Leadership Style
Which leadership style is best according to your own opinion?
According to John Gardner, in On Leadership, "Leadership is the process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers." If we accept that definition, then leadership style is the way in which that process is carried out.
Leaders' styles encompass how they relate to others within and outside the organization, how they view themselves and their position, and - to a very large extent - whether or not they are successful as leaders. If a task needs to be accomplished, how does a particular leader set out to get it done? If an emergency arises, how does a leader handle it? If the organization needs the support of the community, how does a leader go about mobilizing it? All of these depend on leadership style.
Much of the material in this section looks at individual leaders, but leadership can be invested in a team, or in several teams, or in different people at different times. Many - perhaps most - organizations have several levels of leadership, and thus many leaders. Regardless of the actual form of leadership, however, leadership style is an issue. Whether you're the leader of a large organization or a member of a small group that practices collective leadership, the way that leadership plays out will have a great deal to do with the effectiveness and influence of your work.
Conceptions of leadership
The leadership style of an organization may be concerned with less dramatic issues than these examples, but it nonetheless has profound effects on the people within that organization, and on everything the organization does. Styles have to do with a leader's - and organization's - ideas of what leadership is and does. Possible conceptions include: * Exercising power. Leadership is a matter of pursuing one's own ends. Asserting power over others is an end in itself, and
According to John Gardner, in On Leadership, "Leadership is the process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers." If we accept that definition, then leadership style is the way in which that process is carried out.
Leaders' styles encompass how they relate to others within and outside the organization, how they view themselves and their position, and - to a very large extent - whether or not they are successful as leaders. If a task needs to be accomplished, how does a particular leader set out to get it done? If an emergency arises, how does a leader handle it? If the organization needs the support of the community, how does a leader go about mobilizing it? All of these depend on leadership style.
Much of the material in this section looks at individual leaders, but leadership can be invested in a team, or in several teams, or in different people at different times. Many - perhaps most - organizations have several levels of leadership, and thus many leaders. Regardless of the actual form of leadership, however, leadership style is an issue. Whether you're the leader of a large organization or a member of a small group that practices collective leadership, the way that leadership plays out will have a great deal to do with the effectiveness and influence of your work.
Conceptions of leadership
The leadership style of an organization may be concerned with less dramatic issues than these examples, but it nonetheless has profound effects on the people within that organization, and on everything the organization does. Styles have to do with a leader's - and organization's - ideas of what leadership is and does. Possible conceptions include: * Exercising power. Leadership is a matter of pursuing one's own ends. Asserting power over others is an end in itself, and