Leadership
Leadership can be described as the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of an organization or group of which they are members,
Leadership has been defined in many different ways by different authors. There is no common agreement on the definition of the term as everyone explains it from various angles: in terms of behaviors, traits, role relationships, influence, or communication patterns.
Hemphill and Coons (1957) define leadership as the behaviour of an individual…directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal.
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it be a business, a not-for-profit organization, or government body. Management includes the activities of setting the strategy of an organization and coordinating the efforts of its employees or volunteers to accomplish its objectives through the application of available resources, such as financial, natural, technological, and husman resources. Management is also an academic discipline, a social science whose objective is to study social organization and organizational
Management involves identifying the mission, objective, procedures, rules and manipulation of the human capital of an enterprise to contribute to the success of the enterprise.
This implies effective communication: an enterprise environment (as opposed to a physical or mechanical mechanism) implies human motivation and implies some sort of successful progress or system outcome.
As such, management is not the manipulation of a mechanism (machine or automated program), not the herding of animals, and can occur either in a legal or in an illegal enterprise or environment. Management does not need to be seen from enterprise point of view alone, because management is an essential function to improve one’s life and relationships.
Managers and leaders have different values and personalities. Managers are interested in how things are done and want people to perform better; they value stability, efficiency and order. Meanwhile for leaders it is important to know what things mean to people, being concerned about flexibility, innovation and adaptation.
The main functions of the management are to set goals and plans, organize structures, give job tasks and follow the results, thus producing order within the organization; meanwhile leadership is meant to produce change by creating a vision and strategies, communicating the vision to the followers and motivating them to follow this vision. Another point of view says that managers are more reactive and less emotionally involved, meanwhile leaders are proactive and more emotionally involved (Northouse, 2007).
The overlap between the two concepts lies in how they both involve influencing a group of individuals in achieving goals, Leadership may occur in two forms: direct and indirect. Direct leadership influences immediate subordinates. Equally, a middle manager may influence lower-level employees or even customers. Indirect leadership is transmitted from a chief executive through middle and lower management, to regular employees. Another form of indirect leadership is influence over training and development programs, benefits and rewards etc. In most cases indirect leadership is effective when supported by direct leadership provided at all managerial levels. For example, top management can explain to lower employees why a vision is important and show examples through their behaviour (Yukl, 2006).
Leaders are Transparent; this is because they put the interest of the team members a head of their own interest leaders communicate to team members openly without lying to them because they know that poor performance of a team member brings down the entire group, while managers act according to organizational rules and regulations and therefore when one of the team members is not following the rules of the organization.
Leaders are very focused, the leaders are often people who are focused on the future this helps the members they lead to work towards the goals, according to Gupta (2010) leaders work with the aim of achieving a future organizational goal there they keep their team members focused too on that goal and they have the natural ability to motivate others to follow suite of that specific goal, while managers work to complete a specific organizational project which has been laid down by the organizational goal.
According to Deslandes G., (2014), it’s been said that leadership is making important but unpopular decisions. That’s certainly a partial truth, but I think it underscores the importance of focus. To be a good leader, you cannot major in minor things, and you must be less distracted than your competition. To get the few critical things done, you must develop incredible selective ignorance.
QUESTION TWO
MAHATMA GHANDI QUALITIES THAT MAKE HIM AGREAT LEADER
Faith in self, According to Ghandi “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” Also, “Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn’t have it in the beginning.”Mahatma Gandhi wasn’t a great orator, didn’t had a very attractive physique, lived a life of simplicity and avoided limelight as much as he could, but still he is regarded as one of the Greatest persons to have ever walked on earth. The reason is he always believed in himself. He believed that he has a great responsibility to free his country and he had complete faith in himself. He knew he’d a play a significant role in the freedom of India and so he did. His faith in himself triggered the faith of millions of Indians in him. Remember-“All of us have great abilities and great responsibilities. All of us play a very significant role in the flow of History. The reason we never realize is because we never believe we can have a worldwide impact.”
