Essay Sample on Leadership: Its Influence & Qualities

Introduction

Often, people talk about leadership to imply a position of power that is held by a person such that these individuals exercise interpersonal influence over a group of others. Therefore, leaders are at the center of the power structure, and as such, they keep the group in a cohesive mode and leads it to achieve its goals. Leaders, in any case, emerge because they have distinct qualities and characteristics, or the members of the group commonly consent them.

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Leadership is an influential position, and this is the case because those in this position as leaders can regulate, shape, control, and alter the behaviors and actions of the members of the group. This, in turn, works towards ensuring that they have a profound impact on influencing the performance of these individuals in their groups. Such influence requires that leaders have knowledge and experience, they have the necessary resources for rewarding and dispensing favors, and they possess the necessary charisma. Additionally, they must have unique personality characteristics; for instance, they need to have the ability to communicate and understand others. The purpose of this paper is to delineate the purpose of leadership and its integral importance to an organization and examine the leadership theory and its components before expounding how these components would benefit organizations.

Purpose of Leadership

According to Yukl (2018), leadership is critical in articulating a vision for an organization, and this means that leaders establish the purpose and direction such that other workers in the organization follow him. Defining the vision of the organization is the inherent strength of leadership because leaders are entitled to imagining a better and prosperous future for the organization as well as the ways of achieving the desired success. Consequently, this implies that in leadership, different problems must be collected and synthesized in a manner that they are articulate a better future. Visionary leaders, therefore, tend to express dissatisfaction with the current state of things and therefore draft a plan that will change things for the better before they motivate followers with a clear description of what has to be achieved. Vision, at all times, must target serving the organization as well as its employees, and this implies that workers follow because they want to and not because they must follow. Leadership must consider various factors before articulating a vision. They must ensure that the vision is compelling and realistic, it brings meaning to employees, it is motivational, and it projects a bright future.

Another purpose of leadership, as explained by (Yukl, 2018), is to motivate employees. Explains that motivating employees involves finding the needs and wants of each worker and giving them what they need as well as praise them for a job well done. A good leader understands that incentivizing workers concerning their unique needs and wants works encouraging them to give all they can because they feel like part of the organization. Motivating might be simple gestures of providing the employees with a sweet treat for their efforts, and this works to increase the organization’s productivity.

According to Yukl (2018), leadership forms an important part in any organization because it facilitates in guiding employees. At all times, leadership is concerned with defining the role of employees in the work process and consequently provides them with the necessary tools that will ensure that they accomplish their assigned duties. Often, orders in any organization are to perform tasks that need intricate details. For instance, workers in the marketing department need specific and detailed descriptions of what they need to do to win customers, and leaders must provide these workers with these intricate details. Good leadership involves explaining the tasks, providing the workers with the necessary tools, and directing these workers to ensure that they complete these tasks successfully.

Building morale is also an important role that leadership plays in any organization. It is a process that involves pulling every worker together so that they work cohesively towards a common goal. Usually, organizational takes are stressful such that workers often find themselves placed in high-stress situations. It, in turn, creates an undesirable situation whereby workers in a unit lose focus and, to the extreme, shut down emotionally. According to Rawat (2015), good leadership must focus on letting the workers understand how much their work is appreciated. A simple gesture, such as celebrating an achieved business milestone, can reignite the workers’ spirits.

Leadership is, therefore, important in organizations because it provides effective direction that ensures that they achieve their set objectives. At the same time, leadership is the source of motivation that drives workers for higher productivity, which leads to overall organizational success. Additionally, it is the source of high morale, which drives employees to higher productivity. It is usually complemented by the development of team spirit that is critical to ensuring that the organization functions as a unit. Consequently, it becomes easier for organizations to achieve success. High morale, motivation, confidence, and team spirit that are created by leadership are important in that they help the organization to overcome resistance to change (Rawat, 2015). An organization cannot achieve its vision of resistance to implement the desired change prevails. Therefore leadership facilitates overcoming resistance and get them on board.

Most Compelling Leadership Theory

Situation theory of leadership is the most compelling. According to situational theory, a leader is most effective when they consider specific situations to determine the most effective leadership style they will utilize. The assumption in this theory is that leaders should not set a specific leadership style but rather evaluate their teams by asking the specific situation of their organizations (Thompson & Vecchio, 2019). There are several basic characteristics of this theory that makes it not only interesting but practical. One of the most important features of this theory is flexibility in that the fundamental idea is that there is no single best type of leadership (Thompson & Vecchio, 2019). It is an interesting character because it offers leaders a higher chance of success in that they implement their styles relative to the level of maturity of their teams. Consequently, this means that leaders always have a way out in coping with any situation.

The other important characteristic of this theory is that it encourages directing and coaching. Directing, in this case, implies that leaders give specific instructions and follow up, especially when the team is not sufficiently developed. This, in turn, makes it easier for the leader to ensure that they lead the team to successful goals’ accomplishment. The need for a clear vision is the other important characteristic of this theory (Thompson & Vecchio, 2019) (Thompson & Vecchio, 2019). If leaders have to change their styles to fit specific situations, they need to understand where the team is moving, and this is the reason they must articulate a clear vision. As a result, these leaders can identify the most effective strategies to achieve the goal in question. The other important characteristic is participating, considering that situational leaders encourage their teams to work more independently (Thompson & Vecchio, 2019). Therefore, although these leaders constantly supervise their teams, they also need to give them the freedom to participate in the decision-making process.

How Situational Leadership Components Benefits Organizations

The above characteristics of situational leadership theory are beneficial to organizations. Flexibility is a critical phenomenon, especially in the modern world of intense competition. Organizations need to act fast to changing business situations, and this calls for flexibility, which is offered by this leadership theory. Consequently, it means that with flexibility, leaders and their respective teams quickly adapt to changes (Thompson & Vecchio, 2019). Directing and coaching are also important to the success of any organization. Usually, it is critical that leaders in any organization define the roles of every worker and, at the same time, supervise them to ensure that they are doing what is expected of them. Close monitoring of workers ensures that the organization achieves its set goals and objectives. This goes hand in hand with coaching, which helps to make the employees better their skills, which translates to increased organizational performance. A clear vision of its part ensures that every worker understands what is expected of them and how they can achieve it (Thompson & Vecchio, 2019). This makes it easier for an organization to achieve its overall goals and objectives. Participation is important in its own way in that it facilitates collaboration. Teamwork is the most desirable and the most effective way of achieving organizational success, and this is the reason why all organizations primarily focus on creating collaborative work environments.

Conclusion

Leadership is influential in any organization in that leaders are responsible for regulating, shaping, controlling, and altering the behaviors and actions of workers. Leadership is critical in articulating a vision for an organization, motivating employees, guiding employees, and building employees’ morale. Consequently, this guides an organization in the right direction, propelling it to success. Situation theory of leadership is the most compelling theory and is characterized by flexibility, focus on directing and coaching, need for clear vision, and encouragement of participation. These are characteristics that help to drive any organization to its success. It is important for any organization to implement effective leadership as this helps to bring diverse people together and propel them for a common cause and empower workers to ensure that they realize their full potential. In the long-run, this works towards facilitating overall organizational success.

References

Rawat, S. (2015). Impact of Leadership over Employee Morale and Motivation. Indian Journal Of Science And Technology, 8(S6), 25. doi: 10.17485/ijst/2015/v8is6/62118

Thompson, G., & Vecchio, R. (2019). Situational leadership theory: A test of three versions. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(5), 837-848. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.06.014

Yukl, G. (2018). How leaders influence organizational effectiveness. The Leadership Quarterly, 19(6), 708-722. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2008.09.008