Leadership Styles and Traits

No form of organization has ever existed without leadership. However, an individual need not be the senior officer or commander to be a leader. Nevertheless, for an organization to function with some degree of efficiency, having a leader at its head is important. If a leader is also a good manager, that is even better. While leadership and management are terms that are often used interchangeably, they are not the same. By definition and in practice, leadership and management are different functions. Management deals with the "thing" or technical side of a job, relying on control and power by position, while leadership deals with the people side, inspiring trust and power by influence. Thus managers have subordinates, and leaders have followers. Both, however, are important functions. This section will deal first with the traits and situational effectiveness of three leadership styles: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez faire, and only casually with management. Then remarks on leadership definitions, leader traits, and factors influencing style choice will precede a summary of the path-goal theory that identifies four leader behaviors, which depend on situation factors and follower characteristics.