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Leaders, Followers and Situations

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Leaders, Followers and Situations
Leadership can be defined as the process of influencing an organized group toward accomplishing its goals. It is a complex phenomenon involving interactions between the leader, the followers, and the situation. A thorough understanding of this interaction is a critical success factor for the effective High Performance Leader. In this interaction, the first element is the Leader. This includes concepts like personality, position, and expertise. The second element of the interactional framework is the follower. This includes concepts like values, norms, and cohesiveness. The third element is the situation. This includes concepts like the task, the environment, stress, and crisis.
Leader-Member Exchange Theory describes two kinds of relationships that occur among leaders and followers: the In-group members and the Out-group members. LMX theory has broadened to include entire continuum of relationships that leaders may have with members. The theory looks at the nature of the relationship between the leader and the followers.
The leader has unique personal history, which includes unique interests, character traits, and motivation. Effective leaders differ from their followers, and from ineffective leaders on elements such as personality traits, cognitive abilities, Skills, values. Another way personality can affect leadership is through temperament. Leaders appointed by superiors may have less credibility and may get less loyalty. Leaders elected or emerging by consensus from ranks of followers are seen as more effective. A leader’s experience or history in a particular organization is usually important to her or his effectiveness. The extent of follower participation in leader’s selection may affect a leader’s legitimacy.
In the followership context, the number of followers reporting to a leader can have significant implications.

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