Leadership, Leadership, Leadership

Leadership is the "Big Word" in management circles these days.  Although this term may be "hackneyed" because of the many books, articles, and courses dealing with this subject, Leadership is the most important competency needed in all organizations today.  It always was needed, but was not recognized or adequately emphasized.

Although there are natural personal traits that give a person leadership ability (the "Trait Theory"), leadership skills can be learned.  Leadership is all about attitude and behavior.   For those who haven't been blessed with the natural ability it will be hard work to attain the skills.  But it can be done.  William James, a noted Psychologist (1842 - 1910) said so:

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind."  William James

 

Management and Leadership augment each other but they are not the same.  Management is process and procedure oriented.  It involves mainly administrative skills.  Leadership, on the other hand, is mainly human relations and behavior oriented.  The diagram below illustrates this relationship in an over-simplified way:

If you aspire to be a great leader, you will become a serious student of human behavior.  You will develop the emotional intelligence (EQ) skills required to be successful.