Skills and tasks of a leader in a team. Management and leadership in the workforce. The difference between a leader and a manager The difference between a manager and a leader

A leader is a person who has a strong influence on the other members of the team, who is able to both independently achieve his goals and lead other people. He is respected in the team, the opinion of such a person is always listened to. The rest of the group members allow the leader to manage them and be led.

In psychology, there are three different approaches to the study of leadership: structural, behavioral, and situational approaches.

Leadership in Structural Theory

This approach in psychology sets itself the task of determining what the universal personality of a leader can be, while highlighting the most striking character traits. Followers of this theory believe that a leader, without a doubt, must have characteristics that are different from those around him, and he must stand out from the rest. The arguments of this theory are supported by the studies of B. Bass and S. Klubek, which showed that it will be almost impossible to train a person who does not naturally have leadership traits and subsequently make him a leader.

It is clear that it is impossible to absolutely accurately indicate certain character traits inherent in a leader, especially since each society, in each time period, needs a completely different leader of its group. But still, the structural theory highlights the most characteristic qualities.

Qualities inherent in a leader:

High level of intelligence
Self confidence
Dominance
High activity
Possession of professional knowledge and a large number of specific skills

Behavioral Leadership Theory

The main idea of this theory suggests that a person can be made a leader in almost any case. Particular attention is paid to behavior; it is believed that this is what will make a leader out of a person in the future. Within the framework of this approach, the concept itself, as well as the types of leadership styles, have been formed. They are divided into three leadership options: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez faire.

To create an authoritarian leadership style, a person will need to be taught domineering behavior, strict, dictatorial control over the group. If democratic leadership is needed in a team, then a person should be trained to listen to the opinions of others, discuss work issues with the group, and also delegate some of his control functions to the team.

Permissive leadership is the least popular leadership style, but sometimes it is needed. For this person to be taught to be completely patient with the team’s opinions, to focus the process on the final result of the work, with little or no control over the internal developments themselves. The theory assumes that virtually anyone can be trained to be a leader using special programs and training. This could open up completely new opportunities for modern humanity.

Situational leadership theory

It says that a certain situation makes a person a leader. Situational variables are undoubtedly important and have been noted by many scholars. L. Carter and M. Nixon revealed that the type of leader is highly dependent on the nature of the task assigned to him. If the team had similar goals, then their leaders were similar. The differences were characterized only by some individual personality traits. In many ways, a leader's position is determined by his status in society. Undoubtedly, with increasing social status, there is also an increase in influence.

The social group in which one is located has an important influence on the formation of leadership style. A group that has been active for a long period of time has strong, established structures of activity, and the leader of such a group will be relatively stable under the influence of the same mechanisms of group organization that constantly occur. If a leader moves to a new group, compared to others, his chances of becoming a leader there also increase; his previous status will have a positive impact.

It should be noted that once having achieved the status of a leader, most often, a person does not want to stop there, he continues to develop and strengthen his leadership skills. He strives to maintain his status at all costs. Unfortunately, science has not yet given a 100% accurate answer to the question of how a leader appears in a team.

Leader functions

The functions of a leader are determined by the social group he leads. A leader with administrative functions is a person who maintains order and invariably monitors the accurate performance of all duties by the team. The leader, as an activity planner, develops all subsequent actions for his group, engages in both short-term planning and takes on the long-term perspective.

A leader as a politician - his main focus is development of goals and the main line of behavior of his group. A leader as an expert must have a large amount of necessary knowledge in a certain field; people turn to him for help and trust him. The leader as a representative of the group - he is the face of the team and speaks on its behalf. In this case, he identifies all members of the group.

A leader can also serve as a regulator of internal relations in a team, be an arbitrator, perform the functions of reward and punishment, and be practically a father or a symbol of a certain group. Very often, a leader is an example for his team; he becomes, as it were, a model for other members of the group to repeat certain actions after him, showing clearly how and what needs to be done. Very often, the leader relieves each group member of individual responsibility for the actions performed or certain decisions made. It is difficult to distinguish the main and secondary functions of a leader; it depends on the group itself and the course of life as a whole.

