What do you mean by ‘Leadership’? Explain four characteristics of it.

Meaning of Leadership: It refers to influencing others in such a manner to do what the leader wants them to do. Characteristics of Leadership:

(i) Influencing Process: Leadership is in the form of an influencing process. Here, influencing means bringing others under one’s own influence. A leader behaves with his followers in such a way that they automatically come under his influence. They start working as they are told by their leader. It is said that the exercise of influence is the essence of leadership.

(ii) Behaviour-changing Process: Leadership has the power to change the behaviour of their followers. A manager who has this ability gets a better work performance from his subordinates.

(iii) Interpersonal Relations between Leader and Followers: The chief requirement of leadership is the presence of followers. One cannot think of leadership without followers. Without followers, a leader has no existence. In order to make leadership meaningful, it is imperative to have followers (or employees) to work with him. Therefore, leadership indicates interpersonal relations between the leader and the followers.

(iv) Achieving Common Goals: A prominent feature of leadership is the achievement of common goals. It means it achieves not only the objectives of the organisation but also individual goals.