Management & Organisational Behaviour
BAM 1020 – Management & Organisational Behaviour
What is Leadership? Why do organisations need it?
Leadership is the key dynamic force that motivates and co ordinates an organization to accomplish its objectives. A leader creates a vision for the others and then directs them towards achieving that vision. To be a leader you must have followers who have confidence in you and who give you their support and commitment to a goal. According to the acclaimed author on leadership, Donald Clark – “Good leaders are made not born”, however what is the true definition of a leader? In business & management, the term ‘leadership’ cannot be as easily defined as “….The use of authority in decision-making” Mullins, 7th ed. 2005. But more specifically, such as – “Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent.” Donald Clark.
Leadership has meaning only in an organizational context, and only in the sense of on managing within a system of inequalities. Superior-subordinate relationships help to define leadership behaviour, and the culture in any particular society influences the nature of these relationships. Two leadership roles are common to all societies, however.
The first is the Emergent role; a more charismatic leader that emerges naturally from a group with the capability to provide vision and inspiration naturally, are more detached from an organisation with personal goals & objectives. This type of Charismatic leadership is seen as something executed by force of personality and inspiration.
The second is the Appointed role; a leader who has been given the title/job and subordinates and has the responsibility of organizational processes, control activities, and meet organizational objectives – however are relatively passive in terms of staff integration.
This describes the functional...
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