Leadership

Leadership is defined as a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. The study of leadership has been a popular topic for debate since scholars first recognized the impact it has on the success of an organization. According to (), there are five major approaches for studying leadership

a. Trait approach – considered one of the earliest theories for studying leadership, this theory emphasizes on the attributes of leaders such as personality, motives, values and skills. This theory is based on an assumption that some people are natural leaders and are endowed with certain traits that other people don’t necessarily have.

b. Behavior approach – this approach was a result of researchers realizing limitation with the trait approach and pays closer attention to what managers actually tend to do on the job. There are two lines of research in this with one focusing more on how managers spend their time on the job while another focusing more on identifying effective leadership behavior.

a. Power-influence approach – this seeks to explain leadership effectiveness in terms of the amount and type of power possessed by a leader and how power is exercised. According to this approach, power is viewed as important not only for influencing subordinates, but also for influencing peers, superiors, and people outside the organization, such as clients and suppliers

a. Situational approach - this approach emphasizes the importance of contextual factors that influence leadership processes. There are two lines of research in this similar to behavioral approach, with one attempting to the extent to which leadership processes are the same or unique across different types of organizations, levels of management and cultures. The other line of research attempts to identify aspects of the situation that “moderate” the relationship of leader attributes (e.g., traits, skills,...