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Leadership and Organizational Function
By Oleg Nekrassovski
Introduction
It is often asserted that leadership is fundamental to the success of any organization.
Therefore, it is important to explore various possible links between organizational leadership and
organizational function. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to analyze, compare, and synthesize
themes, that are relevant to this topic, from five sources: (1) “When heads roll: Assessing the
effectiveness of leadership decapitation,” by Jordan (2009); (2) Leadership: A concise
conceptual overview, by Berger (2014); (3) Armed groups: The 21st century threat, by
Thompson (2014); (4) “Effects of leader intelligence, personality and emotional intelligence on
transformational leadership and managerial performance,” by Cavazotte, Moreno, and Hickmann
(2012); and (5) “Can charisma be taught? Tests of two interventions,” by Antonakis, Fenley, and
Liechti (2011). A synthesis of common themes identified in the analysis suggests that leadership
is of definite importance to organizational success.
The Importance of Leadership to the Functioning of Organizations
One theme common to all five sources is whether leadership is essential for the
organization’s functioning. And Jordan’s (2009) study of leadership in terrorist organizations
presents several arguments on this issue. On the one hand, according to Oots (1990), leadership
is fundamentally important to the formation of terrorist organizations (as cited in Jordan, 2009, p.
723). In fact, Oots (1989) argues that, just like the formation of any other political organizations,
the formation of terrorist organizations depends on the ability of its leaders to recruit and retain
committed members (as cited in Jordan, 2009, p. 723-724). After all, if there are no sufficient
incentives compelling individuals to act on behalf of a terrorist organization, a strong tendency to
free-ride will emerge. Consequently, Oots (1989) argues that if a terrorist group is to recruit and
retain members, as well as induce them to commit violent acts; it must be able to provide them
with selective incentives. And it is the leader’s responsibility to ensure that the group is able to
do that (as cited in Jordan, 2009, p. 724). Hence, Jordan (2009) concludes that leading a terrorist
organization and supplying goods to its members requires a generation of surplus. And it is the
leader’s job to generate this surplus, for the organization, by providing incentives, to its
members, that are lower than the cost of membership to the organization.
On the other hand, Jordan (2009) presents a number of studies which point out that the
removal of key terrorist leaders does not always result in the collapse of terrorist organizations.
For example, according to Oots (1989), a terrorist group without political leadership can still
carry out terrorist activity, despite losing its political focus, which is required to direct its activity
towards specific goals and which the leadership provides (as cited in Jordan, 2009, p. 724).

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Moreover, Oots (1989) argues that decapitation can cause a terrorist organization to factionalize
into smaller groups; leading to an activity of several smaller groups, instead of one large one;
and hence, to an increase in political violence, as such smaller groups develop their own, distinct
political demands (as cited in Jordan, 2009, p. 724).
Berger (2014) presents several implicit arguments regarding the importance of leadership
to the functioning of organizations. After all, he argues that it is important to make faculty
members and administrators of community colleges into better leaders, by instilling them with
knowledge, skills and values of leadership. He also notes that “The importance of leadership in
its many forms has been recognized for centuries in a wide variety of cultural contexts” (p. 2).
Finally, Berger (2014) argues that doing and improving are integral parts of leadership; and that
to be successful, leaders must not only be competent in leading, but also in managing and
organizing.
Thompson’s (2014) discussion, of leadership roles in armed groups, seems to suggest that
leadership is unquestionably essential for the organization’s functioning. After all, according to
him, leaders fulfill multiple, key organizational roles, including, “motivating the group to fight,
creating a common identity, coordinating basic organizational needs, outlining objectives,
maintaining internal cohesion, and providing the public face for external relations” (p. 117).
Also, according to Cavazotte, Moreno, and Hickmann (2012), transformational leaders,
in particular, “raise morale, inspire followers and motivate them toward greater achievements or
conquests” (p. 444). While Antonakis, Fenley, and Liechti (2011) note that there is a consensus
in the management and economics literature regarding the great significance of leadership for
work teams, organizations, and countries. Thus, the five sources make it clear that leadership is
largely essential to the functioning of organizations.
Leader’s Unique Qualities and Organizational Success
Another theme common to all five sources is that leaders with certain unique qualities
may be crucial to the organization’s continued success. Thus, according to Jordan (2009),
multiple theorists view leaders endowed with charisma as crucial to the continued success of
their organizations. On the other hand, Berger (2014) notes that there were hundreds of empirical
studies which generated lengthy lists of traits associated with successful leadership. And many of
these traits are dependent on specific conditions, such as cultural contexts, historical periods,
organizational settings, issues involved, individual characteristics of the leaders and followers
involved, etc. Hence, a unique match between specific leadership traits and conditions is crucial
to the organization’s continued success.
Thompson’s (2014) discussion, of leadership roles in armed groups, also argues for the
crucial role that charismatic leaders play in creating and maintaining their organizations. In
addition, Thompson (2014) notes that some leaders may have old (even since childhood),
personal relationships with their key followers. Such relationships may lead to fierce loyalty to
the leader, while being very difficult to replicate. Moreover, some leaders inherit key positions in

