A leader is a person for whom group members recognize the right to make responsible decisions that affect the interests of the entire group. With authority, the leader plays a central role in the group and regulates relationships in it.
Leadership theories
Leadership is a relationship of influence and subordination in a group. This is always a group phenomenon, because it is impossible to be a leader alone. In doing so, other members of the group must accept a leadership role and recognize themselves as followers.
The main functions of a leader are to organize joint activities, develop a system of norms and values, take responsibility for group activities, and establish a favorable psychological climate in the group.
The phenomenon of leadership is based on the interaction of a number of characteristics. These include the psychological characteristics of the leader and members of the group, the specifics of the situation and the nature of the tasks to be solved. You can become a leader only under certain socio-political conditions, which requires a certain set of personal qualities to solve significant problems.
There are three main approaches to leadership theories. According to "trait theory", leadership is based on the possession of special qualities. There are different points of view as to what qualities a leader must have in order to differ from the group. Of all the signs of leaders, activity, initiative, awareness of the problem being solved (having experience in solving a problem), the ability to influence other members of the group are distinguished. Also, leaders must comply with the social attitudes adopted in the group. At the same time, those qualities that the population perceives as a standard should be clearly manifested in their image. The list of leadership qualities highlighted by the proponents of the theory grew steadily until it reached a list of 79 qualities in 1940.
The dominant theory of traits was soon replaced by the situational concept. It argues that leadership is a product of the situation. Proponents of the theory argued that someone who became a leader in one situation may not become a leader in another. Leader traits are relative. Of course, this theory was imperfect, since the importance of personal strength and leader's activity was excluded in it.
The third theory of leadership is the systemic one. According to her, leadership is the process of organizing interpersonal relations in a group, and the leader is the subject of managing this process.
Leadership classification
The forms of leadership manifestation are quite diverse. So, instrumental and emotional leadership can be distinguished. Instrumental is business leadership. It is associated with solving group problems. "Expressive leadership" occurs when the emotional environment is favorable, but the leader is not in a leadership position. These two types of leadership can be personalized, but they are usually distributed among different people.
In political science, there are also 4 images of a leader: a standard bearer, a minister, a merchant and a firefighter. The standard-bearer leads people along with him, thanks to a special ideal and model of the future. The servant leader is the spokesman for the interests of his constituents. A merchant leader knows how to present his ideas in an attractive way to the public. Finally, the firefighter leader is focused on the most pressing issues. Usually these images are not found in their pure form.
Classification of leaders based on leadership style is quite common. According to this criterion, the American political scientist D. Barber identified 4 leadership styles. So, if a leader was oriented towards the common good, his style was called active-positive. The predominance of selfish personal motives formed an active-negative style. The rigid dependence of activity on group and party preferences leads to a passive-positive style. The minimum performance of their functions gives rise to a passive-negative style.
Based on the distribution of leadership roles, authoritarian and democratic styles are distinguished. The first assumes unity of command, and leadership in it is based on strength. Democratic leadership involves taking into account the views and interests of the entire group.
