Leadership Skill

What is Leadership?
As defined by the textbook, Leadership is the process of directing the behavior of
others toward the accomplishment of some objective. Leadership has always been
considered a prerequisite for organizational success. Today, given the increased
capability afforded by enhanced communication technology and the rise of
international business, leadership is more important than ever before.
Leadership is a complicated concept and the struggle for a more differential
understanding has been an ongoing process. There is an assumption that certain
people possess inherent qualities and traits that make them better suited to leadership.
These trait studies have contributed to the concept of the Great Man, theory of
leadership. This theory states that, a leader is born not made. It also carries the implicit
assumption of hierarchical relationships; it suggests the existence of a hierarchy of
power, organized into ranks, with the leader at the pinnacle.
The Great Man Theory is associated most often with 19th-century commentator and
historian Thomas Carlyle, who commented that "The history of the world is but the
biography of great men," reflecting his belief that heroes shape history through both
their personal attributes and divine inspiration. In his book On Heroes, Hero-Worship
and the Heroic in History, Carlyle set out how he saw history as having turned on the
decisions of "heroes", giving detailed analysis of the influence of several such men
(including Muhammad, Shakespeare, Luther, Rousseau, and Napoleon). Carlyle also felt
that the study of great men was "profitable" to one's own heroic side; that by
examining the lives led by such heroes, one could not help but uncover something
about one's true nature.
This theory is usually contrasted with a theory that talks about events occurring in the
fullness of time, or when an overwhelming wave of smaller events cause certain
developments to occur. The Great Man approach to history was most fashionable with
professional historians in the 19th century; a popular work of this school is the
Encyclopedia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911) which contains lengthy and detailed
biographies about the great men of history, but very few general or social histories. For
example, all information on the post-Roman "Migrations Period" of European History is
compiled under the biography of Attila the Hun. This heroic view of history was also
strongly endorsed by some philosophical figures such as Hegel, Nietzsche, and
Spengler, but it fell out of favor after World War II.
Apart from the Great Man theory, another prevalent theme in leadership research is
the distinction between tasks versus relationship-driven leadership. Although, one of
the criteria of an effective leadership is the completion of vital task and objectives,
leaders must also consider building relationships among their staff to successfully
utilize the skills of their staff in completing the task or goals. The key challenge for
leaders is to find appropriate balance between task and relationship management,
given the specific organizational context in which they work.
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TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Superior leadership performance transformational leadership occurs when leaders
broaden and elevate the interests of their employees, when they generate awareness
and acceptance of the purposes and mission of the group, and when they stir their
employees to look beyond their own self-interest for the good of the group.
Transformational leaders achieve these results in one or more ways. They may be
charismatic to their followers and thus inspire them; they may meet the emotional
needs of each employee; and/or they may intellectually stimulate employees. Exhibit
1 lists the characteristics of transformational and transactional leadership; these
listings are based on the findings of a series of surveys and on clinical and case
evidence. Attaining charisma in the eyes of one's employees is central to succeeding as
a transformational leader. Charismatic leaders have great power and influence.
Employees want to identify with them, and they have a high degree of trust and
confidence in them. Charismatic leaders inspire and excite their employees with the
idea that they may be able to accomplish great things with extra effort. Further,
transformational leaders are individually considerate, that is, they pay close attention
to differences among their employee, they act as mentors to those who need help to
grow and develop. Intellectual stimulation of employees is a third factor in
transformational leadership. Intellectually stimulating leaders are willing and able to
show their employees new ways of looking at old problems, to teach them to see
difficulties as problem to be solved, and to emphasize rational solutions. Such a leader
was Lorenz Iversen, a former president of the Mesta Machine Company, who said to his
employees, "We got this job because you're the best mechanics in the world!" He
practiced management-by-walking-around and stimulated the development of many of
Mesta's patented inventions. He is remembered for instilling pride and commitment in
his employees.

Exhibit 1
TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERS
CHARACTERISTICS
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER
Charisma
Provides vision and sense of mission, instills pride, gains respect and trust.
Inspiration
Communicates high expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts, and
expresses important purposes in simple ways.
Intellectual Stimulation
Promotes intelligence, rationality, and careful problem solving.
Individualized Consideration
Gives personal attention, treats each employee individually, coaches,
advises.

