¶ … leadership coach begins each public presentation making it very clear that having a leadership position and being a leader are not the same thing. Leadership and management are quite different even though often used synonymously. A "position" is something one is hired into, or appointed -- whether that results in leadership is dependent on the qualities of the individual. Some leaders rise from relative obscurity, and lead from below; some managers never learn to lead (Ventura, 2008).
Almost all the literature reviewed, though, seem to see the leader as being one who can see a situation and assume the right style of leadership for that occasion (e.g. Harry Truman taking over after Franklin Roosevelt's death). Certainly, once there is a leadership role assumed, the dynamics of interpersonal relationships change -- as they should. It is impossible for a leader to be completely fair and unbiased if that leader openly socializes with one or two employees. A leader loses a certain type of trust, but gains another -- for example, an employee will no longer be as willing to harangue the CEO in front of you for a decision of which they disagree; but will trust you more in providing needed resources for a project, or a fair ear when something is not going to plan. Too, it is difficult to move into a leadership role and rely on others for results instead of taking charge and getting them done on your own (Heyi, Na, & Dan, 2007).
One must ask, though, what are the traits of a leader that engender leadership success. There is certainly scholarly evidence that there are personality traits in leaders that tend to be slightly more attuned than in non-leaders, which tends to focus on the "Great Man" theory of leadership as a model. This view holds that leaders tend to be born, not made -- that there is some sort of genetic predisposition about leadership that brings certain individuals to the forefront of their profession or their place in life that transcends even their own expertise. This view was quite poplar in the 19th century when historians attempted to explain how certain personalities tended to shape history and took on some Darwinian characteristics once his theories were published. In the 20th century. This trait theory was further popularized by Thomas Carlyle, who used what he called "social profiling" to identify characteristics, talents, and skills of what he believed were inherent in leaders (Carlyle & Tenneyson, 2000). This definition says that individuals with certain personalities and skills sets, with the proper stimulation, amplify leadership traits. However, this idea of leaders being some larger than life social force fell out of favor as sociologists moved towards looking at leadership as a set of circumstances that were genetic, environmental, and circumstantial in bearing (Grinin, 2010). Taken in context then, this theory may be far too simplistic to explain the very complex nature of personality and leadership traits: "In fact, leadership is highly situational and contextual. A special chemistry develops between leaders and followers and it is usually context specific" (Wren, 1995, 30).
Because there are no strict definitions for leadership, but rather a series, as we have noted, of traits, attributes, and behaviors, possibly the most inclusive way to describe leadership is "ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen" (Kouzes, 2007). A functional model of leadership holds that the leader's primary function in organizations is to embody the vision of what is necessary to make a group cohesive and drive an organization forward. Scholars tend to see this paradigm of leadership in five overt skill sets that leaders show: 1) constant monitoring of the group or environment without appearing to be micromanaging, 2) organizing subordinate activities, 3) continual coaching of subordinates, 4) acting primarily as a motivator, and 5) intervening actively in the group's work (Hackman, 2002). This type of situational leadership might lend itself well, for instance, to the conductor of a professional orchestra -- professionals who need to congregate together to act as one voice rather than a series of individual instruments; skilled enough so they need coaching but not remedial training, and finding in their leader a seminal voice and focus with which to move beyond the ordinary (Northouse, 2006).
The transformational personality type takes vision and moves it through a process from the strategic to the tactical. The leader supplies the charisma and the strategy, then management the tactical. Many transformational leaders are actually teachers, mentors, or coaches -- using...
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