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political and economic networks; allowing them to make sure that various economic and political
benefits are directed only to their followers. In the absence of alternative sources of funding (for
the followers), this arrangement maintains the leader’s legitimacy (while making him/her very
hard to replace), organizational cohesion, and continued recruitment of new members
(Thompson, 2014).
Cavazotte, Moreno, and Hickmann (2012) note a number of personal qualities inherent in
the construct of transformational leadership. Thus, a leader exhibiting idealized influence (also
known as charisma) prompts his/her followers to emulate him/her, follow him/her in all actions,
and adopt his/her values and principles. Moreover, leaders exhibiting motivational inspiration
inspire their followers “to reach objectives that result in important advances for the organization
or for society” (p. 444). And finally, leaders exhibiting intellectual stimulation are able to
promote, in their followers, thinking processes that favor creativity and innovation.
Antonakis, Fenley, and Liechti (2011) note that meta-analyses, measuring specific
components of leadership, have repeatedly established that charismatic leadership qualities have
a strong effect on leader outcomes, such as achieving organizational objectives. Thus, the five
sources make it clear that leaders with specific, unique traits and attributes are indeed crucial to
the success of many organizations.
Organizational Structure and the Importance of Leaders
Another theme common to all five sources is whether the leaders of hierarchically
structured organizations are more essential to the functioning of their organizations, than leaders
of decentralized organizations. Thus, Jordan (2009), in her discussion of literature on social
network analysis, notes that there is a general consensus, in that literature, that hierarchically
structured organizations can be measurably weakened through elimination of their key leaders.
On the other hand, the same literature is divided over whether the targeting of key leaders can
weaken a decentralized organization. After all, leaders of hierarchical organizations are more
visible and can be clearly identified. They are more directly responsible for the planning and
scheduling of organizational activities and have more social ties with other actors in their and
other organizations (Jordan, 2009). On the other hand, the key actors, in decentralized
organizations, are individuals with the most social ties. These individuals are referred to as
“hubs.” They are responsible for ensuring the distribution of logistical support and information,
and hence, form the critical communicative elements of decentralized organizations. Hence,
decentralized organizations can likely be weakened through the identification and removal of
their key hubs. However, the hubs may or may not be the leaders of decentralized organizations;
and if there is a clear separation between hubs and leaders, elimination of such organizations’
leaders will not be able to weaken them (Jordan, 2009).
Berger (2014), in his discussion of various approaches to leadership, makes a number of
points about the role and importance of leaders in hierarchical and decentralized organizations.
Thus, according to contingency theory of leadership, leadership effectiveness and organizational

