Concept, Characteristics and Quality of Leadership

Management is centered on leadership. In essence, it entailed taking the initiative. Employees must be given instructions by someone within the company. The employee must perform their duties to the best of their abilities, and someone must ensure this. Additionally, someone needs to motivate, guide, and oversee the employee. As a result, leadership entails setting the course, giving orders, and supervising others. The greater the contribution of subordinates to the objectives of the business, the more effective the leadership process.

The constantly evolving social, economic, political, and technological landscape calls for leadership that is innovative, creative, and visionary. Leadership of an organization must take on the duty of achieving the organization's goal while also creating an environment that supports superior performance. Therefore, every firm needs qualified and successful leaders at all levels, including strong supervisors, middle managers, and general managers. An essential component of effective management is leadership.

Leadership is the capacity to actively persuade people to pursue their objectives in a specific situation. In a given setting, it is directing and influencing followers' behavior toward goal achievement.

Leadership is essential to comprehending and forecasting group behavior. The group's leader is the one who forges relationships of trust with the members and gives them guidance toward reaching their objectives.

According to Hersey and Blanchard:

Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in efforts towards goal attainment in a given situation.

According to Stephen R. Robbins:

Leadership is the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of goals. Leadership sets mission and goals in groups. It sets task and standard of performance. It gives attention to need and expectations of followers. Above all, influences for goal achievement. It is the catalyst that turns into reality.

According to Stoner, Freeman, and Gilbert (1992)

Leadership is the process of directing and influencing the task-related activities of group member.

Characteristics of Leadership (Nature of Leadership)

Leadership has the following characteristics:

• Influence: Leadership is a process of influence. Leaders mostly sway flowers by force, inspiration, and reason.
• Goal-Directed: The followers and the leader have similar objectives. Leadership motivates followers to work eagerly and enthusiastically toward shared objectives. Thus, it is purpose-driven.
• Situational: Leadership is a situational skill. The leadership philosophies depend on the circumstances.
• Unidirectional Authority: Leaders have the power to sway people in just one direction. However, the followers lack the power to command the leader.
• Leader, follower and situational: There are three types of leadership: situational, leader, and follower.
  • Leader: He may be elected by work groups or be formally appointed. He unites and motivates his people to achieve their objectives.
  • Follower: Followers are those who voluntarily submit to authority and yield to the leader's sway. Unimaginable is a leader without followers. Leaders and followers do not engage in conflict.
  • Situation: It makes or breaks the leader in this circumstance. Leadership depends on the circumstances. The situational should be recognized and used by leaders.
  • Relationship of reciprocity: The relationship between the leader and the following is always one of reciprocity. Both the behavior of a leader's followers and the leader himself are influenced. Each person's behavior should be influenced voluntarily rather than through coercion.

Quality of good leadership:

Making organizational life more compassionate and productive requires strong leadership. Some characteristics of effective leaders make them truly transformative. To accomplish their objectives, they bring about changes in the organization, in the people around them, and in the organization itself. A good leader should possess the following traits:

1. Personal qualities of leader

Following are the personal qualities:

• Physical fitness:
  • An effective leader should be personable and upbeat. He ought to be in good physical and mental health, with good communication skills. For rigorous job, he needs a ton of vigor and endurance.
• Self-confidence:
  • A successful leader must possess both self-assurance and a strong will. He must maintain his enthusiasm and good spirits in the face of challenges if he wants to keep his employees' respect.
• Intelligence:
  • A leader should be able to reason properly, analyze situations accurately, and interpret issues clearly. To efficiently manage all of the organization's activities, this is required.
• Vision and foresight:
  • A good leader should be able to see possible trends coming and build his policies and programs accordingly. He ought to be capable of making wise selections at all times and possess good judgment.
• Human character
  • A man with human character is necessary for a leader. He should have qualities like integrity, loyalty, self-control, and passion to the company. By using the leader as a metaphorical figure, followers are inspired by the leader's behavior and can grow as people.
• Optimistic outlook:
  • A leader should maintain a positive outlook at all times. He shouldn't be negative while working or making decisions; an upbeat mindset is necessary to make decisions with confidence and handle challenging situations.
• Flexible attitude:
  • It is common knowledge that the environment is changing quickly. A effective leader should be able to adapt both personally and organizationally to the surroundings. He needs to adapt the standards, principles, and laws to the needs of the environment.

2. Managerial qualities

Following are the managerial qualities:

• A clear sense of purpose:
  • Having a clear sense of purpose or being able to communicate your vision and mission to others. The organization's executives must be crystal clear about its goals and purpose.
• Ability of Good judgment:
  • A leader should have the capacity for good judgment, or the capacity to recognize how one's decisions will affect others and the business as a whole as well as consumers, suppliers, and the community at large. He should eliminate any feelings of closeness, affection, favoritism, etc. when making decisions; instead, he should only take the organization's goals into account.
• Self-knowledge and Technical knowledge:
  • Every manager should possess self-knowledge, or the capacity to recognize their own assets and qualities and be aware of how to best utilize them. All members of the organization should possess technical competence. The only skilled leader capable of directing the team members toward the most efficient and productive way to complete the task.
• Objectivity:
  • The capacity to consider all relevant factors and draw judgments in a fair and unbiased manner.
• Emotional maturity:
  • The capacity to see the value of the individual and their viewpoint.
• Initiative:
  • Taking the initiative, or being a self-starter, and getting things done to meet organizational objectives.
• A perpetual desire for learning:
  • A perpetual desire for learning or the ability to continue their own professional development, learning about their own organization and developing the skills necessary to their organization’s continued success.
• Cooperatives:
  • Cooperatives, or the capacity to create teamwork and work well with others in order to achieve goals.
• Integrity:
  • Integrity, or the capacity to carry out organizational policies and decisions in an honest, reliable, and fair manner.
• Adaptability:
  • The capacity to quickly adapt to new circumstances is known as adaptability. A leader must possess this talent.
• Knowledge of psychology:
  • A leader must communicate with his followers in order to comprehend their thoughts, feelings, wants, actions, and attitudes. Additionally, he needs several crucial traits like empathy, sociability, and self- and other-awareness.
• Human relation expert:
  • An organization's different interested parties, including customers, visitors, subordinates, suppliers, shareholders, etc., must be dealt with by a leader. He must be able to communicate politely and amicably with all parties involved.

References:

• AGRAWAL, DR. GOVIND RAM. Organization Relations. Bhotahity, Kathmandu: M.K. Publishers & Distributors , 2013. textbook.
• Prem R. Pant, Ph. D. "PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT." Kathmandu: Buddha Academic Publisher and Distributors Pvt. Ltd., 2010. textbook. 17 jun 2016.