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MAN4120-2205-9840: Reading List: What skills do
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Critical Skills: Leadership.
C it e
HTML Full T ext
Authors: Comstock, Nancy W .
Source: Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2019. 4p.
Document T ype: Article
Subject Terms: Leadership
Motivation (Psychology)
Authority
Abstract: Leadership is the ability to guide, persuade, or motivate others as head of a group or
organization. It dif fers from management or authority in that a positive connotation
is typically attached to the concept of leadership—especially in educational and
professional situations—while more official roles sometimes can evoke resentment
or even some level of fear . (However, it should be noted that negatively influential
leaders exist as well, such as dictators and crime kingpins.) Managers can
accomplish necessary tasks, such as planning and coordinating projects, hiring help,
and solving problems, but leaders also use social influence to inspire others to
achieve a common goal. Good leaders are usually looked upon with respect for the
role they play in influencing others, meeting goals, and making positive changes.
Full Text Word
Count: 2295
Accession Number: 98402056
PubType: Reference
Database: Research Starters
98402056;;20200729;DataLoaderFramework.EpMarcCitation;5.8.0.0
Critical Skills: Leadership
Leadership is the ability to guide, persuade, or motivate others as head of a group or or ganization. It differs
from management or authority in that a positive connotation is typically attached to the concept of leadership 7/30/2020 Search
https://curriculumbuilder.ebscohost.com/record.php?an=98402056&db=ers#html 2/5
—especially in educational and professional situations—while more official roles sometimes can evoke
resentment or even some level of fear . (However, it should be noted that negatively influential leaders exist as
well, such as dictators and crime kingpins.) Managers can accomplish necessary tasks, such as planning and
coordinating projects, hiring help, and solving problems, but leaders also use social influence to inspire others
to achieve a common goal. Good leaders are usually looked upon with respect for the role they play in
influencing others, meeting goals, and making positive changes.
While some personality traits, such as extraversion, patience, and a passion for developing ideas can help a
person become a leader , most leadership skills can be learned. Collaboration , communication , respect, and
honesty are integral to leadership and can be honed through education and experience. Although much
attention has been paid to executive leadership in business, strong political, education, and community leaders
are also necessary to ensure human rights, justice, social development, education, and other aspects of the
common good. It is up to leaders to provide inspiration and motivation to accomplish shared goals, while
followers must be willing to make changes and take on new responsibilities as their part in achieving the end.
Leadership is not a gendered trait; however , many studies have found that in school groups comprised of both
sexes, the presence of boys inhibits the expression of leadership among the girls. Research has indicated that,
in general, men tend to assert leadership in terms of power and direct attention to tasks and goals, while
women tend to exhibit leadership in terms of personal connections and group decision making . While
traditional accounts of history have emphasized male-dominated leadership, power or authority is not in fact
necessary for leadership; the ability to look at problems in new ways, engage others, and maximize the
group's effort is the most helpful factor in working toward a desired outcome. The ability of many women to
quickly and easily form useful relationships has been recognized as one of many ef fective ways to lead.
Leaders within a business, organization, or religious congregation help accomplish each group's goals. While
an ambitious entrepreneur may provide a quality product or service that allows people to live more
comfortably, a charismatic community leader may change the lives of thousands, or even millions. Men and
women such as Mahatma Gandhi , Susan B. Anthony , Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, and Martin Luther King
Jr. led people into freedom, helped secure equal rights, and inspired their followers to education and better
lives.
Core Skills & Competencies
Leadership positions carry with them a variety of responsibilities and expectations. The Definitive Leadership
Competencies Guide lists 121 competencies for leadership, which include both professional duties and
personal traits cited from various models used by prominent business or ganizations. Organizational leaders
are expected to set strategies, make decisions, solve problems, and manage personnel, projects, and everyday
assignments. They need excellent communications skills, an appreciation of diversity , and the ability to build
and maintain relationships.
Leadership also involves developing a vision and managing any changes needed to reach a goal. The leader
succeeds both by serving as an example and by guiding followers or employees. For instance, a business
leader provides staf f members with individual supervision as they begin new projects and includes 7/30/2020 Search
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appropriate follow-up to ensure they have the resources, time, and feedback needed to complete their work
correctly. The leader delegates tasks and cultivates talented employees who show interest and potential in
taking on more responsibility . For example, a manager who names a conscientious employee team leader or
encourages an administrative assistant to research new clients has assessed the workers' talents, shown
confidence in their abilities, encouraged learning, and developed a relationship with the individuals. The
employees are then more likely to embrace the challenge and feel valued and rewarded for their ef forts. In a
community organization or educational situation, a leader might ask for volunteers to complete tasks for a
project or request the help of promising participants. This also requires support and follow-up to ensure work
is completed on time.
On a personal level, a business or community leader is expected to be ethical, caring, flexible, and
approachable, as well as ambitious, decisive, politically savvy , and in possession of technical expertise. While
that can be a lot to ask of one person, in many cases the bright, ambitious beginner who is gaining experience
for a future rise to the top is more than willing to make the effort. A young leader climbing the ladder of an
organization will accept opportunities to develop his or her professional skills, whether through training, a
mentor , or simply stretching to accept every challenge and opportunity to learn. For example, the young
executive who is willing to move from location to location to receive promotions not available in the home
office enriches his or her business skills, contacts, and knowledge of the or ganization. He or she also is likely
to rise through the ranks more quickly than the person who declines a transfer , even when it would provide
valuable experience and new challenges. Similarly, a budding politician might start as president of the local
school board, but will volunteer for committees or campaigns on the county or state level to gain experience
and make personal connections within the political system.
