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Leadership Traits & Theories

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Leadership is defined as the process through which a group or individual influences others to obtain certain objectives and goals which results to improve in the direction of an organization. It can also be defined as the ability to inspire and motivate others to take a new direction that will improve the efficiency and coherency of the group. Leaders are able to do this by applying their leadership skills and knowledge. Though leadership is learned the knowledge and skills that are processed by the leader are often influenced by their traits and attributes such as character, ethics, values and beliefs. Leadership is more strategic in nature. Management is a process of exercising supervisory, administrative and executive direction of an organization in order to improve organizational performance. An act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Managers direct are preoccupied with the right way to do things by following policy and procedure and get results from subordinates through authority. There is an ongoing argument in the field of leadership regarding whether or not leaders and managers are two completely different parts of an organization. A person can be a great manager, a great leader or both, but both these two areas often require a mastery of certain competencies and skills. While management produces consistency and order, a leader produces change and movement. A leader innovates while a manager administers, a leader develops while a manager maintains, a leader inspires trust but a manager relies on control. While a leader has a long range perspective, a manager often has a short term perspective, a leader is followed while a manager rules, a leader originates while a manager imitates, a leader asks what and why while a leader asks how and when, a leader focuses on people

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