Leadership: Concept, Importance, Duties, and Skills Required of a Leader

Leadership is the mind and the beating heart of all organizations, and the talk about leadership is as old as history, where the concepts of leadership have multiplied with multiple directions and theoretical frameworks through the stages of its development.

Some have tended to define it as a set of personal qualities; however, others considered leadership to be a mandate and an official authority. On the other hand, recent studies focus on the idea that leadership is behaviour, interaction, and influence on others.

Leadership concept:

Leadership is the ability to influence others and direct their behaviour towards achieving common goals. It is a responsibility towards the group led to achieve the intended results.

Or it is the process of influencing the activities of the group in order to achieve the goals. The leadership in general expresses doing those actions that help the group to achieve its goals.

In another definition, it is the ability to treat human nature or to influence human behaviour to direct a group towards achieving common goals, in a way that ensures their obedience and respect. Hene, the leader is defined as the person who uses their abilities and strength to influence the behaviour and directions of individuals around them to achieve their common goals.

There are three main terms directly related to leadership, which are: power, influence, and authority.

• As for power: It is the inherent ability to influence the behaviour of others, as power is generally related to control over valuable or scarce resources.
• As for influence: It appears when a person exercises their power, consciously or unconsciously to influence the behaviour and attitudes of another person.
• As for authority: It is the power generated or granted by the organization.

Leadership and management:

Administrative leadership is an activity practised by the administrative leader in the field of making decisions, issuing orders, and supervising others under the official authority granted to them, so that they seek to influence the behaviour of others to achieve the goal. 

The difference between leadership and management:

The concept of leadership has appeared since ancient times, but the concept of management is a modern one. Hence, leadership is only a branch of management, as the administrative process focuses on four things:

• Planning.
• Organization.
• Guidance.
• Censorship. 

The most important differences between leadership and management can be summarized, as management focuses on logic more than leadership that focuses on emotion. Management is concerned with details and molecules, unlike leadership that focuses on choosing the right action. In addition, the leadership process is based on three main things, which are determining direction and vision, mobilizing forces towards this vision, motivation, and mobilizing the determination to achieve the desired goals

Leadership skills:

There is no doubt that every leader must possess qualities or skills that help them influence the behaviour of individuals and achieve their goals. In order for the leader to be able to understand the three sides of the leadership process, which are the leader, the followers, and the situation, they must possess or acquire four skills in order to achieve the goals of individuals and raise the degree of their satisfaction. These skills are:

1. Technical skill:

It means that the leader has the ability to master the work and to be glorified for it, to be able to use the information available to them, and to be able to analyze it accurately according to the methods, means and capabilities available to them to accomplish the work. What distinguishes these skills is that they are more specific and can be observed on the leader quickly, in addition to being easier to acquire than other skills.

2. Human skill:

It is related to the way in which a person can deal with people in order to gain their cooperation and loyalty to them and to work, and thus increase in productivity and giving, in addition to the fact that the leader has the ability to identify the requirements of work between the individual and the group.

3. Organizational skill:

It means the leader's ability to understand the organization they lead, the interrelationships between its parts and objectives, and the relationships between individuals. Therefore, the leader needs professional skills related to the field of work in order to be able to achieve the goal he seeks, in addition to the leader's commitment to work rules and ethics.

4. Intellectual skill:

It means that the leader is characterized by the ability to study, analyze and conclude, and is characterized by flexibility and the ability to communicate ideas to others, as well as the ability to develop to suit the times and adapt to the requirements needed by each era and circumstance.

Thus, the most important traits and skills that a leader must have is to be able to influence, persuade, and bring about change, and to have self-abilities that serve the goals of work. The leader needs individuals and a decreed goal that they and the individuals seek to achieve through their method of persuasion, influence, and transfer of ideas in a positive way that increases proximity to achieving the desired goal.

The importance of leadership:

All human societies must have a leadership that arranges their lives, establishes justice and seeks to achieve the goals of individuals and society. The importance of leadership lies in a number of points, including:

• The leader is the link between individuals and the organization's plans.
• It is the foundation around which concepts, strategies and policies are built.
• Supporting the positive force and reduce the negative aspects within the work.
• Controlling and minimizing problems, resolving differences and weighing opinions.
• Developing the capabilities of individuals as they are an integral part of the leadership process.
• Making changes to suit the place and time as well as work strategies.
• The main objective is that it seeks to achieve the set goal and facilitate work. 

The most important duties of leadership:

• Converting group goals into results.
• Motivating and influencing individuals to achieve goals.
• The ability to deal with variables.
• Planning and organizing what suits the future and goals.
• Supporting the four elements of management.
• Preparing a new generation of future leaders capable of managing matters.
• Boldness and challenge to adopt new ideas that serve the primary goal for the benefit of individuals.