The purpose of this paper is to discuss leadership and communication styles related to employer-employee goals, with an emphasis on motivation, authority, human resources management, feedback and listening.
Defining leadership in a clear, concise and comprehensive manner is very difficult, since the term "leadership" is a slippery and catch-all concept. As it relates to the business world, use is sometimes made of the term "position of leadership." In this sense, a company president is more a leader than a supervisor. Other times, the term leadership is attributed to a type of behavior. In this sense, a company executive or department head may be a mere figurehead whereas his assistant may be the real "power behind the throne." Leadership may refer to certain qualities or characteristics someone has. For good or ill, people still speak in terms of leaders and non-leaders, of born leaders and developed leaders.
Cribbin (1972, p.9) described leadership as "a process of influence on a group in a particular situation, at a given point in time, and in a specific set of circumstances that stimulates people to strive willingly to attain organizational objectives, giving them the experience of helping attain the common objectives and satisfaction with the type of leadership provided."
In business, there are many varieties of leaders. Some are authoritarian demanding stringent obedience to commands; others are democratic, allowing the employees to have a say in the way things are done. Some leaders are "climbers," self-propelled in their quest for power and prestige. They are very opportunistic in seeking out avenues for personal progress and selfaggrandizement. "Conservers" are the opposite of climbers. The latter are always on the move, while conservers try to stand pat and maintain the status quo. Conservers tend to resist and resent change, since it has an unsettling effect on wellstructured and well-known relationships...