LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Good leaders are made, not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience (Jago, 1982).

Here are some definitions of leadership:

A process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2007, p3).

The U.S. military has studied leadership in depth. One of their definitions is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish a mission (U.S. Army, 1983).

Leadership is inspiring others to pursue your vision within the parameters you set, to the extent that it becomes a shared effort, a shared vision, and a shared success (Zeitchik, 2012).

Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal (Kruse, 2013).

Note that all the definitions have a couple of processes in common:

  • A person influences others through social influence,  not power, to get something accomplished (bosses use power to get things done).
  • Leadership requires others, who are not necessarily direct-reports, to get something accomplished.
  • There is a need to accomplish something.

Leader

You must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know, and what you can do. Also, note that it is the followers, not the leader or someone else who determines if the leader is successful. If they do not trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful you have to convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed.

Followers

Different people require different styles of leadership. For example, a new hire requires more supervision than an experienced employee does. A person who lacks motivation requires a different approach than one with a high degree of motivation. You must know your people! The fundamental starting point is having a good understanding of human nature, such as needs, emotions, and motivation. You must come to know your employees’ be, know, and do attributes.

Communication

You lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance, when you “set the example,” that communicates to your people that you would not ask them to perform anything that you would not be willing to do. What and how you communicate either builds or harms the relationship between you and your followers.

Situation

All situations are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another. You must use your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behavior, but if the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective.

Also note that the situation normally has a greater effect on a leader’s action than his or her traits.

Various forces will affect these four factors. Examples of forces are:

  • your relationship with your seniors
  • the skills of your followers
  • the informal leaders within your organization
  • how your organization is organized

Bass’ Theory of Leadership

Bass’ theory of leadership states that there are three basic ways to explain how people become leaders (Stogdill, 1989; Bass, 1990). The first two explain the leadership development for a small number of people, while the third one is the dominant theory today. These theories are:

  • Some personality traits may lead people naturally into leadership roles. This is the Trait Theory.
  • A crisis or important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person. This is the Great Events Theory.
  • People can choose to become leaders. People can learn leadership skills. This is the Transformational or Process Leadership Theory. It is the most widely accepted theory today and the premise on which we work.

Management verses Leadership

While management and leadership have a great deal in common, such as working with people and accomplishing the goals of the organization, they do differ in their primary functions (Kotter, 1990):

Management’s main function is to produce order and consistency through processes, such as planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, and problem solving.

While leadership’s main function is to produce movement and constructive or adaptive change through processes, such as establishing direction through visioning, aligning people, motivating, and inspiring.