Managerial leadership principles and practices

Managerial Leadership:

The process of social influence in which someone can procure the aid and support of others in the achievement of a common task is leadership. Leadership definitions that are more inclusive of followers also exist. For instance, leadership is also the process of creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen. However, defining leadership has been challenging and descriptions can be different depending on the situation. Notably, in an organizational context, leadership remains as one of the most pertinent aspects.

In addition to leadership being about capacity, it is also about identifying problems, setting and not just reacting to agendas and instigating change that leads to substantial improvement rather than managing change. Because of their personal qualities, situational demands or a combination of these, leaders often emerge from within the structure of an informal organization. As compared to the authority of position held by a selected head or chief, these emergent leaders usually have influence or power. While influence is the ability of a person to gain support from others through persuasion, power is the reflection of a person's ability to enforce action.

Leaders are also people who influence a group of people towards a precise result and they are not reliant on title or formal authority. In most cases, these types of leaders are usually recognized by their ability to care for others, communicate clearly and their unrelenting commitment. On the contrary, individuals appointed to managerial positions basically command and enforce obedience because of the authority of their position. Managerial leaders exercise the authority of their positions based on the formal sanctions in existence within an organization. Leadership is also the ability of a person to get others to willingly follow and every organization needs leaders at every level.

Does Leadership make a Difference?

Leadership makes a big difference in any communal or organizational set-up. This difference is either positive or negative depending on whether or not the leadership is effective. Because leadership makes a difference, few things are more significant to human activity than leadership. For instance, effective leadership helps a nation through times of danger, it makes an organization successful and parents' effective leadership enables children to grow strong, healthy and become productive adults (Mills 2005).

Leadership also makes a difference because the absence of effective leadership has equally dramatic effects. Without effective leadership, business organizations move too slowly, decline and lose their way. Effective leadership results in timely, complete and correct decision-making, which is used by an organization's management in getting things done in a timely and effective way. Consequently, leadership makes a difference because it is crucial in implementing decisions successfully.

The difference of leadership is also evident in the election of political leaders because each of us recognizes the magnitude of leadership when voting for political leaders. Investors recognize the difference and the importance of business leadership by arguing that a good leader can make a success of a weak business plan while a poor leader can mess up even the best business plan.

Leadership also makes a difference because it involves the setting of a course, providing vision, motivating good people to work, giving the workers objectives to achieve, the paraphernalia to do the job and the rewards to succeed. Because of this, most organizations are concentrating on looking for leaders and not managers. These leaders are vital in guiding organizations to success because they are agents of change.

Leadership makes a difference because it is not only essential to shareholders and employees for the success of the enterprise, but also for individual development, which contributes to and ensures the success of an organization. As compared to management, effective leadership provides vision, inspiration, co-leadership, creative teamwork and relationship building in the modern business environment.

Leadership also makes a difference because of the technical competence, conceptual abilities, people skills, ability to choose the right people, character and good judgment characteristics of leadership. These characteristics of leadership are essential in the development of effective leaders who in turn lead an organization to greater success. These characteristics are also the core of the difference in leadership styles that are appropriate for specific situations and organizations.

Importance of Leadership:

Contrary to Pfeffer arguments that leaders are figureheads that we put in place because we need to know that someone is in charge, leadership is a more important relevant aspect in an organization. Different people practice leadership, in different ways due to various standpoints, values, priorities and preferences. Leadership is important in an organization because of the following:

Direction:

Leadership is important because leaders set direction for the rest of the group or followers. Leaders help their followers to see what lies ahead, help their followers to visualize what is achievable, encourage and inspire their followers. Leadership helps to guide people in the same direction and mutually harnesses the efforts of the people. A group of people is likely to degenerate into argument and conflict without leadership. This may happen because people see things in different ways and lean toward different solutions. The direction provided by leadership energizes people toward a common goal and get other people to do something considerable that they might not otherwise do.

