? This is where critical decision making steps in, this is where a good leader’s capability to understand and comprehend the situation and be able to find quick solutions is measured. Having all of these said, a good leader must have the capability to decide for the long term goals and objectives of a team or organization, at the same time he must also be capable in making critical decisions to address sudden changes in the processes and industry, therefore a good leader must be flexible and be able to cope up to change. A good leader always communicate with he’s people and understands and capable of analyzing different points of views and perspective to the advantage and progress of team development and change. Leadership is not only a personal development for the leader himself but it is also a development for the team members. It is an important leadership quality to be able to inspire people and help his team members find motivation to become better in their field. A leader is able to direct change, adapt to it and be able to be the principal actor in pushing forward the goal of the team despite the many changes that happens within the organization, and the outside world. It is important that a leader understands how his footsteps can impact the movement of an organization, whether he is an appointed leader or an emergent leader. With these said, it can be clearly seen that a leader can direct paths of change and acceptance within an organization. Because of his qualities and skills, he is able to lead people to whatever path he chooses. An effective leadership is not shown by his own personal development and his own achievements in change and management. It is recognized more on how his people react to his leadership. Thus, it is important to understand that a leader becomes a leader because he has people under him. One cannot be leader without a team, therefore, the team has a great bearing on how effective a leader can be. Leaders need to have a vision, by which the team should always be included. Effective leadership allows the team to share in the vision and be included in the change, movement and development that happens within the organization. Leaders have an important role in organization of members, not for mere management but to create new leaders that will help in pushing forward the goals and vision of the entire organization. That is the reason why we have world leaders, organizational leaders, economic leaders and political leaders. These leaders pave the way for change and movement, for stability and organization, rather than just merely following what is the present. Works Cited Gill, R. Theory and Practice of Leadership. London: Sage Publications, 2006. Northouse, P. Leadership: Theory and Practice, 5th ed. CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 2010. Read More