A PERSPECTIVE OF LEADERSHIP: THE CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

Abstract: Leadership is not something to be perceived as alien in our narrative of life. It has been an essence which foregrounded our life where we are created by Allah as vicegerent (khalifah). In an attempt to understand the construct of leadership, one must understand the purpose of living in this world. The notion of leadership can be extended from several perspectives including administration, business, defence, spiritual or community such as family. Beekun & Badawi (1999) stated that leadership is a process where leaders seek the voluntary participation of followers in an effort to achieve certain mission. Similarly, according to Jamil (2015) leadership signifies the capability of an individual to provide guidance  for a group of people, followers in attempting to achieve completion of a certain specified objectives.  An individual who possesses strong characteristics of leadership can bring a huge victory to its team or followers. The terminology leadership is also derived from the word lead and lead is one of the fundamental essences in leadership. Thus, this paper discusses the author’s perceptions of leadership and its’ characteristics.