Leadership and organization

Essay by olgjUniversity, Bachelor'sB, January 2010

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IntroductionThe aim of this article is to present what leadership is, and to analyze how the leadership of people can contribute to effective organizational behavior and development. In order to do this, it is important to define what the difference between management and leadership. After that, there will be the definition of all functions of leadership, such as: establishing direction function of leadership, the aligning people function of leadership and motivating and inspiring function of leadership. Also, the theories of different types of leadership and relationship will be present.

Main bodyDifferences between management and leadershipWhen looking at how the leadership can contribute to effective organizational behavior, development through leadership it is important to establish the differences between management and leadership. Some theorists hold the opinion that leadership is one area of the management role and in order to be a successful manager they must possess some leadership skills by default.

The argument for differentiating between leaders and managers was started by Zaleznik (1977, 2004) in 'Manager and Leaders: Are they different?' where he argued "the difference between managers and leaders lies in the conceptions they hold, deep in their psyches, of chaos and order". A more recent argument suggests that "a manager can be regarded as someone who by definition is assigned a position of leadership in an organization" (Buchanan and Huczynski, 1985). This definition suggests that managers are in positions of leadership but may not necessarily be leaders. The definition therefore suggests that leadership is in some way an extension of the management function.

In 'what leaders really do' Kotter (1990, 2001) argues that "Leadership is not necessarily better than management. Rather leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities". In the article Kotter identifies what he sees...