Inspiration:

Leadership is vital because it provides an encouraging figure to lead groups of people towards great achievements. With leadership, a foundation for ideas and excellence that shows others that anything is possible is provided. For example, if a person stands up to lead people, they can be better organized and inspired to do what needs to be done. Because of its ability to inspire others to follow the same path, leadership is the foundation of great ideas that spread out with time making even greater things to happen.

Contrary to the argument that leadership may not be important after all, leadership inspires and encourages people to step forward and engage themselves in activities that not only provides personal benefits but also provides organizational benefits. A group of people may be inspired to do something from the desire to benefit and organization but this inspiration needs to be constantly re-awakened and directed. Leadership serves as the point of re-awakening, directing and stimulating this desire, which translates into action and productive results.

However, the leader's mood is essential in the provision of inspiration to the followers. This is because leadership is seen as a predominantly emotion-laden process, with emotions intertwined with the social influence process. To argue that leadership is not important at all is wrong because the leaders' mood has some effects on his/her group. A group is motivated toward or against something depending on the mood of their leader.

If the leader of a group has positive moods, the individual group members experience more positive mood as compared to group members with leaders in a negative mood. This is because leaders spread their moods to other group members through the method of Decision-making:

The decision-making aspect of leadership is one of the key things, which makes leadership essential. Decision-making is essential for the productivity of an organization and if decisions are timely, complete and correct; things go well. Leadership is usually the point where decisions are made, which if implemented, things are done either effectively or ineffectively. The argument that leadership is not essential after all has no basis because leadership is crucial in the successful implementation of decisions.

If the decisions are good, they result in productivity of an organization and vice versa. A leader usually takes a broader view and points an organization toward necessary or critical change. After the careful consideration of the views, these leaders make decisions that are essential for the organization. Leaders have the responsibility of being decisive, facilitative, delivering results, maximizing efficiency and productivity and enhancing progressive profitability.

As compared to managers, leaders are people who do the right things due to their ability to make decisions. In fact, due to their ability to make decisions, leaders have the capacity of creating a compelling vision, turn it into action and sustain it. With the changing environment, there is a need of flexibility and progressiveness. Leaders provide direction and a platform for change through timely and effective decisions and are therefore important.

Leadership Theories:

During the early part of the twentieth century, there was an increasing interest in leadership. Because of the desire to identify the characteristics and behaviors that historical leaders exhibited, leadership theories that are relatively a recent phenomena have been advanced. The modern day workers hope to replicate the success of these historical leaders by understanding their characteristics, successes and failures.

While early leadership theories focused on the qualities that distinguished leaders and followers, the subsequent leadership theories focused on other variables like situational factors and skill level. These subsequent leadership theories have also started to consider the function of followers and the contextual nature of leadership. Leadership theories, which express the significance of leadership, include:

Great Man Theories:

Research conducted on leadership early on was founded on the study of people who were already great leaders. Most of these historical leaders were usually from the upper classes with a few of them from lower classes having the opportunity to lead. Consequently, this led to the idea that leadership had something to do with proliferation. This theory was also based on the assumption that leaders are born and not made (Cherry n.d.). This is the belief that leaders are excellent people, born with intrinsic qualities and destined to lead.

The concept of the Great Man is also based on the notion that in times of need, a Great Man would arise, almost supernaturally. These Great Man theories regularly depict great leaders as heroic, mythic and predestined to rise to leadership when needed. Leaders are not figureheads we put in place because we need to know that someone is in charge. They are people such as Churchill and Eisenhower who arise in time of great need.

The historical great leaders who we emulate today are people who rose not because of appointment but the great need. These leaders went ahead to mobilize followers in realizing the solution to their problems. They therefore cannot be people who were not very important as some people may argue. The term "Great Man" in these theories was used because leadership was mainly thought of as a male quality at the time. The thought of a Great Woman was generally in areas other than leadership because most leaders were male.

Participative Theories:

These theories imply that ideal and effective leadership style is one that takes the input of others into account. Participative leaders encourage involvement and contributions from group members and help the group members to feel more important and committed to the decision-making process. However, in participative theories, the leader maintains the right to allow the input of others. Rather than taking dictatorial decisions, participative leaders seek to engage other people in the decision-making process.