Definitions of Leadership

Meaning of Leadership 

• leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal.
• In business, leadership is linked to performance.
• Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent.
• Any one who acts as a model to others is often called a “leader”.
• Leadership is attribute of that person who is an ideal for the other members of the group
• Leadership is the art of influencing others to direct their will, abilities and efforts to the achievement of leader’s goals.
• Leadership focuses on “people” aspect of management.
• Process Leadership –
• Leaders carry out the process by applying their leadership knowledge and skills.
• Trait Leadership –
• We know that we have traits that can influence our actions.
• It was once common to believe that leaders were born rather than made.

What Leadership guru says about leadership? 

• • Warren Bennis in “The End of leadership” to make the point that effective leadership cannot exist without the full inclusion, initiatives, and the cooperation of employees i.e. one cannot be a great leader without great followers.
  • Barry Posner “In the past, business believed that a leader was like the captain of a ship: cool, calm, collected. Now, we see that leaders need to be human. They need to be in touch, they need to be empathetic, and they need to be with people. Leaders need to be a part of what’s going on, not apart from what’s going on.

Definitions Of Leadership

• Peter Drucker defined leader as someone who has followers.
• In the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell gave definition of leadership as “leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.”
• Warren Bennis’ defined leadership as ‘a function of knowing oneself, having a vision that is well communicated, building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realize one’s own leadership potential.’
• According to MacIver and Page Leadership is the capacity to persuade or to direct man that comes from personal qualities apart from office. (Trump)
• According to Pigors, “Leadership is a process of control in which by the assumption of superiority a person or group regulates the activities of others for purposes of his own choosing.”
• Chester Bernard (1938) gave a definition of leadership, “leadership is the ability of a superior to influence the behaviour of subordinates and persuade them to follow a particular course of action”.
• Williams (2005), states that, “leadership is an interactive art in which the leader is dancing with the context, the problem, the faction, and the objective.”