LEADERSHIP 1.

0 Introduction Management and leadership are often thought as the something but this is not true, as we shall see in the following paragraph. Even some writers have the tendency to use leader and Manager as synonymous terms. But there are distinct differences between leaders and Manager. A person becomes a manager through a formal appointment by some appropriate legal authority, like the General Manager of a Company is appointed by the Board of Directors of that particular company whereas leadership position sterns from social influence process i.e is conferred by the followers thus a person can be a manager, a leader or both. A leader can be formal if someone appointed to head a group or informal if one who emerges from the ranks according to the consensus of members. The confusion arises because we would like the manager and the leader to be the same i.e for the power to be conferred from both above and below. We can also distinguish management and leadership as the difference of authority of position and the authority of influence 2.0 Definition of Leadership Leadership is one of the most difficult qualities to describe, and may be that is why there are very many difference definitions for leadership from different writers, but down are a few of these many definitions. 1) It is perhaps the ability to get others to value your judgment sufficiently to enable them to decide to do as you ask by Jane Allan. 2) Leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group objectives by George R. Terry. 3) Leadership is influencing people to follow in the achievement of a common goal by Harold Koutz and Cyril O. Donnell. 4) Leadership is defined as the process of directing and influencing the taskrelated activities of group members by Stoner. 5) Leadership has been described as influence, or the art, skill or process of influencing people to work towards the achievement of group, or larger organizational goals by David Evans. From the above definitions of leadership of different writers, we can conclude that Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of a group or individual in efforts towards a goal achievement in a given situation, by using non-coercive influence (means). Leadership involves neither force nor coercion. From the definition of leadership it follows that the leadership process is a function of the leader, the follower and other situational variables. i.e L=Q(l,f,s) Where L F = = Leadership Followers

L S

= =

Leader Situational variables

It should be noted that when this definition mentions a leader and a follower, one should not assume that we are talking only about a hierarchical relationship such as suggested by superior boss/subordinate. Any time an individual is attempting to influence the behaviour of someone else, that individual is the potential leader, and the person he/she is attempting to influence is the potential follower, no matter whether the person is the boss, colleagues, a subordinate, a friend or a relative. It should also be noted that from this definition no mention of any particular type of organization is made, therefore this definition is valid for all organizations whether business, or non-business including organizations and families. Since the word influence is a catch word in the definition of Leadership, it is very important to know what it means. Influence is defined as the ability of an individual to induce others to produce an intended result. Influence in other words is an interpersonal concept. It refers to a relationship between or among people. There are many ways in which to make the person want to produce the intended results, but the two common used ones are: persuasion and power. Persuasion involves an effort to influence by argument, reasoning or presentation of ideas. Power on the other hand involves an effort to influence, either through coercion of the offering of something valued. Influence through the use of power is affected by the application or threat of application of sanctions. These sanctions could take the following two forms namely withholding something of value or imposing conditions that are not desired. Examples of valued things are promotions, pay increase, praise, or friendship, on the other hand negative sanctions are things like demotion, lay offs, reprimand, expulsion from the group or physical harm. Leadership therefore is exercised either through the use of persuasion or the threatened use of power. It is important to emphasize that an effective leader does not go around constantly threatening to use sanctions ( a case in point is the Idi Aminis era). It has been observed that is much easier to be persuaded by a person with power than by a person without power. A living example in Uganda is when the MPs are invited by the President in closed sessions, with the president around they tend to be persuaded easily and immediately change their stand than when a minister or even Vice President tries to persuade them. (The Sell of UCB, O Level requirement for the LCs etc). 3.0 Sources of Power (Influence) A leader can exert influence on his subordinates by using one or more of the following types of power. i) Coercive power: This is based on fear. The fear can be physical or psychological. In business this is usually the fear of being fired or of

