Introduction
Leadership is regarded as an influential ability that a person may possess over other members of society. As a leader one can use the powers vested in him or her to influence the behavior of others. Leadership and management are two different concepts that should not be confused, as voluntary cooperation is a leader’s main aim and coercion is a manager’s main device of influencing others. Most of the problems in the contemporary world are one way or the other attributed to leadership structure in the various sectors of society (Pride et al 179).
Leadership styles
Over the years leadership has been regarded as a summation of individual traits. However deciding on which traits are crucial for a leader, has proved to be a difficult task. This therefore has led to the incorporation of styles of leadership in the structure of leadership. There are many leadership styles that have emerged over the years, the common ones are:
Autocratic leadership style
In this type of leadership style, the whole process of decision making is regarded as a one-man show, as consultations with the subordinates are not conducted before making the decision. Once the decisions have been made, the subordinates are expected to implement them, as they are provided with regulations, rules, and guidelines on how to go about the implementation of the decisions (Kapena 25).
Participative leadership style
The participative type of leadership is common in the modern world of business organizations. Leaders that employ this type of leadership style, incorporate consultations in their decision-making process. The leader’s main role is to offer guidance on the decision to be made. A democratic leader is the other name of a participative leader.
Entrepreneurial leadership
This type of leadership mainly depends on personality. Despite the fact that each leader is different, the entrepreneurial personality is regarded to be the main driving force behind the leader. The leader in this style of leadership, the leader bears full responsibility for both the success as well as the failure of the organization.
Problems facing leaders
According to Warnka, modern leaders especially in organizations are faced with five critical problems. These problems include 1) The huge price the organizations pay due to ignorance of emotions by the leaders, 2) Perception of leaders in believing one way of leadership, 3) Objection of leaders in believing on the existence of negative ways of leadership, 4) Assumption by leaders on existence easy answers to leadership, and 5) Incorporating old structures of offering the first priority to the leaders (Warnka xxx).
Qualities of leaders
There are numerous qualities one can look for in a leader in order to ascertain his or her credibility in leadership positions. Character is one of these qualities, as it is attributed to making the individual ineffective. Influence is another critical quality. It is with influence that a leader can convince others of the way forward. A leader that does not possess people skills, which is another quality of a leader, is regarded as not having followers.
Conclusion
Leaders are mainly portrayed as an image of the society or organization they are leading. This, therefore, means that any negative or positive aftermath of decisions made will be attributed to the leaders. It is critical that the leaders should attain their own leadership style without pressure from external factors. Leaders are regarded to be self-developed or self-made as they learn and grow continually in order to rise to the occasions when the need arises for leadership skills (Tracy 13).
References
Kapena, Sumbye. How to be a wise leader: principles that work. Nairobi, Paulines Publications Africa. 2004.
Pride, M. William et al. Business. OH, South-Western. 2008.
Tracy, Brain. How the Best Leaders Lead: Proven Secrets to Getting the Most Out of yourself and others. NY, AMACOM. 2010.
Warneka, H. Timothy. Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today. OH, Asogomi Publishing International. 2006.