Leadership

Although some people treat the terms «managership» and «leadership» as synonyms, they should be distinguished.

As a matter of fact, there can be leaders of unorganised groups, but there can be managers only where organised structures create roles.

Leadership is an important issue of managership: the ability to lead effectively is one of the keys to being an effective manager.

Doing the entire managerial job demands that a manager is an effective leader.

Managers must exercise all the functions of their role in order to combine human and material resources to achieve objectives. The key to doing this is a degree of authority to support managers' actions.

The essence of leadership is followership. In other words, it is the willingness of people to follow that makes a person a leader.

Moreover, people tend to follow those whom they see as providing a means of achieving their own desires, wants and needs.

Leadership and motivation are closely interconnected. By understanding motivation, we can appreciate better what people want and why they act as they do.

Leadership may not only respond to subordinates' motivations but also arouse or dampen them by means of the organisational climate they develop.

Both these factors are as important to leadership as they are to managership.

We define leadership as influence; the art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals.

Ideally, people should be encouraged to work with zeal and confidence.

Zeal is ardour, earnestness and intensity in the execution of work; confidence reflects experience and technical ability.

Leaders act to help a group achieve goals through the maximum application of its capabilities.

Terms «managership» and «leadership» should be distinguished, although their meaning is very close, it is not the same.

Some completely unorganised groups have their leaders, but managers work only in organisations.

Leadership and managership are interconnected: a good manager must be an effective leader.

Managers should be supported in their actions by subordinates, who are willing to follow them.

Without followers a manager cannot become a leader.

Followership is very important both for management and leadership.

People tend to follow those who appreciate their desires and needs and provide a means for accomplishing them.

Leaders should respond to subordinates' motivations.

If they are not aware of the needs that drive their people in their activities, they may dampen their ardour.

People should strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals — that is the key idea of effective leadership.

Zeal and confidence in the execution of work should be motivated by all available rewards and inducements.

One of the key issues for a leader is to help a group in application of its capabilities, to facilitate progress and inspire people to accomplish their goals.

LESSON 6