In her essay Leadership in the NHS: does the Emperor have any clothes?, Kath Checkland leverages her 30 years of experience in the English National Health Service (NHS) to examine the rise of the concept of leadership. She questions the validity of claims and benefits made throughout the NHS by placing greater emphasis on the application of leadership. Her overall suggestion is the NHS would benefit greater by placing increased emphasis on followership throughout the organization. In her writing, Checkland establishes leadership as requiring “a leader, follower and the relational interactions that exist between” (as cited in Dansereau et al., 2013). Checkland further argues the legitimacy of leadership is established by a sociological perspective and the authority …show more content…
255). She supports this statement through the identification of leaders such as Winston Churchill and Malala Yusuf, a tangible magic ingredient cannot be clearly defined thus attempting to teach these intangible traits is in vain (Checkland, 2014, p. 255). Checkland assesses the true nature of leadership training will continue to perpetuate discourse since leadership is not a skill that can be taught in an academic nature. Northouse (2015) assesses “In contrast, the approach in this text suggests that leadership is a process that can be learned, and that it is available to everyone” (p. 16). He recognizes many studies have concluded leadership as an intangible trait or special characteristic which aligns with Checkland’s assessment, however he disagrees with the overall judgement that leadership is genetic or natural born. In conclusion, Checkland makes valid arguments that the excessive use of the term leadership results in exaggerated benefits within the English NHS. By definition, leadership requires followership to establish rational interactions between leader and follower. The over application of the word leader throughout an organization will create a void of followers
The topic of leadership has been explored and written about by thousands of authors who are considerably more qualified than I am to write about the subject. However, I’ve always maintained that developing, evolving and articulating one’s own leadership philosophy is an essential part of a professional’s growth. Through academics and experience, I’ve concluded that leadership is a “soft” skill, more art than science, and that leadership principles can be universally applied. As a topic of discussion, leadership can be ambiguous and seldom does everyone agree on a single definition. Organizations and the people they consist of crave leadership, even if not overtly. Undeniably, strong leadership is essential to achieving
“Leadership is a process in which many can engage, not a position that only a few can hold.
The authors try to define who is a leader. They say “Leadership is a process of influence. Anytime you seek to influence the thinking, behaviour, or development of people in their personal or professional lives, you are taking on the role of a leader.” (pg. 5) You might be a parent, a teacher, a nurse, a pastor, a coach, or an adult child helping her aging parents. There are differences between being a “life leader” (such as a parent) and an “organizational leader” (a manager in a company). The author defines leadership as influence in a positive or negative direction.
Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin
Pierce, Jon L. and John W. Newstrom (2011) 6th edition. Leaders and the Leadership Process.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B., (2007). The leadership challenge, (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Mlls, D. Q. (2005). Leadership How to Lead, How to Live. Boston: Harvad Business School Press.
Lord, R. (2000). Leadership. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology, vol. 4. (pp. 499-505). Doi:10.1037/10519-216
Leaders is an effective tool for summarizing and inspiring leadership, not in that it teaches tough strategies and manipulations, but that when looking at an overview of its content, Bennis and Nanus are essentially teaching human relations and human decency. All in all, this book highlights strategies for us all to be better in our lives and our everyday interactions.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
Hall, Peter, & Norris, Peter. (1993). Learning for leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 14(7), 35. Retrieved August 25, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 81758).
The vision of leadership that leaders are born made, and not learn to be leaders is still considered but not popular among researchers (Avolio et al, 2013).
Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Lussier, R.N. & Achua, C.F. (2010). Leadership: Theory, application, skill development (5th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western.
Maxwell maintains that the leading leader is born with leadership qualities and has seen leadership modeled throughout life. The leading leader has learned additional leadership skills though training and practices self-discipline. The “learned leader” is described with the same characteristics of the “leading leader” with the exception of “being born” with leadershi...