Find your strength -
And you will become the center
Which it revolves around
It's your time.
Richard Bach

Becoming a leader is not an easy task. And to be a true leader, the center of a team, a company, one’s life is charisma, the individual inner essence of a person, his enormous potential, which can seriously ignite, inspire others and lead oneself.

Where do leaders come from? Are they born or made? And if they are not born, then how to become a leader? How to be a leader in a team? In company? In Group? At work? How to become a leader in life? Let's try to answer these questions.

Born to be a leader

There are people who are often called “darlings of fate”, “lucky” and so on. And they are called that because they were already born in such a good place, in such a family and in such living conditions that they have everything: parents, grandparents who adore their baby, the most important, “center” person. And while he is growing, he gets all the best, the newest, the very best. Only he is given all the attention and love. And when he reaches adulthood, the best position in his father’s or family business, the best car, the first beauty of the city, and the like await him.

And if someone who was already born to be a leader has at least a drop of awareness and gratitude to loved ones and life for all the blessings that have been given to him, if he continues to develop and increase what he already possesses, then he will truly become good, real, effective a leader in every sense and in all areas of life. There are such stars, but they are few. Such people are called golden youth, but not in the sense that they are some kind of majors, but simply the best among their peers, who, for example, were born in more modest conditions and who need to blaze their own path in life.

And a handful of people like the golden youth are individuals born with higher qualities of the soul, they have a sense of gratitude, nobility, brilliant creative abilities and talents, which they very purposefully develop from early childhood. They also have simplicity and tact in relation to other people, relatives, friends, colleagues, subordinates.

How can such simple people become leaders? Is this real? What should a leader be like?

Talent to be a leader

But here it doesn’t matter in what conditions a person was born. But he definitely knows and feels that he has leadership qualities and abilities. In this case, it doesn’t matter how exactly the parents treat their child, they can even suppress him in a sense, but inside him lives a spirit of contradiction. But in a team, in a group, in an enterprise, he will definitely reveal himself as a leader, and he will do this, naturally, with brilliance. There are always a lot of people around such a person: in the sandbox, on the playground, in the classroom, in the yard, in a student group, at the enterprise. And if such a leader has a good, friendly attitude towards people, talent and its implementation in any business or craft, then he will certainly become successful and effective.

How to become a leader?

All the options discussed above are quite simple, natural and require more work in terms of any professional direction and development of business skills.

And if, for example, a person has never felt the ability, opportunity and desire to be a leader and be in the center of attention. And he was born into a simple family, where besides him there were other children. And in kindergarten, at school, at college and at work, he also did not show any inclination towards leadership. How to become a leader in this case? But suddenly, fleetingly, completely unexpectedly, such an incendiary desire is born. What if it works?

Anything can be a catalyst. The boss praised me for a task well done, rejoiced at my colleague’s success, and my parents inspired me. And suddenly the idea came to try it too. A leader can become a person who will constantly work on himself, go towards perfection, and not stop there. The main thing is not to be afraid of difficulties, then there is a greater chance that everything will work out.

Leader in a team

How to become a leader in a team? Is desire and aspiration enough? Maybe it becomes interesting and exciting. This is an additional opportunity to test yourself, to move from boring and tedious work to more interesting one. Life will sparkle with new colors.

How to become a leader in a team? At first, not everything may work out perfectly, because doubts and fears immediately wake up and begin to actively interfere with the emergence of a new quality of character, a new stage in life. But if everything is in order with a person’s will and faith, he can do it!

It is very important that this new thing is consistent with the inner world, so that harmony and balance are necessarily present in the soul and heart. You need to constantly ask yourself, am I going there? Is this what I really want? What will I get as a result? And then everything else. This is persistent, painstaking work on oneself: changing a number of qualities that accompany the development of leadership (a different attitude towards oneself, spending time in life more effectively, a deep approach in relationships with people, and so on), professional development, and opening new horizons in life. You can go towards this throughout your entire adult life.

As a result, a person finds his inner strength in a completely new quality, he begins to feel his power and self-confidence. He truly trusts himself. And this gives energy that is felt by the people around who are still walking sleepily through life. And such a person begins to light them up. And if he believes in himself, then he will definitely want to believe in others, because they also have abilities and opportunities, you just have to wish it, really want it.

