The Notion of Leadership and Ways of Leading for Organisational Change Essay

The Notion of Leadership and Ways of Leading for Organisational Change - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that in contemporary business environments, the terms management and leadership are often utilized to describe the activities and obligations of those enlisted to allocate resources in order to achieve strategic goals. Though they are often used interchangeably, the conceptions are quite different. Management involves the tangible coordination of activities and people to achieve specific objectives, consisting of efficient resource allocation and control over people and their job roles. Leadership, on the other hand, is fundamentally different. Leadership is a more socially-based type of influence in which a person procures support and assistance from others within the organisation in the hopes of achieving a common goal Leaders, unlike managers, seek followership through the process of guiding others, using a variety of strategies to build trust, strengthen social relationships, and generally motivate others to achieve their maximum produc tivity and organisational commitment. To be a competent leader, a person must have many different traits that differ from traditional command-and-control management. Such traits include emotional intelligence, extraversion, maintaining a general openness to new experiences, and self-efficacy. Leadership, in many cases, is more valuable than traditional management activities, especially in dynamic and ever-changing organizational environments. In organizations where change is constant and a part of the organizational model, it requires a competent leader to build a culture of commitment as it is a common occurrence that employees will inherently resist change. Hence, it takes a leader to ensure that goals are achieved; new practices are adopted by employees and ensure that change activities are embraced by the organizational population.