receiving an undesirable work assignment. Coercive power should be used sparingly and only as a last resort. ii) Reward Power: This is opposite of coercive power. Co-operation with the leader means a positive reward, either monetary or psychological. Reward power is available to most managers. For it is to be effective, however, there must be a direct and observable relationship between accomplishing group objectives and receiving the reward power by punishing those workers who respond to it. Legitimate Power: This is the type of power that emanates from superior status in the organizational framework; it closely resembles authority. Such power is effective if the group accepts the leader. If not reinforced by other sources of power, it is less influential. Expert Power: This is the power residing in a person who has some special knowledge or expertise that had enabled him to gain the respect and cooperation of the group. Ideally a manager should have enough expertise to command this sort of power. If the manager has to turn to someone else for expertise, that other person will share some of the managers power or even take over completely from the manager. Referent Power: This is the power based on the subordinates identification with the leader. Followers may not like the individual, but they respect the leader, and as a result they respect the leaders chosen one.

iii)

iv)

v)

For Managers/Leaders the following implications apply: i) ii) iii) 4.0 4.1 The more numerous the sources of influence available to a leader, the greater the effectiveness he can manifest. Some sources of influence overlap. For example, reward and legitimate sources of influence often go hand in hand, whereas referent and expert sources are frequently related. Without influence (power) the leader will be usurped

Approaches of the Study of Leadership The natural Leader Approach (Traits approached) The natural leader theory (traits) sates that leaders are born not made. This school of thought believes that there are certain critical personnel, inmate characteristics of leaders that make them different from non leaders (traits). These characteristics have been grouped under the following headings:(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Physical qualities personal qualities Character attributes Intellectual qualities

They listed the following as the desirable attributes of characteristics in the leader (traits) (1) Physical qualities (a) Health (b) Endurance (c) Vitality Personal qualities or attributes: (a) Personal magnetism (b) Cooperativeness (c) Enthusiasm (d) Ability to inspire (e) Persuasiveness (f) forcefulness Character attributes (a) Integrity (d) Stability

(2)

(g) Tact.

(3)

(b) Humanism (c) Self-discipline (e) Industry

(4)

Intellectual qualities (a) Mental capacity (b) Ability to teach others (c) Scientific approach to problems. The natural leader approach proposed that the above traits were essential for effective leadership, and were transferable from situation to situation, and argued that since not all people have the above traits, that only people with above mentioned traits should be considered for management/leadership positions, under this theory we could identify people with the above traits, then these should be the only people to concentrate on for training and development, so that we could have future leaders. Although specifying what may be considered essential, personnel qualities of leaders, the traits theory adherents agree that these attributes are not all indispensable to the extent that the absence of them would disqualify an individual from leadership. Researchers who attempted to make a systematic study of leadership effectiveness using this view took two approaches. i) ii) They attempted to compare traits of those who emerged as leaders with those who did not and, They attempted to compare the traits of effective leaders with those of ineffective leaders.

The results from these researchers revealed that: (i) Leaders as a group had certain traits were usually taller, brighter, more extrovert and more self confident than non-leaders. However, million of other people have traits but will never attain a leadership position. (ii) Many established leaders did not have these traits, for instance, Napoleon was a short man. (iii) It is possible that individuals become more assertive and self confident once they occupy leadership position and so these traits may result rather than a cause of leadership ability.

The Behavior of Leaders After failing to find the ideal characteristics of traits of leader, researchers attempted to find out how leaders behaved. That is rather than what they are, to find out what they did. How do they delegate, how do they communicate, and motivate subordinates. An important factor in this approach was that unlike traits, behaviors can be learned and followed therefore people could be trained in appropriate leadership behaviours. Trait/Quality Theory This is another version of the trait/quality theory, which states that leaders are products of particular situations, examples are: Hitler of Germany in the 1930s,Churchill of England in early 1940, and Mao of China in 1940 and recent example of Ugandas Yoweri Museveni in 1980s. This means that people can clearly recognise the problems that exist in a given situation, and provide solutions to these problems and emerge as leaders. Some of these problems are economic depression; high unemployment rate, weak governments, bad politics etc. In another related sense, such leadership qualities could arise from special knowledge posed by a member of the group and essential for the groups survival. Another interesting extension of the trait/situational theory is the so called Contingency approach of F. Fielders, which states the ability of a leader to exercise influence depends upon the situation facing the group he leads. F. Fielders carriedout a wide variety of research among military personnel, steel workers,. Senior executives, Church leaders politicians and others and he came to three critical Dimensions of the situation that effect a leaders ability to lead i.e. i) ii) iii) Position Power The actual power that the organization has given the leader. Task Structure The extent to which the tasks can be clearly spelt out to the people who have to carry them out in contrast to the conditions where the tasks are vaguely defined. Leader - Group member relations- This is the extent which the work group like and trust their leader and willing to follow him.

