LEADERSHIP

Leadership

Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It's about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers.

Elements of good-quality leadership 
The essential elements to good leadership are :-

• Envisioning the future
• Inspiring and motivating people to accomplishment
• Clear communication with people
• Concern for people and their welfare
• Creativity and innovation in approach
• Rationality in decisions and strategy
• Supportive to subordinates
• Trustworthy and consistent in dealings and purpose.

Leadership styles 
Three types of leaders have been observed basing on how they use their authority in work,

• Autocratic leaders  -  The autocratic leadership style allows managers to make decisions alone without the input of others. Managers possess total authority and impose their will on employees. No one challenges the decisions of autocratic leaders. Countries such as Cuba and North Korea operate under the autocratic leadership style. This leadership style benefits employees who require close supervision. Creative employees who thrive in group functions detest this leadership style. Examples of autocratic leaders are Adolf Hitler, Attila the Hun, Father Junipero Serra, Genghis Khan, King Henry III, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Queen Elizabeth I.
• Democratic leaders -  Democratic leadership values the input of team members and peers, but the responsibility of making the final decision rests with the democratic leader. democratic leadership boosts employee morale because employees make contributions to the decision-making process. It causes them to feel as if their opinions matter. When a company needs to make changes within the organization, the democratic leadership style helps employees accept changes easily because they play a role in the process. Examples of democratic leadership. Examples of democratic leaders are Abraham Lincoln, Indra Nooyi, Muhtar Kent, Jeff Bezos.
• Free-rein leaders  -  Free-rein leaders give their team members a lot of freedom in how they do their work, and how they set their deadlines. They provide support with resources and advice if needed, but otherwise they don't get involved. This autonomy can lead to high job satisfaction, but it can be damaging if team members don't manage their time well, or if they don't have the knowledge, skills, or self motivation to do their work effectively.  Examples of free-rein leaders are Warren Buffet, Jack Welch, John . F. Kennedy, Ronald Regan. 

The management grid theory of leadership

 The management grid theory was developed in the early 1960s by management theorists Robert Blake and Jane Mouton. It plots a manager's or leader's degree of task-centeredness versus her person-centeredness, and identifies five different combinations of the two and the leadership styles they produce.

The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid is based on two behavioral dimensions:

Concern for People: this is the degree to which a leader considers team members' needs, interests and areas of personal development when deciding how best to accomplish a task.

Concern for Results: this is the degree to which a leader emphasizes concrete objectives, organizational efficiency and high productivity when deciding how best to accomplish a task.

Blake and Mouton defined five leadership styles based on these, as illustrated in the diagram below.

• Impoverished Management – Low Results/Low People - An impoverished leadership style involves a low level of concern for people and the organization's productivity. This sort of leader does the minimum necessary to maintain her position, but no more. For example, an impoverished leader of a construction company might assign workers jobs without considering their abilities and experience and also might ignore productivity and quality-control problems.
• Produce-or-Perish Management – High Results/Low People - Produce-or-Perish Management style of leadership style focuses on increasing productivity, even at the expense of worker morale. For example, this sort of leader in a clothing store might enforce strict rules governing worker scheduling in an effort to keep the store functioning smoothly, ignoring legitimate employee needs for scheduling flexibility. The end result is low morale and high worker turnover, both of which hurt productivity.
• Middle-of-the-Road Management – Medium Results/Medium People - A middle-of-the-road style of leadership involves a balanced but moderate level of concern for people and productivity. The middle-of-the-road leader doesn't let the needs of the worker outweigh the organization’s need for productivity, or vice versa. But the middle-of-the-road leader doesn't put as much effort and thought into performing his managerial duties as a team leader might. For example, a middle-of-the-road leader of a construction company might casually monitor job progress and allow workers to sort duties themselves.
• Country Club Management – High People/Low Results - A country-club leader pays more attention to the needs of people than to increasing productivity. For example, a leader with a country-club approach in a clothing store might allow employees to take long, unscheduled breaks and come in as late as they like, making it difficult for customers to get assistance with purchase.
• Team Management – High Production/High People - Team leadership style reflects a high level of concern for both people and productivity. For example, a team leader of a construction company would assign workers jobs based on their abilities and career development goals and carefully oversee jobs to ensure maximum quality and efficiency.

**If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.**