Unit: V

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 behavior 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 an 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 who 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 behavior 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.

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.
8. Teamwork- A key pillar of the industrial revolution, a foundation of modern
civilization, was the division of labor. And that’s just another way to say teamwork.In
a nutshell, teams make work more efficient. That can lead to better productivity,
reduced costs, greater profitability, and many other benefits.

Characteristic Properties of a Team:

Self-monitoring

Increases efficiency

Teams innovate faster

Teammates learn from each other

Teamwork can create healthy competition

Teamwork promotes strong working relationships

9. Emotional Intelligence-According to Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist Emotional

intelligence (otherwise known as emotional quotient) is the ability to understand, use, and
manage your own and of others’ emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate
effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict.

Signs of Strong EQ in an individual:

Getting along Well/Interest in others

Self-Awareness of Strengths and Weaknesses
Operating With Integrity
Self-Awareness of feelings
Present-Focused
Self-Motivated
Well-Placed Boundaries
10. Empathy-Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is
experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in
another's position.

Signs of empathy:
 You listen intently to what others have to say
You can usually tell when someone is feeling sad, anxious or angry
You often absorb other people's emotions and end up feeling how others are feeling
You try to figure out how other people are feeling
Other people come to you for advice
Examples of Empathy:

Establishing rapport with colleagues. Showing reasonable concern and support for colleagues in every
way possible to help them perform and grow. Practicing active listening without interrupting and
reflective listening by paraphrasing. Avoiding quick judgment.

Qualities of a Leader:

Physical appearance

Vision

Intelligence

Objective

Knowledge

Responsibility

Self Confidence

Humanist

Courage

Core values of Professionals as Leaders:

Work Ethic

Positive attitude

Responsibility

Professionalism

Loyalty
 Stress

Stress: Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought that
makes you feel frustrated, angry or nervous.

• Stress is the emotional or physical tension the body creates when presented with events or
thoughts that cause worry, frustration, anger or nervousness. Although short-term stress can help
avoid danger, long-term stress can cause health issues.
• The body releases a hormone, called cortisol, in response to stress. Cortisol alerts the brain, tenses
the muscles, and increases the pulse rate. In the short-term, this helps individuals avoid danger;
however, in the long-term, it can harm the mind and body. The chronic release of cortisol can
increase the risks of high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, depression, anxiety, diabetes, and
other problems. It can also worsen existing health conditions.
• When stress exceeds the ability to cope, balance in the mind and body need to be restored.

Stress management: -

Stress management is a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's
level of stressfor the purpose of and for the motive of improving everyday functioning.

Importance of managing stress: -If you’re living with high levels of stress, you’re putting your entire
well-being at risk. Stress disturbs your emotional equilibrium, as well as your physical health. It narrows
your ability to think clearly, function effectively, and enjoy life.

Causes of Stress: -

1. Financial obligations.
2. Work that is not engaging or challenging
3. Few opportunities for growth or advancement
4. Excessive workload
5. Lack of social support
6. Conflicting demand or unclear performance expectations
7. Not having enough control over job related decisions

Types of Stress: -

1. Acute stress: - Acute stress results from your body’s reaction to a new or challenging
situation. It is short-termed. Usually, emotions and the body return to their normal state
relatively soon.
2. Episodic acute stress: - Happens when acute stresses happen on a frequent basis. This can be
because of repeatedly tight work deadlines. It can also be because of the frequent high-stress
situations experienced by some professionals. With this type of stress, we don’t get time to
return to a relaxed and calm state. As a result, the effects of the high-frequency acute
stresses accumulate. It often leaves us feeling like we are moving from one crisis to another.
3. Chronic stress: - Chronic stress is the result of stressors that continue for a long period of
time. This type of stress feels never-ending. We often have difficulty seeing any way to
improve or change the situation that is the cause of our chronic stress.
Techniques of Effective stress management: -

Stress management is not one-size-fits-all. That’s why it’s important to experiment and find out what
works best for you. The following stress management tips can help you do that.

1. Identify the sources of stress in your life: like your habits, attitude, and excuses. Even your own
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors contribute to your everyday stress levels.
2. Read a Stress Journal: acquire knowledge and apply in your real life problems to get relief from
stress.
3. Practice the 4 A’s of stress management. Avoid, Alter, Adapt & Accept. (Detailed material is
given separately)
4. Getting up early and exercising: Exercise releases endorphins that make you feel good, and it
can also serve as a valuable distraction from your daily worries.
5. Connect to others: Face-to-face interaction triggers hormones that counteract the body’s
defensive “fight-or-flight” response. Talk to friends, relatives, neighbors and family members.
6. Spare time for fun and relaxation: Makes you more compose and confident.
7. Practice Time management: Be disciplined and adhere to yourself made timelines.
8. Have a healthy lifestyle: Eat a healthy diet. Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope
with stress. Have 7 hours of quality sound sleep.
9. Work life balance: Create a time table to have adequate work life balance.
10. Learn to relieve stress in the moment: By viewing a favorite photo, smelling a specific scent,
listening to a piece of music and hugging a pet.
11. Establish boundaries: In today’s digital world, it’s easy to feel pressure to be available 24 hours
a day. Establish some work-life boundaries for yourself. That might mean making a rule not to
check email from home in the evening, or not answering the phone during dinner. Although
people have different preferences when it comes to how much they blend their work and home
life, creating some clear boundaries between these realms can reduce the potential for work-life
conflict and the stress that goes with it.
12. Get some support: Accepting help from trusted friends and family members can improve your
ability to manage stress. Your employer may also have stress management resources available
through an employee assistance program, including online information, available counseling, and
referral to mental health professionals, if needed. If you continue to feel overwhelmed by work
stress, you may want to talk to a psychologist, who can help you better manage stress and change
unhealthy behavior.

