What is leadership:

Leader is an integral part of work and social life.

In any situation, when people want to accomplish some goal, a leader is
required. Leadership occurs in all formal and informal situations. In a
non-formal situation, such as a group of friends, leadership behavior
occurs when one individual takes lead in most of the group activities and
influences people to work towards common goals.

People have to be guided to contribute to goals with zeal and confidence.

“Zeal is ardor, earnestness and intensity in the execution of work;
confidence reflects experience and technical ability.” The ability to
influence the behavior of others is known as leadership. Leaders exploit
human potential and transform it into output.
Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to
accomplish an objective and directs the organization to make it cohesive
and coherent. It is the ability to build confidence and zeal among people
and create an urge to be led. It inspires confidence and support among
group members to achieve the organizational goals.
Leadership is the process by which an executive imaginatively directs,
guides and influences the work of others in choosing and attaining
specified goals, by mediating between individuals and the organization
in a manner that both obtain maximum satisfaction. Dynamic and
effective leadership leads an organization towards success.
“A leader is one who conducts, acts as a guide to others in action or
opinion, one who takes the lead in any enterprise or movement, one who
is ‘followed’ by disciples or adherents, the most eminent member of a
profession, a person of eminent position and influence.”
Nature of leadership:
1. Leadership depends upon personal traits:
Everybody cannot be a leader. Best known managers can be ineffective
leaders and poor managers can be very good leaders. Managers are
different from leaders. A person can be a good leader if he has
characteristics like popularity, confidence, intelligence, social and inter-
personal skills etc.
2. Situational:
Leadership style varies with the situation. A person with same traits may
adopt autocratic style of leadership in one situation and democratic style
in another situation. Situation plays important role in determining the
style of leadership.
3. Leadership vs. management:
Leadership is different from management. While management assumes
hierarchical relationship amongst individuals, leaders and followers may
not be related to each other through the formal chain of command.
4. Leadership is a function:
Leadership is a function of the leader, follower and the situation.
Mathematically, L= f (l, f, s)
where L = Leadership; I = leader; f = follower; s = situation
Leadership is determined by characteristics of the leader, the team and
the situations that prevail in the organization.
5. Role model:
Leaders are role models for their followers. Subordinates will not be
loyal if leaders are not supportive. Leaders should cooperate with the
followers if they want the followers to cooperate with them. The
followers tend to behave as they are behaved with. Leaders should set
example before followers and be their ideal. People should follow him
voluntarily by virtue of what he is and what he does and not because of
the position.
6. Leaders are also followers:
Leaders also have someone above them to whom they report. As they
demand subordination from followers, they must show subordination to
their leaders.
7. Pervasive function:
Leadership is not related to business organizations only. Wherever a
person influences the behavior of others, he exercises leadership. An
educational institution, a charitable organization, military organization,
hospital or a family at home require leadership sometime or the other.
8. Leaders should have followers:
A person can be called a leader if he has followers. If people agree to be
led and influenced by someone, that person can be called a leader.
9. Leadership and power:
A leader derives potential to influence the behavior of others through
power. A leader can derive power from various sources.
(a) Legitimate power:
It is the power by virtue of position in the organizational hierarchy. An
employee knows that his superiors have power to issue him directions.
(b) Reward power:
It is the power to give rewards in the form of bonus, increments,
promotion etc. for positive contribution to organizational goals.
(c) Coercive power:
It is the power to punish undesirable tasks. A salary cut or a vacation cut
can enforce people conform to directions of the leaders.
(d) Expert power:
Leader enjoys this power by virtue of his expertise and skill. A tax
expert, for example, can solve tax related matters of his fellow workers,
superiors and subordinates.
(e) Information power:
It is the power to have access to organizational information. More the
information one has about the organization structure, more is his
informational power.
(f) Referent power:
While legitimate, coercive and reward power are relatively concrete
sources of power based on objective aspects of organizational culture,
referent power is abstract based on identification, loyalty and intimation.
A leader enjoys this power because of his skills and traits. People follow
leaders because they like to associate themselves with them. They react
favorably and behave the way leaders want them to behave.
(g) Connection power:
Leader enjoys this power because of connection with influential people.
People follow a leader who has contacts with people of high social and
economic status to elicit favors out of such persons.
10. Leadership aims at goal achievement:
Leaders are dynamic persons who set high standards of performance.
They also help the followers to achieve the targets. Leaders trigger a
person’s “will to do,” show the way and guide members towards group
accomplishment.

