Chapter 7 - Common Sense in Leadership
Leadership is quite possibly one of the most glorified and least understood concepts in the business world today, and common sense is the basis for successful effective leadership in any organization. A general way of understanding leadership is as a course of social influence. People tend to better appreciate leadership based on this rather than leadership based on impractical theory. We can follow leaders and appreciate their style if it is founded on common sense and most successful leaders have plenty of it. These leaders evade jargon and communicate in a plain, easy-to-understand language that most anyone can comprehend. In doing so, they produce emotional value making emotional connections with others. In that regard, common sense can be described as emotional wisdom. Common sense leaders have an internal knowing of what is right or wrong. This function of emotional intelligence is one of the most important qualities of effective leadership.
Experiences have resulted in leaders developing a sense of intuitiveness that provides a direction for actions
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These principles are aimed at facilitating the transition of efficient managers to Common Sense leaders. Before exploring these cornerstones, I want to take a moment to talk about feedback. In most organizations today there is a very well defined process for delivering and receiving feedback, whether a person is in a management position, or an entry level employee. Many organizations are still striving to master, or at least get a working handle on utilizing feedback strategies in a way that ensures positive results. It is highly important that and effective leader is skillful in this area, understanding that the contributions of his team directly feeds into his success as a leader, and keeps the team focused on its overall objectives. Now, on to the
The goal in this case is to be a conscientious leader. An evaluation was done to determine the strengths and weaknesses of an individual regarding their ability to communicate in a leadership capacity. The areas reviewed were:
“Everyone makes a difference, no matter what they do or in which department they work.” (Andrica 44). A very important concept to remember in any organization is that everyone is important. The book Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney by Lee Cockerell explains this concept in the first leadership strategy that the Disney Corporation uses. People wonder why Disney is such a magical place; it is because they follow this simple strategy. “Disney emphasizes that courtesy is more important than efficiency.” (Lee 34-35). