What is leadership?
DefinitionContemporary Leadership in Sport Organizations states that leadership is plainly the process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. It also suggests that defining leadership as a process means that it is not a trait or characteristic that resides in the leader, but rather a transactional event that occurs between the leader and the followers, (Scott, pg. 5).
Management, on the other hand, is much more structured, task-oriented, and efficiency-minded. Planning, organizing, budgeting, and staffing are key components of management. Some say that leadership and management are mutually exclusive. Regardless, I believe that they can become integrated through the proper use of values and vision. |
Watch this video to gain some insight into the foundation of my definition of leadership
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findings in other literature
"An integrative definition of leadership"
Winston and Patterson's "An Integrative Definition of Leadership" states that a leader is one or more people who selects, equips, trains, and influences one or more follower(s) who have diverse gifts, abilities, and skills and focuses the follower(s) to the organization's mission and objectives causing the follower(s) to willingly and enthusiastically expend spiritual, emotional, and physical energy in a concerted coordinated effort to achieve the organizational mission and objectives (Winston, 2006). The article then explains that a leader can achieve this influence by conveying a "prophetic" vision of the future in clear terms that resonates with the follower(s) beliefs and values in such a way that they can understand and interpret the future into present-time action steps.
This lengthy definition has many parts that deserve praise. I am a big believer in showing people the way to a achieving a task that energizes them in an adequate amount to get them to want to work towards that task accomplishment. Due to enthusiasm and spirit, I think that leaders should build followers up by focusing on their strengths and working towards minimizing their weaknesses. By getting corporate buy-in from followers, any vision of the leader can become an organizational reality.
In agreement with the literature, I think that ethical means have to be utilized in order to seek the greater good of all followers at stake. Due to interactions between leaders and followers, emotional healing will lead to personal growth, renewal, regeneration, and spiritual enhancement. This can be done when a leader is willing to educate, train, support, and protect his/her followers in order to increase critical thinking, insight, intuition, and communication skills.
My favorite takeaway from this piece of literature is: "A leader recognizes the diversity of the follower(s) and achieves unity of common values and directions without destroying the uniqueness of that person."
"Leadership: a challenge to traditional research methods and assumptions"
See a unique perspective into leadership by watching this video
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University of Wisconsin-Madison's Barbara Karmel views leadership in a more complex perspective. She says that leadership can be viewed in terms of dyadic and interactive behaviors of leader and follower, emphasizing evaluation of dynamic inter-individual interaction (Karmel, 1978). Focusing more on the follower aspect of leadership, the author expands the horizons of traditional leadership definition analysis.
Without followers, leaders would not exist. However, without leaders, followers may never find the right path to take to accomplish tasks, bring visions to life, and grow. It takes a leader to become a follower; if you are the first to follow a leader, you are showcasing numerous leadership characteristics that set you apart from other potential followers. By becoming a trendsetter, you are paving the way for others to follow in your footsteps. The creation of this legacy can become the fuel to your future leadership endeavors. This can be seen by viewing the video to the left. A key takeaway from this piece of literature is: "One cannot isolate leadership from organizational analysis." Without analyzing the prominence of the followership of an organization, it will be impossible to fully understand the efficiency of the current heirarchy of leadership. |
"leadership, membership, and organization"
Ralph Stogdill believes that the definition of leadership as a process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its task of goal setting and goal achievement should be reexamined (Stogdill, 1950). Stating that leadership appears to be a system of interrelationships, Stogdill preaches that leadership exists only in so far as individuals are differentiated as to the influence they exert upon an organization.
Like Stogdill, I believe that leadership influence of any one member will be determined to a large degree by the total leadership structure of the organization. The higher-ups of a team set the stage for future leaders to follow in suit; without their willingness to set their followers up for future success, the leadership potential in the subordinates will eventually die off. I am a big believer in doing all of the little things to prepare followers to take over your current position of leadership. You will find out that all of those little things add up quickly to contribute to one big, collective goal.
A key takeaway from this literature is: "Authority is not an attribute of one or a few persons; it is an interactional process." Through interaction, leaders can easily find the right avenue to influencing others in the right way.
Like Stogdill, I believe that leadership influence of any one member will be determined to a large degree by the total leadership structure of the organization. The higher-ups of a team set the stage for future leaders to follow in suit; without their willingness to set their followers up for future success, the leadership potential in the subordinates will eventually die off. I am a big believer in doing all of the little things to prepare followers to take over your current position of leadership. You will find out that all of those little things add up quickly to contribute to one big, collective goal.
A key takeaway from this literature is: "Authority is not an attribute of one or a few persons; it is an interactional process." Through interaction, leaders can easily find the right avenue to influencing others in the right way.
"what is leadership?"
Bolden and I share the same opinion about the definition of leadership-- there is no widely accepted definition of it, no common consensus on how best to develop it, and remarkably little evidence of the impact of it on performance and productivity. Firstly, like notions such as ‘love’, ‘freedom’ and ‘happiness’, leadership is a complex construct open to subjective interpretation. Everyone has their own intuitive understanding of what leadership is, based on a mixture of experience and learning, which is difficult to capture in a succinct definition. Secondly, the way in which leadership is defined and understood is strongly influenced by one’s theoretical stance. There are those who view leadership as the consequence of a set of traits or characteristics possessed by ‘leaders’, whilst others view leadership as a social process that emerges from group relationships (Bolden, 2004).
In essence, I am consistent in my beliefs that leadership is a process, involves influence, occurs in a group context, and involves goal attainment. Bolden's main takeaway in his literature is: "Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal." Regardless of the definition, a fun way of viewing life and leadership can be seen by viewing the video on the right. |
See this insightful view on life and leadership from our very own "Kid President"
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"what, after all, is leadership?- leadership and plural action"
E.D. Kort poses two interesting perspectives into the definition of leadership. First, leadership is the ability to impress the will of the leader on those led and induce obedience, respect, loyalty, and cooperation. Second, leadership is an influence relationship between leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes (Kort, 2008).
We all know that leadership is simply an influence relationship between leaders and followers, thus characterizing one person as a "leader" and the other people as "followers." This literature implies that the relationship of leadership is a two-way street. I agree with this in the sense that a strong relationship has to be forged in order to make the most out the experience. The followers and leader can become enlightened by making the relationship dependent on each other. This way, the group can grow as a team from individual development. By treating others with respect, empathy, appreciation, empowerment, and guidance, the definition of leadership can become very clear organization-wide.
The key takeaway from this piece of literature reiterates the fact that: "Leadership is one person getting other people to do something."
We all know that leadership is simply an influence relationship between leaders and followers, thus characterizing one person as a "leader" and the other people as "followers." This literature implies that the relationship of leadership is a two-way street. I agree with this in the sense that a strong relationship has to be forged in order to make the most out the experience. The followers and leader can become enlightened by making the relationship dependent on each other. This way, the group can grow as a team from individual development. By treating others with respect, empathy, appreciation, empowerment, and guidance, the definition of leadership can become very clear organization-wide.
The key takeaway from this piece of literature reiterates the fact that: "Leadership is one person getting other people to do something."
in summary, leadership involves:
influencing others
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relationship-building
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building a legacy
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team cohesion
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