Leader in the company

How to become a leader in a company? If we consider a company as an enterprise, then, in general, the leader is not particularly different from the leader in the team, except for scale. When leadership qualities very clearly and persistently begin to manifest themselves in a narrow circle (in a team, department, division), then over time they expand to a higher level, that is, to the entire enterprise, to the entire company.

The employee becomes even more in demand, is in the authority of managers and his colleagues, they begin to trust him, including serious projects. You can even observe the following trend: the stronger the power and inspiration with which the leader approaches solving work issues and life issues, the faster and better others begin to think and act.

Leader in the group

How to become a leader in a group? When a person reveals his inner potential, he becomes charismatic and interesting. People listen to him wherever he is: in the family, in the store, at work, in a group of friends and like-minded people. Because people feel and perceive real leaders, their energy, and show trust in them.

good leader

How to become a good leader? It is very important to be sincere towards everyone, from management to the last level of subordinates. Sometimes it is necessary to be strict, but fair, tolerant and kind to people. Be able to teach if required. Be tactful and wise. Constantly take an interest not only in yourself and your affairs, but also in the life and affairs of your team, subordinates, and people around you, and with lively participation and interest.

Effective leader

How to become an effective leader? And here you just need to constantly and unceasingly grow and develop, read, learn new things, reveal new facets of your individuality, be in the flow of life, and improve. And it is very important to be flexible, and sometimes completely irrational, if life demands it. But here the leader always listens to his inner strength, intuition, because he trusts it.

Go forward, work on yourself, improve, then you will easily become a leader in life!

One of the most important mechanisms for realizing power in a group is leadership as the ability to use various sources of power to transform goals set for others into reality. For the effective functioning of an organization, the ideal situation is in which the formal managers of the organization are its leaders. Leadership is traditionally defined as one of the processes of organizing and managing a small social group that contributes to the achievement of group goals. The phenomenon of leadership covers spontaneous processes of group self-organization and self-leadership, in contrast to directed and sanctioned leadership as a legal process regulated by society. There are three components of general leadership - emotional, business, informational.

Main features that characterize a leader: 1. the leader is not nominated by the group to the corresponding post, but with the open or passive consent of the group spontaneously takes a leadership position. 2. the leader is put forward to the role of an unofficial leader, and a system of group norms and values that go beyond the framework of officially established rules is identified with his personality. 3. The leader emerges in a situation that is quite significant for the life of the group.

Leadership is defined as a specific way of social control, organization and mobilization of group, collective activities within the framework of a social organization. Leadership is a social characteristic of relationships in a group, primarily from the point of view of the distribution of management and subordination roles. A leader is an official vested with power and responsibility. Leadership Tools Strength, influence, authority - these three words are often confused in everyday life. But they need to be distinguished.

Highlights seven differences between formal leadership and leadership: 1) The leader is appointed or elected through a deliberate process controlled by various elements of the social structure. 2) Leadership is a phenomenon that arises and functions in the microenvironment; leadership is an element of the macroenvironment, since it is connected with the entire system of relations in society. 3) The leadership process is more stable because it does not depend to the same extent as leadership on changes in group moods. 4) The manager, unlike the leader, has a more indirect system of sanctions. 5) The decision-making process of a leader is more complex, since it is mediated by many factors, often rooted outside the group. b) The leader’s sphere of activity, as a rule, is limited to a small group, while the leader’s sphere of activity, in addition, should include official and informal social contacts that go beyond the small group 7) Leadership is associated with the regulation of intra-group interpersonal relationships of an informal nature, leadership, on the contrary , is a means of regulating relations defined by the official structure of the group.

The main differences between a manager and a leader

The leader shows what needs to be done and does it first. The manager shows how it should be done and involves other people in the process.

27. The process of forming a work team. Stages of development of the work team and management tactics characteristic of them.

The process of forming a workforce occurs in several stages.

