Introduction to Leadership

[Music] leadership studies are an evolving discipline and the concept of leadership will continue to develop for the purposes of this course we'll focus on a single definition that delineates the essential elements of leadership leadership is an influencer relationship among leaders and followers resulting in outcomes that reflect shared purposes leadership is nothing more or nothing less than influence because leadership is about influence it involves intention personal responsibility change shared purpose and followers influence means that the relationship among people is not passive its multi-directional and non-coercive it's easy to think of leadership as something a leader does

to a follower however leadership is reciprocal for example in most organizations supervisors influence subordinates but subordinates also influence supervisors the people involved in the relationship want substitute changes leadership involves creating change not maintaining the status quo moreover changes towards an outcome to both the leader and the followers want a desired future shared purpose that motivates them towards a more preferable outcome an important aspect of leadership is influencing others to come together around a common vision thus leadership involves the influence of people to bring about change towards a desirable future leadership is a people activity leadership

occurs among people it's not something done to people since leadership involves people there must be followers good leaders know how to follow and they set an example for others the issue of intention or will means that people are actively involved in the pursuit of change each person takes personal responsibility to achieve the desired future most of us are aware of famous leaders but most leadership that changes the world's start small and begin with personal frustrations about events that prompt people to initiate change inspire others to follow them every day leaders come in all shapes and

sizes and many true leaders are working behind the scenes leadership that has big outcomes often starts small the following are three ways you can cultivate your inner everyday leader starting right now every day leadership begins with passion and a mission ask yourself what am i passionate about and how can I turn that passion into a mission every day leaders are good listeners as much as we may like to believe it we don't know everything even concerning those things we're most passionate about listen to experts and fellow enthusiasts including those you disagree with absorb their perspectives

their insights and their experiences ask yourself how can I become a better every day leader by listening more finally every day leaders are humble they lack excessive ego or concerns about status humble people are quick to point out the contributions of others and slow to seek attention of their own they share credit emphasize team over self and define success collaboratively rather than individually ask yourself how can I pursue a more humble pathway there are opportunities for leadership all around us that involve influence and change towards a desired goal or outcome you can start now wherever

you are to practice leadership in your own life leadership is an everyday way of acting and thinking and has little to do with title or formal position in an organization now go lead today's leaders operate in a world where little is certain the pace is relentless and everything is more complex that's the new reality of leadership the transformation of leadership requires a paradigm shift a paradigm is a shared mindset that represents a fundamental way of thinking about perceiving and understanding the world although many leaders are still operating from an old paradigm mindset they are increasingly

ineffective successful leaders will respond to the new reality from stabilizer to change manager in the past many leaders assumed that if they could just keep things running on a steady even keel the organizer would be successful yet today's world is in constant motion and nothing seems certain anymore most leaders recognized that trying to maintain stability in a world of such unexpected and far-reaching change is a losing battle today's best leaders accept the inevitability of change and crisis and tap into them as potential sources of energy and self renewal from controller to facilitator leaders in powerful

positions once believed strict control was needed for the organization to function efficiently and effectively today the old assumptions about the distribution of power are no longer valid an emphasis on control and rigidity serves to squelch motivation innovation and morale rather than produce from desired results effective leaders share power rather than hoard it and find ways to increase in organization's brainpower by getting everyone in the organization involved and committed rather than being a controller the leader is a facilitator who helps people do their best by removing obstacles getting people what they need providing learning opportunities and

offering support and feedback from competitor to collaborator in our connected world collaboration becomes more important than competition successful leaders harness and make the most of ideas talents and resources although some organizations still encourage internal competition and aggressiveness most successful leaders stress teamwork compromise and cooperation collaboration presents greater leadership challenges than did the old concept of competition leaders first have to develop their own collaborative mindset and then create an environment of teamwork and community that fosters collaboration and mutual support from diversity avoider to diversity promoter many of today's organizations were built on assumptions of uniformity separation

and specialization people who think alike act alike and have similar job skills are grouped into a department such as accounting or manufacturing separate from other departments homogeneous groups find it easy to get along communicate and understand one another the uniform thinking that arises however can be a disaster in a world becoming more multinational and diverse bringing diversity into the organization as a way to attract the best human talent and develop an organization mindset broad enough to thrive in a cultural world from hero to humble another shift is the move from celebrating leaders as heroes to

