|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
LEADERSHIP AN OVERVIEW
By: Faisal H. Roshan
Throughout history, in any sphere of activity, effective leadership has been recognized as the key difference between success and failure. It is through the use of effective leadership that great leaders have enthused people to such a degree that they have achieved feats normally considered impossible.
In todays turbulent world the role of leadership has assumed a far greater significance than in the past. Today, it is generally accepted that there is a greater need than ever before for real leadership at all levels if we are to make successful attempts to resolve our multifarious problems before they spiral out of control and engulf us in a cycle of chaos, violence and devastation. This thought is expressed by Warren Beenis, the guru of leadership studies, who says, " To survive in the twenty-first century, we are going to need a new generation of leaders--- leaders not managers. ...
THE SIMILARITY OF LEADERSHIP IN DIVERSE SETTINGS
Over the last fifty years there has been a growing awareness that in economic organizations the nature and basic dynamics of the leadership process are not very different from social, political and military leadership. The size, scope and importance of the todays organizations and the need to have them operate effectively in the global economy has brought qualitative organizational leadership to the center stage of the global management scene.
It is fascinating to note that this similarity between different types and kinds of leadership was very well understood by Socrates over two thousand years ago as is apparent from his following statement: "Dont look down on business men Nicomachides for the management of private concerns differs only in point of number from that of public affairs. ...
Today in the study of leadership we fully recognize that that the basic nature of leadership is similar, irrespective of the situational, organizational or functional contexts of the leadership process.
WHAT IS LEADERSHIP
Like love, death, money, politics, and war, the subject of leadership is one that is constantly under discussion. Yet, despite all the attention given to leadership and its recognized importance, leadership still remains pretty much of an unexplained and confusing concept. There are innumerable theories that explain various facets of the leadership phenomena but unfortunately there is no comprehensive and general theory of leadership, which can make our overall task of understanding leadership easy and simple. One of the best ways in which we can enhance our understanding of leadership is to see how various students of the subject have defined leadership.
DEFINITIONS OF LEADERSHIP
Leadership and management literature is full of definitions of leadership as almost everyone who seems to have studied the subject has formulated his / her own definition. This thought has been expressed by Stodgill (1974) who says " There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept ". Not only have writers on leadership developed many different definitions of leadership, they seem to have viewed leadership from many different perspectives. However a closer examination of the following definitions of leadership will reveal that there is a growing awareness that in leadership "influence or persuasion" which leads to "willing or motivated goal achievement behavior" is the key concept.
Reproduced here are some of the better-known definitions of leadership:
" Leadership means direct, face-to-face contact between leader and followers; it is personal social control.
Approximate Word count = 2751
Approximate Pages = 11
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|