In order to manage a team, the manager needs to know what stage of development the team is currently at. Without understanding a specific situation, a manager may unwittingly cause a slowdown in the development of the team. Stage 1- is a process when people look closely at each other and at the leader, and he studies his subordinates. The manager introduces the team to the tasks, work schedule, responsibilities, and organizes the implementation of tasks. At this stage, demands on the team are made only by the manager.

Stage 2- groups are formed within the team based on personal characteristics and interests, conscious, energetic, proactive workers are identified, from whom a team is formed, whose task will be to help the manager. At this stage, conscientious employees are identified, but passive employees do not show initiative. At this stage, the manager begins to manage the team.

Stage 3- all members of the team make demands on each other and on themselves.

This is the highest stage of team development. At this stage, the manager must change his leadership style.

The work team, like any other, develops according to its own laws. The manager must know the basic stages of team development- then he will be able to organize the work in the best way.

Different researchers identify different stages of development of a team, give them different names, but they are generally considered 5 main stages of workforce development. We will give a brief description of each of the stages.

1. Lapping. The new team consists of people who are still unfamiliar with each other. Gradually they get to know each other better, adapt to other employees, and begin to establish relationships (both business and personal). At this stage of development of the team, the first likes and dislikes are formed.

2. Close combat (palace coups). Having studied each other, some members of the team begin to fight for leadership, trying to take a dominant position. Very often the team splits into groups (clans). Employees are no longer afraid to express disagreements openly, and more attention is paid to personal relationships. At this stage of development of the team, the strengths and weaknesses of its members become obvious. Gradually, the struggle gives way to a discussion of ways to reach agreement, and relationships in the team begin to improve.

3. Experimentation (effectiveness). At this stage of team development, its potential increases, and employees have to look for ways to use existing resources and capabilities in the best possible way. At this stage, the team may work unevenly, “in leaps and bounds,” but thanks to energy, interest and willingness to experiment, team members are able to revise working methods, improve productivity and achieve high results.

4. Efficiency. Having gained sufficient experience in sharing resources effectively and solving problems, team members begin to be proud of their belonging to it. In group work, the emphasis is on clarifying tasks and rational use of time resources.

5. Maturity (mastery). This is the highest stage of team development, during which strong connections are established between its members, and the main criterion for accepting and evaluating employees is their merits, not complaints. The team is quite united and shows good results; interpersonal relationships in it are quite informal.

Social psychology views leadership and leadership in teams as group processes that are associated with social power in the group. A leader and manager is understood as a person who has a leading influence on a group: a leader - in a system of informal relations, a leader - in a system of formal relations. Leadership and direction are mechanisms of group integration that unify the action of a group around one person who serves as a manager or leader.

There are two aspects of power - formal and psychological. The formal aspect of power is associated with the legal authority of the leader, and the psychological aspect is associated with the personal ability of the leader to influence group members.

The differences between a leader and managers include:

- the leader regulates interpersonal relationships, and the manager regulates formal ones. The leader is associated only with relations within the group, and the manager is obliged to ensure a certain level of relations of his group in the microstructure of the entire organization;
- the leader represents his group and is a member of it. He acts as an element of the microenvironment, while the leader is an element of the macroenvironment and represents the group at a higher level of social relations;
- leadership is a stable phenomenon, and leadership is a spontaneous process.
- a manager has a much greater influence on subordinates than a leader. In the process of leadership, he can use formal and informal sanctions, while the leader uses only informal sanctions;
- The difference between a leader and a manager is also related to the decision-making process. To implement decision-making, the manager uses a larger amount of external and internal information. The leader owns only the information that exists within the group. Decision making by a manager is carried out indirectly, and by a leader - directly. A leader is always authoritative, otherwise he will not be a leader, while a leader may or may not have authority at all.

Some researchers believe that the phenomena of leadership and management are identical. For example, D. Myers believes that leadership is the process by which certain group members motivate and lead the entire group.

The managerial style of a leader is determined by the characteristics of his administrative and leadership qualities. The psychological climate of the team, the relationship between subordinates and the leader, and the results of the team’s work depend on the leadership style.

In this case, the leader can be officially appointed or selected, or can be nominated in the process of group interaction.

