Definition and Significance of

Leadership
Chapter One
 Learning Objectives

1. Define leadership and leadership effectiveness.

2. Discuss the major obstacles to effective leadership.
3. Compare and contrast leadership and management.
4. List the roles and functions of leaders and managers.
5. Explain the changes in organizations and how they
affect leaders.
6. Summarize the debate over the role and impact of
leadership in organizations.
“I am more afraid of an army of a
hundred sheep lead by a lion, than a
hundred lions led by a sheep.”

(Ancient Roman Commander)

THE LEADERSHIP QUESTION

Are leaders born or

made?
Some leaders are focused on getting things done
while others put taking care of their followers
first. Some look at the big picture, and others
hone in on the details.

Is one approach better than the other?

Which one do you prefer?
 Who Is a Leader?
• Leadership…

• is a group and social phenomenon; there can be no leaders without

followers. Leadership is about others.

• necessarily involves interpersonal influence or persuasion. Leaders move

others toward goals and actions.

• is goal directed and action oriented; leaders play an active role in groups
and organizations. They use influence to guide others through a certain
course of action or toward the achievement of certain goals.

• the presence of leaders assumes some form of hierarchy within a group. In

some cases, the hierarchy is formal and well defined, with the leader at the
top; in other cases, it is informal and flexible.
• Combining these four elements, we can define
a leader as any person who influences
individuals and groups within an organization,
helps them establish goals, and guides them
toward achievement o f those goals, thereby
allowing them to be effective.

Being a leader is about getting things done for,

through, and with others
What leadership involves?

Influence Intention
Personal
Responsibility
Leader and Integrity
Followers

Shared Change
Purpose
 Leaders and Leadership

 Six traits that differentiate leaders from

non-leaders:
1. Drive.
2. Desire to lead.
3. Honesty and integrity.
4. Self-confidence.
5. Intelligence.
6. Job relevant knowledge.

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Mohsen El Shammaa, PhD
 Leaders and Leadership

Not all leaders are managers, nor are

all managers leaders.

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Mohsen El Shammaa, PhD
 Leaders and Leadership

Managers are people who do things

right, but leaders are people who do
the right things.

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Mohsen El Shammaa, PhD
 Leaders and Leadership

 Management in the 21st Century:

 Information oriented.
 Flexible.
 Responsive.
 Innovative.

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Mohsen El Shammaa, PhD
 Leaders and Leadership

 Management in the 21st Century (cont’d):

 Strategic thinking and planning.
 Customer-focused.
 Analytical.
 Profitable.

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Mohsen El Shammaa, PhD
 When Is a Leader Effective?
• Fred Fiedler, (Contingency Model) define
leadership effectiveness in terms of group
performance.
• Robert House’s (Fath-Goal Theory) consider
follower satisfaction the determining factor in
leadership effectiveness.
• Others define effectiveness as the successful
implementation of change in an organization.
 Effectiveness vs. Success
• Fred Luthans (1989):
• effective managers are those with satisfied
and productive employees, whereas
successful managers are those who are
promoted quickly.
 An Integrative Definition
• effectiveness is the focus on outcome, to
judge, we look at the results of what leaders
accomplish.
• Goal achievement: which includes meeting
financial goals, producing quality products or
services, addressing the needs of customers
• Smooth internal processes: group cohesion,
follower satisfaction, and efficient operations
• External adaptability: refers to a group's
ability to change and evolve successfully
 Why Do We Need Leaders?
• To keep groups orderly and focused.
• To accomplish tasks.
• To make sense o f the world.
• To be romantic ideals.
 OBSTACLES TO EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

• Many organizations do not provide an

environment in which leaders can practice new
skills, try out new behaviors, and observe their
impact.
• Without such practice and without failure, it is
difficult for leaders to learn how to be effective.
1) uncertainty: creates pressure for quick
responses and solutions.

2) rigid and unforgiving: push for short-term &

immediate performance, they do not allow any
room for mistakes and experimentation.

3) old ideas: what effective leadership is and,

therefore, rely on simplistic solutions that do not
fit new and complex problems.
4) culture: strongly influences how things are
done and what is considered acceptable
behavior.
5) academic research: the difficulty
involved in understanding and applying the
findings
 The Art of Leadership:
The Basics of leadership in the 21st century:

1. Develop a clear vision and a specified mission for

your organization.
2. Set a clear strategy for your objectives.
3. Create your plans to coincide with your strategy.
4. Manage information.
5. Build then execute your business decisions.
6. Work in a flat organization.
7. Become a coach and not a boss!
8. Give empowerment.
 LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
• What is the difference between a leader and a
manager?
• A manager’s role is to bring order and
consistency through planning, budgeting, and
controlling. Leadership, on the other hand, is
aimed at producing movement and change.

• Distinction between leaders and managers:

- leaders demonstrate attributes that allow them to
energize their followers, whereas managers simply
take care of the routine details.

