What is Leadership

Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct, guide and influence the behavior and work of
others towards accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. Leadership is the ability of a
manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence and zeal.

Leadership is the potential to influence behaviour of others. It is also defined as the capacity to influence
a group towards the realization of a goal. Leaders are required to develop future visions, and to motivate
the organizational members to want to achieve the visions.

According to Keith Davis, “Leadership is the ability to persuade others to seek defined objectives
enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group together and motivates it towards goals.”

Characteristics of Leadership
1. It is a inter-personal process in which a manager is into influencing and guiding workers towards
attainment of goals.
2. It denotes a few qualities to be present in a person which includes intelligence, maturity and
personality.
3. It is a group process. It involves two or more people interacting with each other.
4. A leader is involved in shaping and moulding the behaviour of the group towards accomplishment
of organizational goals.
5. Leadership is situation bound. There is no best style of leadership. It all depends upon tackling
with the situations.

Importance of Leadership
Leadership is an important function of management which helps to maximize efficiency and to achieve
organizational goals. The following points justify the importance of leadership in a concern.

1. Initiates action- Leader is a person who starts the work by communicating the policies and plans
to the subordinates from where the work actually starts.
2. Motivation- A leader proves to be playing an incentive role in the concern’s working. He
motivates the employees with economic and non-economic rewards and thereby gets the work
from the subordinates.
3. Providing guidance- A leader has to not only supervise but also play a guiding role for the
subordinates. Guidance here means instructing the subordinates the way they have to perform
their work effectively and efficiently.
4. Creating confidence- Confidence is an important factor which can be achieved through
expressing the work efforts to the subordinates, explaining them clearly their role and giving them
guidelines to achieve the goals effectively. It is also important to hear the employees with regards
to their complaints and problems.
5. Building morale- Morale denotes willing co-operation of the employees towards their work and
getting them into confidence and winning their trust. A leader can be a morale booster by
achieving full co-operation so that they perform with best of their abilities as they work to achieve
goals.
6. Builds work environment- Management is getting things done from people. An efficient work
environment helps in sound and stable growth. Therefore, human relations should be kept into
mind by a leader. He should have personal contacts with employees and should listen to their
problems and solve them. He should treat employees on humanitarian terms.
7. Co-ordination- Co-ordination can be achieved through reconciling personal interests with
organizational goals. This synchronization can be achieved through proper and effective co-
ordination which should be primary motive of a leader.
Role of a Leader
Following are the main roles of a leader in an organization :

1. Required at all levels- Leadership is a function which is important at all levels of management.

In the top level, it is important for getting co-operation in formulation of plans and policies. In the
middle and lower level, it is required for interpretation and execution of plans and programmes
framed by the top management. Leadership can be exercised through guidance and counseling
of the subordinates at the time of execution of plans.
2. Representative of the organization- A leader, i.e., a manager is said to be the representative of
the enterprise. He has to represent the concern at seminars, conferences, general meetings, etc.
His role is to communicate the rationale of the enterprise to outside public. He is also
representative of the own department which he leads.
3. Integrates and reconciles the personal goals with organizational goals- A leader through
leadership traits helps in reconciling/ integrating the personal goals of the employees with the
organizational goals. He is trying to co-ordinate the efforts of people towards a common purpose
and thereby achieves objectives. This can be done only if he can influence and get willing co-
operation and urge to accomplish the objectives.
4. He solicits support- A leader is a manager and besides that he is a person who entertains and
invites support and co-operation of subordinates. This he can do by his personality, intelligence,
maturity and experience which can provide him positive result. In this regard, a leader has to
invite suggestions and if possible implement them into plans and programmes of enterprise. This
way, he can solicit full support of employees which results in willingness to work and thereby
effectiveness in running of a concern.
5. As a friend, philosopher and guide- A leader must possess the three dimensional traits in him.
He can be a friend by sharing the feelings, opinions and desires with the employees. He can be a
philosopher by utilizing his intelligence and experience and thereby guiding the employees as and
when time requires. He can be a guide by supervising and communicating the employees the
plans and policies of top management and secure their co-operation to achieve the goals of a
concern. At times he can also play the role of a counselor by counseling and a problem-solving
approach. He can listen to the problems of the employees and try to solve them.

