Leadership: Characteristics, Principles, Types, and Issues Regarding Leadership
Liberty University
AVIA 245 Aviation Leadership
Professor: Jim Molloy
2022
Introduction
To get the work done through people, leadership is at the core of managing. Managers can get the work
done either by the authority vested in them or by winning support, trust and confidence of the people.
To secure better performance and results from people in 21 century, a manager has to increase his
influence more over them. And to do so, leadership is the answer.
Leadership is an art whereby an individual influences a group of individuals for achieving a common set
of goals. To expand it further, leadership is a process of inter-personal relationships through which a
person attempts to influence the behaviour of others for attainment of pre-determined objectives. Of
the various people, who have defined leadership, influence and attainment of objectives are the
common denominators.
Characteristics of Leadership:
On the basis of an analysis of different definitions, following characteristics of leadership emerge:
1. Leadership is a process of Influence:
Influence is the ability of an individual to change the behaviour, attitude, and belief of another individual
directly or indirectly. Someone has rightly defined leaderships as the “process of social influence in
which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”.
2. Leadership is not one-dimensional:
The Essence of leadership is Followership. Leadership is a systems thinking in multiple dimensions. In
terms of systems thinking, the organizational performers (followers) are must in the leadership process.
Without followers there can be no leadership.
3. Leadership is Multi-faceted:
Leadership is a combination of personality and tangible skills (drive, integrity, self-confidence, attractive
personality, decisiveness, etc), styles (Authoritarian to laissez-faire), and situational factors
(organisation’s internal and external environment, objectives, tasks, resources, and cultural values of
leaders and the followers).
4. Leadership is Goal oriented:
Leadership is “organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal.” Thus, the influence concerns the
goals only. Outside the goals, the concerns are not related to leadership.
5. Leadership is not primarily a Particular Personality Trait:
A trait closely linked to leadership is charisma, but many people who have charisma (for example, movie
actors and sports heroes) are not leaders.
6. Leadership is not primarily a Formal Position:
There have been many great leaders who did not hold high positions—for example, Mahatma Gandhi,
Martin Luther King, Jr. and—and Anna Hazare . On the other hand there are people who hold high
positions but are not leaders.
7. Leadership is not primarily a Set of Important Objectives:
It involves getting things done.
8. Leadership is not primarily a Set of Behaviors:
Many leadership manuals suggest that leadership involves doing things such as delegating and providing
inspiration and vision; but people who are not leaders can do these things, and some effective leaders
don’t do them at all.
Manager vs. Leader:
Some questions are often being asked – Does a manager has to be a leader too? Does a leader have to
be a manager as well? It is possible to be a boss in a company without being a leader. Managers are
appointed but leaders may be appointed or emerge.
Managers depend upon their positional authority to direct subordinates. Leaders are able to influence
followers beyond their formal authority. Managers are people who do things right and leaders are
people who do the right thing.
Leadership and management must go hand in hand. They are not the same thing. But they are
necessarily linked, and complementary. Any effort to separate the two is likely to cause more problems
than it solves. A good manager must possess leadership qualities.
It is very right to conclude that task is not only to manage people, but the task is to lead people. And the
goal is to make productive the specific strengths and knowledge of every individual.
Importance of Leadership:
If an organization is flourishing, its members developing, and achieving breakthrough after
breakthrough, then one can be sure about one thing that there is a strong leader at the helm of the
organization. If an organization is failing, the problem again relates to the leader of the organization.
Thus everything rises and falls on leadership. Leadership is an important function of management which
facilitates to maximize efficiency and effectiveness to achieve organizational goals. Leadership has
paramount importance in present competitive business environment, because with the help of
leadership a company will face all the problems very efficiently.
1. Guides and Inspires Subordinates:
A leader has to not only supervise but also to play a guiding role for the subordinates. Guidance here
means instructing the subordinates the way they have to perform their work effectively and efficiently.
Leadership creates among subordinates a sense of belongingness and commitment. Desire for
achievement is transformed into a passion.
2. Secures Cooperation:
A leader sells rather than tells. He persuades, rather than dictates, and creates enthusiasm among his
subordinates and thus, secures their cooperation.
3. Creates Confidence:
Confidence is an important factor which can be achieved through expressing the work efforts to the
subordinates, explaining them clearly their role and giving them guidelines to achieve the goals
effectively. It is also important to hear the employees with regards to their complaints and problems.
4. Builds Work Environment:
Management is getting things done from people. An efficient work environment helps in sound and
stable growth. Therefore, human relations should be kept into mind by a leader. He should have
personal contacts with employees and should listen to their problems and solve them. He should treat
employees on humanitarian terms.
5. Maintains Discipline:
By turning subordinates into followers, the job of securing order and compliance, becomes easy. He
motivates the employees with economic and non- economic rewards and thereby gets the work from
the subordinates voluntarily. It is this willingness on the part of subordinates which leads to
maintenance of discipline.
6. Facilitates Integration of Organizational and Personal Goals:
A leader is one who is visionary, deciding the destination to be reached. Vision is the source of
organisational objectives. Vision requires synchronisation of goals through integration of personal and
organisational goals.
A leader creates common goals and understanding among subordinates that their personal goals are
related with the attainment of organisational goals. It also leads to coordination.
7. Works as a Change Agent:
No change in thinking, processes, and practices becomes possible without leadership. It is the leader
who convinces actively about the change and making it part and parcel of their working and reducing
resistance to change.
8. Boosts Morale:
Morale denotes willing co-operation of the employees towards their work and getting them into
confidence and winning their trust. A leader can be a morale booster by achieving full co-operation so
that they perform with best of their abilities as they work to achieve goals.
Principles of Leadership:
To help you be, know, and do, follow these eleven principles of leadership:
1. Know Yourself and Seek Self-Improvement:
In order to know yourself, you have to understand your be, know, and do, attributes. Seeking self-
improvement means to continually strengthen your attributes. This can be accomplished through self-
study, formal classes, reflection, and interacting with others.
2. Be Technically Proficient:
As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees’ tasks.
3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions:
Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, they always do
sooner or later — do not blame others. Analyze the situation, take corrective action, and move on to the
next challenge.
4. Make sound and timely decisions:
Use good problem solving, decision making, and planning tools.
5. Set the example:
Be a good role model for your employees. They must not only hear what they are expected to do, but
also see. We must become the change we want to see – Mahatma Gandhi.
6. Know your people and look out for their well-being:
Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers.
7. Keep your workers informed:
Know how to communicate with not only them, but also seniors and other key people.
8. Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers:
Help to develop good character traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.
9. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished:
Communication is the key to this responsibility.
10. Train as a team:
Although many so called leaders call their organization, department, section, etc. a team; they are not
really teams…they are just a group of people doing their jobs.
11. Use the full capabilities of your organization:
By developing a team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to
its fullest capabilities.
