LEADERSHIP IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

INTRODUCTION

When one leads the people with benevolence, justice and righteousness and reposes confidence in them the army will be united in mind and all will be happy serve their leaders -Sun Tzu

Even though a ruler may be wise as a sage, he must humble himself and yield other. then the intelligent will offer him their counsel and the brave will exert themselves to the fullest forhim -Sima Guang

The idea of leadership is as old as the existence of man on earth. From the earliest primitive times, as soon as man began to coalesce into identifiable societies, there had or the society to set apart certain individuals, who were considered physically stronger than the rest, to take foremost positions in making decisions and taking actions on behalf of other members of the society, Over the centuries, as society became more complex in function and interaction, leaders were needed at different levels of complexity and functionality and each level, from the simplest to the most with its peculiar requirements for selecting its leader. For example, preties, aggregating in simple tiny groups, would select an individual who been the need of historic society they perceived as physically big and strong ehough to provide them with enough and water as wll as protect themagainst everykind of danger. Today, the complexity of has given rise to different categories and levels of leaders whose functions range from the supervision of simple tasks to top-level administration and governahce or planning and executing complex war operations, However, whether it is top, middle or
society supervisory, individuals carry out some form of léadership functions.

Globally, the role of the modern leader is increasingly evolving into that of a facilitator and coordinator of complex activities that require effective and efficient decision making. It is assumed that no nation would want to be led by men of weak character who are dishonest cowards without integrity. Rather, every nation dreams and strives towards the selection of leaders that are knowledgeable, effective and of admirable character. This paper is intended to focus attention on the organizational administrators as leaders. This is because most administrators or managers assume they are leaders but experience has shown that this is a fallacy. There are clear differences between the leader and the administrator or manager. A lack of understanding of the differences has resulted in the increasing incidence of toxictive leadership in organizations with its attendant leadership failure resulting in negative consequences