Chapter One

Introduction to Leadership
Introduction
Leadership is one of the most important aspect of studies of human behaviour in organization. It is
the leader who creates working environment which is suitable for employee & organizational
success. The success of an organization depends upon the efficiency of the leader. It is the
attribute, positive approach, and the ability to solve problems that make a person leader.
For many people, leadership stems from a desire to make a difference in the lives of others and the
world. It means believing in yourself and those you work with, loving what you do, and infusing
others with energy and enthusiasm to accomplish a vision for a better future. There are leaders
making a difference every day, not only in businesses but in nonprofit organizations, the military,
educational systems and governmental agencies, sports teams and volunteer committees, big cities
and small rural communities, as well.

1.1. Leadership Definition

- Leadership is the exercise of influence by one member of a group or organization over other
members to help the group or organization achieve its goals. Formal leaders have formal
authority to influence others by virtue of their job/position responsibilities. Informal leaders
lack formal authority but influence others by virtue of their special skills or talents.
- Leadership is formally defined as the process of influencing others to behave in preferred
ways to accomplish organizational objectives.
- Leadership is the incremental influence one individual exerts over another, above and beyond
mechanical compliance with routine directives.
- Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes
and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.
- Leadership occurs when one individual influences others to do something voluntarily rather
than because they were the required to do it or because they feared the consequences of
noncompliance. It strong is this voluntary aspect of leadership that distinguishes it from other
influence processes, such as power and authority.
- Chandan defined leadership in such a way that it is an art of influencing and inspiring
subordinates to perform their duty willingly, competently and enthusiastically for the
achievement of group objective.
Leadership involves influence, it occurs among people, those people intentionally desire
significant changes, and the changes reflect purposes shared by leaders and followers. Influence
means that the relationship among people is not passive; however, also inherent in this definition

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is the concept that influence is multidirectional and non coercive. Leadership is reciprocal, in most
organizations; superiors influence subordinates, but subordinates also influence superiors.
Also, leadership is a people activity and is distinct from administrative paperwork or planning
activities. Leadership occurs among people; it is not something done to people. Since leadership
involves people, there must be followers. Followers are an important part of the leadership
process, and all leaders are sometimes followers as well. Good leaders know how to follow, and
they set an example for others.
 Learning the Art and Science of Leadership
It is important to remember that leadership is both an art and a science. It is an art because many
leadership skills and qualities cannot be learned from a textbook. Leadership takes practice and
hands-on experience, as well as intense personal exploration and development. However,
leadership is also a science because a growing body of knowledge and objective facts describes
the leadership process and how to use leadership skills to attain organizational goals.
 Becoming a Leader:
The leaders of a group, team or organization are the individuals who influence others behaviour.
Leader effectiveness is the extent to which a leader actually does help a group, team or
organization to achieve its goals. Leaders are either appointed by someone external to the group
and they are elected by group members themselves. Some people take up role of leader by using
their influences.
A more fruitful way to think about leadership concerns the distinction between occupying a
leadership position and being effective in that position. Leadership ought to be evaluated in terms
of the performance of the group over time. It relates directly to the ability to build and maintain a
group that performs well compared to its competition.

1.2. Leadership Vs Management

Although it is common to use the term ‘leader’ and ‘manager’ interchangeably, however
nowadays many writers point to a difference between the two. Managers and leaders are not
inherently different types of people. There are managers at all hierarchical levels in today’s
organizations who are also good leaders, and most people can develop the qualities needed for
effective leadership. Both management and leadership are essential in organizations and must be
integrated effectively to lead to high performance. That is, leadership cannot replace management;
it should be in addition to management.

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Leadership is a facet of management and vice versa. Leadership is just one of the many assets a
successful manager must possess. The principal aim of a manager is to maximize the output of the
organization through administrative implementation. To achieve this, managers must undertake
the following functions:

 Organization  Controlling
 Planning  Directing
 Staffing
Leadership is an important component of the directing function. A manager must manage as well
as lead.

