THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1           Background of the Study

The role of leaders in ensuring excellent organisational performance can not be over emphasized. Adequate motivation, suitable work environment, compensation, efficient communication between managers and subordinates play an important role in promoting this goal. Planning and organisation of work is also very crucial in organisational attainment. Some researchers have argued that the most common problems affecting organisational performance in Nigeria business and other institutions are poor attitude to work among workforce, inefficiency as well as ineffectiveness of leaders in most places, though others share a contrary view. This second school of thought believes  that organisations in Nigeria  are manged through leadership styles that are strange to typical Nigerian  are managed through leadership styles that are strange to typical Nigerian culture. In the wake-up call to address this issue, management practitioners in Nigeria have embarked on series of studies in an attempt to establish the relationship between effective leadership and organisational performance. Some found out that effective leadership styles are positively related to organisational performance while others have a different view. Still there is no empirical evidence to show how effective leadership styles impacts on organisational performance. Again given our cultural background, educational qualifications, environmental factors it is still not too clear how effective a leader can be if he must combine the three types of leadership styles to achieve high performance in Organisations Usoro 2000. given this

scenario, this study will be important in that it tries to fill this gap. 

The extent (degree) to which all members of an organisation use their  abilities and influences in the effective  utilization of resources depends upon how well the  leaders of the organisation understand and perform their jobs. Maddock and fullton 1998 in Iyang (2006) explain that  leadership styles and other processes of the organisation must be such that can ensure maximum probability within all interactions and relationships with the Organisations, each member will in the light of his background, values and expectation view the expenses as supportive and one which can build and maintains his sense of personal worth and importance. 

Despite the above, we should note that individuals  have their needs to satisfy and that is why they offered their labours to become organisational members and the extent to which they are committed to the organisation depends on the degree of their conviction that their membership of the organisation will enable them  realize their  predetermined  objectives. In this case, the support  an organisation gets from the individuals will be based on the realization  that by doing that, his personal objectives and goals will be met, otherwise his interest in the organisation will wane. Based on that, leadership effectiveness should be given adequate attention it the organisaiton intends to achieve it objectives. That is why it is a common agreement among management scholars that the success or failure of an organisation is largely a function of leadership and  its styles.