Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to lead, influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations.
Leadership can be defined as a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common and ethical task.
Leadership is an influential power-relationship in which the power of one party promotes movement/change in others.
Traditional managerial views of leadership portray leadership as something possessed or owned by one individual due to their role or authority.
The complex nature of leadership which is found at all levels of institutions, both within formal and informal roles.
Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and discipline.
Reliance on intelligence alone results in rebelliousness; Exercise of humaneness alone results in weakness; Fixation on trust results in folly.
Dependence on the strength of courage results in violence.
Excessive discipline and sternness in command result in cruelty.
When one has all five virtues together, each appropriate to its function, then one can be a leader.
For a more general view on leadership in politics, compare the concept of the statesperson.
Individuals emerge as leaders across a variety of situations and tasks.
Significant relationships exist between leaders,such individual traits as: Intelligence Adjustment Extraversion Conscientiousness Openness to experience General self-efficacy
The influence of individual characteristics on outcomes is best understood by considering the person as an integrated totality rather than a summation of individual variables.
Leadership requires a strong personality with a well-developed positive ego.
To lead, self-confidence and high self-esteem seem to be are essential.
Behavior reflective of leadership effectiveness: initiating structure, communicating with followers, defining goals, and determining how tasks are performed: task oriented behaviors.
Consideration indicates the leader’s ability to build an interpersonal relationship with their followers, and to establish mutual trust: social oriented behaviors.
Positive reinforcement occurs when a positive stimulus is presented in response to a behavior, which increases the likelihood of that behavior in the future: it is a successful technique used by leaders to motivate and attain desired behaviors from subordinates.
Organizations all use reinforcement to increase productivity.
Applying reinforcement theory leads to a 17 percent increase in performance.
Consideration includes behavior involved in fostering effective relationships: showing concern for a subordinate or acting in a supportive manner towards others.
Initiating structure involves the actions of the leader: role clarification, setting performance standards, and holding subordinates accountable to those standards.
For leaders to bring leadership to their group or organization, they must develop themselves technically and psychologically as leaders.
The three levels of leadership: public, private, and personal.
The first two—public and private leadership—are behavioral levels.
These behaviors dimensions are: (1) a shared, motivating group purpose; (2) action, progress and results; (3) collective unity or team spirit; and (4) individual selection and motivation.
Public leadership focuses on 34 behaviors involved in influencing two or more people simultaneously.
Private leadership covers the 14 behaviors needed to influence individuals one-to-one.
Personal leadership is an. inner level concerning a person’s growth toward greater leadership presence, know-how, and skill.
Personal leadership has three aspects: (1) Technical know-how and skill, (2) Demonstrating the right attitude toward other people, which is the basis of servant leadership, and (3) Psychological self-mastery.
Self-mastery is the key to growing one’s leadership presence, building trusting relationships with followers, and dissolving one’s limiting beliefs and habits.
Self-mastery enables behavioral flexibility as circumstances change, while staying connected to one’s core values while remaining authentic.
Transactional leadership involves exchange of labor for rewards, and transformational leadership which is based on concern for employees, intellectual stimulation, and providing a group vision.
A transactional leader is given power to perform certain tasks and reward or punish for a team’s performance giving the opportunity to the manager to lead the group and the group agrees to follow his lead to accomplish a predetermined goal in exchange for something else.
Power is given to the transactional leader to evaluate, correct, and train subordinates when productivity is not up to the desired level, and reward effectiveness when expected outcome is reached.
Leader–member exchange theory: this interaction the leader provides certain benefits such as task guidance, advice, support, and/or significant rewards and the followers reciprocate by giving the leader respect, cooperation, commitment to the task and good performance.
In-group members are perceived by the leader as being more experienced, competent, and willing to assume responsibility than other followers.
Out-group members often receive less time and more distant exchanges than their in-group counterparts.
With out-group members, leaders expect no more than adequate job performance, good attendance, reasonable respect, and adherence to the job description in exchange for a fair wage and standard benefits.
The leader spends less time with out-group members, they have fewer developmental experiences, and the leader tends to emphasize his/her formal authority to obtain compliance to leader requests.
Out-group members are less satisfied with their job and organization, receive lower performance evaluations from the leader, see their leader as less fair, and are more likely to file grievances or leave the organization.
Leadership can be an emotion-laden process with emotions entwined with the social influence process.
A leader’s mood affects his/her group.
Members of groups whose leaders are in a positive mood experience more positive mood than do group members with leaders in a negative mood.
Leaders transmit their moods to other group members through the mechanism of emotional contagion.
Mood contagion may be one of the psychological mechanisms by which charismatic leaders influence followers.
Group affective tone is an aggregate of the moods of the individual members of the group and refers to mood at the group level of analysis.
Groups with leaders in a positive mood have a more positive affective tone than do groups with leaders in a negative mood.