Qualities of a Leader
A leader has got multidimensional traits in him which makes him appealing and effective in behavior. The
following are the requisites to be present in a good leader:

1. Physical appearance- A leader must have a pleasing appearance. Physique and health are very
important for a good leader.
2. Vision and foresight- A leader cannot maintain influence unless he exhibits that he is forward
looking. He has to visualize situations and thereby has to frame logical programmes.
3. Intelligence- A leader should be intelligent enough to examine problems and difficult situations.
He should be analytical who weighs pros and cons and then summarizes the situation. Therefore,
a positive bent of mind and mature outlook is very important.
4. Communicative skills- A leader must be able to communicate the policies and procedures
clearly, precisely and effectively. This can be helpful in persuasion and stimulation.
5. Objective- A leader has to be having a fair outlook which is free from bias and which does not
reflects his willingness towards a particular individual. He should develop his own opinion and
should base his judgement on facts and logic.
6. Knowledge of work- A leader should be very precisely knowing the nature of work of his
subordinates because it is then he can win the trust and confidence of his subordinates.
 7. Sense of responsibility- Responsibility and accountability towards an individual’s work is very
important to bring a sense of influence. A leader must have a sense of responsibility towards
organizational goals because only then he can get maximum of capabilities exploited in a real
sense. For this, he has to motivate himself and arouse and urge to give best of his abilities. Only
then he can motivate the subordinates to the best.
8. Self-confidence and will-power- Confidence in himself is important to earn the confidence of
the subordinates. He should be trustworthy and should handle the situations with full will power.
(You can read more about Self-Confidence at : Self Confidence - Tips to be Confident and
Eliminate Your Apprehensions).
9. Humanist-This trait to be present in a leader is essential because he deals with human beings
and is in personal contact with them. He has to handle the personal problems of his subordinates
with great care and attention. Therefore, treating the human beings on humanitarian grounds is
essential for building a congenial environment.
10. Empathy- It is an old adage “Stepping into the shoes of others”. This is very important because
fair judgement and objectivity comes only then. A leader should understand the problems and
complaints of employees and should also have a complete view of the needs and aspirations of
the employees. This helps in improving human relations and personal contacts with the
employees.

From the above qualities present in a leader, one can understand the scope of leadership and it’s
importance for scope of business. A leader cannot have all traits at one time. But a few of them helps in
achieving effective results.

Leadership and Management -

Relationship & Differences
Leadership and management are the terms that are often considered synonymous. It is essential to
understand that leadership is an essential part of effective management. As a crucial component of
management, remarkable leadership behaviour stresses upon building an environment in which each and
every employee develops and excels. Leadership is defined as the potential to influence and drive the
group efforts towards the accomplishment of goals. This influence may originate from formal sources,
such as that provided by acquisition of managerial position in an organization.

A manager must have traits of a leader, i.e., he must possess leadership qualities. Leaders develop and
begin strategies that build and sustain competitive advantage. Organizations require robust leadership
and robust management for optimal organizational efficiency.

Differences between Leadership and Management

Leadership differs from management in a sense that:

1. While managers lay down the structure and delegates authority and responsibility, leaders
provides direction by developing the organizational vision and communicating it to the employees
and inspiring them to achieve it.
2. While management includes focus on planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling;
leadership is mainly a part of directing function of management. Leaders focus on listening,
building relationships, teamwork, inspiring, motivating and persuading the followers.
3. While a leader gets his authority from his followers, a manager gets his authority by virtue of his
position in the organization.
4. While managers follow the organization’s policies and procedure, the leaders follow their own
instinct.
 5. Management is more of science as the managers are exact, planned, standard, logical and more
of mind. Leadership, on the other hand, is an art. In an organization, if the managers are required,
then leaders are a must/essential.
6. While management deals with the technical dimension in an organization or the job content;
leadership deals with the people aspect in an organization.
7. While management measures/evaluates people by their name, past records, present
performance; leadership sees and evaluates individuals as having potential for things that can’t
be measured, i.e., it deals with future and the performance of people if their potential is fully
extracted.
8. If management is reactive, leadership is proactive.
9. Management is based more on written communication, while leadership is based more on verbal
communication.

