LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT.
To begin, we should first define what the term "leadership" entails. In the past, the definitions of leadership and management were used interchangeably (Robbins & Langton, 2001). Both expressed the notions of planning, designing, monitoring and implementing organizational objectives (Robbins & Langton, 2001). More recently, however, efforts have been made to distinguish leadership from the concept of management. As described by John Kotter of Harvard Business School (as cited in Robbins & Langton, 2001), "managers bring about order and consistency by drawing up formal plans, designing rigid organizational structures, and monitoring results against the plans" (p. 418-419), while contrastingly, "leaders establish direction by developing a vision of the future; then they align people by communicating this vision and inspiring them- (p.419). In other words, the role of leadership has expanded to encompass more abilities than just supervisory and management skills. .
TYPES OF LEADERSHIP STYLES:.
Among the various styles of leadership that exist, researchers most commonly make a distinction between two approaches leaders may use to influence their subordinates: task-oriented style which focuses on production, and people-oriented style which contrastingly emphasizes the importance of interpersonal relationships (Powell & Graves, 2003; Eagly & Johanneseen-Schmidt, 2001; Eagly & Johnson, 1990). Leadership based on task-orientation involves setting, directing and accomplishing assigned tasks, and focuses on initiating structure (Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). This orientation provides little consideration for the morale or welfare of individuals (Pounder & Coleman, 2002); thus, subordinates are more or less perceived as "robots." In contrast, people-oriented style is defined as having concern with maintaining "healthy" relationships, and whereby leaders provide support, communication, and active interaction for their subordinates (Pounder & Coleman, 2002).