Leaders signal their goals, intentions, and attitudes through their expressions of moods.
Expressions of positive moods by leaders signal that leaders deem progress toward goals to be good, and members respond to those signals cognitively and behaviorally in ways that are reflected in the group processes.
Leadership emergence is the idea that people born with specific characteristics become leaders, and those without these characteristics do not become leaders.
Many personality characteristics are reliably associated with leadership emergence: assertiveness, authenticity, dominance, emotional intelligence, gender identity, intelligence, narcissism, self-efficacy for leadership, self-monitoring, and social motivation.
Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and Nelson Mandela shared traits that an average person does not.
Up to 30% of leader emergence has a genetic basis, while there is no “leadership gene”; people inherit certain traits that might influence their decision to seek leadership.
Three factors that motivate leaders: enjoyment of leading, leading earns reinforcement, and sense of obligation.
The relationship between assertiveness and leadership emergence is curvilinear.
It means individuals who are either low in assertiveness or very high in assertiveness are less likely to be identified as leaders.
Individuals who are more aware of their personality qualities, values and beliefs, and are less biased when processing self-relevant information, are more likely to be accepted as leaders.
Leaders tend to be more extroverted, conscientious, emotionally stable, and open to experience.
Leaders tend to be high in extroversion.
Agreeableness, the last factor of the Big Five personality traits, does not seem to play any meaningful role in leadership emergence.
Those born first in their families, and only children, are hypothesized to be more driven to seek leadership and control in social settings.
Middle-born children tend to accept follower roles in groups, and later-borns are thought to be rebellious and creative.
Those seeking leadership positions in a military organization have elevated scores on a number of indicators of strength of character, including honesty, hope, bravery, industry, and teamwork.
Individuals with dominant personalities with the desire to control their environment and influence other people, and are likely to express their opinions in a forceful way) are more likely to act as leaders in small-group situations.
Individuals with high emotional intelligence have increased ability to understand and relate to people, have skills in communicating and decoding emotions and they deal with others wisely and effectively.
Emotionally intelligent people communicate their ideas robustly, are better able to read the politics of a situation, are less likely to lose control of their emotions, are less likely to be inappropriately angry or critical, and in consequence are more likely to emerge as leaders.
Individuals with higher intelligence exhibit superior judgement, higher verbal skills, quicker learning and acquisition of knowledge, and are more likely to emerge as leaders.
Correlation between IQ and leadership emergence was found to be between .25 and .30.
Groups generally prefer leaders that do not exceed in intelligence the prowess of average member by a wide margin, as they fear that high intelligence may be translated to differences in communication, trust, interests, and values.
An individual’s belief in their ability to lead is associated with an increased willingness to accept a leadership role and find success in its pursuit.
Working with a superior who is seen as an effective leader may help the individual develop a belief that he or she can perform in a similar manner.
People who exhibit both a drive for achievement and a desire for social connections tend to participate actively in group-based efforts to solve problems, and have a higher likelihood of being chosen as leaders within these groups.
Individuals who take on leadership roles in turbulent situations, tend to be narcissistic: arrogant, self-absorbed, hostile, and very self-confident.
Absentee leaders, who rise into power, but not necessarily because of their skills, and who are marginally engaging with their role are actually worse than destructive leaders, because it takes longer to pinpoint their mistakes.
Leader emergence is highly correlated with the quantity of speaking time: those who speak a lot in a group setting are more likely to become a group leader.
The quantity of individual participation is more important that the quality of these contributions when it comes to leader emergence.
A leadership style is a leader’s way of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people.
A leadership style reflects the philosophy, personality, and experience of the leader.
Autocratic leadership style-all decision-making powers are centralized in the leader, as with dictators.
Autocratic leaders do not ask for or entertain any suggestions or initiatives from subordinates.
Autocratic management can be successful as it provides strong motivation to the manager, permitting quick decision-making, as only one person decides for the whole group and keeps each decision to themselves until they feel it needs to be shared with the rest of the group.
The democratic or participative leadership style involves the leader actively sharing decision-making responsibilities with group members.
This approach emphasizes collaboration and values the input of all team members, fostering a sense of ownership and inclusivity within the group.
This approach promotes the interests and well-being of the team, democratic leaders encourage open communication and social equality.
The style shared leadership distributes authority and decision-making power among all members rather than centralizing it with the leader alone.
This method enhances team morale and engagement and leverages diverse perspectives to drive more well-rounded and informed decisions.
Laissez-faire or free-rein leadership decision-making is passed on to the subordinates.
Subordinates are given the right and power to make decisions to establish goals and are given a high degree of independence and freedom to formulate their own objectives and ways to achieve them.
Task-oriented leadership is a style characterized by concentration on the necessary tasks to achieve specific production objectives.
Unlike leaders who prioritize accommodating group members, those with a task-oriented approach concentrate on obtaining precise solutions to fulfill production aims.