The organizations which are over managed and under-led do not perform upto the
benchmark. Leadership accompanied by management sets a new direction and makes efficient use
of resources to achieve it. Both leadership and management are essential for individual as well as
organizational success.

Leader versus Manager

“Leadership and managership are two synonymous terms” is an incorrect statement. Leadership doesn’t
require any managerial position to act as a leader. On the other hand, a manager can be a true manager
only if he has got the traits of leader in him. By virtue of his position, manager has to provide leadership to
his group. A manager has to perform all five functions to achieve goals, i.e., Planning, Organizing,
Staffing, Directing, and Controlling. Leadership is a part of these functions. Leadership as a general term
is not related to managership. A person can be a leader by virtue of qualities in him. For example: leader
of a club, class, welfare association, social organization, etc. Therefore, it is true to say that, “All
managers are leaders, but all leaders are not managers.”

A leader is one who influences the behavior and work of others in group efforts towards achievement of
specified goals in a given situation. On the other hand, manager can be a true manager only if he has got
traits of leader in him. Manager at all levels are expected to be the leaders of work groups so that
subordinates willingly carry instructions and accept their guidance. A person can be a leader by virtue of
all qualities in him.

Leaders and Managers can be compared on the following basis:

Basis Manager Leader

A person becomes a manager by A person becomes a leader on basis of

Origin
virtue of his position. his personal qualities.

Manager has got formal rights in an

Formal Rights Rights are not available to a leader.
organization because of his status.

The subordinates are the followers of The group of employees whom the
Followers
managers. leaders leads are his followers.
 A manager performs all five functions Leader influences people to work willingly
Functions
of management. for group objectives.

A leader is required to create cordial

A manager is very essential to a
Necessity relation between person working in and
concern.
for organization.

Stability It is more stable. Leadership is temporary.

Mutual
All managers are leaders. All leaders are not managers.
Relationship

Manager is accountable for self and

Leaders have no well defined
Accountability subordinates behaviour and
accountability.
performance.

A manager’s concern is organizational A leader’s concern is group goals and

Concern
goals. member’s satisfaction.

People follow manager by virtue of job

Followers People follow them on voluntary basis.
description.

A manager can continue in office till he

Role A leader can maintain his position only
performs his duties satisfactorily in
continuation through day to day wishes of followers.
congruence with organizational goals.

A leader has command over different

Manager has command over allocation sanctions and related task records. These
Sanctions
and distribution of sanctions. sanctions are essentially of informal
nature.

Leadership Ethics - Traits of an

Ethical Leader
Ethics refer to the desirable and appropriate values and morals according to an individual or the society at
large. Ethics deal with the purity of individuals and their intentions. Ethics serve as guidelines for
analyzing “what is good or bad” in a specific scenario. Correlating ethics with leadership, we find that
ethics is all about the leader’s identity and the leader’s role.
Ethical theories on leadership talk about two main things: (a) The actions and behaviour of leaders; and
(b) the personality and character of leaders. It is essential to note that “Ethics are an essential to
leadership”. A leader drives and influences the subordinates / followers to achieve a common goal, be it
in case of team work, organizational quest, or any project. It is an ethical job of the leader to treat his
subordinates with respect as each of them has unique personality. The ethical environment in an
organization is built and developed by a leader as they have an influential role in the organization and due
to the fact that leaders have an influence in developing the organizational values.

An effective and ethical leader has the following traits / characteristics:

Dignity and respectfulness: He respects others. An ethical leader should not use his followers as a
medium to achieve his personal goals. He should respect their feelings, decision and values.
Respecting the followers implies listening effectively to them, being compassionate to them, as well
as being liberal in hearing opposing viewpoints. In short, it implies treating the followers in a manner
that authenticate their values and beliefs.

