Chapter I

UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP

 Leadership Story
 Without Leadership
 Nature of Leadership
 Leadership Defined
 Innate or Acquired?
 Boss & Manager versus Leader
 Elements of Leadership
 Personal Traits of the Leader
 Character Traits of the Leader
 Leadership Story

Story A group of workers and their leaders are set a task of clearing a road
through a dense jungle on a remote island to get to the coast where an estuary
provides a perfect site for a port. The leaders organise the labour into efficient
units and monitor the distribution and use of capital assets – progress is excellent.

The leaders continue to monitor and evaluate progress, making adjustments along
the way to ensure the progress is maintained and efficiency increased wherever
possible. Then, one day amidst all the hustle and bustle and activity, one person
climbs up a nearby tree.

The person surveys the scene from the top of the tree. Leadership Story And
shouts down to the assembled group below… “Wrong Way!” (Story adapted from
Stephen Covey (2004) “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” Simon &
Schuster).

“Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things”

(Warren Bennis and Peter Drucker)
 THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP

Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire
and willpower, you can become an effective leader.
Good leaders develop through a never ending process
of self-study, education, training, and experience .This
guide will help you through that process.

To inspire your workers into higher levels of teamwork,

there are certain things you must be, know, and, do.
These do not come naturally, but are acquired through
continual work and study. Good leaders are continually
working and studying to improve their leadership skills.
Leadership Definition

 Leadership is the ability to influence the behavior

of other people. In organizational context, the
leader exerts influence in order to accomplish the
objectives. ~ Richard A. Johnson, Fremont E.
Kast, and James E. Rosenzweig ~

 “the activity of influencing people to cooperate

toward some goal which they come to find
desirable” ~Orward Tead~
 “as the behavior of an individual who is
involved in directing group activities” ~John
K. Hemphill~

 “the art that stresses the attainment of mutual

ends through coordination and motivation of
both individuals and groups” ~John D.
Pffifner and Robert Presthus~
LEADERSHIP BEGINS WITH SELF-
KNOWLEDGE

“Self-knowledge is the basis for character...

Character is the root of integrity...
Integrity provides the foundation for leadership”.
(Lombardi, 2001)

“Leadership is the ability to direct people, more

important, to have those people accept that
direction”. (Lombardi, 2001)
Leadership VS Management
Working on the system Working in the system

Create opportunities React

Seek opportunities Control Risks

Change organizational rules Enforce organizational rules

Provide a vision to believe in and strategic Seek and then follow direction
alignment

Motivate people by satisfying basic human Control people by pushing them in the right
needs direction

Inspire achievement and energize people Coordinate effort

Coach followers, create selfleaders and Provide instructions

empower them
 Elements of Leadership:

1. Interpersonal influence
2. Rising to situations
3. Strong communication skill
4. Ability to direct the attainment
of a specific goal or goals.
PERSONAL TRAITS OF THE LEADER:

 Physical proficiency and resiliency – It enables the

leader to quickly recover under times of exceptional
stress and immediately continue his work.

 Intelligence – It enables the leader to thoroughly

understand his job and his people, as well as anticipate
critical problems.

 Character – It strongly determines the individuality of

the leaders and his attitudes toward his responsibilities.
CHARACTER TRAITS OF THE LEADER:

 Judgment – It is the power of the mind to

weigh various factors and arrive at a sound
decision.
 Unselfishness - It is the avoidance of providing
for one’s own comfort or advantage at the
expense of others.
 Decisiveness- It is the ability to make decisions
promptly and express them clearly.
 Enthusiasm- It is the display of sincere interest
in the performance of all duties.
CHARACTER TRAITS OF THE LEADER:

 Loyalty- It is the quality of faithfulness to superiors,

subordinates and the organization where the leaders belong.

 Dependability – It is the certainty of power performance of

duty with loyalty to superiors and subordinates.

 Integrity-
It is uprightness of moral character and the quality
of honesty and truthfulness.

 Courage- It is the mental quality which recognizes but

enables the individual to accept or meet challenges with
calmness and fearlessness.
CHARACTER TRAITS OF THE LEADER:

 Knowledge- It is the acquired knowledge of the

profession not only on the job, but also on the
subordinates.

 Bearing- It is the act of creating a favorable

impression in personal conduct at all times.

 Initiative-It
is the quality of seeing what needs
to be done and initiating a course of action.
CHARACTER TRAITS OF THE LEADER:

 Tact-It is the ability to deal with others without

giving offense.

 Endurance- It is the leader’s mental and

physical stamina moved by the ability to stand
pain or hardships.

 Justice-It is the ability to be impartial and

consistent in dealing with subordinates.