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TRANSACTIONAL LEADER
Contingent Reward
Contracts exchange of rewards for effort, promises rewards for good
performance,
recognizes accomplishments.
Management by Exception (active)
Watches and searches for deviations from rules and standards, takes
corrective action.
Management by Exception (passive)
Intervenes only if standards are not met.
Laissez-Faire
Abdicates responsibilities, avoids making decisions.
Managers who behave like transformational leaders are more likely to be seen by their
colleagues and employees as satisfying and effective leaders than are those who
behave like transactional leaders, according to their colleagues, supervisors, and
employees responses on the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MIQ). Similar results
have been found in various organizational settings. Leaders studied have come from an
extremely broad variety of organizations: chief executive officers and senior and middle
level managers in business and industrial firms in the United States, Canada, Japan,
and India; research and development project leaders; American, Canadian, and British
Army field grade officers; United States Navy senior officers and junior surface fleet
officers; Annapolis midshipmen; educational administrators; and religious leaders.
Moreover, various types of evaluations including performance ratings by supervisors
and direct reports, as well as standard financial measures have produced a similar
correlation between transformational behavior and high ratings. Managers tagged as
high performers by their supervisors were also rated, in a separate evaluation by their
followers, as more transformational than transactional. Their organizations do better
financially. The same pattern emerged between followers' descriptions of shipboard
naval officers and those officers' supervisors' performance appraisals and
recommendations
for early promotion. And
among
Methodist ministers,
transformational not transactional leadership behavior was positively related to
high church attendance among congregants and growth in church membership. Results
were the same for evaluation of team performance in complex business simulations.
Considerable credit for Boeing's turnaround since its 1969 crisis can be given to its
chief executive, T. A. Wilson, who has emphasized technological progress, aggressive
marketing, and a willingness to take calculated business risks. The confidence that
Boeing employees have in Wilson, and their respect for him as a brilliant engineer and
an outstanding leader, have instilled in them great pride in the company and its
products.
Transformational leaders have better relationships with their supervisors and make
more of a contribution to the organization than do those who are only transactional.
Moreover, employees say that they themselves exert a lot of extra effort on behalf of
managers who are transformational leaders. Organizations whose leaders are
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transactional are less effective than those whose leaders are transformational
particularly if much of the transactional leadership is passive management-byexception (intervening only when standards are not being met). Employees say they
exert little effort for such leaders. Nevertheless, leader-follower transactions dependent
on contingent reward may also work reasonably well if the leaders can provide rewards
that are valued by the followers.
Transformational leadership is not a panacea. In many situations, it is inappropriate and
transactional processes are indicated. In general, firms that are functioning in stable
markets can afford to depend on their "one minute" managers to provide the
necessary, day-to-day leadership. If the technology, workforce, and environment are
stable as well, then things are likely to move along quite well with managers who
simply promise and deliver rewards to employees for carrying out assignments. And in
stable organizations, even management-by-exception can be quite effective if the
manager monitors employee performance and takes corrective action as needed. Rules
and regulations for getting things done, when clearly understood and accepted by the
employees, can eliminate the need for leadership under some circumstances.
But when the firm is faced with a turbulent marketplace; when its products are born,
live, and die within the span of a few years; and/or when its current technology can
become obsolete before it is fully depreciated; then transformational leadership needs
to be fostered at all levels in the firm. In order to succeed, the firm needs to have the
flexibility to forecast and meet new demands and changes as they occur and only
transformational leadership can enable the firm to do so. Problems, rapid changes, and
uncertainties call for a flexible organization with determined leaders who can inspire
employees to participate enthusiastically in team efforts and share in organizational
goals. In short, charisma, attention to individualized development, and the ability and
willingness to provide intellectual stimulation are critical in leaders whose firms are
faced with demands for renewal and change. At these organizations, fostering
transformational leadership through policies of recruitment, selection, promotion,
training, and development is likely to pay off in the health, well-being, and effective
performance of the organization.
Taking Leadership Development Seriously
What makes a good leader? We cant simply say, If you have a combination of such
and such qualities, you will be a great leader. This is because leadership always needs
to be seen in context. Due to the different and changing parameters of leadership (i.e.
national and corporate culture, industry, level of education, organizational life cycle),
leaders have to possess a wide range of competences and approaches to be able to
execute their role successfully (Kets de Vries, 2007). Contrary to the Great Man
cookie-cutter recipe of leadership, present-day leaders recognize that in order to be
effective, they need to be able to adapt their style to suit the different situations they
will face. Moreover, leaders do not operate in isolation. Just as there is no baby without
a mother, there is no leadership without followers. Hence, the leadership paradox is
such that although leaders need to be strong, their strength comes from not
commanding their people but from the ability to inspire them to follow. They also need
to be aware of the darker side of leadership; leaders can have a very toxic influence on
their organizations (Kets de Vries; Kets de Vries, 2006).
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Additionally, many leadership scholars have suggested that the most effective kind of
leadership has a values-driven base (Greenleaf and Spears, 1998; Kets de Vries, 2009).
The assumption is that authenticity marks the difference between effective and
dysfunctional leadership. Here, authenticity refers to qualities such as openness,
honesty, transparency and being real. It refers to the kinds of leaders who feel good in
their skin, who do not feel a need to impress or please others, and whose
effectiveness comes from being open and authentic with themselves and with others.
Furthermore, such leaders not only inspire those around them , they also know how to
bring people together around a shared purpose and a common set of values, and
motivate them to create value for everyone involved. Moreover, they work hard at
developing self-awareness through persistent and often courageous self-exploration
(Kets de Vries, Norotov, and Florent-Treacy, 2007; Kets de Vries, Guillen, Korotov, and
Florent-Treacy, 2010). They are reflective practitioners, who take the time to examine
their experiences and learn from their failures. In the context of self-development as a
leader, they strive for qualities such as courage, confidence, care, self-efficacy,
decisiveness, honesty, and integrity.