The following leadership styles exist:

1. Authoritarian or directive or dictatorial leadership style. It is characterized by strict individual decision-making by the manager, strict constant control over the implementation of decisions with the threat of punishment, and a lack of interest in the employee as an individual. Thanks to constant monitoring by the manager, this management style brings quite acceptable work results. According to non-psychological indicators - profit, productivity, product quality may be of good quality, but this style of leadership has many more disadvantages than advantages. Such disadvantages include: a high probability of erroneous decisions; suppression of initiative, creativity of subordinates, slowdown of innovations, stagnation, passivity of employees; people's dissatisfaction with their work, their position in the team; an unfavorable psychological climate entails increased psychological stress and is harmful to mental and physical health. This management style is only suitable for critical situations - accidents, combat, military operations, etc.
2. Democratic or collective leadership style. This style of leadership is characterized by the fact that management decisions are made on the basis of discussion of the problem, taking into account the opinions and initiatives of employees, the implementation of decisions made is controlled by both the manager and the employees themselves, the manager shows interest and friendly attention to the personality of employees, to taking into account their interests, needs, features.

The democratic style is the most effective, as it entails a high probability of correct informed decisions, high production results, initiative, employee activity, people's satisfaction with their work and team membership, a favorable psychological climate and team cohesion. But the implementation of a democratic style is possible only with high intellectual, organizational, and communication abilities of the leader.

3. A liberal or permissive, or neutral leadership style is characterized, on the one hand, by a “maximum of democracy” (everyone can express their positions, but they do not strive to achieve real consideration or agreement on positions), and on the other hand, by a “minimum of control” (even accepted decisions are not implemented, there is no control over their implementation, everything is left to chance), as a result of which the results of work are usually low, people are not satisfied with their work, with their leader; the psychological climate in the team is unfavorable, there is no cooperation, there is no incentive to work conscientiously, sections of work are made up of the individual interests of the subgroup leaders, hidden and overt conflicts are possible, and there is stratification into conflicting subgroups.

An inconsistent (illogical) leadership style is manifested in the leader’s unpredictable transition from one style to another (now authoritarian, now laissez-faire, now democratic, now again authoritarian, etc.), which causes extremely low work results and the maximum number of conflicts and problems.

The management style of an effective manager is flexible, individual and situational.

The situational management style flexibly takes into account the level of psychological development of subordinates and the team.

Leadership classifications are varied.

1. Business leadership is characteristic of formal groups that solve production problems.
2. Emotional leadership usually occurs in informal groups and is based on human sympathy - the attractiveness of the leader as a participant in interpersonal communication.
3. Information leadership. Everyone turns to such a person with questions, because he is erudite, knows everything and can find any information.

Situational leadership can be transactional and emotional. Its distinctive feature is instability, time limitation and connection with a specific situation. A situational leader may be a leader in some situations and may not be a leader in others.

Depending on the predominant functions, the following types of leaders are distinguished:

1. Leader - organizer.
2. A leader is a creator.
3. A leader is a fighter.
4. The leader is a diplomat.
5. A leader is a comforter.

Psychoanalysts identify ten types of leaders:

1. "Sovereign" or "patriarchal overlord." He is nominated on the basis of love and is revered.
2. "Leader". The group tries to imitate him.
3. "Tyrant". Usually they fear him and humbly obey him.
4. "Organizer". He is respected and brings people together.
5. “The Seducer.” He plays on the weaknesses of other people, they adore him and do not notice his shortcomings.
6. "Hero" He sacrifices himself for the sake of others, carries people along with him.
7. “Bad example.” Emotionally infects others.
8. "Idol". He is loved and idealized.
9. "Outcast."
10. "Scapegoat"

The last two types of leaders are more likely to be anti-leaders and objects of aggressive tendencies.

consciousness personality individuality leadership

Good leaders always think about their followers. If you are reading this text, then you are striving to become a leader. To do this, achieve loyalty, trust and commitment to your views, says American consultant George Bradt. Theses of his speeches are offered to your attention.

