ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y.

BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU

Chapter 2
LEADERSHIP
DEFINITION
According to Louis Allen,
 “A leader is one who guides and directs other people. He gives the efforts to his followers
a direction and purpose by influencing their behaviour.”

CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERSHIP:
1. Followers or Subordinates:
- Leaders always have followers. In organisations, followers are the subordinates.
- There are always some people who must follow the orders of the leaders.

2. Acceptance of Leadership:
- Leader gives instructions and orders to his followers. If the followers accept his leadership, then
only they will follow the orders of the leader.
- If the followers do not accept him as a leader, they will not follow the orders.
- The leader directs and guides all the followers.

3. Common objectives:
- The leader gives direction to all his followers towards the common objectives of the organisation.
- The leader explains the common objectives to his followers. He also removes all the obstacles /
barriers in their path so that the objective is achieved.

4. Working relationship:
- There is a working relationship between leader and his followers. This means that the leader
works alongwith his followers.
- The leader takes people with him. He remains active along with his followers in the organisation.

5. Harmony of Interests:
- The interest of leader and his followers is same. They cannot work for different purposes.
- The leader must try to solve the differences among his followers. He must try to explain them the
common objective of everyone.
- The leader must convince his followers that all must work for common goal of the company.

6. Continuous process:
- Leadership is a continuous process.
- The work of a leader continues till the organisation exists.
- The leader has to instruct, train and guide his followers everyday and whenever required.
- Thus leadership is a continuous process in any organisation.

7. Exemplary conduct:
- The leader must always set an example in front of his followers.
- For example, if the leader himself comes late, then he cannot expect his followers to come in
time.
- Hence, a leader must always try to prove his point by first doing the job himself and then expect
his followers to do the same.

8. Situational:
- Leadership depends on situation. It means that different types of leadership develops in different
situation. The quality of leadership required in different type of situation is different.

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 ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU
LEADERSHIP STYLES / TECHNIQUES
Following are some of the important styles / techniques of leadership;

1. AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP
DEFINITION: Autocratic leadership is a management style in which one person controls all the
decisions and takes very little suggestions from group members or subordinates. Autocratic
leaders make choices or decisions based on their own beliefs and do not involve others for their
suggestion or advice.

CHARACTERISTICS: Following are some characteristics of an autocratic leader;

 Retention of Power:
- An autocratic manager does not delegate any authority to any of his subordinates. This helps
sometimes because it helps in making quick decisions.
 Orders:
- There are two methods of getting work done: One is by request and Second is by giving orders.
- Autocratic leader gets work done by giving orders to his subordinates.
- He continuously reminds his employees that they are his subordinates and he is their boss.
- This type of working may not be liked by educated employees. They are more comfortable in
democratic situations.
- The leader does not allow their subordinates to be creative.
- The leader believes that the best way to get work done is by giving orders only.
 Close supervision:
- In an autocratic style, the leader keeps a close watch on the activities of the workers. He closely
supervises his employees.
- This might help in increasing productivity and speed. Quality may improve, as the employees'
work is monitored constantly. Time wasting and the need to waste resources are also reduced.
 Total Control:
- Autocratic leadership can work well for managers who prefer having complete control over an
operation.
- Because the outcome is totally in his hands, the manager does not experience the stress of having
to depend for help from outside his work area to complete the project or task.
- These types of leaders like to totally control the actions of others.

ADVANTAGES: Following are the advantages of Autocratic style of leadership;

1. This type of leadership is useful when the subordinates are newly recruited. Newly recruited
employees need guidance and instructions. They cannot make decisions. Hence, autocratic style
is more suitable.
2. Decision making is very fast in autocratic style of leadership. Hence in case of emergency, this
type of leadership works better.
3. This type of leadership works better when subordinates are not prepared to handle the
responsibility.
4. This type of leadership is useful when employees fear insecurity of service and when they work
better under detailed instructions.
5. This method is useful when there is clear chain of command (leader) and a clear authority.
6. This method is useful when secrets of decision are to be maintained strictly.

DISADVANTAGES: Following are some disadvantages of autocratic style of leadership;

1. In this type of leadership, there is one-way communication. This type of communication may
create misunderstanding among the subordinates.
2. A decision taken by autocratic leader might be dangerous in today’s technological age.

