A cherished dream and desirable goal for many people is to become a real leader. Leadership does not necessarily imply control of a huge company, public or political party. Leadership is an attitude and the way of thinking that allows a person to achieve success in various fields (Adair 19).
The position of the leader even in a small professional group at work will definitely bring bonuses in the form of experience, new motivation, increase the credibility and, as a consequence, promotion and increasing revenue. At last, it will bring the opportunity to develop the leadership skills effectively and for self-development, to learn how to be a smart and decisive leader for the "yourself" (Adair 19). The inner rod in this case will allow developing self-discipline, willpower and charactering qualities necessary to accomplish even the most difficult goals and to disperse the doubt when struggling with laziness and to inspire for new achievements. The leader has to be intelligent and erudite.
Leadership becomes now one of the key concepts in the field of management. The meaning of the concept of leadership is very wide. In the meanings of everyday leadership is rarely associated with the management of the organization. For most people, the word "leader" is associated primarily with politics, social activities, martial arts, sports.
One of the greatest examples of successful leader is Adolf Hitler. Even the German word Führer means Leader. He is, indeed, quite a controversial figure in the world history. However, even in today's innovative society, one of the main characteristics is to accelerate the processes of change in the socio-economic conditions of the organizations and to support the initiative of all participants in the production process. This is what Hitler had achieved within his administration (Römgens). The main problem arising from the variability and unpredictability of the environment is the need to redefine the objectives of the organization as a whole and its subsidiaries at all levels. As a consequence, there is a need to "lead people", to clearly and convincingly depict the reasons for changes in habitual methods of operation. In other words, there is a need to influence people's minds. Truly, after the First World War German society was in a desperate need in the person who can lead the country, to show the most suitable way of socio-economic development and to transform Germany into one of the most powerful and recognized country in the world. Hitler had just appeared at the right time and in the right place (Römgens).
Leadership is recognized as the ability to formulate goals and influence people (Adair 20). Most cited concepts in textbooks about leadership include three components: the purpose, the impact and the group (Daft 70). Leaders are the people influencing other people and people who are treated as members of the group or team followers. The main emphasis is placed on the target groups, which should be adequate and achievable. Thus, the leadership refers to the process of influence on other team members of the organization (group) in order to achieve the set goals. With this in mind, Adolf Hitler positioned himself as a part of the society, as the friend of every German citizen (only years after he became an “icon”). Definitely, Hitler understood the concept of leadership and made a clear distinction between the concepts of management. He was a person who directed and supervised the work of his employees (adjutants, generals, secretary, etc.) and successfully set the realistic tasks. The Third Reich can be compared with Swiss watches, it worked as perfectly as possible with almost no failures. Hence, it is understandable that the manager is personally responsible for the results of the tasks he set (Daft 70).
Fiedler's model was an important contribution in the development of the leadership theory, as it drew the attention to the situation and identified three factors that influence the behavior of the leader (Daft 73). These factors are:
The relationship between managers and staff members imply loyalty shown by subordinates, their confidence in their leader and head, the attractiveness of this person for the company’s parters.
The structure of the task means familiarity of it, clarity of its wording and format, rather than the vagueness and lack of structure.
Official authority is the volume of legitimate authority associated with the position of the head, which allows him or her to use the reward, as well as the level of support, that the head of a formal organization usually has (Daft 74).
Fiedler said that although each situation requires a specific leadership style, the style of this or that leader remains broadly constant. As Fiedler assumes that a person cannot adapt their leadership style to the situation, he proposes to put the leader into specific situations, which are the most suitable in order to stabilize the leadership style (Daft 74). This will ensure a proper balance between the situational requirements, and personal qualities of the head, and this leads to the highest performance and satisfaction. A leadership style that focuses on human relationships, most likely enhances leader influence. Caring about the welfare of his subordinates would in fact improve the relationship between the leader and subordinates (Daft 75). If the subordinates are motivated by the needs of a higher level, the use of this style can give management the opportunity to head to stimulate personal interest of performers in a specific job. That would be ideal, because the self-governing labor need in tight, strict supervision and minimizes the risk of loss of control.
Throughout the history, there were a lot of men and women who can be called charismatic people. They were able to inspire and lead the team, religious groups and nations, sometimes followed them even to death. As it was stated before, Adolf Hitler is one of the examples of more than just successful leader. Nevertheless, for a long time, only psychologists and representatives of other social sciences studied religious movements and political leadership in connection with the phenomenon of charisma (Singh 263). For a long time in the literature were disputes about whether charisma is mainly related to the possession of certain personality traits (as in the theory of the "great man"), whether it is the result of situational conditions or the result of the interaction between leaders and their followers (Singh 265). Currently, a lot of people agree that charisma should be seen as an interaction, or a special type of relationship that exists between the leader and followers. Hitler’s Charisma is seen as the result of certain reactions of followers, which are caused by the characteristics of the leader's personality and his behavior in a particular situation (Römgens). As a source of power leadership charisma refers to an example of the power associated with the ability of the head to influence subordinates, because of their personal qualities and leadership style (Stutje 2). Charisma gave Hitler an advantage of effectively exert his influence on subordinates. Charismatic leader is the one who is able to exert a profound influence on the followers (Stutje 3). Leaders of this type test high need for power have a strong need for activity and are convinced of the moral rightness of what they believe. The need for power motivates them to become leaders.
Modern approaches to the concept of effective leadership include substitutes and amplifiers influence on self-coaching style and management, transformational leadership and charismatic approach. In particular, transformational leadership and charismatic approach emerged in recent years are based on the attempts to formulate and define the qualified leaders who can provide an aura of special significance, uniqueness and magnetism, allowing drag the people. Fiedler's situational approach is an excellent tool to emphasize the importance of the interaction of the leader, performers (workers) and the situation. This approach denies the simplistic view that there is only one best leadership style, regardless the circumstances. Truly, those who follow charismatic leaders are highly motivated, able to work with enthusiasm and achieve meaningful results. Such leaders are especially needed at a critical stage of development, in the output period of the crisis, the implementation of radical reforms and changes.
Works Cited
Adair, John Eric. Effective Leadership. London: Pan, 2009. Print.
Daft, Richard L, and Patricia G Lane. The Leadership Experience. Australia: Cengage Learning, 2015. Print.
Römgens, Inge. "What Made Adolf Hitler A Charismatic Leader?". Talkin'Business (2012): n. pag. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. http://www.talkinbusiness.nl/2012/10/charismatic-leadership/
Stutje, Jan Willem. Charismatic Leadership And Social Movements. New York: Berghahn Books, 2012. Print.
Singh, Hawa. Organisational Behavior. 11th ed. New Delhi: V.K. Enterprises, 2010. Print.
