Leadership and Motivation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Leadership and Motivation - Assignment Example A leader moves through a continuous process wherein he moves from accomplishing one goal to another keeping in mind the best interest of the group. Clark defines it as follows: â€Å"Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills†. Stogdil echoes the same definition noting leadership’s three dimensions. First, leadership is defined as a process that is interpersonal wherein the leader steps in to direct the behaviors of his members. Next, the leadership is put in a social setting wherein the members are the subordinates or the ones obeying the leader. Lastly, effective leaders achieve goals for the whole. Leadership has gained much attention that research has been devoted to it. Yukl presents a comprehensive collection of studies on leadership, identifying various approaches. He discussed the Trait approach, which is based on the belief that some are born to be leaders as they are endowed with certain traits not possessed by other people. The behavior approach studies the leader’s typical pattern of behaviors to manage and lead. The power-influence approach takes on a more leader-centered perspective in that power is used not only to manage members of the group but also to convince peers, superiors or others who are not part of the organization to see the perspective of the leader.