Serving others: He serves others. An ethical leader should place his follower’s interests ahead of
his interests. He should be humane. He must act in a manner that is always fruitful for his followers.

Justice: He is fair and just. An ethical leader must treat all his followers equally. There should be no
personal bias. Wherever some followers are treated differently, the ground for differential treatment
should be fair, clear, and built on morality.

Community building: He develops community. An ethical leader considers his own purpose as well
as his followers’ purpose, while making efforts to achieve the goals suitable to both of them. He is
considerate to the community interests. He does not overlook the followers’ intentions. He works
harder for the community goals.

Honesty: He is loyal and honest. Honesty is essential to be an ethical and effective leader. Honest
leaders can be always relied upon and depended upon. They always earn respect of their followers.
An honest leader presents the fact and circumstances truly and completely, no matter how critical
and harmful the fact may be. He does not misrepresent any fact.

It is essential to note that leadership is all about values, and it is impossible to be a leader if you lack the
awareness and concern for your own personal values. Leadership has a moral and ethical aspect. These
ethics define leadership. Leaders can use the above mentioned traits as yardsticks for influencing their
own behaviour.
What is Self-Leadership?
By Dr John Ng Email |

“EXCEPTIONAL LEADERS DISTINGUISH THEMSELVES BECAUSE OF SUPERIOR

SELF-LEADERSHIP.” – DANIEL GOLEMAN

GREAT leadership is a cultivated art. It begins with self- leadership. Because at the center of
leadership is the person who, more than anything else makes the difference. Leadership success
or failure begins with how the leader approaches self-leadership.

Bill Hybels, a noted  leader of one of the largest non-profit organizations in the world, points out,
“The toughest management challenge is always yourself.” Dee Hock, writing about leadership
for over 20 years and a laureate in the US Business Hall of Fame, shares this wisdom, “We
should invest 50 per cent of our leadership amperage in self-leadership and the remaining 50 per
cent should be divided into leading down, leading up and leading laterally.”

Chris Lowney, in his book Heroic Leadership, writes, “If you want your team to perform
heroically, be a hero yourself.”

What is Self-Leadership?
There are four different aspects to self-leadership.

 Self-awareness: The ability to acknowledge, understand and be conscious of one’s own values,
perspectives, strengths, weaknesses, leadership propensity and emotional needs.

 Self-management: The ability to nurture and harness one’s own passion, abilities, emotions and
leadership capacity in decision- making.

 Other-awareness: The ability to acknowledge and recognize the passion, gifting, strengths,
weaknesses, potential and needs of others.

 Other-management: The ability to grow and motivate other people to develop their potential
and/or  fulfil the organization’s objectives.

Great leaders begin with self-awareness and move to self-management, then proceed to other-
awareness culminating in other-management. It is not a linear but an interactive effect among all
four factors.
Some leaders are conscious of themselves, their personalities, idiosyncrasies, motivations, and
competencies but they cannot manage themselves, especially their emotions and weaknesses.
They lack self-control, lose their cool, become unusually critical, behave inappropriately, want to
do everything, and are unable to keep their pride in check.

Why is self-leadership so important?

Appreciating others

When you truly know yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, you will appreciate others.
Lowney points out that because leaders are anchored by an appreciation of their own dignity,
they develop an appreciation of the aspirations, potential and dignity of others. This is how they
transform the way they look at others.
Preventing derailment

Many hotshot, rising stars self-destruct, never achieve their early potential because of the lack of
self-leadership. Daniel Goleman, in his extensive study on leadership derailment, points out,
“When I compared star performers with average ones in senior leadership positions, nearly 90
per cent of the difference in their profiles was attributable to emotional intelligence factors rather
than cognitive abilities.”
Ensuring long-term success

Great leaders have a long-term perspective for life and success. They are not here for the short-
term but for the long haul. Only leaders who practise consistent self-leadership can ensure long-
term success. The temptation to push for quarterly profits at all costs can derail the leader. Unless
leaders have a keen sense of self-leadership, they cannot stay focused on what’s important.
Leaving a legacy

All leaders leave legacies, whether good or bad. They leave their  imprint on the organization
through their beliefs, values and attitudes. Hence, effective self-leadership is essentially about
leaving a great legacy for the people we are leading.

