Throughout history, I find that a common characteristic of successful businesses and organizations is the leadership skills and techniques of a person or persons. I believe leadership; today, has become less rigid in nature and in essence is becoming more flexible. This trend allows today’s leaders to apply a style of leadership that fits the person; and, or situation at that particular time. The more we learn about successful leaders it is clear that there are many differences in how they motivate people to complete missions and tasks under their guidance. Being almost fluid in nature, the style of leadership applied to complete a mission or task can have a definite impact on the outcome.
The main objective of a leader is to employ the correct leadership style that will allow him/her to influence and inspire others to willfully complete the mission to the best of their ability. This is why great military leader are successful in leading troops into battles that they may not survive. If our military leaders were to send troops into combat without great leadership, there would be more casualties and therefore, less people willing to voluntarily join our military. On a much safer scale, this also relates to business as well as life.
As business leader, parent, coach, etc… leadership is a trait that with all the right tools can encourage others to be successful in their jobs. It is the leader that must recognize each person and situation and then apply the best leadership style to motivate others to want to be successful.
Leadership means different things to different people. That is why, different styles of leadership appeal to different people. Some of the common traits of good leadership are consist...
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...er that allowed you to understand his style of leadership, which is something to be admired. At a time of war, he was the calm. At a time of decision, he was the answer. He accepted responsibility in loses and gave credit to others during victories. He was also smart enough to surround himself with smart people and to delegate the tasks to them when appropriate.
Harari, O. (1996). Quotations from Chairman Powell: A Leadership Primer, GovLeaders.org
This article lists eighteen quotes from a speech given by General Colin Powell. The quotes reinforce straightforward thinking and leadership.
I found this article to be refreshing in a manner that it didn’t mince words. Once in a while we need to work through the political correctness and just tell it like it is. I felt this article did just that, while still addressing the importance of character in leadership.
The most valuable commodity of any great organization is the quality of good people. Almost everyone has good intentions but leaders acknowledge what needs to be done and has the ability to inspire others to respond. Nonetheless the author conveys the differences between leadership of past generation versus this generation. As society loses confidence in leadership techniques of the past, it begins to look for management wit...
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
In the Leadership Challenge, 4th edition, it is Kouzes & Posner (2007) intention to present a road map for individuals to follow on their leadership journey. The authors stress that “leadership is not a gene and it’s not an inheritance.” Leadership they assert is “an identifiable set of skills and abilities that are available to all of us” (p. 23). They make clear that the “great person” theory of leadership is “plain wrong.” Leaders are our everyday heroes who do extraordinary things on a regular basis (p. 23).
In my own experience leadership is not just about one person telling others what to do; it’s about more than just giving orders. It is about getting a group of people to work together towards a common goal with more than just the goal in mind. It is also not just about setting goals for the group but also setting personal goals for the individual, guiding and supporting them all
...eing a role model or a leader is such an important position. I have learned a lot of things about myself while writing this paper. I have learned that I am not very vocal and bossy towards others. I am the type of person that does not like to be in charge because I do not like the pressure of having to lead other people. However, throughout this paper and class I have learned that I can still be a leader even if I am not in your face about things. I can still make a change and make an impact on people through different ways. This paper taught me a lot about what leadership means to me.
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.
Leadership can be defined as the method in which one influences a group of individuals for a common goal. There have many great leaders in the world but these leaders are not born leaders. One must have willpower and the desire to become an effective leader. These leaders become dependent upon based upon their abilities and their success. A leader is looked upon for guidance and the inspiration to know what the right thing to do is. The theoretical foundations of the research of leadership are firmly supported. To better understand the foundations and understand the focus of leadership, it is essential to have knowledge of the history of leadership, the meaning and concept of leadership, types of leaders and leadership styles, and issues in leadership such as issues with culture and gender. According to Antonakis (2004), “leadership researchers have struggled for most of the last century to put together an integrated, theoretically cohesive view of the nature of leadership, invariably leading to disappointment in those who studied it” (p.4). An overview of the history of leadership is necessary to understand the concept of leadership because it also provides a framework for other areas of leadership. In any conventional group, individuals fill different role and one of those roles must the leader which is essential for the group to achieve it purposes.
Although there are many outstanding, albeit necessary qualities of a good leader, it is the leader’s beliefs in which greatness is given its first breath, fostered by action, and spread throughout the institution. A great leader believes in encouraging, not destroying; in setting the precedence instead of yielding to prominence ; in collaboration, not division; in giving, not taking; and in having high standards and volunteering to be the first of many to be held to them. A great leader does not take advantage of the people being lead, but instead, creates an advantage for the people by giving them the opportunities to lead. Only when people take ownership of an institution will passion be cultivated, action be taken, and greatness be achieved.
Colin Powell has thirteen rules that he follows when it comes to being an effective leader:
Great leadership is not achieved over night, and it is not something that one achieves and stops. Great leaders spend entire lives building and growing their leadership skills. It is not likely that a leader will one day wake up with all of the vision, influence, knowledge, respect, and momentum necessary to be great; these take time to develop. “It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.”
Leadership is essentially the ability to motivate. An effective leader can motivate others toward reaching a common goal. Leaders are different than managers in that leaders inspire others to do the work needed while managers generally tend to manage the tasks associated with completing the goal.
In my view, people employ certain traits that differentiate us from our neighbor next door, and leadership is no different. The test produced by the University of Kent in the United Kingdom (University of Kent, n.d.) has developed a process that I feel accurately defines what sort of leader you are based on 50 simple questions. I was not surprised by the results and found them to be quite accurate and expected. In this essay, I will explore why I feel the test is an accurate way to determine your leadership style due to my personal experience with
Even though our world is constantly changing as shown in the video, “Did You Know?”, the way our leaders lead has been fairly constant. The traits and qualities past leaders such as Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King had are the same traits the leaders we look up to today have. Good leaders are aware of our continuously shifting world and have learned to adapt to what works best for those around them. The book, Learning as a Way of Being, discusses how as leaders we must be prepared for the changes that are constantly occurring in our society. We need to always be open to learning new things and how to best adapt to the environment around us. The more experiences we deal with in the past, the more prepared we will be for the changes in the future.
According to Shockley and Zalabak (2009) "Leadership is a process of guiding individuals, groups, and entire organization in establishing goals and sustaining action to support goals.Leadership is like mapping out where you need to go to win". A Leader is a person who has a strong personality and who has an ability to manage people and work. He is also the person who is able to direct people .Usually a leaders has a lot of attributes that
Many people associate leadership with a specific job title or form of power within an organization. However, through personal experience, I have concluded that leadership can come in many forms and position as well as from multiple sources of roles and job titles both with and without power. Based on the definition of leadership, anyone can be considered a leader as long as they have the ability to influence people to achieve a particular result or goal which benefits the organization or group as a whole. Individuals with a secure sense of self and understanding, acceptance of diversity within an organization tend to be the strongest leaders that not only make others want to follow, but they also encourage other leaders to gravitate to their