LEADERSHIP

Objectives: At the end of this session student should be able to:

·         Define leadership 0 Discuss factors that influence leadership

·         Describe how to gain leadership

·         Discuss leadership styles

·         State the best leadership style in any given situation. Lecture/Discussion on:

DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP:

Leadership is that part of management that is concerned with getting result is through people, or as the key to effective performance".

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE LEADERSHIP

Factors that influence leadership: Intelligence leaders are supposed to be more intelligent than average followers.

·        Social Maturity leaders should be more emotionally stable, they should be able to handle situations better than followers.

·        Inner Motivation and Drive: leaders should have the inner drive to get work clone.

·        Human relations and attitude: a good manager should realize that work must be clone through people and should therefore inculcate in people a good working relationship

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HOW TO GAIN LEADERSHIP/TYPE

a.       Natural Leadership in natural leadership, the leader is not appointed, but people relate to the leader in terms of official matters. It is a leader that develops naturally and solves problems for others.

b.      Vested Leadership that is leadership by appointment or election. Here the subordinates voluntarily elect who the leaders should be.

c.       Technical Leadership this is the leadership in an emergency situation, as for instance, in case of disaster or in hospital situation, the leaders are mostly technical leaders.

LEADERSHIP STYLES

Ø Autocratic Style that is, do what I say.
Persuasive style characterized by leader giving instruction, permit discussion but does not change.
Constitutive that is characterized by bringing problems to group or subordinates for discussion, then a consensus is reached. Democratic does not make decisions but brings a problem to the group and he lets all do their thing.

Ø Laissez-Faire this is characterized by, ‘do what you like”.
Benevolent this type of leadership, the leader assumes a paternalistic role and forces the employees to rely on him for their satisfaction. The leader is expected to command good respect and allegiance from his subordinates. He does not really allow them participate fully. The subordinates are not exposed to management ability.

BEST LEADERSHIP STYLE IN ANY GIVEN SITUATION

The best leadership style depends on a given situation e.g. autocratic style will be the best in an outbreak of cholera epidemic as it is a situation of emergency. Consultative style is the most suitable for working with community members etc.