Let me conclude by making two pertinent observations in self- leadership.

First, self-leadership is an ongoing process of self-reflection. As Lowney writes, “Self awareness

is no one-time project. No less essential than the initial assessment of one’s strengths,
weaknesses, values, and world view is the ongoing, everyday habit of self-reflection, the examen.
It’s an opportunity to measure life — a little bit at a time — against principles and goals.”
Second, continual self-leadership is a mark of leadership maturation. Personal leadership is a
never-ending work in progress that draws on continually maturing self-understanding. Some
people never mature as leaders — they remain insecure, self-defeating, juvenile or worse still,
delinquent in their leadership development.

Hence, self-leadership is imperative if we want to be great leaders.

This is an adapted excerpt from John’s book “Dim Sum Leadership”. His latest book “Dim Sum
Leadership: Your Second Serving” continues the powerful and insightful series on leadership for
busy executives.

Five Core Competencies of a Self-Leadership / Self-led Individual

SUMMARY
A self-led person has five main attributes. They are – self-discipline,
self-awareness, high emotional intelligence, the ability to maintain their
relationships well, and the ability to take responsibility for their actions.

If you are a self-led person, then the chances are that you are quite
different from others around you. You do not follow the rules that
society has set for people. You know you are your own boss and never
miss a chance to improve yourself. Every self-led person has different
traits and qualities, but all of them have these five qualities. 
1. Self -discipline

Self-leadership is all about focus and discipline. When you learn how to
put your energy in one place at one time, the best leaders know this
because they have mastered the art of self-leadership. So, if you are
trying to build this quality in you, then start with self-discipline. 
2. Self-awareness

The one quality you will find in every self-led person is developing
awareness. In fact, the main reason that such people do not want to be
led by other people is that they know themselves too well and their
capabilities. They are aware of their skills, limitations, characteristics—
in a single word, they are self-aware.  When a person becomes aware of
himself, he refuses to follow any path that doesn’t fill him with passion. 
3. High emotional intelligence

For those of you who don’t know, emotional intelligence is the ability to

understand one’s emotions and everybody else’s. A person with high
E.Q is able to use emotions in a way that influences his or her positive
side. The ability to influence people is an excellent characteristic of self-
led people. The reason behind this ability is the higher emotional
intelligence found in such people. Meditation, yoga, spending time
alone, walking in nature, etc. are a few ways to awaken your E.Q.  
4. Management of relationships

Since they are so emotionally intelligent and active about being led by
their hearts, self-led individuals know how to manage relationships with
themselves and others. Since they know their own selves so well, it
becomes quite easy for them to connect with others as well. The
emotions and behavior of other people help self-led people in growing
their business and life since they know how to communicate with
others. 
5. They take responsibility for everything

This is a genius quality found in people who have embraced self-

leadership. These people never blame someone else for whatever they go
through in life. They take responsibility for everything in life. In the
same way, they accept life for its good and evil without wanting to make
a fuss about it. They know they have the power to change every situation
in their life.  

TIP
If you are someone who is willing to inculcate the above qualities in
your life, then, start with writing down all these traits on a piece of paper
and paste the same on your study desk or somewhere in your room.
When you pass this paper or sheet, read all the qualities and imagine
your brain is accepting these qualities as a part of your personality.
Every time a situation strikes where it demands you to act in a way a
self-led person would, remember the core qualities and deal with the
situation accordingly.
Why is Self-Leadership so Rare in Our Society?

SUMMARY
We, as a society, do not support maturity and psychological
development. We also do not like to expend a lot of effort into learning
self-leadership. Paired with low emotional intelligence, these are the
main reasons why our society fails to create self-led individuals.