Educational leaders can have a profound effect on the success of the teachers and students of their
institutions, according to a review of research conducted by the W allace Foundation. Like other leaders,
school leaders such as principals and superintendents choose objectives, direct their completion, and help
establish motivation and teamwork among employees and members of the community . Competencies for
educational leaders fall into three main categories: strategies and purposes, working with people, and
redesigning or developing the organization's structure. The study concluded that strong leadership in both the
school and the district is vital to the successful implementation of educational reforms, and that only
classroom teachers have a greater influence on student learning than administrative leaders.
Many schools also place increasingly heavy emphasis on student leadership as a sign of distinction and high
performance. Many competitive colleges and universities expect applicants to have demonstrated some form
of leadership in school, sports or other extracurricular activities, or in the community .
Research & Theory
How a person becomes an effective leader has been debated since far back in the history of civilization. In
ancient times, philosophers believed virtue was the basis of leadership. Socrates (c. 470–399 BCE) paid with
his life for expressing his concerns that Greek leaders and citizens cared more for reputation than for real
wisdom. Plato (c. 428–348 BCE), a student of Socrates, also revered wisdom and taught that leadership tied
to virtue and justice should be valued for its own sake, rather than for gaining power and wealth as many
leaders practiced. Despite these ideas, in many cases systems arose in which leadership was considered an
innate trait and often was consolidated as power in ruling families and dynasties. V arious traditions and
religious beliefs were developed to sustain such practices, such as the Christian concept of divine right of
kings . Other prominent leaders gained power through military prowess.
Many cultures attempted to instill positive elements of leadership in their kings, queens, or other absolutist
rulers, often through a traditional code of conduct for elites or a sense of duty to subjects or followers. In
some cases philosophers or other advisers helped dictate the principles of good leadership. In China, for
example, Confucius (551–479 BCE) said that the king's power came from a greater source and that he should
be an example of virtue for his people. While such efforts met with some success, many cultures experienced
great inequality as unelected leaders in government and religion often abused their power and established
systems to hand their privileges on to chosen successors regardless of their leadership skills. 7/30/2020 Search
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Traditional models of leadership would dominate for hundreds of years, with refinements coming as societies
advanced. In addition to poor leaders empowered through hereditary systems, societies also faced ef fective
but ruthless leaders who used the skills and principles of leadership for their own benefit rather than the good
of the people. The sixteenth-century work The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli served as a sort of leadership
manual for rulers of the time, advocating that power could best be acquired and wielded by influencing
followers with fear rather than admiration. It gave rise to the use of the term " Machiavellian " to describe
cunning, duplicitous ethics in leadership or other areas.
In the nineteenth century, new theories on the origins of leadership began to appear . The Scottish historian
Thomas Carlyle suggested in the 1840s that heroes—military leaders in particular—had a strong influence on
major events in history. The idea became known as the Great Man Theory of Leadership , implying that
leaders were born, not made, and were, in keeping with the times, men and not women. Further , the theory
suggested that it was these few who turned the course of history—as in the cases of Napoleon Bonaparte or
Winston Churchill —and business—as with men such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller . In time,
Carlyle's theory was replaced by more modern philosophies recognizing that while many of these "great men"
were undoubtedly strong leaders, they did not embody leadership in all its forms. Most scholars came to
understand that any great leader is still a product of various social forces and no one person is innately set to
shape history .
During the mid-twentieth century , the trait theory of leadership emerged as psychologists began to study what
types of personalities were associated with successful leaders. T o some extent, the trait theory assumes that
there is one best way to lead, whether in military exercises, business, or education. T rait studies have
examined both physical qualities, such as height and appearance, and facets of personality , such as
motivation, self-confidence, honesty, and extraversion , in an effort to predict leadership. However , twin
studies have shown that inborn traits account for only about 30 percent of influence on successful leaders,
while 70 percent remains with external factors such as environment and individual experiences.
Reactions to the trait theory include behavioral theories that claim leaders could be made by conditioning
individuals' behavior, much as Pavlov's dogs were conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell. Later ,
contingency theories argued that dif ferent people could be ef fective leaders in different situations. The
potential leader's success depends upon several factors, including his or her personality , the cooperation of
those to be led, and the task to be completed. Some scholars defined three categories: authoritarian,
democratic, and laissez-faire leadership . These styles differ largely in the amount of power and control
delegated to followers, with authoritarian leaders giving none, democratic leaders giving some, and laissez-
faire leaders giving near -total control.
In the late twentieth century , scholars studying the experiences of women in leadership positions in the field
of education found what they called relational leadership, in which women leaders used their feminist
experiences to stimulate change in their schools. Using vision, intuition, collaboration, caring, and courage to
develop a new approach to the familiar problems of administering schools, they found relationships the key to
change.
A theory of business leadership was introduced following the economic collapse of banks and major
industrial companies in the early twenty-first century . It identified two major forms of leadership, called
transformational and transactional leadership that function in different ways. Transactional leadership is based
on the leader providing some form of reward to followers; it is seen as a highly traditional form of leadership.
Transformational leadership, in contrast, requires a high level of integrity and honesty , a charismatic
personality, and the ability to challenge followers, drawing from them creativity and collaborative ef forts. In a
sense, transformational leadership brings the idea of leadership full circle, back to the ancient philosophy of
virtuous leaders.
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