Why leadership is important:

Leadership is important because of the following reasons:
1. Task support:
Leaders support their followers by assembling organizational resources
and help them accomplish their tasks and meet the standards of
performance.
2. Psychological support:
Leaders help the followers accomplish the organizational tasks. They
promote the followers to work with zeal and confidence. They make
followers realize their capabilities and guide, counsel and coach them
whenever necessary.
This promotes morale of employees and healthy interaction amongst
members of the group. This also develops disciplined thinking in the
organization, productivity, growth and stability.
3. Develops individuals:
The willingness, enthusiasm and confidence that leaders build in the
followers for accomplishment of individual and organizational goals
results in their growth and development.
4. Builds team spirit:
No individual can work alone. Leaders develop team spirit amongst
followers to work collectively and coordinate their activities with
organizational activities. A leader works as captain of the team. He
develops understanding amongst followers, resolves individual and
group conflicts and harmonizes individual goals with organizational
goals. He creates forces of synergy and converts individual output into
collective output.
5. Motivation:
Leaders motivate employees to take up challenging jobs. They combine
ability with willingness and drive people to action. They exploit their
potential to work and convert their desire into performance. They also
develop commitment, loyalty and dedication amongst the followers and
create an environment conducive for their development.
6. Provides feedback:
When people work towards well-defined targets, they want feedback on
their performance. Leaders provide them this feedback. They guide them
continuously to improve their results by correcting deviations in their
work performance.
7. Facilitates change:
Effective leaders convince members about the need and benefits of
organizational change. The change process can be smoothly carried out
by overcoming factors that produce resistance to change.
8. Maintain discipline:
Leadership is a powerful influence to enforce discipline in the
organization. It can enforce formal rules and regulations. Members
follow rules with commitment and loyalty if leaders have confidence in
them. Leaders promote team work, change their attitude towards work,
develop good human relations, facilitate interaction amongst members
and maintain discipline in the organization.
Formal leader and informal leaders:

Successful leaders and effective leaders:

9 ways to develop your leadership skills:
A good leader needs discipline. Developing discipline in your
professional (and personal) life is a must in order to be an effective
leader, and to inspire others to be disciplined as well. People will judge
your capacity to lead by the amount of discipline you display at work. 
Demonstrate discipline at work by always meeting deadlines, keeping
appointments, and ending meetings on time. If you are naturally
disorganized, then you may have your work cut out for you, but you can
always start small: try implementing good habits at home, like waking
up early and getting daily exercise, and work your way up from there. 

Take on more projects

A great way to develop your leadership skills is to take on more
responsibility. You don't have to take on more than you can handle, but
you do need to do more than simply what's covered in your job
description if you want to grow. Stepping out of your comfort zone is
the only way you will learn anything new, and doing so will get you
noticed by executives as someone who takes initiative. 
Learn to follow
A true leader has no problem yielding control to another person when
appropriate. You should not feel threatened when someone disagrees
with you, questions your thinking, or puts forth ideas of their own. Keep
an open mind and give merit where merit is due. It won't always be easy,
but if you learn to value and respect others on your team, they'll be more
likely to step up to the plate for you. 
Develop situational awareness
A mark of a good leader is someone who can see the bigger picture, and
anticipate problems before they occur. This is a valuable skill to have
when handling complex projects with tight deadlines. The ability to
foresee and provide suggestions for avoiding potential problems is
invaluable for a leader. This ability also helps you recognize
opportunities that others overlook, which will certainly earn you
recognition.  
Inspire others
Being a leader means you are part of a team, and as a leader you should
be able to motivate and inspire those you work with to collaborate as
best they can. When a team member needs encouragement or guidance,
offer it. Sometimes, all a person needs is someone to listen and be
sympathetic. 
Keep learning
The best path to becoming a good leader is to always keep learning new
things. It keeps your mind sharp, and your skills fresh. It primes you for
new challenges that may come your way, which is always a good thing
in a leader.
Empower your teammates
No one is the best at everything, and the sooner you realize that, the
sooner you can learn to be a good leader. Delegating tasks to others not
only frees you up for things you do well, it also empowers other people
on your team. 
Resolve conflicts
Don't be a manager from hell! Not everyone will get along all the
time. Instead of ignoring interpersonal conflicts, hoping they will go
away, address it by talking to those involved privately. Also, be open to
reassigning team members if the conflict can't be resolved. 

Best leader in world:

PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PEACE BE UPON HIM); GREATEST
LEADER AND BLESSING FOR ALL MANKIND.