The 4 A’s of Stress Management

The four A’s of stress management are to

• Avoid
• Alter
• Accept
• Adapt

Avoid

Stress can often be avoided by planning ahead, rearranging surroundings and carrying a lighter workload.
Approaches include the following:
 • Take control. Taking control of stressful, routine tasks helps to build confidence. For example,
leaving earlier for work or taking a new route can ease the stress of traffic. Preparing lunch can
ease the stress of waiting in a line during lunchtime.
• Avoid bothersome people. Physical distance from someone who is causing stress can relieve
tension.
• Say “no.” Most people have a lot of responsibilities and very little spare time. Saying “no'' to
social invitations, extra responsibilities at work, or volunteer requests can be difficult, but it is
often needed for personal mental health.
• Prioritize a to-do list. Making a to-do list helps the mind let go of stressful thoughts regarding
required tasks. Scratching an item off the to-do list can create a feeling of accomplishment.

Alter

When stressful situations cannot be avoided, behaviors, communication, and time management may need
to be altered. Approaches include the following:

• Ask others to change their behavior. Small issues often snowball and turn into huge problems.
It’s okay to ask others to change bothersome behavior; however, it’s important to listen to others
about personal bothersome behavior, too.
• Communicate openly. Honesty is always the best policy. When sharing feelings, using “I”
statements rather than “you” statements helps to negate any blame on the other person.
• Manage time better. Grouping similar tasks together can increase efficiency, resulting in
lessened stress.
• State limits in advance. Prior to engaging in a long conversation, letting the other person know
if time is limited avoids any hard feelings.

Accept

Many times, acceptance is the best way to avoid stress. Approaches include the following:

• Talk with others. Feelings are legitimate even if frustrating situations cannot be changed.
Discussing stressful situations with a friend who actively listens and understands is helpful.
• Forgive others. Forgiving takes practice. Learning forgiveness releases negative energy from the
mind and body.
• Practice positive self-talk. Negative thoughts tend to feed off each other, creating additional
negative thoughts. Positive self-talk can reduce stress and help maintain objectivity.

 Learn from mistakes. Mistakes are inevitable and should be used as teachable moments rather
than create feelings of self-loathing.

Adapt

Adapting often involves changing expectations, which in turn, lowers stress levels. Approaches include
the following:

• Adjust standards. Perfection is impossible. Striving for perfection can cause feelings of
frustration and guilt. Adjusting personal expectations can reduce stress.
• Practice stopping bad thoughts. Negative thoughts should immediately be replaced with
positive ones. Refusal to replay a stressful situation in the mind may actually cause it to be less
stressful.
 • Reframe the issue. Looking at situations from a different viewpoint is often helpful. For
example, rather than being frustrated for using a sick day from work, use the day to catch up on
television programs or read a book.
• Adopt mantra sayings. Mentally repeating confident sentences, such as, “I can do this,” has a
positive effect on stressful situations.
• Create a list of happy resources. Making a list of happy experiences, situations and thoughts
can put things into perspective. Looking back on this list during a stressful situation can help
calm the mind.
• Look at the big picture. Figuring out if something will matter in one year or in five years is
important. If it won’t, letting it go can relieve stress.

Positive thinking and controlling mind

• Positive thinking doesn't mean that you keep your head in the sand and ignore life's less pleasant
situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and
productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.
• Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts
that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your
self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you
create because of lack of information.
• If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely
pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you're likely an optimist — someone who
practices positive thinking.

The health benefits of positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits
that positive thinking may provide include:

• Increased life span

• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress
• Greater resistance to the common cold
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress
• It's unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One
theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which
reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.
• It's also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get
more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don't smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

Focusing on positive thinking

• You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it does
take time and practice — you're creating a new habit, after all. Here are some ways to think and
behave in a more positive and optimistic way:
• Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive
thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it's
 work, your daily commute or a relationship. You can start small by focusing on one area to
approach in a more positive way.
• Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you're thinking. If you find
that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.
• Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times.
Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.
• Follow a healthy lifestyle. Aim to exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. You
can also break it up into 10-minute chunks of time during the day. Exercise can positively affect
mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. And learn techniques
to manage stress.
• Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive
people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase
your stress level and make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways.
• Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don't say anything to yourself that
you wouldn't say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought
enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about you.
Think about things you're thankful for in your life.

Resilience: -

Resilience is the ability to adapt to difficult situations. When stress, adversity or trauma overtakes
someone, the person feels anger, grief and painbut he keeps functioningboth physically and
psychologically.Many people assume that resilient people don't feel stress. This is not the case. A resilient
person will feel stress but the key difference is that they know how to manage their stress so that they can
keep it under control.

ASPECTS OF RESILIENCE SKILLS

a) Flexibility in thought and behaviour

b) Tolerance and self belief

c) Team work and communication

d) Compassion in leadership

e) Communication skills & Speaking skills

f) Listening and responding

Tolerance:

Tolerance means recognizing that our diversity is strength.

Characteristics of a tolerant person:

  They are able to effectively circumvent the established process to get things done.
 They don’t mind bending or changing the rules when it’s necessary.
 They’re forgiving when someone else makes a mistake, even repeatedly.

Tips to build tolerance:

1. Have command/control over your feelings. Other persons even don’t bother and don’t know
that you are wasting valuable time for them.
2. Check Your Ego level.
3. Meditate.Meditation can help cultivate tolerance.
4. Remember Change Is Imminent.
5. Learn to allow life to bug you and then go away, without any lingering effects by using your
power of controlling over your emotions and past experiences.
6. Practice Patience.

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