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productivity are influenced by multiple factors, including the strength of the leaders’ formal
authority over their followers and the quality of relationships (good or poor) with their followers
(Berger, 2014); suggesting that while organizational structure (hierarchical vs. decentralized)
may play a role in the importance of leaders to the functioning of their organizations, it is not a
predictive factor. On the other hand, the feminist approach to leadership is opposed to
hierarchical organizational structure; but tasks leaders of decentralized organizations with
numerous functions, such as embodying feminist values, building relationships among and
empowering organization’s members (Berger, 2014); suggesting that, leaders are just as essential
for the functioning of decentralized feminist organizations, as for the functioning of traditional
hierarchical organizations.
Thompson (2014), in his discussion of organizational structures favored by various armed
groups, notes that “Monarchists, some religious fundamentalists, and other groups organized
around a central authority figure may prefer hierarchical group organization” (p. 124). Hence, the
leaders of such hierarchical organizations are clearly crucial to their organizations’ existence.
However, “hierarchically organized groups with succession plans may be less susceptible to
state-decapitation strategies” (Thompson, 2014, p. 126); suggesting small importance of current
leaders for the functioning of such hierarchical organizations. On the other hand, a decentralized
organization “is likely to carry out actions contrary to the central, motivating ideology or
objectives of the leadership” (Thompson, 2014, p. 126). This makes it unclear whether leaders
are less, or more essential to the functioning of decentralized organizations, than hierarchical
ones.
According to Cavazotte, Moreno, and Hickmann (2012), successful leaders are
intelligent; while aspects of intelligence such as “analytical and critical thinking skills can be an
asset for assessing situational contexts, acquiring new knowledge and engaging in creative
problem-solving” (p. 444). Given that being able to perform such functions is likely to be more
important for leaders of hierarchically structured organizations; the leaders of hierarchical
organizations are likely to be more essential to the functioning of their organizations, than
leaders of decentralized organizations.
Antonakis, Fenley, and Liechti (2011), in their discussion of charismatic leadership, note
that according to classic notions of charisma, “Followers of charismatic leaders show devotion
and loyalty toward the cause that the leader represents” (p. 375); suggesting that charismatic
leaders are equally essential to the functioning of hierarchical and decentralized organizations.
However, the modern notions of charisma view this quality as a more common ability, which
manifests itself primarily in the close interaction between charismatic leaders and their followers;
suggesting that charismatic leaders are more essential for the functioning of hierarchical
organizations, than the decentralized ones (Antonakis, Fenley, & Liechti, 2011).
Thus, the five sources make it clear that, in addition to the organizational structure
(hierarchical vs. decentralized), the importance of leaders, to the functioning of their
organizations, also depends on a host of other factors.

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Conclusion
Thus, we have seen that according to some authors, the importance of leadership to the
functioning of terrorist organizations, in particular, is unclear; while, according to others, it is
highly essential to the functioning of armed groups, in general. Moreover, other scholars stress
the importance of leadership to community colleges, in particular; while underlining the
particular leadership traits that are important to the functioning of organizations, in general.
We have also seen that leaders that have old relationships with key followers; have
inherited key positions in political and economic networks; exhibit the personal qualities of
motivational inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and especially, charisma; as well as numerous
other traits, under the right conditions; are crucial to the success of their organizations.
Finally, we have seen that the importance of leaders, to the functioning of their
organizations, depends not only whether the organizations they lead are hierarchical or
decentralized, but also on such factors as the personal traits and abilities of leaders, other aspects
of organizational structure, leader-follower relationships, existence of organizational succession
plans, organization’s leadership goals, organizational type, and other possible factors.
Hence, the surveyed literature makes it clear that (1) leadership is largely essential to the
functioning of organizations; (2) that leaders with specific, unique traits and attributes are often
crucial to the success of their organizations; and (3) that in addition to the organizational
structure (hierarchical vs. decentralized), the importance of leaders, to the functioning of their
organizations, also depends on a host of other mentioned factors. Thus, it can be concluded that
the surveyed literature illustrates the importance of leadership to organizational success.

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References
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http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cie_faculty_pubs/18
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