4.2

Scientific Management Approach Beginning in late 1890s and through to about 1935 another school of thought of Leadership was advanced. The main champions of this theory were Max Weber, a German sociologist and Fredrick W. Taylor. This new school of thought was called scientific Management. This theory can be described as a technique approach to leadership. Its procedure is applicable to a given situation. In this theory people are viewed as a passive, inert instrument, performing the tasks assigned to them. The idea was to set up an abstract, depersonalized system that would rationally make

decisions without the friction of subjective judgment and human error. This theory treats the organisations as if they existed without people. The Scientific management theory can be summarized to four principles: i) ii) iii) iv) The development of each persons work into a true science The Scientific selection and training of workers Friendly cooperation between managers and workers Equal division of work and responsibility between management and workers.

The main idea behind the Scientific Management School, it to define the purpose, discover the one best way to accomplish it, and set up the policies and procedures to carry out the work. Here Leadership is transferred to the System and the people are neatly side stepped. Inherent in this approach, are certain assumptions about people, such as the people want to be dependent, are incapable of taking responsibility, need strong leader etc. Under this theory it is clear that people need a benevolent, autocratic leader. 4.3 Human Relations Approach During 1938 to 1950 a new theory on leadership developed. This new theory was called the Human Relations approach. The names associated with the development of this theory are:- Elton Mayo, Kurt Lewin, and Chris Argyris. This theory, unlike the scientific theory, places primary emphasis on the workers feelings; attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, idea and sentiments. The basic concept is that workers can be induced to believe the way we wish on the basis of fulfilling certain social and psychological needs. This theory assumes that there is no essential conflict between satisfaction of the needs and the wants of workers and those of the organization. The leader here is looked at as facilitator, and as an agent who helps smooth the pathway toward goal achievement. If high morale and job satisfaction for the worker are attained, goal achievement will automatically follow. Unfortunately, research has shown that the productivity and morale/job satisfaction of the workers are not strongly correlated, i.e there is little or no interdependency between the two. 4.4 Context School of Thought (situational School) The context school of thought thinks that all the above three theories of Leadership are very important and interrelated. That is the three schools of thought i.e the natural leader, which emphasizes the traits of a leader; the scientific management theory which emphasizes the concern for task and human relations which stresses the concern for people are all correct but insufficient by themselves. In the context school of thought, the relative importance of each will vary from situation to situation and must be considered in a specific context.

5.0

Research Studies Researchers studies focused mainly/two aspects of leadership behaviour namely. Leadership functions and leadership style.

5.1

Leadership Functions\ What are the functions of a leader in a group? Researchers found that in order for a group to perform effectively, someone, a leader, had to perform two major functions, task related and group maintenance functions. a) b) Task oriented or problem solving functions which includes suggesting solutions, offering information and opinions for solving problems. Group maintenance or social function which includes those actions that help a group to operate smoothly. It requires the leader to be responsible to the ideas and feelings of group members, mediating in group disagreements, complementing a group member etc. Studies made show that two functions are at times performed by different people in an organization but that an individual who is able to perform both roles successfully would be a very effective leader.

