1. ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP (part 1)
SESSION NINE

2. Session Overview
Who is a leader has always been an exciting question. While we often talk about traditional and political leaders, we often forget administrative leadership. But studying administrative leadership is important, it gives insight into the many ways of understanding the nature and form of leadership in society.

3. Session Outline The topics for discussion are:
Topic one: Traditional and modern definitions of leadership.
Topic two: Elements of leadership.
Topic three: Theories of leadership.

4. Traditional and modern definition of leadership
Topic one
Traditional and modern definition of leadership

5. Traditional Definitions
leadership was defined simply as the exercise of authority in directing and coordinating the work of others.
Hence leadership came to be equated with superiority.
This means that a leader is a person who occupies a superior position in society or organization.

6. Traditional Definitions
Based on this narrow understanding of leadership, some scholars explained leadership in two main ways, namely, formal and informal.
The formal leadership is the one based on the authority of rank of office.
On the other hand, the informal form of leadership is based on the willingness of other people to give service to a person whose special qualities they admire.

7. Traditional Definitions
The informal therefore depends on the individual’s personal ability to exercise power.
CRITICISMS
leadership is not power, dominance, social superiority.
This means that persons who exercise power over other people are not necessarily leaders.

8. Modern Definitions
The activity of influencing people to strive willingly for groups’ objectives.
leadership is influencing and energizing people to work together in a common effort to achieve the purposes of the enterprise.
leadership is interpersonal influence exercised in a situation, and directed through communication process toward the attainment of a specialized goal.

9. Modern Definitions
Leadership is the ability to influence the thoughts and behaviour of others.
A leader is a person who is convinced that something must be done, and he is able to persuade other people to get it done.

10. Elements of leadership
Topic two

11. Elements of Leadership
Vision – a leader must have a strongly defined sense of purpose.
Communication – a leader must be able to relay his vision or strongly defined purpose to his followers.
Hard work – one of the things that make a person a real leader is his ability to make the greatest effort to put into effect his vision.

12. Theories of leadership
Topic three

13. Great Man Theory It is the oldest of all the theories of leadership.
It says that some people are born leaders. leadership is something acquired from birth.
This means that leaders are persons born with sterling abilities that distinguish them from other people.
It equates greatness with leadership.

14. Great Man Theory Criticism
People who are born into leadership roles are not necessarily leaders.
One can be a chief, a headmaster or a head of department and yet that person is not a leader.
Due to the disagreement over the natural selection process of leadership, scholars have gone further to look for more theories that best explain leadership.

15. Charismatic Leaders
According to Max Weber some people are endowed with some extraordinary qualities that induce others to follow them.
He identified the special force in the person as ‘charisma’ which is often explained as a special supernatural force that dwells in a person and influences him to act or behave in a certain extraordinary manner.
It is this ‘charisma’ that serves as the power which stirs the emotions of people and captures their hearts and minds towards, and for the person who possesses it.

16. Charismatic Leaders It is usually found in religious circles.
Charismatic leadership requires some psychological distance between leader and follower.
Criticism
This theory that links leadership to a person’s ability to possess charisma has lost its significance in modern leadership theories.

17. Trait Theory
It says that leaders are persons blessed with certain qualities which make it relatively easy to bend others to their will.
This means that those who have the distinctive qualities are the leaders.
This seems to suggest that the qualities are not available to everybody. Rather, only a few may have the qualities.

18. Trait Theory
The traits include: Intelligence, Alertness, Academic achievement, Dependability, Honesty, Initiative, Adaptability, Relational competence, Physical energy
It maintains that people without leadership qualities cannot be made leaders even by training courses.
Criticisms
No single trait is possessed by all successful leaders.
traits attributed to leaders are also possessed by non-leaders.
confusion over the actual traits of a leader.

19. Contingency/Situational Theory
a leader’s style should be varied according to the needs of a particular situation because no single leadership style is effective in all circumstances.
leaders must be prepared to adjust their behaviour as circumstances change.
Advantages
Managers are released from the ideological straitjackets imposed by other theories.
It encourages managers to analyze logically the characteristics of various situations.

20. Contingency/Situational Theory
Demerits
Leaders who subscribe to this method may appear to their subordinates as inconsistent and insincere, because they will change their behaviour depending on circumstances.
The individual manger may not be sufficiently skilled to adopt his leadership style from one set of circumstances to the next.
There might be certain fundamental principles that should always be applied regardless of the situation at hand.
Others have noted that it is rather easier to change the work environment (the situation) to fit a leader’s style.

21. Sample Question
Examine the claim that leadership is the exercise of power and influence.
‘The charismatic leadership theory rather than the trait theory that describes who a leader is in your community’. Discuss.
Do you agree that ‘a leader’s style should be varied according to the needs of a particular situation’?

22. References
Paulinaidu, S. (2004). Public Administration, Galgotia Publications: New Delhi