There are many views on the issue of leadership. Our view is based on the principle of building tactical literacy in a team. This literacy - flexibility, energy and skill - comes primarily from the leader. Your goal as a leader is to teach this to every team member. This type of leadership is far from intuitive, and its lack ultimately becomes a fatal stumbling block for many leaders. The entire process must be carried out with a clear understanding of the type of leadership that will ensure success in difficult circumstances.

In the famous children's game "Follow the Leader", one child leads the others up, down and around. The rest of the children follow him as long as he takes them to interesting places, is interesting to them, makes things interesting to others, and as long as he knows what others are doing.

Leadership is the same, and just as difficult. The one who knows how to become a leader does not have to be the tallest, the oldest, the best dressed. And definitely - this is not necessarily the one with the higher rank. The best way to tell who the leader is at the moment is to look at who the others are following.

A leader is the one whom others follow. In business, as in that game, people may follow different leaders at different times. They may cope well in one situation and not in another. Sometimes leaders and followers change places. And that's okay. He who knows every twig on a tree must guide those who climb trees, and he who knows every reef in the sea must guide those who swim.

If you understand this, then when you want to identify and understand a leader, you first look at those who follow him. Why do people follow leaders? Because they:

They want to go where the leader goes (interesting places)
They like the leader as a person (an interesting person)
They believe that the leader takes their interests into account (interesting for others)
Trust the leader's judgment (knows what they are doing)

Where does the leader go?: In general, people will not follow other people where they don’t want to go. Of course, there have been some stunning exceptions to this, and much has been written about the psychological underpinnings of seemingly irrational behavior. But in most cases, people will prefer to go to an interesting place through the “valley of death.” And a leader who writes off the wrong direction risks looking back and not finding that no one is following him.

This is why it is very important to take part in establishing a strong imperative. This is why it is not enough for a leader to have a vision for the future, but it is important that those who follow him also have one and contribute to the mission. People will only go in the direction and vision that interests them. This is not for a leader. This is all for those who follow him.

Leader as a person: Of course, this applies to the leader too. People need to be comfortable with the person they are joining. People work in a team. Whether it is their business partners, or just a life partner, the choice of whom to team up with is the main skill for survival. And if many people have chosen to unite with a leader, that leader must withstand their test of strength.

At the end of the day, it's all about values. Team members must approve of the leader's values. They need to trust that the leader's values are consistent with the organization's values and their own. That's why it's important to make team values part of a strong imperative. Just as people want to move in a direction they want, they want to follow someone they perceive to be a good person.

The leader takes into account interests: Of all the values of a leader, the values he transfers to those who follow him are the most important to those people. They want the leader to succeed. And they want to share the benefits of victory. If the team leader is not going to share these benefits, then those who follow him will go over to the side of the one who will. People desperately believe that the leader cares about them too. Therefore, the leader must interest and share the benefits of victory.

Grade: good intentions alone are not enough to become a leader in a team. Even if everyone shares the leader's mission, vision and values, he and the team must deliver results. Although their joint efforts determine victory, the collective must fight and win. And winning means making the right choice of strategy and tactics. The right choice comes from the right assessment. Such followers who want to win will follow a leader who knows what he or she is doing.

The assessment is carried out in each of the areas of the 3P system: personnel, plans and rules. It's about choosing and implementing a winning strategy, putting the right people in the right places and supporting them with the necessary rules. The leader must choose the right place to land, the right place to ford the current, the right place to cross to the other side, the right people to build the bridge and make sure everyone else does their job to achieve early victories and finally move in the desired direction . Then victory comes.

First those who follow me: Great leaders throughout history have paid more attention to those who followed them than to themselves. The more they were willing to sacrifice for those who followed them, the more loyal the followers were to the leader. These are the great legends of all times and peoples. They are still everywhere today. They are easy to recognize. People follow them.

Finis origine pendet(the end depends on the beginning). So said the Roman poet Manlius. If you start the leadership journey wrong, the end will be sad. If you followed the system and used our tools, you will lead your team to the right place, in the right direction and at the right time. If you do this, you will build the tactical intelligence needed to quickly achieve leadership results. And you will develop loyalty, trust and commitment to your views. Your team will follow you through thick and thin.

More about leadership.