Leadership in management - definition, theories and approaches

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Modern management is unthinkable without the use of an individual innovative approach to constantly changing circumstances. Indeed, only in this case it is possible to achieve new and at the same time promising directions in the development of the company. All this suggests that management cannot exist without leaders, that is, without those people who are able to take charge of the organization and at the same time turn each of its employees into their followers and like-minded people.

Leadership in management today is a very urgent problem. After all, the fierce competition that exists in the market leads to the need to make timely decisions, as well as laying responsibility on the head for achieving the ultimate goal and the effective operation of the organization as a whole.

Leadership inmodern management assumes that a person has such qualities that would allow him to competently manage employees. This is the main trump card for companies in a competitive environment. This is exactly what makes an organization stand out from the rest.

Basic concept

Leadership is a quality that is inherent in the very nature of the individual. At the same time, it is one of the oldest forms of organizing people's lives, as well as an effective tool that allows solving many pressing issues.

Already at the earliest stage of the origin of human society, the predominant positions in it began to belong to such an order, where the leading roles were given to smarter, stronger and more resilient members of the communities. The tribesmen trusted them, their wisdom and authority. These are the people who become leaders. But human society continued to develop. Along with it, the leadership system became more and more complicated. It has ceased to be personal and has acquired more complex forms.

Nevertheless, as in the old days, today there is an objective need for a leader, which cannot be realized. After all, the main task of such a person is to eliminate passivity, as well as to involve all members of the group in the management process.

Leadership is a mysterious and elusive quality. Its existence is easy to recognize, but rather difficult to describe. It is even more difficult to use this property of a person in practice, and it is simply impossible to cultivate such a property in a person.

In allThe current theories of leadership in management have their own approach to the definition of this concept. It is simply impossible to find a single view of this phenomenon.

Leadership is considered a method of work, the purpose of which is to help employees solve the task in the best way. At the same time, it is considered an integral component of the work of the team and the group.

Leadership in management is also seen as an ability to raise the vision of employees to a higher level. This allows a person to work with the most modern standards. In addition, leadership in management is an integral personality trait, due to which its features are formed beyond the limiting framework.

There are other definitions of this term. Thus, leadership in management is considered as a managerial relationship between the leader and his followers. At the same time, they are based on the most effective combination of various sources of power for each specific situation and encourage people to achieve their goals. At the same time, the concept of leadership in management considers this phenomenon not at all as leadership. Although such a person may be at the head of the company.

Thus, one can see that the topic of leadership in management is quite multifaceted. Such a social phenomenon is one of the mandatory elements in the management system of the organization, its kind of "trigger". At the same time, the phenomenon of leadership can manifest itself in any organized groups. The main thing is that they strive for one common goal.

Types of Leadership

Influence on a group of people or on a team can be formal and informal. If we consider the first option (briefly) of leadership in management, then in this case the influence on subordinates will be exerted from the position held. But there are other situations as well. In them, the influence on people is exerted by a person due to his personal skills, abilities and other resources. In this case, we are talking about informal leadership. But in both cases, such a person will always have an emotional, psychological or social support in the team, which will allow him to lead people.

Management often recognizes leadership in the organization for the leader, if he was able to prove his value and competence not only for the organization, but also for groups, as well as individual employees. In this case, the most characteristic features of such a boss are:

• staff trust;
• the ability to see the whole situation;
• flexibility of decision-making;
• communicative skills, etc.

All this allows us to make an unambiguous conclusion that the leader is the dominant person of any organization, group or society.

Based on the focus of influence on people and the work of the company as a whole, there are such types of leadership as:

• constructive (functional), contributing to the achievement of the goals set for the organization;
• destructive (dysfunctional), damaging the company;
• neutral, unable to influence production targets.

However, it is worth noting that applying the theories that exist in management about leadership and leadership to real life, it is sometimes quite difficult to draw a certain line between all the types of this phenomenon described above. After all, the life of the team is quite multifaceted, and it is not possible to sort out all the relationships "on the shelves".

