What is Leadership - Essay Example

Leadership Leadership In the main, leadership is the act of providing guidance to a group of people to realise a set organizational objective. In this case, a leader is the person who offers such supervision and direction. Based on Kouzes and Posner’s "The Leadership Challenge", leadership is about real individuals realizing amazing results in their course of leadership. A leader is not somebody born to lead, neither is about credibility or networks, but rather is the ordinary individual who takes up the task to provide supervision in an extraordinary manner (Burns, 2012).

Through this definition it is evident that leadership involves inspiring a shared vision while involving everybody in the organization in the process. Through effective leadership, employee motivation and dedication is achieved. Leadership need not be seen as a title or a position. "Leadership is everybodys business” means that everybody is empowered to think lengthily, fashion a vision, and move towards the vision for the overall success of the set objectives. “Everyone’s business’ characterizes the relationship between the two parties; the leader and the employee.

This means it is everybody’s responsibility to achieve success (Northouse, 2010). Previously, leadership measures were stringent, in that the leader was responsible for every direction. Presently, employees yearn for responsibility and each of them may be considered a leader in their own manner (Kouzes and Posner, 2012). There are several desirable results that are realized if a leader lets employees be engaged in leadership. For instance, there is employee motivation and trust among colleagues.

In addition, the leader can concentrate on other important projects and assign minor leadership duties to the employees. “Leadership is not an affair of the head, but rather an affair of the heart” means that leadership encompasses being in love. Leaders must treat their workforces as humans and equals. The challenges that exist in an organization should not result in unnecessary distress for the workforce. “…an affair of the heart” is best explained in terms of behaviour. The leader should be mindful of the emotions of the workers in an openhearted manner.

Practically speaking, it is about treatment of employees as equals. When a leader takes a course of action, he/she must postulate the impact it may have on the workforce and take remedial measures (Fairholm, 2009). Through this, there is bound to be less tension in the organization and enthusiasm to work. In most cases, the workforce will provide their best service to a leader they love, rather than the one they dread. The variation between leadership and management can also be explained through the dissimilarity of leaders and managers.

Although leadership and management are not the same thing, they are incredibly interrelated and complementary in purpose. In the main, the manager organizes and plans, while the leader encourages and motivates the workforce to realize the plans (Lunenburg, 2011). By and large, this means that management entails controlling and organizing people to achieve a set objective while leadership is the act of inspiring people to realize the objective in a satisfactory manner. As a result, while management focuses on the procedural objectives, leadership focuses on people and their ability to realize the objectives.

ReferencesBass, B. (2000). The Future of Leadership in Learning Organizations. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 2000; 7; 18Burns, J. (2012). Leadership. New York: Open Road MediaFairholm, M. (2009). Leadership and Organizational Strategy. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, Volume 14(1), 2009, article 3.Kouzes, J. and Posner, B. (2012). The Leadership Challenge. (5th Ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Lunenburg, F. (2011). Leadership versus Management: A Key Distinction—At Least in Theory.

International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration, Volume 14, Number 1, 2011Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice. New York: SAGE.