Does Leadership Really Make a Difference?

Does Leadership Really Make A Difference?

By Patrick Ryan

Introduction

Leadership is a common phenomenon in many organizations. Many researchers believe that leadership is vital in an organization because it influences the productivity of an organization. Some believe that leaders do not play a significant role in enhancing productivity. They believe that leaders manage existing policies of an organization, so they cannot affect the progress of the company. Leaders motivate their followers to achieve their goals. Effective leaders are visionary and their lives inspire others to achieve success since many organizations appoint their leaders according to merit. Leaders should ensure that people have an environment that gives them the drive for success. Leaders may also bring negative changes. This happens when a leader does not have the relevant skills of leadership. Most of these leaders get right by chance and not through merit. The analysis of leadership roles and characteristics reveals why leaders are vital in an organization.

According to many researchers, leaders only enforce the rules of an organization, so they do not affect organizational performance. They claim that performance depends on the followers and not the leaders. Leaders are people who seek to achieve success. They strive to make their team members successful. The lives of effective leaders motivate their followers. Leaders manage the policies of an organization, so they affect performance. They make sure that every member follows all the company rules and they guide them through the path to success. Leaders also help to create organizational cultures that enhance success. They punish those who do not adhere to the rules of an organization. A leader is responsible for the well-being of a team, so when performance goes down the organization know whom to blame. A company cannot fire all its employees because of poor results. They question the leaders because their role is to make sure that they maintain or heighten the profits. Leaders help to create a favorable environment for their followers to reach set goals. Leadership affects an organization because the skills vary according to individuals. Many companies feel the difference when they change leaders. Some leaders only have oratory skills. These leaders may not help their team members to reach their goals because their actions do not match their words. Effective leaders have both oratory and presentation skills. These leaders are most effective because they prove to their followers that what they say is practical. Political leaders show how leadership brings change. Every country has laws that every citizen must follow. Political leaders enable their followers to understand why they should abide by the rules. For instance, a political leader who realizes that their region has increasing rates of crime will try to find the causes. They will try and understand their needs of their followers. People steal because they do not have money to acquire what they want, so an excellent political leader will try to create employment for these people to acquire what they want and or what they need. The leader will bring positive change because crime will reduce.

Social constructionist claim that individuals have heroic views of leaders, which makes them believe that leaders are always right. They also claim that the heroic view makes people develop unrealistic concepts about leadership. Social constructionists claim that the society influences people to have unrealistic beliefs of the capabilities of leaders and the impacts they have in people's lives. Leaders are people who understand the needs of their followers. They know how to deal with each member of their team and offer suitable solutions to the problems of each individual. People have heroic views of leaders because an effective leaders know when and how to encourage an individual who seems to follow the wrong path. People who attain their success through the guidance of a leader will always view the leader as heroic, brave, etc. so the society has nothing to do with an individual's opinion about leadership. Leaders are heroic because in most cases they make significant differences in the lives of individuals and organizations. The leader acts as the savior in their lives. A perfect example