One of the most important conditions for the most effective leadership of the company is the presence of constructive leadership. This allows you to reach your goal as quickly as possible. The optimal, but at the same time difficult to achieve option is the combination in one person of the qualities of both a formal and an informal leader. The position that the boss occupies in the sphere of emotional relations also has an important influence on the effectiveness of leadership. It should not be too low. Otherwise, emotional hostility will begin to significantly undermine the official and business authority of the head, which will lead to a decrease in the effectiveness of his activities as a whole.

The problems of leadership in management are considered from the point of view of the key points necessary for the organization to solve its tasks. Indeed, on the one hand, this phenomenon is considered in the form of a certain set of qualities possessed by the person who influences other people, and on the other hand, it implies a process, as a rule, not a forceful impact, leading to the achievementa group of individuals of intended goals.

Directions of leadership theories

This quality has interested many generations of researchers, scientists and thinkers. At the same time, it should be noted that never among their views there was a single definition of the essence and nature of this phenomenon. Nevertheless, the development of ideas about it, as well as experimental developments in this area, served as the basis for the formation of three main approaches to leadership in management. They are:

• leadership qualities;
• leader behavior;
• situations in which the leader acts.

At the same time, the basics of management leadership clearly indicate that an important role in solving the problems facing the company is assigned to the characteristics and behavior of followers. Each of the above approaches offers its own solution to the leadership problem.

It is also worth noting that leadership in the management system has a direct connection with the motivation of employees. Take, for example, the earliest concepts. Their authors proposed to determine the effectiveness of this phenomenon, based on the qualities of leaders, as well as on the styles of their behavior. In this case, the situation was not taken into account. Ultimately, such concepts never became a complete theory. They literally “drowned” in a huge number of patterns of behavior and personal qualities. Nevertheless, they nevertheless made a certain contribution to the general theory of leadership. Let's take a look at some of the most popular destinations.this field of study.

Theory by D. Mac Gregory

This scientific hypothesis refers to the direction that considers the behavioral nature of leadership. Its author clearly outlined two main leadership styles. These are authoritarian (theory X) and democratic (theory Y).

What are these leadership styles in management? The first of these involves treating employees based on the notion that:

• all people dislike work and avoid it whenever possible;
• unambitious employees are always looking to get away from responsibility and want to be led;
• everyone wants security;
• in order for people to work, they need constant control, as well as the use of coercion and the threat of punishment.

Having such beliefs, the autocratic leader centralizes his powers. He constantly controls subordinates, does not allow them to make their own decisions, and in order to achieve a particular goal, he exerts significant psychological pressure.

Theory Y states that:

• work is a natural process, and under favorable conditions, people do not move away from responsibility, but, on the contrary, strive for it;
• employees attached to organizational goals use self-control and self-management;
• The intellectual potential of the average person is only partially used.

A democratic leader in his work prefers to use such mechanisms of influence on subordinates,who appeal to their need to be attached to a higher purpose. Such a boss sees his main task as creating an atmosphere of benevolence, trust and openness.

Likert Theory

It also applies to the behavioral approach to leadership. The author of this theory identifies two types of leaders. In the first of them, he included such leaders who wish to increase labor productivity at the enterprise, focusing on the task at hand. The second type of leader focuses mainly on the person.

The first of the two types of leaders is most concerned with the design of goals and objectives, as well as the development of a reward system in the organization. The second is engaged in the improvement of human relations, involving employees in participation in management. Likert also suggested 4 styles characteristic of a leader:

• exploitative-authoritarian, similar to an autocrat;
• benevolent authoritarian, limiting employee participation in decision making;
• advisory, involving the adoption of tactical decisions by subordinates, and strategic decisions by the leader;
• democratic, in which an atmosphere of complete trust is created between the boss and subordinates, which allows group management of the company.

Thus, the author of the theory clearly delineated the types of leadership in management, believing that the most optimal of all the proposed options is the one that is focused on the person.

Mitchel's theory andHausa

Situational approaches to leadership theory offer an explanation of the effectiveness of this phenomenon in terms of various variables, without paying attention to the personality of the leader.

