THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEADERSHIP COMPETENCES AND ITS NECESSITY IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The understanding of the concept leader and leadership has changed significantly over the years. It is important to study and understand it in order to orientate the education process. Theories on leadership may emphasize either leader attributes and behaviours or leadership in context. Economic, social and technological changes have highlighted the importance of leadership for successful business. The quality of classroom teaching is rightly the focus for effective education but without its sound leadership it is unlikely to be effective very long. The research shall focus on entrepreneurs’ opinions on what competences are required for a successful career and personal development by way of interviews, questionnaires and focus group discussions. The goal of the research is to corroborate the opinions of business management students and entrepreneurs of Latvia on important competences in business by analysing the research results on the role of leaders and leader competences. The research applies document analysis, logical constructive, monograph and analytical methods. The research is carried out based on and justified by theory – theory that has evolved based on semi structured interviews, field observations, and certain case study analysis. The area of educational leadership is one that has seen a strong development over recent decades, certainly in terms of the number of studies and their prominence in the educational arena, and in that sense we can say that the field has rapidly developed.