Light On The Statement Of Leadership Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Light On The Statement Of Leadership. Answer: Introduction A leader can be defined as an individual who is the guiding light to the various employees in an organization. A leader is very often considered to be a visionary head of the organization that needs to be bestowed with a large number of skills and has various roles in an organization (Antonakis and Day 2017). The job of a leader requires certain set of activities like creating an inspiring vision for the organizations future and then binding people together in order to see to it that all of them work hard to achieve the goals. His role also involves looking after the people and motivating them to do tasks which are right for the organization. Along with setting the direction for the entire organization, the leader also needs to make use of the managerial skills to achieve success (Bhatti et al. 2012). It is often stated that a leader needs to be born with a certain set of personality and hence leadership is an art. In a similar scenario, a leader has to function in a manner based on a definite set of rules and regulations which is why it is often referred to as a science. This essay aims to throw light on the statement that leadership is both an art as well as a science. The reason behind the given statement will be discussed using practical examples along with theoretical references. Various theories like the behavioral theories will be discussed in order to prove validity to the statement Leadership as an Art An art is made of human skills. Very often the artistic side of leadership remains hidden and the leaders do not get to reflect their creativity in the corporate business world (Landis, Hill and Harvey 2014). The manner in which an organization functions, a leader may often find it extremely difficult to portray the creativity however, during certain circumstances there arises a situation where the leader is allowed to imagine and here the artistic side of leadership is revealed. The leadership is based on the imagination and creativity aspect of the person. Furthermore, the leader`s job greatly requires interaction and communication with various parties involved in a business which then can be referred to as an art (Daft 2014). This can be stated because an art involves convincing the various parties to a business and motivating them to carry out their tasks. Leadership is an act of empathy and empathy is incomplete without imagination. This involves understanding a third party`s thought to understand their perspective and work with them. Very often this aspect is not given importance to and is believed that leadership is just concerned with the theories and scientific set of rules but instead empathy is hugely related to art and through this leadership can be described as an art. A leader is a storehouse of various skills. A leader is incomplete without skills like communication, time management, negotiation and conflict management. These skills are in born in a person and cannot be taught to the different leaders. Communication refers to as the method of flow of ideas from one individual to another. With the help of the communication skills, person can easily get the tasks done. According to Bolman and Deal (2017),time management is another important skill that needs to be in a leader. This is because time is a running aspect and the business environment is ever changing. If the leader is unable to manage the various aspects of the business enterprise using the time concept then he will not be able to manage the business. The concept of time cannot be taught with a given theory and can only be mastered with time. Hence, the statement rightly suggests that Leadership is an art with respect to the skills requirement of a person which is inbuilt. Very often there arises a situation, whereby the leadership skill of an individual can be observed from a very young age. Whether the child is in school or college, he or she portrays all the essential qualities of a leader and is always the head of all the groups he is a member of (Van Wart 2014). Very often the people may wonder, the reason behind the given scenario, however there exists no scientific theory or knowledge behind this because these are the skills that a person is born with and they get further developed with time (Chaudhry and Javed 2012). A simple example of the Global billionaires and visionary leaders like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg can be used where by one can reflect that these leaders where college drop outs and did not achieve any professional knowledge but still have been able to successfully build up the globe`s largest organizations. A similar example of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi can be used who has been described as one of the most influential leaders of 2015. However, the Prime Minister of India, comes from a very humble background with no profound leadership qualification. However, he is one the greatest leaders which the world has witnesses. Hence, from these examples it can be clearly stated that leadership is an art which is inbuilt. A person who has the presence of a certain skills within him can make him a successful leader and leadership is all about the innovation and creativity skills of a given person (Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee 2013.).The example of the company Apple can also be taken who applied innovation and creativity in their designs and their products have been a figment of the management`s imagination. The Trait Theory of Leadership The given leadership theory believes that not all leaders become one due to scientific knowledge or training but are instead born with some qualities which make the leader competent. These qualities are qualities of intelligence, responsibility, value inputs and creativity. The trait theory analyses the social, mental and physical characteristics of the leaders to gain a better understanding of the common characteristics among the leaders. The Great Man Theory The Great Man theory of 1840s also states a similar point to this and stated that the characteristics which exist in a potential leader are all intrinsic and that the leadership traits are quite similar to that of the traits which a person is born with and hence, Leadership can be clearly stated to be an art with the help of which an individual will be able to achieve success in the business environment. The artistic side of the leader is extremely important in making the leader creative and empathetic . Without these qualities a leader will not be able t carry out the tasks properly and hence, the use of imagination will be limited . Hence, leadership can said to be an art. The next section of the essay will concentrate on why leadership is considered to be a science. Leadership as a science According to Hargreaves and Fink (2012), although leadership is considered to be an art, it is an undeniable fact that it is also a science. There exists science in the manner in which the modern leadership tends to function. In the present era, the organizations tend to function with big data and predictive analysis in order to solve complex situations and understand the patterns behind the behavior and the functioning of the target market. Hence, as a science, although leadership does not require an individual to be scientist with respect to data, a fundamental process of science is required in every decision that a company tends to make. Science often involves the use of microscopes, telescopes , equations and quantum mechanics in order to see to it that the relevant decision can be taken. However, leadership does not require that kind of science but involves the use of simple science such as examination off the evidence available and then making relative conclusions from it for the benefit of the organization. This scientific process of analyzing the information based on the situation and then making relevant decisions depending upon that. This information may refer to information such