 Some of the bold differences are;

1. Management is about path following, leadership on the other hand is focused on path finding
2. Management is about doing things right, while leadership is about doing the right thing
3. Management is controlling people and getting them to do things, while leadership is
influencing people to do things willingly
4. Management involves making detailed steps and timetable for achieving results, then
marshalling resources to make it happen. Leadership on the other hand emphasized on
communicating the vision so that others understand and agree with it.
5. Management produces predictability and order so that others, such as customers or
shareholders can rely on consistent result. Leadership produces change that is often a quantum
leap, such as new products or new approaches to managing people that makes the organization
more competitive.
6. Management is organized along hierarchical position and authority. It simply makes the person
a boss. This however does not make one a leader. Leadership differs in that it makes the
subordinates want to achieve high goals.
7. The process of management generally encourages emotional distance, but leadership means
being emotionally connected to others.
8. Management means providing answers and solving problems, leadership requires the courage
to admit mistakes and doubts, to listen, and to trust and learn from others.

1.3. What Makes Effective Leader

Leadership is an intangible quality and its effectiveness can best be measured or judged by the
behaviour and attitudes of followers. Personal backgrounds and personalities are poor indicators
of judging successful leaders.
The functional leadership model assumes that leaders are not born but can be trained. Training is
usually in the form of experience and feedback from superiors and peer groups. Your leadership

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style depends on the nature of the situation itself. There are seven principles, which, if practised
sincerely and consistently will produce the desired effectiveness are;
1. Know your job. To gain respect you must be competent at your job. You must be able
toanswer cadets who come to you for advice or to answer a question. It is your job to
keepyourself up to date on organization regulations and activities.
2. Be Sensitive. You must be aware of your environment and sensitive to the feelings of
otherswho are affected by your actions. Sensitivity allows you to detect the subtle changes
inindividuals that indicates problems. You must develop a sense of self awareness since
youractions, tone of voice and attitudes will be noticed by your team.
3. Be Firm. Stand up for what you believe is right. This does not mean being inflexible,
obstinateor pig-headed. A good leader will use all the information available and make a
decision. Theywill not allow themselves to be swayed by individuals who criticise their
decisions for personalreasons.
4. Ability to Inspire others:- this may be an internal “charisma” which is an inborn trait and
may not be learnable.
5. Problem solving skill:- an effective leader has to develop the patience and ability to look the
problem from various angles and get down to the cause of the problem and tries to solve the
problem rather than the symptom of the problem .
6. Ability to understand human behaviour:- a leader must understand the needs, desires, and
behaviour of their subordinates and show respect for such desires. He must emotionally
supportive and is carful enough to avoid ego threatening behaviour. He must give credit to
subordinates when the efforts are successful.
7. Willingness to take risk:- good leader always charter the unknown. They must accept and
seek new challenges. However, the risk must be calculated ones and the outcomes of action be
reasonably predicted. He must be willing to tolerate frustration and defeat & able to learn from
it.
1.4. Importance of leadership for good governance & development
Need for Leadership
Why is leadership necessary? Most organizations are highly structured and have relatively clear
lines of authority, stated objectives, and momentum to carry them forward. Why, then, is there a
need for incremental influence beyond the routine directives and formal job requirements? Four
reasons have been proposed to explain the need for on-going leadership.
- Incomplete organizational structure.

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The first reason why leadership is necessary is because there is a degree of incompleteness in
every organization design. Social organizations cannot be designed to be like machines, which are
simply turned on and allowed to run untouched. Leaders are needed to structuring the tasks, decide
who should do what, and delegate work assignments, level. Leaders help the people they lead to
accomplish their collective goals.

- External change.
The second reason why leadership is necessary is because the organization exists in a changing
environment. As the external environment changes, leaders are needed to identify the strategic
mission of the organization and help it adapt to its changing environment.

- Internal change.
The third reason for leadership stems from the dynamics of internal change in the organization.
Leadership is needed to coordinate the efforts of diverse organizational units, particularly during
periods of rapid growth or decline. Leadership is necessary to solve internal conflicts and settle
differences of opinion.

- Motivate and inspire.

The fourth reason why organizations require leadership stems from the need to motivate people
and maintain their involvement in the organization. Individuals are not permanent fixtures within
the organization. Instead, they come and go, and when they are present, their needs and Intel
interests change. Effective leadership provides meaning and purpose by creating a vision of where
the organization is going. This ability to inspire and motivate others and transform them into
committed contributors to the organization is the function of leadership that has captured the
interest of philosophers and scholars and propelled the study of leadership.

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