Resistance & Persistence-
It was very tough to lead the Independence movement of a huge country such as India and that too with non-violence and against the violent and cruel British army. Gandhi was beaten a lot of times, a lot of times he was left alone, bleeding and lying on the ground and sometimes it seemed that he won’t see the sun, next day but each day and each time he faced the opposition, he resisted, he persisted and he got through all the opposition. Remember- “When you fight for a noble cause and you know that you’re doing the right thing you’ll face the opposition. The opposition make everything seem worse, you may feel like you’re the only one standing for your cause and the whole world is against you. That’s the time you might feel like giving up but you must resist the opposition, and must persevere to make your dreams come true.”
Forgiveness
Gnhani further says that, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi was thrown into jail, beaten on the roads; many people conspired about his death and tried to assassinate him. But he forgave them all. He always forgave the people that might have hurt him in any way. Remember, “What people don’t understand is that forgiveness is not only a great quality but it’s also somewhat a selfish act; When you forgive the people that might have hurt you or caused you some problems, you let go of the negativity associated with that event. Also, forgiving people causes a long lasting positive impact on their lives and builds everlasting relationships. So remember to forgive everyone, issue a blank pardon and forgive everyone.”
Learning from mistakes-
Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. I feel stronger for confession.” Mahatma Gandhi wasn’t perfect from the beginning. When he was child, he lied, he stole, and he fought and was too much after material things. Not all his actions were praised around the globe. Some of his actions were condemned in his own land. He made mistakes throughout his life but he never made the same mistake twice. He failed but he learned from it and achieved success. Remember-“We’re all humans and making mistakes is a part of being human. But we should always stop and take a look at what mistakes we did and why they happened. If we learn from failures and mistakes, they’d eventually turn out to be as grand success in life.”
Strength of Character-
Accordinto Ghandi, There are seven sins in the world: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice and politics without principle.” Mahatma Gandhi was a man of great character. He kept himself away from the materialistic desires, always favored the truth and honesty, he condemned violence, he was married but still he was celibate and was himself a pure vegetarian. He was celebrity and was covered on the front-page of all the important newspapers in the world at that time. But still he lived the life of simplicity and discipline.
Love but never hate-
According to Ghand, Whenever you’re confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love.” This is a quality most of the people would have difficulty to adopt. But this is a quality often found in great people. It was present in the Buddha, Christ and in other great spiritual leaders. This was something Gandhi adopted from his ideals. Remember-“When you avoid a fight and instead walk out of the arena with your opponent, both having a smile on their faces: it might look stupid. But it actually works in your favor. Two things you’ve won- the fight without even actually fighting and a good friend that might help you in the ups and downs of life. Actions like this help in building everlasting relationships.
Live in Present
Gandhi believed in living each moment at fullest and concentrating at the task in hands. He didn’t waste his time looking back at the past or wondering what would happen in the future. Remember-“Concentrating on the present benefits you in two ways: it let go you of the worries of the past and the future but also it increases your efficiency at the task you must focus. It sorts out your priorities and help you to avoid procrastination.
Question three
Major differences between transactional and transformational leadership
According toBass & Riggio, (2006) The phenomenon of transformational leadership was born in the 1970s, by Bernard M. Bass together with his colleagues introduced, They developed both the model and the means of measure for transformational leadership, developing the concept into the full range of leadership, which, apart from transformational, includes also passive (or laissez-faire), and transactional leadership (based on social exchange)
Transformational leadership is built upon stimulating and inspiring followers for achieving extraordinary outcomes, developing their own leadership capacity, helping followers grow and develop by empowering them and aligning the objectives and goals at all levels of the organization. Transformational leadership moves followers to exceed their performance beyond expectations, and lead to satisfaction and commitment to a group and organisation (Bass & Riggio, 2006). Seeing the leaders doing sacrifices for reaching the mission, and getting the support from the leader in achieving the mission motivates employees to work harder. As a result, their motivation and self-efficacy are enhanced, and their readiness to accept challenges is much higher (Avolio & Bass, 2004).
