Umiejętność wywierania wpływu na ludzi jako kluczowa kompetencja współczesnego menedżera i przywódcy - studium teoretyczno-empiryczne

The paper discusses leadership and management in the context of influencing people. It is an attempt to show that the ability to influence others effectively is a crucial skill of a successful leader and the essence of leadership. The author first presents some major management and leadership theories, focusing on those consistent with the aforementioned point of view. Furthermore, empirical evidence documenting the employees' perception of the Polish managers' influencing skills, based on a survey designed and implemented by the author, is presented. It concludes, however, that none of leadership skills, nor any combination of them, can guarantee the success of a leader. An effective leader needs to vary his style and adapt. Nonetheless, there are some major traits distinguishing outstanding leaders, which can also be linked to strong performance. The ability to influence people to reach organizational goals is one of them.