as sale figures, health and safety legislation or low staff morals in the administration team (Kara et al. 2013). The information which is derived from the situation in hand helps the company to draw relative conclusions about what is happening, the reason behind it and how the company will deal with the situation. The scientific aspect of leadership is relevant because without the application of science, the data would not have been converted to relevant information and the major decisions in the organization cannot be taken. The reason why leadership is considered to be a science is given in the following section,. First of all, Leadership requires talent acquisition Talent Acquisition A leader needs to be a storehouse of talent. The leader in any organization is required to be extremely talented and versatile in order to adapt to the needs of the changing environment and in order to analyze the situations and take corrective actions. Although leadership as an art states that leadership is an inborn talent which is inbuilt, however, all talents required in a leader are not inbuilt and some of them have to be acquired throughout the lifetime of the leader (Mitchell 2013). This acquisition process involves gaining data through scientific knowledge . The acquisition of all the talent which is required to become a food leader involves application of scientific aspects like learning which will then help the leader to become a jack of all trades. Knowledge acquiring According to Northouse (2015),Knowledge acquisition needs to be an essential part of building up the character of a leader. Knowledge refers to the idea a particular leader needs to have about the various aspects of the business like planning, human resource, manufacturing, marketing, financing, costing and others (Chemers 2014). This knowledge, however smart an individual is cannot be inbuilt in a person and he will be required to attain these knowledge aspects with the help of education. There are various professional courses available like that of Masters in Business Management and leadership along with bachelors degree in leadership which will then provide all relevant knowledge to the managers in the domain of the business and enable them to excel in the given field. Hence, this concept of taking a degree is a form of science and for a reason like this Leadership is often considered to be a science (Nahavandi 2016). Experience based on Organizational leadership Leadership skills are also built when a person is placed in an organization and he learns through involvement in a variety of projects and reports tend to prepare the leader for future endeavors and through the process of learning, the leader understands how he has to progress in a given organization and the manner in which the person is able to derive better results (Lussier and Achua 2015). Leadership with reference to organizational context involves application of theoretical data in the practical form and learning from the mistakes (Spillane 2012). The various theories need to be tested and each of the results achieved from the application of one theory needs to be evaluated and the person needs to improve with time. Hence, the exposure to the actual corporate world helps the individual to attain knowledge with reference to the real world organization and this shall help the individual to become a better leader. Building up leadership takes time According to Amanchukwu, Stanley and Ololube (2015), Leadership can be inbuilt however, not every aspect of the leadership is always present in the person from the very beginning. Certain aspects of a leader like analyzing, performance management, information processing, production aspects and other important information is often gathered and built up during the course of time (Bolman and Deal 2017). Hence, leadership is often considered to be science which is developed by application of various resources, time and effort. The three levels of leadership theory The three levels of leadership theory is a theory which was formulated by James Scouller. In the given theory he stated that a persons leadership skills and presence can be developed and grown. The theory aims to summarize the tasks which need to be done by the leaders and the technical changes and psychologically requirements that they need to bring in the organization in order to develop the aspect of leaders and provide vision to the particular organization (GolemanBoyatzis and McKee 2013). This particular theory combines the older leadership theories like traits, behavioral and functional and combines them with the concept of authentic leadership. Leadership is built on a variety of scientific management tools and theories. These scientific management tools refer to the various control measures used by a manger in an organization such as Data analytics, Job Analysis, Performance Management, Financial Analysis, Human Resource Management, Cooperation between managers and workers, Planning and training. According to Taylor, these aspects tend to form an essential aspect of any leader in an organization and they have to be learnt in order to be successful. According to Fairhurst and Connaughton (2014), the learning and application of thee scientific knowledge tools requires lot of resources and time. However, without these tools an organization may not be able to succeed in achieving the goals of the organization and is considered as an important aspect for a leader to have a skills and a strength in all the stated scientific management tools in order to ensure that he is able to manage all the aspects of the given business and is able to manage the organization effectively. Therefore from the given analysis it can be stated that Leadership is an evolving concept and the definition of a leader is ever changing. A leader needs to be the guiding path of all the employees and the leader needs to use all techniques and concepts to take the organization where it belongs to. It can be stated that, Leadership is both an art and science. It is an art because it uses the application of creativity and innovation in an organization and it is a science because it makes use of various tools, principles and techniques in order to achieve the goals of the organization or that of a leader. The given essay highlighted various points which proved that leadership is both an art as well as a science. The essay provided a brief introduction as to why leadership is considered to be an art. It reflected the statement using the Behavioral theory and the Traits theory. Art requires imagination and inbuilt skills, which is an essential aspect of leadership as well. In the same manner, the reasons why leadership is a science have also been provided. Leadership is referred to as a science because; it involves learning and development of scientific knowledge along with skills which include the knowledge of various functions of the organization. The reasons by it are considered to be a science has been discussed briefly. Hence, Leadership is that skill of an organization which can be both inbuilt as well as learnt. It is dependent on the individual who is bound to be a leader to learn the skills he has not been bestowed with and utilize his inbuilt skills to strive towards a successful goal completion of the organization. References Amanchukwu, R.N., Stanley, G.J. and Ololube, N.P., 2015. A review of leadership theories, principles and styles and their relevance to educational management.Management,5(1), pp.6-14. Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017.The nature of leadership. Sage publications. Bhatti, N., Maitlo, G.M., Shaikh, N., Hashmi, M.A. and Shaikh, F.M., 2012. The impact of autocratic and democratic leadership style on job satisfaction.International Business Research,5(2), p.192. Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017.Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. John Wiley Sons. Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017.Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. 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