Leadership and Management: Concepts, Theories, and Evaluation of Development Programs

Leadership & Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Leadership and management concept and theories.....................................................................1
Evaluation of the leadership development programmes..............................................................6
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Leadership and management are two concepts which are always mistaken as the same thing
whereas they vary in the essence. Leaders have people who follow them whereas managers
simply have individuals who happen to be working for them. In the words of Chemers (2014),
management is a process under which managers ensure that work is being carried out according
to the plans and budgeted standards whereas leadership is a process which involves
comprehension and belief of people in the vision that a leader has set for the company and
getting people to work willingly for achieving or realising that vision. Both the concepts
complement each other and should go hand in hand. Leadership and management theories have a
significant impact on the organisations with respect to preparation of leadership development
programmes. These theories help the managers of the firm to understand what are the features or
characteristics that distinguish a leader from a manager and the companies then develop their
complete training programmes and modules with an aim to inculcate those qualities in the
trainees. It helps the managers to identify key traits of leaders and efficient managers. Without
knowing what makes a leader, it is very difficult to prepare a programme aimed at development
of leadership within the organisation. In this essay, various theories and concepts of leadership
and management have been reviewed and an attempt has been made to understand the relevance
of these theories in organisational context. Further, on the basis of evaluation of these concepts
and approaches to leadership and management, an evaluation of some leadership development
programme has been made with the objective of ascertaining the fruitfulness and impact of those
programme in development of leadership qualities in the trainees and creating a leadership
pipeline in the organisation for future leaders and managers.
TASK 1
Leadership and management concept and theories.
While leadership involves the process of influencing someone’s behaviour, management is a
concept that involves planning and achieving an goal. Various managerial and leadership
concepts and theories have been put forward by scholars and authors that help an individual to
understand the process and the factors that affect its magnitude and effectiveness. In the
following essay, some of the leadership theories are being discussed and evaluated to understand
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the concept better and similarities and differences between them are being analysed. Here are
two of the most profound theories of leadership:
Trait theory of Leadership:
As per the views of Wildavsky (2018), great leaders are born with some personality traits
which help in effective leadership. Because of this belief, there is an assumption that those
people who posses such traits and qualities are well-suited for leadership. These traits are viewed
as innate and people are seen to born leaders. The trait theory of leadership is fundamentally
based on features or personality traits of leaders which determine their success. This theory helps
in determining effectiveness of a leader. The traits which have been identified under this theory
are compared with the actual traits or characteristics of potential leaders which helps in
determination of their success of failure. According to MALOŞ (2012), it puts forward the
argument that these traits are inherited and not something which can be developed over lifetime.
A number of research by many scholars has helped in identification of some of the key traits or
leadership qualities which are as follows:
Intelligence: Successful leaders are smart and make decisions which helps in moving
forward. A leader knows how to rationally arrive at a conclusion.
Assuming Responsibility: Effective leaders are quick in assuming responsibility. They
don’t blame others for failures. They take credit for the success and in similar fashion, assume
ownership for the failures.
Self-confidence: Effective leaders are very high on confidence and have a positive
mindset when it comes to execution of any task or job. They have a belief that they can do any
task just as better as anybody else. This high self-confidence helps them in being resilient and
keeps them going.
People-skills: Interpersonal skills are extremely important for leaders to influence the
behaviour of other people. Effective leaders have great communication skills and are very good
at interacting with people which helps them to easily comprehend people and get them on board
with their vision for the organisation.
Trustworthiness: Members or followers of a leader should be able to trust the leader with
his vision and strategies for realisation of that vision.
Creative: Effective leaders are very creative themselves and also help in fostering the
creativity among the people that they lead.
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