Is There a Need for Leadership in Mordern Day Organisations

IS THERE A NEED FOR LEADERSHIP IN MORDERN DAY ORGANISATIONS

Leadership is an important in today's business environment. It is defined as ‘the act of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal or objective' [1]. ‘A leader may or may not have any formal authority' [2]. An organisation can contain a formal or an informal leader. A formal leader is someone who is given authority on the basis what position they hold in the organisation. They job is to influence other member of the organisation to achieve the businesses goals. In contrast an informal leader is not given authority due to their position in the organisation but instead they are given it due to their ability to lead a group through their natural skills and talents.

A leader is a person ‘who rules, guides, or inspires others' [3]. They have a variety of skills and characteristics. Leadership skills include:

1. Integrity is a set of beliefs and values a person will not compromise on no matter what the situation is. It is where you treat others as you yourself would like to be treated. It also is about being honest and having a good sense of what is right and wrong.

2. Communication is the ability of a leader to speak out and keep information moving around the business. Effective communication is essential in an organisation as it is what connects the leader to the other members an example would be that a strategic manger must inform the tactical manger of the organisations overall goals.

3. Adaptability is the ability of a person to move from one situation to the next. Leaders must be flexible and be able to change their plan if their current one is no longer efficient. They must be able to take the change in their stride and adapt to whatever the current situation is.

4. Persuasion is how a leader can influence people and cause them to move in a particular direction. How easy you find it to influence staff depends on the level of trust they have in you.

A leadership characteristic is a quality a person is usually born with although some characteristic can be learned.

1. Self-esteem is where a leader must have a high sense of worth. They need to have belief in their ideas and decisions.

2. Courage is also an important characteristic as a leader must be able to take risks and be brave with decisions they make.

3. Optimism is where a leader must have a positive attitude, ‘when faced problem, they view it as a challenge. When faced with a set back they view it as a new direction' [4].

4. Strong internal motivation is where he or she must have a strong desire to succeed and keep going regardless of what challenges and obstacles they may face.

The main difference between a leadership skill and a leadership characteristic