A transformational leader recognizes the needs of the employees and gives them a chance to be developed into leaders (Avolio & Bass,2004). Transformational leaders arouse follower motives for achievement, power, affiliation etc., and such motive arousal results in increased self-monitoring and self-evaluation, which in turn leads to increased commitment, Thus, followers are transformed from being concerned for their self-interests to being concerned for their group or organization (Bass, 1999).
Bass (1985) described transformational leaders as those who make their employees aware of how important it is to reach the valued results and the strategies for achieving them, encourage the employees to give up their own interests for the sake of the team or the organization, and help the employees to develop in achievement, affiliation and autonomy (Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Transformational leaders possess the strong forces of leadership, which are those that motivate the employees to exceed their potential for their own sake and for the sake of a larger unit. These forces with the help of leader’s vision are able to create transformative shifts in outlook, orientation, and perspective, and are most apparent in times of despair or crisis. A new leadership paradigm should be enforced in order to turn the focus from the quantity onto quality and speed, by changing the viewpoint of the employees about what they consider meaningful in their work. Some leaders tend to blame their employees for mistakes in acceptable performance, while other leaders may suggest assistance and help learn valuable lessons from these errors. Transformational leadership releases reserve energy, making the employees capable of mastering their own work situations (Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Transformational leadership consists of four components:
- Idealized Influence.
Leaders perform as role models, are respected, admired, trusted, and imitated by their followers. Idealized influence is manifested in the leader’s behaviour and in attributions given to him or her by the followers (Bass & Riggio, 2006).
However, charismatic leaders who are considered idols are far from transformational, as they don’t empower their associates because of the threat to their own leadership. Truly transformational leaders encourage development and achievement of the associates’ full potential (Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Inspirational Motivation (IM), Leaders motivate and inspire their followers by giving meaning and challenge to their work. In return, followers want to demonstrate their commitment to goals and the shared vision where team spirit is aroused (Bass & Riggio, 2006).
Individualized Consideration (IC),The leader who acts like mentor and coach has individual approach to each follower and accepts every individual difference in employees, Personalized communication, task delegating, monitoring, awareness of individual concern is typical of a leader who practices individualized consideration (Bass & Riggio, 2006).
Transformational leaders also induce more commitment in their subordinates, greater effectiveness and satisfaction. Nevertheless, effective leaders execute the full range of leadership styles (Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Transformational leadership enhances transactional leadership in predicting effects on employees’ satisfaction and other outcomes. According to Bass’ (1985) leadership model, transactional leadership is fundamental for effective leadership, but a greater amount of Extra Effort, Effectiveness, and Satisfaction, comes from employees by augmenting transactional with transformational leadership (as cited in Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Transactional leadership.
According to Zaleznik (1977), managers set goals for their associates based on what they may expect from them (as cited in Avolio & Bas s, 2004). Bass (1985) described transactional leaders in a broader sense: they see what their associates wish to get from their work, and make sure that they get it; in case the performance is good enough, they give rewards for good performance, and respond to their associates’ needs when they do what is required of them (Avolio & Bass, 2004)
Transactional leadership builds upon giving rewards or compensations for successful fulfilling of the work tasks within a set up contract or agreement between the leader and the employees (Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Components of transactional leadership
Contingent reward (CR) implies that the leader promises a reward to the followers in exchange for achievement of good results. It can beboth transformational (when a reward is psychological, for example a praise) and transactional when reward is material, like a bonus, (Bass & Riggio, 2006).
Management-by-exception has two variants: active (MBEA) and passive (MBEP), although MBEP is related to passive-avoidant style. In active MBE, the leader tries to take measures to avoid mistakes and deviances from standards by monitoring and taking corrective action (Bass & Riggio, 2006).
Transactional leaders create the needed confidence to employ the necessary effort. Anyway, the process of transaction is an essential part of the full range of effective leadership. Effective leaders are able to turn other’s self-interests for the good of their group or organization.