Both are necessary for organizations to function,

and one cannot replace the other.
 Comparing Management &
Leadership:

• Direction:

Management Leadership

• Planning & • Creating vision &

budgeting. strategy.
• Keeping an eye on • Keeping an eye on
bottom line. horizon
 Alignment:

Management Leadership

• Organizing & staffing. • Creating shared

• Directing & culture & values.
controlling. • Helping others grow.
• Creating boundaries. • Reducing boundaries
• Relationships:

Management Leadership
• Focusing on • Focusing on people,
objectives, producing/ inspiring & motivating
selling goods & followers.
services based on • Based on personal
position power. power.
• Acting as a boss. • Acting as a coach,
facilitator.
• Personal Qualities:

Management
Management Leadership

• Emotional distance. • Emotional connections

• Expert mind. (Heart).
• Talking. • Open mind.
• Conformity. • Listening
• Insight into organization. (Communication).
• Non conformity
(Courage).
• Insight into self
(Character).
• Outcomes:

Management Leadership

• Maintains stability, • Creates change and

creates culture culture of integrity.
efficiency.
Are managers who motivate their followers effective
managers, or are they leaders as well?
• Being an effective manager often involves performing many of the functions
that are attributed to leaders with or without some degree of charisma.

• An effective manager of people provides a mission and sense of purpose

with future-oriented goals, initiates goals and actions, and builds a sense of
shared values that allows followers to be focused and motivated, all actions
that are attributed to leaders.

• Therefore, effective managers can often be considered leaders.

• Any manager who guides a group toward goal accomplishment can be

considered a leader, and any good leader must perform many management
functions.
 ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF LEADERS
• Although leaders in different organizations and
different cultures perform dissimilar functions
and play unique roles, researchers have identified
a number of managerial roles and functions.
• Managerial Roles
• sets of expected behaviors ascribed to them by
virtue of their leadership position. Along with the
basic managerial functions of planning,
organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.
• leaders is to provide their group or organization
with a sense of vision and mission.
 Functions of the Leader: Creation and
Maintenance of an Organizational Culture

• One of the major functions of leaders is the

creation and development of a culture and
climate for their group or organization.
• If the founder is workaholic and control
oriented, the organization is likely to push for
fast-paced decision making and be centralized.
• If the founder is participative and team
oriented, the organization will be decentralized
and open.
• Leaders are role models for other organizational
members. They establish and grant the status
symbols that are the main artifacts of organizational
culture.
• Followers take their cues from the leaders on what
behaviors are and are not acceptable.
• Researchers argue that a key function of leaders
is to manage the emotions of group members.
• This function is particularly critical to
maintaining followers’ positive outlook in
uncertain and ambiguous situations.
• Followers observe their leaders’ emotional
reactions and take their cue from them to
determine appropriate reactions
 CHANGES IN ORGANIZATIONS AND IN
EXPECTATIONS OF LEADERS
• leader is someone who takes charge and jumps in
to make decisions whenever the situation
requires.

• This view is dominant in traditional organizations

with a clear hierarchy in which employees and
manager narrow defined responsibilities.

• To others, a leader is a facilitator who simply

channels the group’s desires.
 New Roles for Leaders
• With the constant need for innovation,
intense global competition, economic
pressures, and changing demographics,
organizations are changing drastically. As a
result, many of the traditional leadership
functions and roles are changing as well.

• The changing environment for organizations

has forced us to reconsider our expectations
and requirements for leadership.
• Recognizing the importance of involving
employee:
e.g.: employees’ ideas and engaging them in the
goals of the organization is increasingly a key
role for leaders.
• The new leadership styles are not limited to
business organizations; they can also be seen
in governments and other not-for-profit
organizations.
Factors Fueling Changes
• A number of external and internal organizational
factors are driving the changes in our organizations
and in the role of leaders and managers.

• 1) political changes worldwide:

are leading to more openness and democracy. These
political changes shape and are shaped by images of
what is considered to be appropriate leadership.

e.g. the Arab Spring movement & the desire of more

openness and democracy.
• 2) worldwide economic downturn:
local competition, and complex and fast-
changing technologies, numerous organizations
struggle for survival and to justify their
existence.

• 3) Another key factor fueling changes in

leadership is the diversity in the United States
and many other countries.
Demographic changes lead to increased diversity
in the groups and organizations & push leaders
to consider this diversity when making decisions.
• The increasing number of women in the
workforce is another factor that has an impact
on leadership.
• Although women currently hold only 10 % of
the executive positions in the U.S., they make
up over 47 %of the general workforce.

• Because of the pressures for change, many

organizations find themselves rewriting their
policies to address the needs of a diverse
community and consumer base.
 Barriers to Change
1) Attempts to find a quick way out of financial pressures,
organizations turn to tough autocratic leaders whose goals are
clearly not employee motivation and loyalty.

2) Even though teams are fairly common in lower and middle

levels of organizations, top management still remains a one-
person show.
(rewarding structure fails to keep up , as it still rewards on
individual performance)

3) many employees are not willing or able to accept their new

roles as partners and decision makers, even when such roles are
offered to them
Globalization and the modern business environment:

 Challenges
 Global business environment.
 Sophistication of customers.
 Intense competition, rapid product
development and innovation, and creation of
new markets.
 Elimination of trade barriers.