9/11/13 What is Leadership?
What is Leadership?
"Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do
things right."
– Professor Warren G. Bennis
"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done
because he wants to do it."
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
The word "leadership" can bring to mind a variety of images. For example:
An army officer, leading an assault on an enemy position.
An explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his party to
follow.
An executive, developing her company's strategy to beat the competition.
Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction,
build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about
mapping out where you need to go to "win" as a team or an organization; and it
is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring.
Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to
guide their people to the right destination, in a smooth and efficient way.
In this article, we'll focus on the process of leadership. In particular, we'll
discuss the "transformational leadership" model, first proposed by James
MacGregor Burns and then developed by Bernard Bass. This model highlights
visionary thinking and bringing about change, instead of management processes
that are designed to maintain and steadily improve current performance.
Leadership: A Definition
According to the idea of transformational leadership, an effective leader is a
person who does the following:
1. Creates an inspiring vision of the future.
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2. Motivates and inspires people to engage with that vision.
3. Manages delivery of the vision.
4. Coaches and builds a team, so that it is more effective at achieving the vision.
Leadership brings together the skills needed to do these things. We'll look at
each element in more detail.
1. Creating an Inspiring Vision of the Future
In business, a vision is a realistic, convincing and attractive depiction of where
you want to be in the future. Vision provides direction, sets priorities, and
provides a marker, so that you can tell that you've achieved what you wanted to
achieve.
To create a vision, leaders focus on an organization's strengths by using tools
such as Porter's Five Forces [1] , PEST Analysis [2]
, USP Analysis [3] , Core Competence
Analysis [4] and SWOT Analysis [5] to
analyze their current situation. They think about how their industry is likely to
evolve, and how their competitors are likely to behave. They look at how they
can innovate successfully [6] , and shape their businesses
and their strategies to succeed in future marketplaces. And they test their
visions with appropriate market research, and by assessing key risks using
techniques such as Scenario Analysis [7] .
Therefore, leadership is proactive - problem solving, looking ahead, and not
being satisfied with things as they are.
Once they have developed their visions, leaders must make them compelling
and convincing. A compelling vision [8] is one that people
can see, feel, understand, and embrace. Effective leaders provide a rich picture
of what the future will look like when their visions have been realized. They tell
inspiring stories [9] , and explain their visions in ways that
everyone can relate to.
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Here, leadership combines the analytical side of vision creation with the passion
of shared values, creating something really meaningful to the people being led.
2. Motivating and Inspiring People
A compelling vision provides the foundation for leadership. But it's leaders'
ability to motivate and inspire people that helps them deliver that vision.
For example, when you start a new project, you will probably have lots of
enthusiasm for it, so it's often easy to win support for the project at the
beginning. However, it can be difficult to find ways to keep your vision inspiring
after the initial enthusiasm fades, especially if the team or organization needs to
make significant changes in the way that they do things. Leaders recognize this,
and they work hard throughout the project to connect their vision with people's
individual needs, goals, and aspirations.
One of the key ways they do this is through Expectancy Theory [10]
. Effective leaders link together two different expectations:
1. The expectation that hard work leads to good results.
2. The expectation that good results lead to attractive rewards or incentives.
This motivates people to work hard to achieve success, because they expect to
enjoy rewards – both intrinsic and extrinsic – as a result.
Other approaches include restating the vision in terms of the benefits it will
bring to the team's customers, and taking frequent opportunities to
communicate the vision in an attractive and engaging way.
What's particularly helpful here is where leaders have expert power [11]
. People admire and believe in these leaders because they are
expert in what they do. They have credibility, and they've earned the right to ask
people to listen to them and follow them. This makes it much easier for these
leaders to motivate and inspire the people they lead.
Leaders can also motivate and influence people through their natural charisma
and appeal, and through other sources of power [12] , such
as the power to pay bonuses or assign tasks to people. However, good leaders
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don't rely too much on these types of power to motivate and inspire others.
3. Managing Delivery of the Vision
This is the area of leadership that relates to management [13]
. According to the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership
Model [14] , there is a time to tell, a time to sell, a time to
participate, and a time to delegate. Knowing which approach you need to use,
and when you need it, is key to effective leadership.
Leaders must ensure that the work needed to deliver the vision is properly
managed – either by themselves, or by a dedicated manager or team of managers
to whom the leader delegates this responsibility – and they need to ensure that
their vision is delivered successfully.
To do this, team members need performance goals that are linked to the team's
overall vision. Our article on Performance Management and KPIs [15]
(Key Performance Indicators) explains one way of doing
this, and our Project Management section explains another. And, for day-to-day
management of delivering the vision, the Management By Wandering Around
[16] (MBWA) approach helps to ensure that what should
happen, really happens.
Leaders also need to make sure they manage change [17]
effectively. This helps to ensure that the changes needed to deliver the vision are
implemented smoothly and thoroughly, with the support and backing of the
people affected.
4. Coaching and Building a Team to Achieve the Vision
Individual and team development are important activities carried out by
transformational leaders. To develop a team, leaders must first understand team
dynamics. Several well-established and popular models describe this, such as
Belbin's Team Roles [18] approach, and Bruce Tuckman's
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Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing theory [19] .
A leader will then ensure that team members have the necessary skills and
abilities to do their job and achieve the vision. They do this by giving and
receiving
feedback [20] regularly, and by training and coaching [21]
people to improve individual and team performance.
Leadership also includes looking for leadership potential [22]
in others. By developing leadership skills within your team,
you create an environment where you can continue success in the long term.
And that's a true measure of great leadership.
Note:
The words "leader" and "leadership" are often used incorrectly to describe people
who are actually managing. These individuals may be highly skilled, good at
their jobs, and valuable to their organizations – but that just makes them
excellent managers, not leaders.
