Leadership

Leadership is a term that means many different things to many different people. In Chapter 1 of our text we learn that, for the purpose of this course, the following definition will be used: “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (Northouse, 2010). Our text makes it clear, by defining leadership as a process, that the author chooses to exclude the trait perspective of leadership that many hold. The trait perspective holds that some people are natural-born leaders who have certain, specific characteristics or qualities that give them a unique edge in leadership. Personally, I believe this is the case… that there certainly are individuals who possess these God-given, natural abilities and talents; however, I am in complete agreement that leadership can also be learned. The two common forms of leadership are assigned leadership and emergent leadership. Assigned leadership is much as it sounds – leadership that stems from one’s occupied position within an agency or organization. Emergent leadership is leadership that emerges as an individual becomes recognized within a group to be influential (even without a title)– when he or she stands out amongst the crowd, so to speak. As we are aware, power plays an important role in terms of leadership and has often been misused. There always have been and always will be leaders who abuse their power, but this is not the opportunistic mindset a good leader possesses. A great leader views the power that he or she has as nothing more than a tool to be used in an effort to influence others in order to reach a common goal. French and Raven’s research “identified five common and important bases of power: referent, expert, legitimate, reward, and coercive” (Northouse, 2010). Referent power results from followers’ identifying with and liking their leader. Expert power comes from followers’ perceptions of the leader’s competence. Legitimate power has to do with a leader’s status or authority. Reward power is indicative of a leader who gives rewards as a way of recognition. Coercive power refers to leaders who penalize or punish to bring about desired results. The two major types of power are position power and personal power. Position power is power held by an individual due to the position they hold within an organization; whereas, personal power is power bestowed upon an individual due to their personal connection with (or likability) by their followers. “Position power includes legitimate, reward, and coercive power” (Northouse, 2010). “Personal power includes referent and expert power” (Northouse, 2010). There are both similarities and differences between leadership and management and they often overlap. One of the main ways to differentiate between the two is to remember that “management is about seeking order and stability; leadership is about seeking adaptive and constructive change” (Northouse, 2010). Put another way, compliments of Bennis and Nanus, “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing” (Northouse, 2010). Within any organization, it is important that both management and leadership coincide in order to be effective. Northouse, P.G. (2010). Leadership, theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.