“Leadership relates to motivation, interpersonal behaviour and the process of communication. ” It is a two way process influencing both individuals and organization’s performance. “Leadership does not necessarily take place in the hierarchical structure of the organization. ” (Mullins, 2005) Throughout the ancient history, leadership has remained an attribute of the individual. But in organizations, it has always been a matter of research. Individuals based on experience, seniority or expertise, are made leaders in formal organizations. But the same has always been researchable.
The quantity of contribution of an individual in a group indicates his or her intention to be a leader.
Leadership: A Group Phenomenon Likert (1961) proposed four systems of relationships in large organizations, namely: exploitative autocratic, benevolent autocratic, consultative and democratic. Leadership in exploitative and benevolent autocratic gives no opportunities for consulting between staff and management. In exploitative system the relationship is formal. In benevolent system sometimes staff is rewarded, but in exploitative system, there is only pressure of work and sometimes punishment also.
Whereas in consultative and democratic system, the relationship was friendly and flow of information is bi-directional. Likert made a measure with variables like, how decisions are taken, whose needs are met, what is the relation between the manager and the staff, and how much domination is present in their relationship. He favoured the democratic system of organization. It had a positive impact on the effectiveness of organization. This move would motivate employee and job satisfaction and increase productivity.
The democratic skills require both considerable skills and commitment – personal and organizational.
No individual can show these behaviours and thus it is more than an individual’s work (Fincham and Rhodes, 2005). Leadership: An Individual Phenomenon Fred Fielder (1967) made a research on leadership named, A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness. He distinguished leadership behaviour from leadership style. According to him, leadership behaviour is a special response which a supervisor or manager makes during a particular situation.
He said that leadership is a relatively fixed quality of individual which presented a supervisor’s motivational behaviour. He also interpreted that “a high-scoring supervisor is an individual who is concerned with maintaining good interpersonal relations, more considerate and lower in anxiety. ” (Fincham and Rhodes, 2005) Hence it can be seen from both the researches that leadership, whether individual or social phenomenon, still remains unanswered. It is still a dilemma for many researchers and authors. They can just give studies on the basis of leadership behaviour and style.
Thus, it can be said that leadership is a phenomenon of organizations and not of groups. Organizations define the limits of leadership (Stogdill, 1950). Conclusion Many heads are better than one and many arms are stronger than two. Work is a group-based activity, and groups are important for human behaviour and work organization. The social aspects of groups have influenced the organizational behaviour and management thinking. Individuals feel contended when working in a group. Researches show that any task when done in a group makes it more efficient and successful.
It is seen that group-based theory increased performance and innovation in organizations. The concept of leadership still remains contradictory (whether individual or group phenomenon). Group’s performance will be better if individuals put equal effort and coordinate with each other. Group decisions will be better if information from all members is well discussed (Stangor, 2004). According to Bernard (1938), the flow of information in a group should be bi-directional (upward as well as downward) and good leadership is necessary to meet the long term goals.
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