LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP

DEFINITION
“Leadership is the process of
influencing the activities of an
organized group in its efforts toward
goal setting and goal achievement” .
Leadership Definition – Key Elements
 Leadership Definition – Key
Leader-Follower :


Influence :

Elements
The influencing process is between leaders and followers, not just a leader influencing followers; it’s a two way process.

Influencing is the process of a leader communicating ideas, gaining acceptance of them, and motivating followers to support and implement the ideas through change.
Organizational Objectives :
 High performance leaders influence followers to think not only of their own interests, but the interest of the organization. Leadership occurs when followers are influenced to do what is ethical and beneficial for the organization and themselves.
Change :
 Influencing and setting objectives is about change. Organizations need to continually change, in adapting to the rapidly changing global environment.
People :
 Although the term people is not specifically mentioned in the above definition of Leadership, after reading about the other elements, one can realize that leadership is about leading people.
 Effective Leadership
Leaders with the power and personal traits to be effective in a
leadership situation can lead by taking four sets of actions:

 Providing a vision.
 Thinking like a leader.
 Using the right leadership style.
 Using organizational behavior leadership skills.
 Leader Vs Manager
Personality Manager Leader
Dimension
Attitudes toward Impersonal, passive, Personal, active, goals arise
functional; goals arise out of from desire, imagination
goals necessity, reality

Conceptions of Combines people, ideas, Looks for fresh approaches

things; seeks moderate risk to old problems; seeks high
work risk

Relationships Prefers to work with others; Comfortable in solitary

avoids close relationships and work; encourages close
with others conflicts relationships, not averse to
conflict

Sense of self Accepts life as it is; Questions life; struggles for

unquestioning sense of order
 Leadership Managerial Roles
Interpersonal Informational Decisional
Roles Roles Roles
Figurehead Monitor Entrepreneur

Leader Disseminator Disturbance

handler

Liaison Spoke-person Resource allocator

Negotiator
 CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIP

Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people
who do the right thing.

'Leadership is all about courage to dream big.‘

Leadership is a complex process by which a person influences others

to accomplish a mission, task, or objective and directs the
organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent

Leadership makes people want to achieve high goals and objectives,

while, on the other hand, bosses tell people to accomplish a task or
objective.

Leadership can be used for good or ill

Leadership skills can be perverted to pursue bad ends

 CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERSHIP

Co-existence with follower ship

 Responsibility

 Understanding nature

 Precedence

 Situation
Co-existence with follower ship :
 a leader cannot exist without followers
existing.
 A leader exercises authority over the
group, and it should be willingly accepted
by his followers.
 Leadership is not conferred or ordered but
is one to be earned
Responsibility:
 a leader is expected to assume full
responsibility in all situations.
 he must steer the group clear of all
difficulties.
 he has to assume responsibility for all
actions of the group.
Understanding nature:
 important characteristic feature of leadership is
its nature to understand the feelings and
problems of the group as a whole as well as the
individuals.
 guide a leader is looked upon as a friend and a
philosopher.
 a leader should strive to satisfy the personal and
social needs of his followers, which is very much
expected by them
Precedence:
 Since the leader influences the behavior
and the activities of the followers he
should be endowed with the technical
competence and personality traits.
 He should also be well aware of his own
preferences and limitations to impress
upon his followers
Situation:
 Leadership patterns changes according to
the type of group and the situation in
which the group is operating.
 A leader should know on the role to be
adopted on different situations
 IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP

1. Initiates action
2. Motivation
3. Providing guidance
4. Creating confidence
5. Building morale
6. Builds work environment
7. Co-ordination
Initiates action

•Leader communicates the policies and

plans to the subordinates from where the
work actually starts.
Motivation 

•A leader motivates the employees with

economic and non- economic rewards
and thereby gets the work from the
subordinates.
Providing guidance

 A leader guides by 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

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.He
should listen to his subordinates 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.
IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP IN
AN ORGANISATION

Leadership and human behavior

Leadership and Communication

Leadership and motivation

Leadership and human behavior

Human nature is the comman qualities of all

people have similar needs .

A leader must understand these needs because

they are powerful motivators.
 Leadership and Communication

Communication is very important

because a leader coach, coordinate,
counsel, evaluate, and supervise
through this process.
 Leadership and motivation

A person's motivation is a combination of desire

and energy directed at achieving a goal.
 Autocratic: An autocratic leader is one who
commands and expects compliance. He is dogmatic and
positive and leads by his ability to withhold or give
rewards and punishments.

 Participative or supportive:The participative or

supportive leadership behaviour is based on the
assumption that people essentially want to participate,
want to accomplish and will work well if general
supervision is employed and where they are allowed to
use their own initiative and support is given while
accomplishing their task.