But why does our society have such a lack of self-led individuals? One
of the reasons for this is social conditioning. We have not encouraged all
the qualities that are needed to develop this skill. Emotional
intelligence and empathy are considered a weakness, not strength. This
is especially true for men.

Besides these facts, here are the top reasons why we, as a society, fail to
build self-led individuals-
We do not support mature psychological development

This means the people sitting on high posts do not have the emotional or
mental maturity to neither give their best not bring out the best in their
team members for the full-fledged development of the organization.
Most of us are adults with unhealed childhood traumas. Self-leadership
requires digging deep into yourself and clear all wounds. Once that’s
done, your psychological development takes place at a whole other
level. 
It takes a lot of effort to be a self-led individual

Most people would instead follow the culture than follow what rings true
in their heart and soul. The habit of following the crowd is so deeply
rooted in our society that hardly anyone thinks of taking the less-taken
path. There is a very less percentage of people who want to take risks,
explore things, learn frequently, and start their own ventures. It is sad,
but it’s true. 
Low emotional intelligence

The way we are brought up, most of us have low levels of emotional
intelligence. The reason behind this is that we are told from childhood
that a lot of emotions aren’t a good thing, which is not valid. If you are a
true manifestor, you know your emotions play the most essential role in
that. 

NOTE
The best people that the world has seen were all self-actualized and self-
led people who refused to follow the typical path of life. They knew they
were great even before they became great.

However, they all had a few things in common—high humility, honesty,

self-motivation, compassionate, gentle in approach, and self-disciplined.
In a nutshell, self-led people are great human beings before anything
else.
How to Improve Self-Leadership?

SUMMARY
You can ensure a robust sense of self-leadership by being clear about
your goals and what you want from life. You should also not be afraid to
take risks in life or spend time by yourself. Great leaders also take the
time to soak in nature, get excited about learning new things and focus
their energy on what’s important.
How to improve self-leadership?PIN IT

Now that you know about the main qualities of self-leadership and

ways to inculcate them, be assured that you will find a way to build this
kind of relationship with yourself. Those who are leading life by self-
awareness shall follow the below advice to improve the path of self-
leadership.
1. Be clear on your goals
Whether you are seeking a short term goal or working on a bigger
purpose, be as clear as you can. When you have clarity about the same,
you tend to have a better vision, and your goals are achieved as per the
vision you set. 
2. Do not be afraid to take a calculated risk

The best self-led people to know that you cannot find extraordinary
things in life if you do not risk it. Take up a challenging project, go
ahead with a new career that you have always wanted to pursue, turn
your art into a business, etc. Taking calculated risks is a massive part of
leadership development. 
3. Spend time by yourself

The best leaders know that spending time with themselves every day is
an integral part of their growth. Spending time with yourself means that
you focus on your body, health, and new ideas. Even if you take out half
an hour for meditation or reading, it is enough.
4. Spend time in nature

The most incredible leaders that the world has seen cannot begin or end
their day without spending some time in and around nature. A simple
stroll in your garden or the park has the power to uplift your mood. A
good mood boosts your productivity. Staying around nature is quite
healing for your mind, body, and soul as well.
5. Be excited about learning

The best kinds of self leaders know the only way to keep their braining
working for a long time is to feed it with new experiences, thoughts, and
ideas, from time to time. However, they do not learn new things out of
duty or responsibility. They do it because it excites them. They enjoy
learning.
6. Learn to direct your energy on important things
People who lead by their heart do not spend their energy on careers,
people, and things that do not fill them with passion. Thus, they do not
mind walking on the opposite side of the crowd. When a good
leader knows how to focus his energy on the development of his
company, his team members learn to do the same, and brilliant things
happen to that company. 

NOTE
As per Jay Earley, the best-selling author of the book ‘Self-
Therapy’ says that the goal of self-leadership is to navigate through our
various parts, stay relaxed, accept yourself for who you are and be open
to accepting others for exactly who they are. He says that self is like the
sun—it just shines!

So, if you are walking on the path of self-leadership, then keep walking
because the universe offers the best life to those who are willing to
follow their hearts.