Leadership discussion Leadership discussion

Leadership traits and management skills are foundational for leading an organization, improving organizational structure, and making managerial decisions. As previously defined, leadership is “the ability to inspire confidence and support among the people who are needed to achieve organizational goals” (DuBrin, 2016, para 1). “Characteristics associated with leadership can be classified into three broad categories: personality traits, motives, and cognitive factors” (DuBrin, 2016, para 1). The personality traits of leaders’ can be divided into two groups, general personality and task-related traits (DuBrin, 2016). The general personality traits of an effective leaders are listed as: self-confidence, humility, core self-evaluations, trustworthiness, authenticity, extraversion, assertiveness, sense of humor, enthusiasm, optimism, and warmth (DuBrin, 2016). The task-related traits of an effective leaders are listed as: proactive personality, passion for work and the people, emotional intelligence, courage, flexibility, and adaptability (DuBrin, 2016).

John P. Kotter, a prominent leadership theorist, recognizes the importance of mangers knowing how to manage as well as lead (DuBrin, 2016). Organizations face extinction if they are not managed as well as being led (DuBrin, 2016). There are several key differences between leadership and management: “management produces order, consistency, and predictability”, “leadership produces change and adaptability to new products, new markets, new competitors, new customers, and new work processes”, “leadership, in contrast to management, involves having a vision of what the organization can become and mobilizing people to accomplish it”, “leadership produces change, often to a dramatic degree, such as by spearheading the launch of a new product or opening a new market for an old product” while “management is more likely to produce a degree of predictability and order”, “top-level leaders are likely to transform their organizations, whereas top-level managers just manage organizations”, “a leader creates a vision to direct the organization”, while “the key function of the manager is to implement the vision” (DuBrin, 2016, page 1-1C).

DuBrin, Andrew J. Leadership: research findings, practice, and skills. Cengage Learning, 2016.