recognizing the hard-working behind-the-scenes leader who quietly develops others rather than touting his or her own abilities the hero leader may make a more risky in dangerous decisions often without considering the greater good whereas the humble leader will seek advice and take time to think through the possible consequences of his or her actions the biggest challenge facing leaders today is the changing world that wants a new paradigm of leadership the new reality involves a shift from stability to change from control to empowerment from competition to collaboration and from uniformity to diversity management can be defined as

the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning organizing staffing directing and controlling organizational resources there are critical distinctives of leadership and management they include providing Direction aligning followers building relationships developing personal qualities and creating leader outcomes both leadership and management are concerned with providing direction for the organization but there are differences management focuses on establishing detailed plans and schedules for achieving specific results then allocating resources to accomplish the plan leadership calls for creating a compelling vision of the future setting the context to view challenges and opportunities and developing strategies for

producing the changes needed to achieve the vision whereas management calls for keeping an eye on the bottom line and the short-term results leadership means keeping an eye on the horizon and the long term future management entails organizing a structure to accomplish the plan staffing the structure with employees and developing policies procedures and systems to direct employees and monitor implementation of the plan leadership is concerned instead with communicating the vision and develop a shared culture and set of core values that can lead to a desired future state in terms of relationship management focuses on getting the

most results out of people so production goals are achieved leadership on the other hand focuses on investing more in people so that they're energized and inspired to accomplish goals whereas management relationships are based on position and formal Authority leadership is a relationship based on personal influence and Trust the process of management generally encourages emotional distance but leadership means being emotionally connected whereas management means providing answers and solving problems leadership requires the courage to admit mistakes and doubts and listen to and Trust and learn from others true leaders tend to have open minds that welcome new

ideas leaders listen and discern what people want and need more than they talk and give guidance or advice to others management maintains a degree of stability predictability and order through a culture of efficiency leadership creates change often radical change within the culture of agility and integrity that helps an organization thrive over the long haul by promoting openness honesty positive relationships and innovation leadership facilitates the courage needed to make difficult and unconventional decisions the soft skills of leadership complement the hard skills of management both are needed to effectively guide organizations although leadership is often equated with

good management leadership and management are different processes over time a number of leadership theories have emerged to explain what leadership is these various leadership theories can be categorized into six basic approaches the earliest studies of leadership adopted the belief that leaders who were always thought of as male were born with certain heroic leadership traits and natural abilities of power and influence in organizations social movements religions governments and the military leadership was conceptualized as a single great man who put everything together and influenced others to follow along based on the strength of inherited traits qualities and

abilities beginning in the 1920s researchers look to see if leaders had particular traits or characteristics such as intelligence or energy that distinguish them from non leaders and contributed to success it was thought of that traits could be identified leaders would be predicted or perhaps even trained although the research failed to produce a list of traits that would always guarantee leadership success the interest in leadership characteristics is continued to the present day the failure to identify a universal set of leadership traits led researchers in the early 1950s to begin looking at what a leader does rather

than who he or she is one line of research focused on what leaders actually do on the job such as various management activities roles and responsibilities these studies were soon expanded to try to determine how effective leaders differ in their behavior from ineffective ones researchers looked at how a leader behaved towards followers and how this correlated with leadership effectiveness or ineffectiveness researchers next began to consider the contextual and situational variables that influence what leadership behaviors will be effective the idea behind contingency theories is that leaders can analyze those situations and tailor their behavior to improve

leadership effectiveness major situational variables are the characteristics of followers characteristics of the work environment and follower tasks and the external environment contingency theories sometimes called situational theories emphasize that leadership cannot be understood in a vacuum separate from various elements of the group or organizational situation influence theories examine influence processes between leaders and followers one primary topic of study is charismatic leadership which refers to leadership influence based not on position or formal Authority but rather the qualities and charismatic personality of the leader related areas of study are leadership vision and organizational culture leaders influence people to

change by providing an inspiring vision of the future and shaping the culture and values needed to attain it and finally relational theories since the late 1970s many ideas of leadership have focused on the relational aspect that is how leaders and followers interact and influence one another rather than being seen as something a leader does to a follower leadership is viewed as a relational process that meaningfully engages all participants and enables each person to contribute to achieving the vision interpersonal relationships are seen as the most important facet of leadership effectiveness to significant relational theories are transformational

leadership and servant leadership these leadership theories can help you develop understanding and skills to make you a better leader [Music] you