Thus, the theory of Mitchell and House, which is also called the "Path-goal", tries to explain the impact that leader's behavior has on the productivity, motivation and satisfaction of subordinates. To lead effectively, a senior manager will need:

• explain to employees what he expects from their actions;
• to assist in the elimination of interference arising in solving the problem;
• direct all the efforts of subordinates towards achieving the goal;
• meet the needs of the employees by successfully completing the task.

According to this model, leadership style directly depends on 2 situational factors. The first of these represents the personal needs of employees, namely self-expression, autonomy, self-respect and belonging. The second factor involves the impact of the external environment, which is expressed in the leader's conviction to influence others.

Fiedler's Theory

This model has made a huge contribution to the development of understanding of styles and characteristics of leadership in management. Fiedler's theory calls for focusing on the situation, while proposing to consider three factors that have a direct impact on the behavior of the leader:

• relationship between boss and subordinates;
• structure of the task;
• scope of office.

The author of this model believes that under any circumstances there should be a balance between the requirements that are put forward by the situation that has arisen, as well as the personal qualities of the leader. This is what leads to high levels of satisfaction and productivity.

Theory of humanistic orientation

Unlike all other leadership concepts in management, this one looks at human nature. She argues that people are inherently complex, but at the same time motivated organism. The company is always manageable. That is why, for successful work, the leader needs to transform the organization he manages in such a way that the individual in it is guaranteed the freedom necessary to achieve his own goals and satisfy needs. But at the same time, a prerequisite is that all members of the team contribute to solving the problems facing the enterprise. This idea was developed by American psychologists J. McGresor, R. Blake and others.

Motivational Theory

The followers of this model are S. Evans, S. Mitchell and others. This theory states that the effectiveness of a leader directly depends on his influence on the motivation of employees, on their satisfaction obtained in the process of work, as well as on the ability to productively complete tasks.

This idea, which suggests a certain leadership structure, highlights such types of leader behavior as;

• supportive;
• directive;
• success-oriented, etc.

Attribute theory

According to this concept, the leader is seen as a "puppet". He receives guidance as well as power from his followers.

The latter are a kind of puppeteer who sets his doll in motion.

D. Goleman's theory

This concept is the youngest. According to her ideas, leadership in management theory can be defined as the leadership of people based on emotional intelligence. The development of this theory was carried out by Professor of the University of Chicago D. Goleman in the 80-90s. the last century. According to the idea put forward by him, such leadership is considered effective, which is able to control people's emotions. What does this mean? According to this theory, a leader who has a high emotional intelligence is able to realize not only his own feelings, but also the feelings of other people, thanks to which he subsequently begins to manage the members of the team.

At the same time, such a person has the following skills:

• awareness of one's own feelings, the ability to notice and subtly differentiate them;
• managing your own feelings with the ability to cope with and control the destructive impulses of negative emotions, which allows you to flexibly adapt to any situation and set yourself up for victory;
• awareness of the feelings that are present in another person, as well as their understanding and ability to be sympathetic;
• managing the feelings of employees with the ability to provideemotional impact on subordinates in the form of inspiration, influence, conflict resolution, team building and team building.

The Emotional Intelligence Model asks leaders to develop and improve all four of the above abilities. At the same time, it should be noted that such a hypothesis has been confirmed by a number of numerous studies.

Group leadership

Leadership, when considered by modern science, is considered a phenomenon more social and organizational than individual and personal.

Each person, being a member of a particular group, solves the problems that arise in it. Currently, practical management pays increased attention to the structures, as well as to the dynamics of such associations. This is due to the existing needs of business and the need for the survival of organizations engaged in entrepreneurial activities.

Group work is the energy of the performers expended in a certain way, as well as the efforts and abilities of the leaders. Taken together, such activities have a so-called synergistic effect. This indicates that the forces of the entire group are greater than the forces of all its members taken individually. Getting this effect is the basis of group leadership.

In addition to those described above, there are many other approaches and concepts that have been developed without careful analysis based on the general scheme of leadership theory. However, research in this area is notstop. They are intensively held even today, since power and leadership in management is a vast and interesting topic.