5.2

Leadership Styles It is difficult to separate the theories of Leadership from the leaders i.e the behaviour of leaders and their leadership styles. A lot of researcher studies have been carried out by different researchers about leadership styles. Among the famous researchers are Fielder, Rensis Likert, Robert Blake, Jane Mouton, W. Reddin, University studies University of Michigan, Ohio etc. Most of the researchers have identified two leadership styles that a leader may use in dealing with the subordinates namely Task-Orineted and Employee-Oriented a) Task oriented Leaders: These are leaders that are mostly concerned with getting the job/task done without regard to the development and growth/welfare of the subordinates. They supervise subordinates very closely to ensure that the task is completed in time and efficiently to their satisfaction. Employee Oriented Leaders: These are leaders that motivate rather than control their subordinates. They encourage their subordinates to participate in the decisions that effect them and form friendly, trusting and respectful relationship with the group members. Members perform their tasks with good and fatherly encouragement from leaders rather than with directions or orders.

b)

5.3

Leadership Studies A lot of leadership studies have been carried out by the most famous ones these are:

5.3.1

The Ohio State University Studies

Researchers at Ohio State University made a research to find out which of these styles of leadership were effective.

Consideration L.S H.C L.S

H.S H.C H.S

L.C L.C Initiating Structure The initiating structure and consideration were used as the variables in a leader, and put on x-axis and y axis as shown in fig. above. The figure was divided into diagram, L.C refers to Lower consideration L.S Lower structure; L.S Lower consideration, H.C High Consideration, H.S High Structure; H.S. High Structure, H.C High Consideration.

Findings of the Study i) Employee turnover was lowest and employee satisfaction highest under leaders who were rated High in consideration (H.C), and the opposite for those leaders who were rated High in Structure (H.S) i.e there was a high turnover and high grievance rates.

ii)

The rating leader effectiveness by their subordinates depended more on situation in which the style was used than the style itself.

5.3.2. University of Michagan Studies: In these studies, the researchers distinguished between Production centred and Employee centred Managers. The findings of the research were as follows:

i) ii) iii) 5.3.3

Production centred Managers set a rigid work standards, organized tasks down to the last detail, prescribed the method to be followed and closely supervised subordinates. Employee- centred Managers encouraged subordinates participation in goal setting and promoted trust and respect. Most of productive work group were those that were employees centred. The Managerial Grid Robert Blake and Jane Moutom, used managerial grid to further show the relationship between task related manager, and people related manager, in their managerial grid five different types of leadership styles based on concern for production (task) and concern for people (relationship) were identified and located in the four quadrants similar to those of Ohio State University Studies. The major difference between this grid and the Ohio State University Studies quadrants, was that in the Grid system, nine points on each scale is used. Theoretically in this Grid, we have 81 (i.e) 9 x 9 ) points of reference to describe the balance between the two extremes; concern for production, and concern for people. But in practice only five major points are precisely identified and described namely 1.1; 9.1; 1.9; 9.9; and 5.5.

Fig.12-2 The managerial Grid 9 1,9 P e o p l e C o n c e r n f o r 9,9

8 Country Club Management thoughtful attention to needs of people of satisfying relationships leads to a comfortable, friendly organization atmosphere and work tempo. 7 6 5 4 3 2 Team Management Work accomplishment is from committed people through a common stake in organization purpose to relationship of trust and respect

5,5 Organisation management Adequate organization performance is possible through balancing the necessity to get out work with maintaining morale of people at a satisfactory level. 1,1 Impoverished management 9,1 Authority Obedience Efficiency in operations result Exertion of minimum effort to Arranging conditions of work in a get required work done is way that human elements Interfere appropriate to sustain to a minimum degree organization membership 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Concern for Production

1.

Impoverished: (1:1) Exerts minimum efforts to get the required work done. Also called Laissez fare management because the leader abdicates his role. Country Club: (1.9) Here the attention is mainly focused on satisfying the needs of the people while the peoples needs are well catered for there is lack of concern for job. Task: (9.1) Here there is a complete lack of concern for the people. The manager is interested only in the work being done.

2.

3.

4.

Middle of the Road:(5.5) Here the leader feels concern for people and concern for production as two entirely separate goals, and leading is an uneasy compromises between the two. Team (9.9) This is thought to be the ideal model of leadership. It should be noted that once the leaders position on the scale is established, the objective of further training should be to change management style to approach that of 9.9, where there is equally high concern for people and for task accomplishment. This is the one best style of leadership and all leaders should strive to achieve this style.

