Leadership

The technological development which the current world experiences, influences all aspects of contemporary life. This evolution requires from all kind of organizations an adaptation as great as their environment change. To be efficient and competitive each organization needs to continually change their goals and the means to achieve them.

The change has become a characteristic of modern times is a phenomenon that is always gaining in frequency and amplitude. This form of change should not be seen as a handicap to progress but as an opportunity for development The concept of leadership is gaining more and more meaning and importance in view of its role in the management and implementation of a process that allows change to take place within any organization and this in the goal of always making it dynamic and efficient; this efficiency depends closely on the speed of reaction and the degree of commitment of employees whose membership is not always won in advance In this context the role of leadership aims to be an essential means to support this kind of change and this by following methodology to operate these changes in a flexible and efficient way.

It is in the light of the above that, it required emphasizing the role of leadership in the change process within an organization and what is the most effective way to achieve it.

1. Leadership definition:

There are several leadership definitions with various points of views and interpretations, fluctuating between relationship among persons marked by a sense of authority and who represents a determining factor in the success of an organization.

Leadership may be a process, an ability or a relationship between people in the work environment. However, leadership is a process of giving purpose to collective effort, and causing willing effort to be expended to achieve purpose1. In the other hand, leadership is the ability of developing and communicating a vision to a group of people that will make this vision true .

Furthermore, the concept of leadership is in a constant flux with plethora of definitions. In fact this creates a debate about the perspectives of leadership constructions, embracing the social, the political and the military structure. Hence, some scholar say that leadership is about influence and some say that this is about authority, while it can be eclectic depending on the institution that is concerned.

2 Leadership theories

A review of leadership requires an evolving series of theories throughout history which vary from one school of thought to another.

There are theories which focus on behaviours and attitudes rather than the role of followers in the work environment and vice versa.

First of all, The Trait Approach arose from the “Great Man” theory as a way of identifying the key characteristics of successful leaders. It was believed that through this approach critical leadership traits could be isolated and that people with such traits could then be recruited, selected, and installed into leadership positions. This approach was common in the military and is still used as a set of criteria to select candidates for commissions.

The problem with the trait approach lies in the fact that many traits were identified. After several years of such research, it became apparent that no consistent traits could be adopted in the study of the approach and its application. Although some traits were found in a considerable number of studies, the results were generally inconclusive. Some leaders might have possessed certain traits but the absence of them did not necessarily mean that the person was not a leader.

3 Leadership styles

This part introduces some effective leadership styles, evaluates some different styles of leadership and suggests ways to use them to empower staff within any organization.

On the one hand, toxic leadership is an extreme form of transactional leadership, where a leader relies on threats and punishment to influence staff. In fact, this style can create the worst level of discontent and can lead to a revolution. Autocratic leadership is also a classical approach which has been greatly criticized during the past 30 years where the leader retains as much power and decision in order to make authority as possible. In addition, the chief does not consult his followers, nor trust them, nor allow them to give any input.

The staff are expected to obey orders without receiving any explanations, also the team’s output does not benefit from the experiences and the creativity of all team members; so many of the advantages of teamwork are lost. This method is a structured set of rewards and punishments. That said, toxic leadership may reperesent authority but fails greatly because decisions are made without consulting anyone.

On the other hand, Democratic leadership involve people in their decisions, even that the last decision is taking by them. Participants in settings that have a democratic leader may appreciate being consulted; however, they might be confused when they are face to face with a range of opinions with no clear way to reach a decision.

In short, globally defined as a relationship linking a leader to his subordinates, leadership has given birth to several theories which have generated a multitude of styles of leadership which are essential within a changing organization.