So, be careful how you use the terms, and don't assume that people with "leader"
in their job titles, people who describe themselves as "leaders," or even groups
called "leadership teams," are actually creating and delivering transformational
change.
A particular danger in these situations is that people or organizations that are
being managed by such an individual or group think they're being led; but
they're not. There may actually be no leadership at all, with no one setting a
vision and no one being inspired. This can cause serious problems in the long
term.
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Key Points
Leadership can be hard to define and it means different things to different
people.
In the transformational leadership model, leaders set direction and help
themselves and others to do the right thing to move forward. To do this they
create an inspiring vision, and then motivate and inspire others to reach that
vision. They also manage delivery of the vision, either directly or indirectly, and
build and coach their teams to make them ever stronger.
Effective leadership is about all of this – and it's exciting to be part of this
journey!
Did you find this article helpful?
Where to go from here :
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Ask questions, or share your experience [24]
What members say...
Yolande wrote
Hi Tort
Welcome to the MindTools Club and to the forums as well - it's great to 'hear'
your voice so soon!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on leadership and management with us. I
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think your definitions of both management and leadership are spot on. I loved
what you said about leadership: If you are a one trick pony, authentic leadership
will not be sustainable and acknowledging where your strengths lie and recognizing
the strengths of your team allows you to be a leader and a follower.It is indeed so
that a 'one trick pony' will not be able to sustain authentic leadership since
leadership implies flexibility and being able to act according to the here and
now.
I hope you will share more of your insights with us; do have a look at the other
forums too such as Career Cafe Central. The forums are where we all help and
learn from one another (and sometimes we can just let off steam there too!).
Tort, if you need any help around the forums please let me know - I'd be only
too glad to help where I can.
Kind regards
Yolandé
January 12, 2013
Tort wrote
The ablity to balance leadership and management is a skill to be admired.
Would it be wrong to say that management is 'managing' or the effective use of
resources - physical, financial, human resources and time?
Leadership is the relationship used to influcence people to achieve something.
That relationship may be context or circumstance based - Military style
command and control or emergency services (police, fire) in a life or death
situation to inspiring, coaching, mentoring and influencing in a more relaxed
setting such as non-profit, political, social, community or sports.
The position of your leadership style depends on how you need to apply it.
Standing out in front directing (police) or inspiring
Walking alongside or standing on the sidelines (coach)
Or standing back and encouraging (cheerleader)
Great leaders adapt to their situation to be able to apply the most relevant
style to the situation and sometimes that is following too.
If you are a one trick pony, authentic leadership will not be sustainable and
acknowledging where your strenghts lie and recognizing the strengths of your
team allows you to be a be a leader and a follower.
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January 11, 2013
Yolande wrote
Hi Abishek
Welcome to the Club and also to the forums - it's great 'hearing' your voice
over here. Yes, I agree with you - it is indeed a combination of the things
mentioned in the article that makes a great leader. I am interested to hear your
opinion: which of these things do you think is the most important for a leader
to do, or do you see them all as equal?
Kind regards
Yolandé
May 1, 2012
abhik_shar wrote
Yes ,
For good leadership skills , one need good chemistry between above
mentioned concepts.
Abhishek Sharma
April 28, 2012
James wrote
Hi everyone
This is to let you know that we’ve published a video for this topic.
Click here to watch the video:
http://www.mindtools.com/community/pages/main/videos.php#leadership
James
July 14, 2011
James wrote
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Hi Tarek
Someone who's an inspiring leader but a poor manager can leave a team or
organization in chaos. Someone who's a poor leader but a good manager can
create an efficiently functioning machine that's completely overtaken by
events.
Leadership and management are different but overlapping skill sets, and we
either need to develop both sets of skills if we're going to be truly effective in
the workplace; or we need to work with others who provide skills that we lack.
James
June 7, 2010
stasiaandtarek wrote
thank you Dianna
June 6, 2010
Dianna wrote
Hi Tarek - interesting way to look the role of manager and leader. From a
practical standpoint I think it's very difficult to separate the two concepts.
They are so interrelated and I agree that the best teams will emerge when the
person who leads them is a great manager as well as leader. That's why I think
it's so important that people work on their leadership skills regardless of the
position they are in. Then when a management position opens up, you have
many of the skills already covered. Try to be inspirational and lead by example
in all things you do. That way when the official management responsibilities
fall to you, you will be ready to lead your team to great results.
Dianna
June 6, 2010
stasiaandtarek wrote
HELLO
I just want an answer and help about what me i could do thru this article
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9/11/13 What is Leadership?
and if it is right my point of view, for me to get more understanding , and also
because cause i am a little manager
(NEGATIVE OR POSITIVE) Manager + (NEGATIVE OR POSITIVE) Leader = ??
Team
so what i me trust is :
[b] (NEGATIVE) Manager + (POSITIVE) Leader = (0 =<) Team (NEGATIVE) more
than (POSITIVE)
(POSITIVE) Manager + (NEGATIVE) Leader = (0 =>) Team (NEGATIVE)
(NEGATIVE) Manager + (NEGATIVE) Leader = (0) Team (NEGATIVE)
(POSITIVE) Manager + (POSITIVE) Leader = (0 <=) Team (POSITIVE)
so does it should be understood in this way ?
Regards
Tarek
June 5, 2010
1. http://www.mindtools.com/community/pages/article/newTMC_08.php
2. http://www.mindtools.com/community/pages/article/newTMC_09.php
3. http://www.mindtools.com/community/pages/article/newTMC_11.php
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18. http://www.mindtools.com/community/pages/article/newLDR_83.php
19. http://www.mindtools.com/community/pages/article/newLDR_86.php
20. http://www.mindtools.com/community/pages/article/newTMM_98.php
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