Effective Leadership

Effective leadership is a critical component of cohesion among a leader and their subordinates. Whether the managers of a Wal-Mart, governor of New York State, or the President of the United States, leaders forge a path of direction and create motivation for followers. Leadership is a requirement in order to make a difference in the success of an organization.

Leadership is "an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes" (Daft, P.5). Whether or not this relationship is necessary in order to make a difference is widely debated among researchers. A study completed by Lieberson and O'Connor in 1972 researched the correlation between leadership and performance in large corporations. Using data from sales and profits from 167 large U.S. corporations they analyzed how much variance in organizational performance could be attributed to those in top leadership roles. Their outcome suggests that "leadership differences have little or no impact on organizational performance, for in each case the vast majority of performance variation is accounted for by non-leadership factors" (Thomas, 1988). They found that change in leadership had no profound effect on profits or organizational performance as leadership could only be accounted for 10% of variance in organizational performance. Lieberson and O'Connor state that organizational performance can be attributed to environmental factors more so than to those in high leadership positions.

However an alternate study analyzing the careers of senior United Methodist ministers concluded that in fact, leadership does make a difference. The key idea in this study however was effective leadership versus all others. If all minsters had similar leadership skills, leadership was found to not to make a difference. When analyzing the difference between effective leaders and all others, they found that there was a significant change in organizational performance. "Churches that superior performers led repeatedly experienced greater giving, membership growth and property development than did other churches" (Smith, Carson, Alexander, 1984). Their outcome suggests that effective leaders do have a profound impact on organizational performance.

This study also touched on the question of what determines whether or not a leader is considered effective and the reasons why some leaders are more effective than others. The authors attribute effectiveness to characteristics of the individual. Personality, leadership style, and management ability were all characteristics given as examples of what determines effectiveness.

Although some would think in order to be a leader you must have a title, an official title doesn't necessarily make someone a leader. Leaders can emerge from a group of people who need direction and purpose. Many times, a group chooses a leader based on their personality and likeable characteristics. This is what defines a leader; the ability to create change among a group and provoke the ability to complete tasks. A leader can be simply described as someone who directs a group.

Whether it is through informal or formal leadership, a top characteristic of effective leaders is that they "know who they are and what they stand for" (Daft, 2011, p. 18). The difference between formal and informal leadership is the way in which one becomes a leader. A formal leader is someone who is assigned within a group, such as a teacher or