5.

10

5.3.4

Four Styles of Management by Rensis Likert Rensis Likert also incorporating the basic styles of categories of task and employee orientation devised four types of model of management effectiveness. These are: System I : Exploitative Authoritative Style This is where all the decisions are made at the top; communications is all one way downwards. Here fears, threats are constant weapons. Benevolent Authoritative Style Here there is some delegation with close policy; control the accent is more on reward than punishment and some upward communication is allowed. Consultative Style Here attempts are made to allow constructive use of the subordinates ideas and opinions, there some involvement in decision making, particularly at lower levels. Participative Style (Group Management) Here we have economic rewards, full use is made of group participation in setting performance goals, communication flows upwards, downward, sideways. There is a supportive atmosphere with a leader who helps and advises rather than dictates and commands. Likert suggests that this is the ideal system which organizations should work towards. SYSTEM 4 BY RENSIS LIKERT

System 2

System 3

System 4

System 1: Exploitative Authoritative

System 2:Benevolent Authoritative

System 3 CONSULTATIVE

11

System 4 PARTICIPATIVE

5.3.5 i)

Other writers using slightly different terminology have come up with the following leadership styles: Automatic Manager/Leader These are job centred, relies on power, likes conformists, keeps information, rarely delegates. Semi-autocratic These are fatherly figures, loves to praise particularly team people or those totally loyal to the firm Democratic Unsure of himself, and his relations with the group; all policies are up for group discussions, with majority verdict endorsed by the leader. Discipline is noticeable by its absence a laissez faire leadership. Consultative/Participative (The Y theory/manager) where the leader consults then decides; delegates encourages and counsels. CONTINUUM THEORY So far most of the leadership theories considered present two basic choices i.e task centred leader and employee- centred leader. But is agreed that there are more choices available, and R. Tannanbaum and W.H. Schmit have proposed that there is a whole range of styles between the two extremes, each shading into the next, like the colours in a spectrum. However, they do mark some basic points in the Continuum (or range of qualities). And that a leaders positions on the continuum depended upon his personality the nature of the individuals in the work group, the nature of the traditions and the values of the organization (culture of the organization) and pressure of time on decision-making. Additionally the leadership styles can be affected by forces Outside the organization i.e political climate, unions, consumer movements and the state of the economy. In this model, there are no judgments made about which style is best or even better than. Diagram of continuum Theory

ii)

iii)

iv)

5.3.6

Authority

held

by

leader

12

Autocratic

Participative

Free Rein Democratic

Consultative, Consensus

Authority

lead

by

the

Group

The Leadership Continuum The classical method of classifying leadership styles arranges leadership behavior along a continuum of the amount of authority exerted by the leadership. Although the origins of this approach are over forty years old, most new approaches to leadership style are rooted in the leadership continuum. As shown in figure above the continuum begins with the autocratic style, passes through the participative style, and ends with the free-rein style. Autocratic Style An Autocratic leader maintains most of the authority by issuing orders and telling group member what to do without consulting them. To the autocratic (or authoritarian), the basis for leadership is formal authority. Autocratic leaders may have a few favourite subordinates but they usually regard close interpersonal relationships with group members as superfluous. The autocratic style of leader is generally in disfavour in modern organizations, as expressed by the consensus of several current leadership theorists. As with this leadership style, there are some situations in which an autocratic style is appropriate. One example is a high-accident work area where the employees are not particularly knowledgeable about the potential risk. Many autocratic leaders have been successful as high-level leaders in the private and public sectors Participative Style. This style of leadership encompasses three subtypes A participative leader is one who shares decision-making authority with the group Participative leadership occupies enough space on the continuum to warrant dividing it into three subtypes: Consultative, consensual, and democratic. A Consultative leader solicits opinions from the group before making a decision, yet does not feel obliged to accept the groups thinking. A standard way to practice consultative leadership would be to call a group meeting to discuss an issue before making a decision. A consensual leader encourages group discussion about an issue and then makes a decision that reflects the consensus (general agreement) of group members. Consensual leaders thus turn over more authority to the group than do consultative leaders. The consensus leadership style results in long delays in decision making because every party involved provides input. Yet consensus often leads to