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 ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU
3. This type of leadership does not give any freedom to employees.
4. Employees do not become creative as the instructions given are detailed.
5. This method fails when employees are educated and like to work in democratic environment.
6. The autocratic leader is always over-burdened because he likes to perform all the work himself.
7. Since the employees do not have any authority, they leave the organization as quickly as possible.
8. This type of leadership might result in misuse of power.
9. The suggestions of employees are not considered. Hence the organization does not get the
benefits of it.

2. CONSULTATIVE / DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP

MEANING: This is a democratic method of getting things done by the subordinates. The manager
consults his subordinates and invites their suggestions before making a decision.

CHARACTERISTICS:
1. Involved: The main feature of a participative leader is his involvement. He is physically present
with his employees during the work. His involvement encourages the staff. They know he will be
there for support.
2. Open to Suggestion: The manager listens to others and considers their ideas. He is humble and
accepts when subordinates present improved ideas. The final decision is still taken by the leader.
This democratic leader is respected by his staff.
3. Team Builder: The leader guides his team to make a better teamwork. Teamwork can help in
produce good results. This type of leader always try to form a good team which can produce
great results for the organisation.
4. Empowering: The participative leader empowers others. This is done by giving opportunities to
employees in making decisions. The leader is also there to support the employees when they
make mistakes.

ADVANTAGES:
1. The productivity and job satisfaction of employee increases because they are allowed to
participate in decision making.
2. The employees feel important as their suggestions and opinions are considered while making
decisions.
3. Since employees are involved in decision making, they are motivated in implementing the
decision.
4. Morale and discipline of employee is very high as they are involved in decision making.
5. This type of leadership develops trust and cooperation among employees.
6. It gives an opportunity to employees to develop leadership qualities.
7. Power is not concentrated with one person. This helps in reducing corruption.

DISADVANTAGES:
1. This method is normally useful when employees are more educated and responsible in their
work.
2. This style of leadership is based on the assumption that the goals of employees and goals are
organizations are same. However, this is not always true.
3. There must be full trust between the leader and employees for this method to be successful. But
this is not always possible in practice.
4. When the suggestions of employees are not considered, they may feel hurt and frustrated.
5. Decision making requires more time. This may waste time in case of emergency situations.
6. Leaders usually do not use this style because there is a feeling that they might lose the control
over the employees.

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 ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU
7. Leaders may not take the responsibility of the result as they may find an excuse that it was a
group effort and not his own.

FREE-REIGN LEADERSHIP

MEANING: In this type of leadership, the leader gives total freedom. The subordinates are
encouraged to develop independent thoughts and action. Subordinates are encouraged to make
their own decision in their work. Thus, the leader believes in delegating work to his
subordinates. He does not use too much of supervision. The leader helps the subordinates
during problems.

CHARACTERISTICS:
1. Delegation: The leader delegates authority to his employees. The leader believes in the capacity
of his employees. The experienced subordinates are given more authority. Here the leader shows
more trust among his subordinates. Subordinates also put maximum efforts to prove their
capacity.
2. Instructions: The leader does not give detailed instructions to subordinates. He only gives general
instructions. For example, Sales manager (leader) gives quota to his salesman (subordinate). After
this salesman will decide which customers to contact for selling the product.
3. Supervision: It is not that the leader does not provide adequate supervision. The leader interferes
less in the work of the subordinate but also supervises when required.
4. Communication: There is a free communication flow between the leader and his subordinates.
Whenever there is a problem faced by the subordinate, he/she communicates with his/her
leader. Thus there is a healthy discussion between the leader and his subordinates.

ADVANTAGES:
1. Employees enjoy freedom in this style of leadership.
2. Employees are more creative when they are given freedom in their work.
3. This is a good method when employees are highly educated, motivated and goal oriented.
4. This style helps in developing the hidden abilities of subordinates.

DISADVANTAGES:
1. Sometimes, this technique results into mismanagement because of total freedom given to the
employees.
2. Since there is no final decision making authority, this technique may create an atmosphere of
insecurity and frustration among employees.
3. Sometimes the employees may not cooperate with other employees. This may create problems in
team-work.
4. Some employees may be worried about their personal achievement only. They may ignore team-
goals.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEADER AND MANAGER

The major difference between leadership and management are as under:

1. Leadership is a about leading people through encouraging them. Management is a process of

managing the activities of the organisation. Leaders try to influence people by his charisma. Manager
performs activities like planning, organizing, directing and controlling.
2. Leadership requires trust of followers on his leader. Leaders build relationship with his followers
on the basis of trust. Managers try to control his subordinates by comparing their performance with the
planned work.

