Introduction
The main impulses in the study of leadership occurred during the First World War. Period during which a great interest arose in identifying the characteristics of leadership and the way in which men rise to managerial positions.
The next stage of interest in this topic arose during industrialization. The development of large businesses and organizations was found to result in the lack of new leadership.
In many organizations, people in managerial positions are promoted because of their family relationships with owners or high-ranking employees.
The following studies on leadership focused on finding the psychological traits inherent in effective leaders. Characteristics such as: intelligence, will, sociability and conditions of authority, but their validation was unsuccessful.
Another approach is the double factor theories, whose object of study is the behavior of the leader. The epicenter is the degree of participation that the boss allows subordinates during the search for alternatives and especially in decision-making.
The Scientific-Technical Revolution caused a radical change in management issues. The leader is forced to develop skills focused on human resources, such as: motivation, delegation of authority, etc. It was called Situational Leadership, since it takes the situation as an additional element to influence the effectiveness of leadership.
What is leadership?
Over time, different authors have ventured to extend their own definition of leadership in an attempt to homogenize criteria and conceptualize it in a definitive way, but trying to carry out this activity must take into account that there are as many types of leadership as there are personalities.
The word leader, according to the Latin etymology, comes from the Latin "lid", also from the word "lis-litis" which means dispute, quarrel or a certain process of discussion. For its part, the Saxon etymology tells us that this word derives from "laden" which became "laeden" and the latter in turn into "leit", which itself means; person who guides others. The Romans recognized two types:
The poets: those who possessed a power determined by the function of their position (formal authority).
Auctoritas: those people who enjoyed a power granted by the people (independent of any formal position), which can be understood as moral.
We can understand that it is the ability of the person who acts as a leader to influence the group in a human way, achieving that together the objectives are achieved with the best will and maximum performance. It must also create an environment suitable for group performance.
Every company needs a leader to identify and trust. A leader in the company must first of all be cooperative and know how to listen, never a leader in the company must be lonely because he will isolate himself more and more and end up falling alone.
A leader should never lose focus or patience towards his group and task. Another point that you must take care of is not to be selfish or fear the abilities of your subordinates, and therefore you should not avoid their development. On the contrary, if you notice that some of them have a great capacity and, as they say colloquially, "wood" you should pay special attention to how to promote these characteristics and help you increase them.
A bad company leader can be detrimental and cost you millions and even bankrupt you. In general, a bad leader is one who loses the notion of location, losing the sense of orientation, feeding his ego and visualizing himself in a position or position of greater relevance without adequately achieving the tasks he currently occupies.
Some of the skills that most require a leader are:
Coordination: in order to carry out one's own tasks and those of the group in the same direction and without hindering each other.
Goal Achievement - Meeting goals is important, as it is often how companies measure performance.
Organizational capacity: knowing how to order tasks and assign them the necessary time for their correct achievement.
Interpersonal communication: you must have enough tact when speaking and leading the group.
Creativity: it is necessary to have options and when faced with a new situation discover a new one to guide the group.
Clear vision of the objectives: it is of utmost importance to always be clear about where the group is going and why, otherwise the efforts could be in vain.
High sense of responsibility - This is based on the principle of leading by example. You cannot demand what you do not have or do not know how to do.
Sensitivity: Without this sense, the needs of group members may be overlooked in time to correct or provide support.
Are leaders born or made?
There are different approaches to addressing the question of whether managers possess certain innate traits that define them as great leaders or, simply, they are professionals who have opted for the training and continuous development of leadership skills (they have made themselves themselves as managers).
Leaders are born
It is true that there are people who innately have characteristics that make it easier for them to assume the role of leader than others. Some of these traits are:
- Desire to achieve goals Show greater energy Ease of leadership Well-established values Creativity Charisma Responsible Self-confidence Insightfulness Greater or better understanding of the environment Ease of speech Sociability
For the most part these leaders tend to be the charismatic type.
Leaders are made
In this case we must focus on the argument that leadership is not a natural ability. It feeds the possibility that we can all become leaders if we place it as one of our main objectives. This would depend on professional experience, the development of communication skills, personal relationships and above all on the effort and attitude that is taken.
Every day we can see cases where managers who achieve professional success in certain companies, but do not experience the same fate in others. We also meet people who, according to their abilities, become leaders when facing certain conditions without having previously served as such.
With this in mind we can affirm that the skills and ability to be an effective manager can be acquired.
Types of leadership
As mentioned above we can find various types of leadership, some of the most common are listed below.
Autocrat: this assumes all responsibility and is the only one who makes decisions, initiates actions, directs, motivates and controls the subordinate.
Entrepreneur: it is participatory, consults those around him. Although only he makes decisions and gives specific guidelines, he takes into account the ideas and opinions of the group.
Liberal: this delegates to his subordinates the authority to make decisions.
Proactive: he promotes the development of the potential of the people who make up the group.
Audacious: they are usually the founders or creators of an institution or company. He has the passion and ingenuity to realize the ideals that are believed to be unattainable.
Bureaucratic: their actions go hand in hand with the manual and the instructions it dictates. In this case, it is sought that the actions of the group are precise.
Charismatic: their best ability is to inspire and as a result the group follows unconditionally, causing great levels of enthusiasm and energy in
his actions. One of the aspects to be discussed is that they may not reach the goal as often as the previous ones.
Transforming: transforming or inspiring is one that is focused on the use of emotional intelligence. They are characterized by being humble and lead by example. Often they manage to modify the scale of values, they disagree with the established and propose new alternatives.
Diplomat: This type of leader plays his role, but knows when to intervene and when to give the turn to others. They seek to be closer to the people they have to lead.
Democratic: prioritizes group participation. It allows them to decide the way forward, knows how to channel the discussion at its highest level in an orderly manner in order to obtain more details, offers options and makes their decisions based on the general opinion of the group.
Lateral: they are people who belong to the same rank as the group led.
This leader cares about the needs, present and future, his own and that of his colleagues. In his conception of the group, he does not consider it as a means to achieve the desired results.
Participative: has the ability to listen to others, discern their needs and above all, has a genuine interest in the progress of people. The group follows him because it identifies with him.
conclusion
To be a leader requires a strong will, constant discipline and putting values into practice. You need various skills that make you above all a human being with sufficient sensitivity to understand the importance of your posture and your goals, to find the potential of each member of your group to increase and exploit it to the maximum. This, together with a clear vision of the objectives and great creativity, make it easier for you to design the best route to achieve the tasks that are entrusted to you.
In short, a leader is plain and simple, a person who can help other people to achieve their goals.
