Concept of Leadership and It's Qualities

Leadership

Leadership is the ability to persuade other to seek defined goals enthusiastically. It is the human factors which bind a group together and motivates them towards goal. It is an important factor in the development and success of an organization. It is a personal quality of an individual. We can define a leader as someone who can influence others and who has managerial authority. The objective of leadership is to influence so that important goal can be achieved.

Thus, the exercise of influence is the essence of leadership behavior. Leaders are people who can influence the behavior of others without having to rely on force. One cannot be a leader unless there are people- followers. It is an important and necessary skill for achieving individual, group, and organizational performance.

According to Stephen Robbins,"Leadership is the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of goals.”

According to L.P. Alford and H.R. Beatty - " Leadership is the ability to secure desirable actions from a group of followers voluntarily without the use of coercion."

Therefore, leadership is the process of influencing behavior and efforts of an individual or a group for achieving common goals.

Qualities of Leadership

Leaders must possess and develop certain qualities for influencing and getting the best result from his subordinates. Different experts have suggested varied qualities. However, leadership qualities can be classified into two categories:

1. Personal qualities
2. Managerial qualities

Personal Qualities

A successful managerial leader should possess the following personal traits:

• Dynamic Personality:

A leader should possess charming and cheerful personality. He should have astrong personality, good health, cool temper, conversational ability and decent behavior. He requires tremendous stamina and vigor for hard work. The dynamic personality helps to be a good and capable leader. A leader must have a dynamic personality so that it would be helpful for him attaining good and better performance.

• Intellectual Capacity:

The leader should be somewhat intelligent than his followers. A leader should have the ability to think logically analyze the situation accurately and interpret the problems clearly. It is difficult for anyone to become a successful leader without it. So an individual must have an intellectual capacity to be a good leader.

• Take Lead and Initiative:

A leader should have the ability to take the lead and initiative. The business consists of uncertainties and complexities, which requires the leader to take decisions promptly. Hence, the leader must possess a quality of imagination, creative abilities, and courage to face realities boldly and peacefully.

• Vision and Foresight:

A leader should be able to anticipate or visualize the potential trends and develop his policies and programs with foresight. He needs a sound judgment and the ability to take right decisions at the right time.

• Flexibility:

A leader should have an attitude of flexibility in order to become successful . He should be prepared to accommodate other’s viewpoint and alter his decisions if needed. It is very important, particularly when conditions in all spheres are changing rapidly.

• Sense of Responsibilities:

A leader should have a sense of responsibilities and must be in a position to bear the burden of all his decisions upon himself. He must also be responsible for the things and men over whom he exercises authority. He should be dependable so that subordinates can trust him. A leader must have a good sense of responsibilities so that his followers would able to understand his working level.

• Self-Confidence:

A good leader must have self-confidence and a strong will power. He should remain enthusiastic and cheerful in the case of obstacles; otherwise, he cannot enjoy the trust of his subordinates. Self-confidence helps a leader to make his followers able to understand all his activities about the work.

• Character:

A leader should be a man of character. The strong character of a leader will set an example before the followers. He should possess traits like honesty, loyalty, and personal integrity. His actions and attitudes should be morally justifiable. This will create confidence among followers.

Managerial Qualities

A successful leader should possess certain qualities which are important from the point of view of management. The important managerial traits are as follows:

• Technical Knowledge:

A leader should be technically competent. He should have technical knowledge about the job and organization. This will enable him to take right decisions on different matters. A leader must have technical abilities to do a job effectively. It is an essential part of a leader. With his technical knowledge, he can guide his followers.

• Situational adaptation:

Today’s environment is dynamic and rapidly changing. A leader should be adaptable to the changing situations. His concern for people and concern for a job should be situation specific.

• Motivation Skills:

A leader must possess motivating skills to include subordinates towards predetermined performance. Motivation factor is very important to the followers for doing the job said by a leader. A good leader must have motivational skills for making his followers active towards the work. For this purpose, he must have a thorough knowledge of the needs of subordinates and must apply appropriately motivated techniques.

• Effective Communication:

A leader must be an effective communicator. He must ensure the maintenance of a two-way communication system so that the leader and the followers both are free to exchange views freely without interruptions. An effective communication is needed for interacting with his followers for decision-making about the particular job. It is an essential part of the leader.

• Human Relations:

Leadership is primarily concerned with influencing and managing people. A leader should be social. He should keep a good relation with his followers as well as other people. There should be a good relation between leader and followers so that the work done will be effective. He must be able to win the confidence and loyalty of people. He has to inspire and motivate the personnel. Hence, he must be well versed in the task of human relations.

• Power of Judgment:

A leader should possess the power of judgment and ability to take the right decision at the right time. The power of judgment depends on one’s self-confidence and self-control. A leader should have the quality to judge whether the decision made by him is correct or not. He must judge right things about his working performance. It is an important quality of a leader.

(Sharma, et al., 2011)

Bibliography

Sharma, P., Shrestha, A., Pant, H., Gautam, I., Thapa, R. B., & Upadhyay, P. (2011). Buddha Publication.