These leaders maintain an unwavering focus on both the overall goal and the assigned tasks for each team member.
Relationship-oriented leadership is a style in which the leader focuses on the relationships amongst the group and is generally more concerned with the overall well-being, satisfaction, and communication of group members.
Relationship-oriented leaders are focused on developing the team and its relationships.
Paternalism leadership styles often reflect a father-figure mindset organized hierarchically where the leader is viewed above the followers.
The leader also provides both professional and personal direction in the lives of the members.
Members’ choices are limited due to the rigid direction given by the leader.
Servant leadership style, the leadership is externalized from the leader who serves as a guardian of the methodology and a servant or service provider to the team they lead.
This style is different from the laissez-faire in that the leader constantly works towards reaching the common goals as a team, but without giving explicit directions on tasks.
Transactional leadership refers to an exchange relationship between a leader and their followers in which they both strive to meet their own self-interests.
Transformational leadership refers to a leader who moves beyond immediate self interests using charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and creativity, or individualized consideration.
Transformational leadership stimulates followers to become more creative and innovative, and pays attention to the developmental needs of their followers, supporting and coaching them.
A transformational leader is one who lead others to lead themselves.
Women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions, experience a gender pay gap, and face discrimination and stereotypes that limit their emergence as leaders.
Gender diversity can both help and hinder team performance, or have neutral effects.
Globalization and national culture also affect the leadership dynamic.
Women have less access to positions of power in some countries.
Countries differ in the degree to which men differ from women about the stereotypes about men and women leaders, and masculine and feminine leadership.
Leadership is important, and research supports the notion that leaders do contribute to key organizational outcomes.
Two general strategies are used to evaluate a leader’s performance: feedback from subordinates, superiors, or occasionally peers or other parties, and more objective indicators of follower or unit performance, such as measures of productivity, goal attainment, sales figures, or unit financial performance.
A toxic leader is someone who leaves the group or organization in a worse-off condition than when they joined it.
Self-confidence encompasses the traits of high self-esteem, assertiveness, emotional stability, and self-assurance: Leaders who are self-confident do not doubt themselves or their abilities and decisions.
Self- confident leaders also can project this self-confidence onto others, building their trust and commitment.
Integrity is demonstrated in leaders who are truthful, trustworthy, principled, consistent, dependable, loyal, and not deceptive, and keep their word and are honest and open with their cohorts.
Leaders emerge from within the structure of the informal organization.
Their their personal qualities, the demands of the situation, or a combination of these and other factors attract followers who accept their leadership within one or several overlay structures.
An emergent leader wields influence or power, Influences the ability of a person to gain co-operation from others by means of persuasion or control over rewards.
Power is a stronger form of influence because it reflects a person’s ability to enforce action through the control of a means of punishment.
A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards a specific result, and is not dependent on title or formal authority.
An effective leader is an individual with the capacity to consistently succeed in a given condition and be viewed as meeting the expectations of an organization or society”.
Leadership can be defined as one’s ability to get others to willingly follow.
Leaders who demonstrate persistence, tenacity, determination, and synergistic communication skills will bring out the same qualities in their groups.
Good leaders use their own inner mentorsto energize their team and organizations and lead a team to achieve success.
Self-leadership is a process that occurs within an individual and is a developed sense of who you are, what you can achieve, and what your goals are, coupled with the ability to affect your emotions, behaviors, and communication.
Leadership is the person who is motivated to make a difference, and self-leadership is a way toward more effectively leading other people.
Testosterone correlates with dominance but not with leadership.
Leadership has been described as one of the least understood concepts across all cultures and civilizations.
Some believe leadership is determined by distinctive characteristics present at birth extraversion, intelligence, or ingenuity, however, evidence shows that leadership also develops through hard work and careful observation.
Effective leadership can result from nature via innate talents, as well as nurture, acquired skills.
Leadership is possessing power over others, although leadership is certainly a form of power, it is not demarcated by power over people.
It is a power with people that exists as a reciprocal relationship between a leader and his/her followers.
The bystander effect, that is the failure to respond or offer assistance, that tends to develop within groups faced with an emergency is significantly reduced in groups guided by a leader.
Group performance, creativity, and efficiency all tend to climb in businesses with designated managers or CEOs.
The difference leaders make is not always positive in nature, sometimes fulfilling their own agendas at the expense of others, including their own followers.
Leaders who focus on personal gain by employing stringent and manipulative leadership styles often make a difference, but usually do so through negative means.
Many factors that influence group dynamics:group cohesion, communication patterns, individual personality traits, group context, the nature or orientation of the work, as well as behavioral norms and established standards influence group functionality as does leadership.
Not all groups need have a designated leader.
Group members’ dependence on group leaders can lead to reduced self-reliance and overall group strength.
Most people prefer to be led than to be without a leader.
Group members tend to be more contented and productive when they have a leader to guide them.