Leadership in Organization

From the very beginning of human society, we always find groups or networks which can be professional group, terrorist group, organization, athletics network, military gathering etc. In a group, it can a country or organization, we always find two types of people follower and leader. Of course, any group cannot live without its team members who perform the functions but it is the leader who is the matter of importance. The leader gives the instruction which the members follow; it is the leader who has the visionary ability to show his/her follower the future, the dream; to influence them to get the work done. The leader s value becomes the value of the group; the other members try to imitate the leader. Not only this, the leader controls the entry and exit of members from the group. In the organization, the functions of leaders are generally communicating, leading and motivating, guiding, goal setting, planning, value setting, consensus building etc. but each organization is different in terms of their specific business, culture, human resource etc. so it has become a great challenge to find the right people to deliver these functions in the specific environment of an organization. When an organization, an employee is selected and hired through a recruitment process, in all the steps, the hiring person tries to find out who could be their possible future leader. But what distinguishes a leader from a follower has been a great matter of argument for centuries. There had been many theories formed, modified, evolved with ages based on researches and qualitative and qualitative analysis. Theories of Leadership At the very first, there had been traits theory. It was a theory emerged in the 19th century. This theory says that all the leaders have specific traits such as intelligence, adaptability, self-confidence, values, honesty, social skills. This theory says leaders are born; you can not make a leader. But then more researches were conducted and a new theory was born which is situation theory. This theory suggests, any individual can become a leader depending on the situation he/she is in. the leadership requirement varies from situation to situation. But again trait theory was re-emerged with a modified view which says one can become a leader in circumstances but there is presence of specific traits in a leader. There are some more theories about leadership. There is the attribute pattern theory. This says that not any individual characteristics but combination of some attributes should be focused to find a leader. The contingency theory suggests that when a person will act as a leader will depend on the need of the time and situations. Different situation call for need of different characteristics. So any one can become a leader if he/ she are put into a task where the task best matches with him/her. This is conflicting theory of traits theory which demands that any person can be leader, need not be made or born. The individual just has to be in a situation which suits his/her traits most. On the other hand, behavior theory tells that not traits it s the specific behaviors that make a leader different from the followers.

Style theory says there are three leadership styles; each of this is suitable for specific cases. It argues that no specific style are actually good or bad; just in history we find leaders showing these three types of styles. These styles are autocratic, democratic and Laissez-Faire styles. A leader with the autocratic style takes all the decisions by herself. She never consults with the subordinates and let them take any initiative or decisions. The advantage of this style is, sometimes this type of leader gets results quickly and in a manner she wants or prefers. It is easier to get the work done. The negative side is the followers may get de-motivated sometimes. Generally, in tough times of an organization when people are needed to execute the initial plans, these types of leaders are very helpful for the organization. A democratic leader consults with her group members, encourages employee participation and provides instruction on the basis of the consultation. This type of leader generally motivates followers greatly. But sometimes when it is necessary to take decisions conflicting with employee interest this will be difficult to handle the situation. Another style is laissez faire style which gives all the freedoms possible to be given to the fellow team members. This leader does not give any instruction and beliefs in complete employee empowerment. The problem of this style is, without proper control system, the organization may suffer to a great extent. But this leader is usually very popular and employees are highly motivated around him. Whatever the style is, no style is actually right or wrong. Just the style has to be matched with the case. Finding Leader for any organization So in an organization, finding, selecting, making a leader is a huge test. So to have leaders in the company, we have to find and develop people who have the traits, show the specific behavioral pattern of a leader and also have to find out those traits or behavior suits the culture of the business. These traits are generally social, self confident, good listener, risk taker, accountable, risk taker, persistent etc. and in their behavior they are generally very humble, have good sense of humor, shows helping and caring attitude etc. Besides these, assessment of the leadership style to find out whether this style is a match for the firm s situation or not is a necessity. It is required to follow three steps - first one is finding people with specific traits and behavior; secondly, to assess their leadership style and thirdly to evaluate whether the leader with combinations of the traits and behaviors and leadership style is a suitable choice for the specific organization.