Transactional leaders have Self-interests for the good of their group or organization, the transactional leader works within the existing organizational culture, the transformational leader changes it. When individual needs are met, transactional leadership starts its shift towards transformational. Employees’ perceptions of their own efficacy or potential for development are augmented through the transactional leadership process. Transactional leadership alone is incomplete since transaction based changes represent small, however sometimes significant, improvements in employees’ performance and effort. Transformation occurs when subordinates understand that they are interested in their work and they want to work as a contribution to their own self-development (Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Transformational leadership does not replace, but enhances transactional leadership when it comes to reaching the goals. Transactional leadership is effective at lower levels of performance or non-significant change, especially when a leader employs passive management-by-exception, interfering only when the standard requirements are unmet. Focus on failures is necessary, especially when mistakes are resulted in high costs. Nevertheless, if the leader only focuses on mistakes, the development of the employees will decline (Avolio & Bass, 2004). expectations, and therefore gain reputation for man aging to give pay, promotions and recognition. Other transactional leaders fail to deliver the needed rewards and lack the necessary reputation, and are therefore considered ineffective (Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Adequate performance may be evoked by feeling of obligation for providing non-contingent rewards. Immediate feedback concerning the learning potential and performance of an individual is very important (Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Contingent punishment makes transactional leadership much less successful though it can have a positive impact on performance, or sometimes even on satisfaction and motivation. In other situations contingent punishment can be motivational and improve performance, According to Bass (1990), employees might comply in order to avoid punishment (as cited in Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Contingent punishment makes transactional leadership much less successful though it can have a positive impact on performance, or sometimes even on satisfaction and motivation. In other situations contingent punishment can be motivational and improve performance. According to Bass (1990), employees might comply in order to avoid punishment (as cited in Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Contingent punishment should be applied when poor performance is delivered, if a leader makes clear what behavior is acceptable or unacceptable and sticks to the given Standard, then employees will see contingent punishment as effective and fair. Non-contingent punishment is negatively related to performance, especially when employees feel that any amount of the effort they put into their job is not enough to decrease the frequency of punishment (Avolio & Bass, 2004).
Clark et al. (2009) examined how a manager’s commitment to service quality and leadership style influence the frontline employees’ way of doing their job. When hotel employees are satisfied with and committed to their job they provide the highest degree of service quality, especially when managers demonstrate commitment themselves. Particular working conditions in hotel industry demand creative approaches to guarantee that employees are motivated to provide excellent service.
According to Bennett (2007), “servant leaders practice leadership as hospitality” (as cited in Brownell, 2010). Employees, inspired by their leaders, give unselfish and sincere care to guests, which results in high customer satisfaction. The trust given to the employees by their leaders inspires them to take more initiative and results in better productivity, the management task in our society is becoming increasingly complex and difficult. Our deregulated and highly competitive business environment places a premium on quality management and leadership, more so than at any time in the past. Moreover, people in our organizations today raise the questions. They want to know why. Many workers today do not know ―their place‖. They are smarter and better informed. We no longer have servants or slave. Their approach is not servile but competitive and adversarial. This undoubtedly makes the leader‘s role more difficult, at least more challenging.
REFERENCES
Deslandes G., (2014), “Management in Xenophon’s Philosophy : a Retrospective Analysis”, 38th Annual Research Conference, Philosophy of Management, 2014, July 14–16, Chicago
Cowden, T., Cummings, G., & PROFETTO‐MCGRATH, J. O. A. N. N. E. (2011). Leadership practices and staff nurses’ intent to stay: a systematic review. Journal of nursing management, 19(4), 461-477.
Bass, B. M. (1997). Does the transactional–transformational leadership paradigm transcend organizational and national boundaries?. American psychologist, 52(2), 130.
Roussel, L., Russell, C., & Swansburg, R. J. (2006). Management and leadership for nurse administrators Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Boston, USA.
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1994). Transformational leadership and organizational culture. The International Journal of Public Administration, 17(3-4), 541-554.
Clark, E. V. (2009). First language acquisition. Cambridge University Press.
Pereda, M., Airey, D., & Bennett, M. (2007). Service quality in higher education: The experience of overseas students. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 6(2), 55-67.