13

commitment to the decision. The consensual leadership style is used successfully by many Japanese managers. A democratic leader confers final authority on the group. He or she functions as a collector of opinions and takes a vote before making a decision. Democratic leaders turn over so much authority to the group that they are sometimes classified as freerein leaders (one extreme pint on the continuum). The participative style of leadership has been recommended in the management literature dating back to the early 1950s. Many organizations today are achieving good results with participative management. Free-Rein Style A laissez-faire or free-rein leader turns over almost all authority to group members and does as little leading as possible. Given a situation in which the work to be done by each employee is clearly defined, whether it is sorting coupons or cutting gears with a laser beam, such leaders maintain a hands-off policy. They make few attempts to increase productivity or to coach their employees. A Free-rein leader turns decision making authority over to the group At times the free-rein leader is an abdicator who cares very little for achieving productivity goals or developing subordinates. At other times, the free-rein style is appropriate and leads to high productivity. Such leadership situations include directing the work of highly skilled advertising copywriters, research scientist, or stock analysts. These individuals may not require technical direction or encouragement. Yet in the long run, even self-sufficient professionals require some feedback and recognition from their manager in order to sustain high performance 6.0 Factors Influencing Choice of Leadership Style Consider various factor or forces that should influence choice of style. These forces or factors include forces or values in the manager, forces in subordinates and forces in the situation. i) Values of the Manager Managers are primarily influenced by their backgrounds, knowledge, values and expenses. A manager who believes the needs of an individual are equally as important as those of the organisation is likely to be employee oriented. Somebody who grew up in harsh backgrounds may also have harsh behaviours. Characteristics of subordinates The people leader is going to deal with have an important effect on the choice of the leadership style. If a leader is working with peers who have similar qualifications, the style will be different from that when a leader is dealing with technicians who have less knowledge and experience or with people without any skill. Some subordinates are well organized and want independence and freedom of action. In such cases, leaders may allow greater participation of subordinates in decision making besides these, a leader style will be more employee oriented if they want to take

ii)

14

responsibility, are clear about organization goals and have knowledge and experience in problem solving where these conditions are lacking leaders tend to be autocratic. iii) The situation in Question Leaders choice of style will also be affected by the situation obtaining either in the organization or in the working conditions. These factors include what is the style in the organization, the nature of the work group, time pressures and environmental factors. It is common to find a manger adopting a style of his boss or that prevalent in the organization. Where top management encourages human relation skills the manager may be employee centred and vice-versa. In case of a specific work group, it is common to find that in a group that works well together it may respond very well to less supervision and in case of groups that dont work well together, by reason of size or geographical dispersion or nature of work, a task style may be preferred. 7.0 Factors Affecting Leaders Effectiveness The traits and behavioral approaches to leadership conclude that there is no trait common to effective leaders and no style is effective in all situations. Various researchers have identified various factors that influence a leaders effectiveness and these include; a leaders personality, past experience and behaviour; the subordinates characteristics, expectations and behaviour; the requirements of the task, the organizational culture and policies; and the expectations and behaviour of peers. These factors not only influence the leader himself. Let us briefly examine some of these factors. i) Leaders Personality, Past Experience and Expectations As already observed, a leaders values, background and experience will influence his or her leadership style. A manager who has successfully used an employee-oriented style will use it in future and a leader who has no trust in subordinates will use the same style in new situations. Leaders are influenced in choice of style by their personalities and past experience. It is true that leaders change styles periodically if one style proves inappropriate. However, a style not consistent with expectations of the likely outcome from using a particular leadership style also influences the choice of leaders. If a leader is told that a group of people will work only under pressure or task style, they will apply that style. The Expectations and Behaviour of Superiors Superiors will influence the choice of leadership style a leader is to use on subordinates. If a superior approves a task-oriented style either verbally or in writing of a task-oriented action of a leader, that leader is likely to adopt that style. This is because superiors have power to dispense rewards, promotions etc and approval of the leaders action is an endorsement of that style. Subordinates, Characteristics, Expectations and Behaviour

ii)

iii)