 Instrumental or instrumental
supportive:Instrumental behaviour of leadership
emphasizes the leaders role as a manager in the rational
aspects of management namely planning, organizing,
controlling etc.
Transactional Leaders
 Clarify the role and task requirements
of subordinates
 Initiate structure
 Provide appropriate rewards
 Display consideration for subordinates
 Meet the social needs of subordinates
Charismatic Leaders
 The ability to inspire
 Motivate people to do more than they
would normally do
 Tend to be less predictable than
transactional leaders
 Create an atmosphere of change
 May be obsessed by visionary ideas
Transformational Leader
 Similar to charismatic leaders
 Distinguished by their special ability to bring
about innovation and change by
 Recognizing followers’ needs and concerns
 Helping them look at old problems in new
ways
 Encouraging them to question the status quo
TEAM LEADER:
Leadership is increasingly taking place within a
team context. The role of team leader is
different from the traditional leadership role. The
challenge for most managers is learning how to
become an effective team leader. There are four
basic team leadership roles: team leaders are
liaisons with external constituencies,
troubleshooters, conflict managers and coaches
 LEADERSHIP STYLES

Leadership styles refer to a leader’s

behaviour.

It is the result of the philosophy,

personality and experience of the leader.
 Kurt Lewin's Leadership styles

Autocratic

Democratic

Laissez Faire

Functional

Institutional

Paternalistic
 Autocratic Leader:

 An Autocratic leader will not entertain any

suggestions or initiative from
subordinates. Under this type of
leadership, one person decides for the
whole group. An autocratic leader does
not trust anybody.
Merits:
 It helps to make quick decisions
 Inefficient and insincere workers can easily be
identified
Demerits
 It kills initiatives for work and results in
frustration among workers.
 It often gives scope for conflicts between the
leader and his followers
 Participative or Democratic Leader:
 A democratic leader can win the cooperation of his
group and can motivate them effectively and
positively.
Merits
 The decision finally made is mutually accepted.
 It improves the job attitudes of the sub-ordinate
staff.
Demerits
 this leadership is suitable only if the subordinates
are all capable of making worthwhile suggestions.
 It may, sometimes be very difficult to evolve a
solution that is acceptable to everyone.
 Laissez Faire or Free Rein Leader:
 A free rein leader will leave the group entirely to
itself such as a leader allows maximum freedom to
subordinates.
Merits
 1. The superior subordinate relationship is found to
be very good.
 Highly efficient subordinates, can make use of the
freedom given to them to excel.
Demerits
 Control may become difficult As the leader does not
involve himself at all in the activities.
 The subordinates are deprived of the expert advice
and moral support of their leader.
 Functional Leader:
 A functional leader is one who is an expert in a
particular field of activity. Such a leader always
thinks of the task he has undertaken and spends
most of his time finding out ways and means of
doing it better.

Merits
 The very presence of an expert is beneficial to the
followers and the organisation.
 the subordinates can certainly enrich their job
knowledge and skill.
 Institutional Leader:
 An institutional leader is one who has become
a leader by virtue of his official position in the
organisational hierarchy. An institutional leader
may not be an expert in his field of activity.

Merits
 He has official authority to act.
 He may initiate action against a subordinate
who is shirking duties.
 Demerits

 He will not be in a position to offer proper

guidance to his followers because he may not
be an expert in his field of activity.
 Although the leader has the official right to
demand performance from his followers, he
may not have the moral right
 Paternalistic Leader:
 A paternalistic leader takes care of his
followers in the way the head of the family
takes care of the family members
Merits
 He assumes a paternal role to protect his sub-
ordinates.
 He is always ready to provide the necessary
physical amenities to the sub-ordinates
Demerits
 He is not in a position to offer intellectual
help to his followers.
 Demerits

 The functional leader will not be able to go

down to the level of an average worker and
offer any help.
 Misunderstandings may also arise between the
leader and his followers.
IMPORTANT KEYS FOR
LEADERSHIP
 IMPORTANT KEYS FOR
LEADERSHIP

 Trust and confidence in top leadership is

the single most reliable predictor of
employee satisfaction in an organization.
 Effective communication by leadership in
the critical areas is the key to winning
organizational trust and confidence:
 Helping employees understand the
company's overall business strategy.
 Helping employees understand how they
contribute to achieving key business
objectives.
 Sharing information with employees on
both how the company is doing and how
an employee's own division is doing
relative to strategic business objectives.
 LEADERSHIP SECRETS
1. DECISIVENESS IS KEY
(LALIT KHAITAN, Chairman and Managing
Director, Radico khaitan)
The most distinguished trait that defines a
good leader is the willingness to make
decisions that are need of the hour no
matter how difficult they may be. And the
most significant component of such
decision-making is self-confidence.
2.VISIONARY LEADERSHIP
(B.MUTHURAMAN, Managing Director,
Tata steel)
The ability to create a shared vision among
team members is the primary trait of a
true leader.
3. RELATE AND RULE 
(N.LAKSHMI NARAYAN, CEO AND
President, Cognizant Technology
Solutions)
Good leadership is the ability to recognize
all the factors that would make the leader
succeed in motivating the group.
4. TAKE RESPONSIBILTY
(R.V.SHASTRI, Chairman and Managing Director,
Canara bank)
A leader is only as good as his team. Leadership
involves two steps: helping subordinates take
advantage of their talents, and then fine tuning
their performance. Good leaders always take
responsibility for both the success and failure of
their teams