Where does Leadership Development Start?

Ideally, leadership development begins in the home environment. Parents play a key
role in setting the leadership development process in motion. They are the ones who
impart key values and who cultivate the potential that exists inside every human being
that once unleashed can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality. The implication is
that if we are serious about leadership development, we may have to start rather early
by providing ample opportunities for cultivating young potentials to become truly
effective future leaders.
But while developing leadership skills, at an early stage has many advantages, there
will be many opportunities during the human life cycle when a persons leadership
capabilities may still be explored and developed. To quote the American football coach
Vincent Lombardi, Leaders arent born, they are made. Like many other things in life,
leaders are the product of experience, hopefully starting early and involving a lengthy
and rich developmental journey over the course of a lifetime.
As suggested, to be an effective leader requires more than putting them into a position
of authority over a group of people. Many other qualities are necessary: the ability to
inspire and empower the members of their team to achieve their full potential, the
ability to provide focus; the possession of interpersonal, communication, team-building
and motivational skills, and the ability to develop other leaders. As the German writer
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said Treat people as if they were what they ought to be
and you help them to become what they are capable of being. As history has shown,
people like to be guided by a person whom they respect, a person who inspires trust,
someone who provides a clear sense of direction. Such as individual is the outcome of
a continuous process of self-study, education, training, and experience. And thats what
developing leaders is all about.

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The study and practice of leadership development continues to be a work in progress.

Other ways may need to be found to foster learning, notably to help people become
more creative and to think out of the box. To be effective in future leadership
development efforts, we should not think only on what we know and have but also on
what we aspire to become. It is not cost cutting but strategic innovation that
differentiates great from mediocre organizations. We cannot emphasize too strongly
that leadership development takes time. Organizations need to take a long-term
systemic approach to leadership development and create a supportive environment
and culture for doing so. Theres no such thing as the One-Minute-Leader because
real leadership requires years of development and hard work.
Senior management in every organization needs to come to terms with the idea that
the only test of leadership is that somebody follows. The mark of a real leader today is
in how many leaders are coming up behind him or her. Developing and cultivating the
next generation of leaders remains a complex life-long task that takes a concerted
effort from all concerned parties including parents, educators and the leaders in the
workforce. The earlier this fact is recognized, the faster we will enable more of our
people to become effective leaders in the 21 st Century.

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