15

Subordinates are the people who are supposed to be affected by a particular leadership style and are thus very crucial in a leaders choice of style. What is the training and skills of the subordinates? What are their attitudes? Subordinates with skill normally require less direction while some prefer authoritarian leaders. These characteristics will thus effect a leaders style and its effectiveness. Employees influencing choice of style and its effectiveness. Subordinates who have been used to an employee oriented leader will continue to expect the same and vice-versa. Subordinates behaviour is also important. How do they react to a leaders style? Are they resentful or do they accept a particular approach? iv) Task Requirement The type of task to be performed will also influence choice and effectiveness. Jobs that require precise instructions demand a task-oriented style say in the army, whereas jobs where operating procedures are led to employees or where such cooperation and team work are involved. Subordinates generally prefer an employee oriented style.

v)

Organisational culture and Policies The culture of the organisation shapes both leaders behaviour and expectations of subordinates. Similarly policies also effect style and effectiveness.

vi)

Peers Expectations and Behaviours Colleagues in the organization who are at the same level do also influence a particular leaders choice of style. Opinions and attitudes of peers are important in shaping style. Hostile colleagues may cause change style and friendly colleagues who are people oriented may influence a particular leaders choice of style. Opinions and attitudes of peers are important in shaping style. Hostile colleagues may cause change in style and friendly colleagues who are people oriented may influence a leaders style in a similar fashion.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION As seen from the above discussions, it is very difficult to come to a final, precise, definitive set of conclusions about leadership, but there are some general conclusions that can be arrived at. These conclusions summarises, the whole work on leadership which has been covered in this discussion. These are: i). Different situations demand different leadership styles. It should be very important to note that a manager adopts the style of leadership depending on the situation for example when there is an emergency situation like a whole factory catching fire, the manager cannot start thinking of consultative or participative management, he has to quickly take a decision.

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ii)

It follows from the above that the same leader should and would use different styles at different times. The manager should change his approach to suit the environment of the group, members attitudes and the current work needs. This means that leadership is not static but dynamic it changes with the situation and time. This type of approach is at times called pragmatic or adaptive management. When the conditions are normal or is a stable situation without special outside or inside pressures, a method of communicating with, consulting or involving the work force is always, consultation counts, and participation pays. This is the view which is being expressed and emphasized by most of all the writers on leadership. Researchers have shown that employee-centred managers have been more successful that the task or job centred managers. Successful leaders are those who can identify the problems, and find ways of solving them, even if this means getting help from others; and communication very clearly what needs to be done to the group members usually successful leaders are likely to be more intelligent than the group average; to be sociable and adaptable to both individual and group needs. Managers who set challenging, but attainable targets for their subordinates to make are likely to get high performance from their work group, than managers who do not set such targets. Delegation:- Delegation is very important if the manager has to be successful. When the manager delegates the subordinates get involved, feel more important and feel that they are being trusted. It also gives the manager the chance to use more of the talents of the work group, and it is also a step towards employee development of self-realisation. There is a strong evidence to suggest that a good leader must be consistent, predictable and reliable. Such behaviour is mandatory if the followers are going to be able to understand what is expected of them, and rules of the game. The truth is that if a person is difficult, but consistent, people will accept her/his behaviour and adjust to it, rather than having a manager whom you cannot predicate what he/she is going to do i.e. Inconsistency cannot be tolerated. Finally, it is very difficult to prepare a list of characteristics (traits) of which are common to all leaders. Al what we can perhaps say for the leaders to be successful, a fair proportion of the following characteristics are necessary, i.e self-confidence, dependability, honesty, integrity, communication skills problem-solving abilities.

iii)

iv) V).

vi)

vii)

viii)

ix)

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