Leadership
“Leadership cannot be taught or learned” (Drucker, 1955). Critically evaluate this statement.
Peter Drucker as one of the best known writers and management consultants wrote that “Leadership is of utmost importance. Indeed there is no substitute for it. But leadership cannot be created or promoted. It cannot be taught or learned.” (Drucker, 1955) He held the view that leadership is a talent. The purpose of this essay is to critically evaluate whether leadership can be taught or learnt, and in which way it can be taught and learnt. In the first place the definition of the word “leadership” and the approaches to leadership will be presented. Then seven approaches of leadership will be analysed and, the ways of training and the implications will be evaluated.
The word Leadership can be defined in various ways. Henry Mintzberg identified ten managerial roles in the book Nature of Managerial Work (1973); they are figurehead, leader, liaison, monitor, disseminator, spokesman, entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. Leadership concerns the leader roles as Mintzberg defined it. The book management & organisational behaviour states that ‘it is difficult, therefore, to generalise about leadership, but essentially it is a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people.’
The opinions held on leadership differ between the seven approaches. At the very beginning, people simply assume that leadership is giftedness and the attention was rarely given to training for leadership. Thus it is understandable that Drucker made the view above. In the paper Research on Leadership Selection and Training: One View of the Future, Fred Fiedler said that ‘Leadership research before 1945 was primarily concerned with identifying traits, behaviours and personality patterns that would differentiate leaders from non-leaders’ and this is the very
Peter Drucker as one of the best known writers and management consultants wrote that “Leadership is of utmost importance. Indeed there is no substitute for it. But leadership cannot be created or promoted. It cannot be taught or learned.” (Drucker, 1955) He held the view that leadership is a talent. The purpose of this essay is to critically evaluate whether leadership can be taught or learnt, and in which way it can be taught and learnt. In the first place the definition of the word “leadership” and the approaches to leadership will be presented. Then seven approaches of leadership will be analysed and, the ways of training and the implications will be evaluated.
The word Leadership can be defined in various ways. Henry Mintzberg identified ten managerial roles in the book Nature of Managerial Work (1973); they are figurehead, leader, liaison, monitor, disseminator, spokesman, entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. Leadership concerns the leader roles as Mintzberg defined it. The book management & organisational behaviour states that ‘it is difficult, therefore, to generalise about leadership, but essentially it is a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people.’
The opinions held on leadership differ between the seven approaches. At the very beginning, people simply assume that leadership is giftedness and the attention was rarely given to training for leadership. Thus it is understandable that Drucker made the view above. In the paper Research on Leadership Selection and Training: One View of the Future, Fred Fiedler said that ‘Leadership research before 1945 was primarily concerned with identifying traits, behaviours and personality patterns that would differentiate leaders from non-leaders’ and this is the very
References: Arnold Danzig (1999) ‘How Might Leadership Be Taught? The Use of Story and Narrative to Teach Leadership’, INT. J. Leadership in Education, VOL.2, no. 2 117-131 Bass, B.M. (1990) ‘From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to Share the Vision’, Organizational Dynamics, 18: 19-31. Fred E. Fiedier (1996) ‘Research on Leadership Selection and Training: One View of the Future’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 41: 241-250 Laurie J. Mullins (2010) Management & Organisational Behaviour. London: Financial Times Pitman Publishing. Muczyk, J.P. & Reimann, B.C. (1987) ‘The case for directive leadership’, Academy of Management Review, 12, 637-647.