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 ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU
3. Leadership is a skill of influencing others while Management is the quality of the ruling. A Leader
must have a skill to influence people by his actions. Managers act as a boss of his subordinates.
4. Leaders have charismatic personality. It means they do not force others to follow them. Followers
actually like to follow the leaders. Managers personality is of a supervisor. He would expect results based
on targets and managerial activities.
5. Leaders usually do not take credit of any positive things that happens in organisation. He gives
credit to his followers. Managers usually take away the credit of doing things successfully.
6. Leaders are people-focussed, whereas managers are work-focussed. Leaders try to bring change
in people. Managers bring results by performing work properly.
7. Leaders normally keep long term vision in mind. Managers actions are normally of short term
nature. Hence, actions taken by leaders are of long term nature whereas managers act for short term
results.
8. In leadership, principles and guidelines are established, whereas, in the case of management,
policies and procedures are implemented.
9. Leadership is Proactive. Proactive means leaders act before any problem arises. Managers act on
the situation when problem arises. Hence, management is reactive in nature.
10. Leadership brings change. Whenever a change is to brought in an organisation, leaders will be
needed. They help in bringing and implementing the change. On the other hand, Management brings
stability. Managers continuously try and establish the system as earlier.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Management is a challenging job. It requires certain skills to accomplish such a challenge. Thus, essential
skills which every manager needs for doing a better management are called as Managerial Skills.
According to Professor Robert Katz, there are three managerial skills, viz.,
1. Conceptual Skills,
2. Human Relations Skills, and
3. Technical Skills.
According to Prof. Robert Katz, all managers require above three managerial skills. However, the degree
(amount) of these skills required varies (changes) from levels of management and from an organisation to
organisation.

The above picture or diagram shows the managerial skills which are required by managers working at
different levels of management. The top-level managers require more conceptual skills and less technical
skills. The lower-level managers require more technical skills and fewer conceptual skills. Human relations
skills are required equally by all three levels of management.

1. Conceptual Skills:

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 ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, F.Y. BCA (Sem 2), VNSGU
Conceptual skill is the ability to visualise (see) the organisation as a whole. It includes Analytical, Creative
and Initiative skills. It helps the manager to identify the causes of the problems and not the symptoms. It
helps him to solve the problems for the benefit of the entire organisation. It helps the manager to fix
goals for the whole organisation and to plan for every situation. According to Prof. Robert Katz,
conceptual skills are mostly required by the top-level management because they spend more time in
planning, organising and problem solving.

2. Human Relations Skills:

Human relations skills are also called Interpersonal skills. It is an ability to work with people. It helps the
managers to understand, communicate and work with others. It also helps the managers to lead,
motivate and develop team spirit. Human relations skills are required by all managers at all levels of
management. This is so, since all managers have to interact and work with people.

3. Technical Skills:
A technical skill is the ability to perform the given job. Technical skills help the managers to use different
machines and tools. It also helps them to use various procedures and techniques. The low-level managers
require more technical skills. This is because they are incharge of the actual operations.
Apart from Prof. Robert Katz's three managerial skills, a manager also needs (requires) following
additional managerial skills.

4. Communication Skills:
Communication skills are required equally at all three levels of management. A manager must be able to
communicate the plans and policies to the workers. Similarly, he must listen and solve the problems of
the workers. He must encourage a free-flow of communication in the organisation.

5. Administrative Skills:
Administrative skills are required at the top-level management. The top-level managers should know how
to make plans and policies. They should also know how to get the work done. They should be able to co-
ordinate different activities of the organisation. They should also be able to control the full organisation.

6. Leadership Skills:
Leadership skill is the ability to influence human behaviour. A manager requires leadership skills to
motivate the workers. These skills help the Manager to get the work done through the workers.

7. Problem Solving Skills:

Problem solving skills are also called as Design skills. A manager should know how to identify a problem.
He should also possess an ability to find a best solution for solving any specific problem. This requires
intelligence, experience and up-to-date knowledge of the latest developments.

8. Decision Making Skills:

Decision-making skills are required at all levels of management. However, it is required more at the top-
level of management. A manager must be able to take quick and correct decisions. He must also be able
to implement his decision wisely. The success or failure of a manager depends upon the correctness of his
decisions

=====================================THE END===================================

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ZAKIR PATEL, NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI - 2017