Running head: LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS

Leadership in Organizations Ashley Rivers LDR 531 November 17, 2011 Dr. Rickie Baldwin

Leadership in Organizations

LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS

Many organizations are created from the thoughts, motivation, and determination of a leader. A leader is an individual who has the traits, abilities, and behavior to influence followers and accomplish task objectives. These leadership skills can help an organization achieve the strategic goals and objectives of the organization. The term leadership is defined as the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives (Yukl, 2010, p. 8). Many researchers have focused on the concept of leadership. Some researchers define leadership according to their individual perspectives and the aspects of the phenomenon of most interest to them (id. at p. 2). Research has also distinguished the different views of leadership, and other forms of leadership. The other forms of leadership include direct and indirect leadership. This paper will review the views of leadership, the other forms of leadership, and the behavior approach of leadership. The strengths and weaknesses of the behavior approach will also be discussed. Many researchers have argued whether leadership should be viewed as a specialized role or as a shared influence (id. at p. 3) process. Leadership as a specialized role focuses on the relationship between the leader and the follower. In contrast, the shared influenced process believes it is more useful to study leadership as a social process or pattern of relationships (id. at p. 4). This view of leadership also believes that any individual of the social system may exhibit leadership abilities, and there is not a clear distinction between the leader and follower. The concept of effective leadership also focuses on the behaviors used to influence individuals in an organization. This type of influence is referred to as direct and indirect leadership (id. at p. 5). Direct forms of leadership include communication media to influence individuals. An example of this form of leadership includes sending memos or reports to employees, holding meetings with small groups, and participating in orientation or company picnics (id.). In contrast, there is a variety of indirect forms of leadership. One form of indirect leadership is called cascading. Cascading occurs when the

LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS

direct influence of a leader is transmitted through an organization. This influence can change the employee attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviors. (id. at p. 6). The effectiveness of leadership also can be divided into other variables. These other variables include the characteristics of the leader, the follower, and the situation. The characteristics of a leader is categorized as behavior, integrity, and influence tactics. These characteristics are used to determine the quality of a leader within the organization. The characteristics of a follower is categorized as task commitment, satisfaction with job, and trust within leader. The characteristics of the situation include type of organizational unit, task interdependence, organizational culture, and external dependencies. These characteristics also helps to define how effective the leader and follower will be within the organization. The study of leadership is also classified into different approaches. These approaches are the trait approach, the behavior approach, the power-influence approach, the situation approach, and the integrative approach (id. at p. 13). The background of approach varies from each other. The trait approach is the earliest approach used to study leadership. In addition, the integrative approach has become more common for researchers. The behavior approach is categorized into two general subcategories. These categories include how managers spend their time and the typical pattern of activities, responsibilities, and functions for managerial jobs (id.). In addition, the behavior approach focuses on identifying effective leadership behavior. Each approach has strengths and weaknesses. A weakness of the behavior approach is that it neglects the environment in which the behaviors are demonstrated. In addition, the strength of the behavior approach is that tends to focus on the how well the leader influence the followers, and address their needs and values.

Conclusion In conclusion, leadership is defined as the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and

LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS

collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives (id. at p. 8). In addition, leadership is viewed as specialized role or as a shared influence process. The concept of effective leadership is categorized into direct and indirect leadership (id. at p. 5). The study of leadership is divided into different approaches. These approaches are the trait approach, the behavior approach, the power-influence approach, the situation approach, and the integrative approach (id. at p. 13). Each approach has strengths and weaknesses. Despite the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, each approach has been used define, and describe the roles of leadership.

LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS References

Yukl, G. A. (2010).Leadership in organizations. (7th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Leadership in Organizations By Ashley Rivers

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