Learning Outcomes
   After studying this unit, you will be able to:
    Define the term leadership
    Discuss basic approaches to leadership
    State the relevance of trait theory
    Explain leadership styles
    Focus on contemporary issues in leadership
    Tell about trust and leadership
    Describe the influence of national culture on leadership
    Definitions and Meaning of 
    Leadership
    • Researchers rarely agree on what is meant by leadership. Different investigators 
    define  it  in  different  ways.  Although  there  is  some  consensus  on  general 
    statements such as "leaders have followers" and "effective leaders somehow get 
    others to do things that are helpful for group performance", exactly how and why 
    performance increases is unclear. Some consensus, however, is being reached on 
    how we should handle this  problem.  One  suggestion  was  to  break  down  the 
    question of "What is leadership?" into two questions:
    • 1. What characteristics or behaviours make it more likely that an individual will 
    become a leader?
    • 2. Once someone holds a formal position as a leader, what characteristics make it 
    more or less likely that he or she will be effective?
    • "Leadership" according to Alford and Beatty "is the ability to secure desirable actions from a 
     group of followers voluntarily, without the use of coercion."
    • According to Chester I Barnard, "it (leadership) refers to the quality of the behaviour of the 
     individual whereby they guide people on their activities in organised efforts".
    • According to Terry, "A leader shows the way by his own example. He is not a pusher, he pulls 
     rather than pushes".
    • According to Koontz and O'Donnell, Managerial leadership is "the ability to exert inter-personal 
     influence by means of communication, towards the achievement of a goal. Since managers get 
     things done through people, their success depends, to a considerable extent upon their ability to 
     provide leadership".
    • In the words of R. T. Livingston, Leadership is "the ability to awaken in others the desire to follow 
     a common objective".
    • According to the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, "Leadership is the relation between an 
     individual and a group around some common interest and behaving in a manner directed or 
     determined by him".
    • According  to  Peter  Drucker,  Leadership  "is  not  making  friends  and  influencing  people,  i.e., 
     salesmanship is the lifting of man's vision to higher sights, the raising of man's performance to 
     higher standards, the building of man's personality beyond its normal limitations".
    • According to Louis A Allen, "A leader is one who guides and directs other people. He gives the 
     efforts of his followers a direction and purpose by influencing their behaviour".
   Characteristic of Leadership
   • Leadership implies the existence of followers                                      
    Leadership involves a community of interest between the leader and 
    his followers                                                                                           
    Leadership involves an unequal distribution of authority among 
    leaders and group members                                                                 
    Leadership is a process of influence                                                       
    Leadership is the function of stimulation                                                      
         A leader must be exemplary                                                                       
         A leader ensures absolute justice                                                              
    Leadership styles and patterns
   Types of Leadership Styles
   The different types of leadership styles are:
   • 1. Autocratic or Task Management Leadership
   • 2. Participative or Democratic Leadership and
   • 3. Laissez-faire or Free-rein Leadership
   • 4. Paternalistic Leadership.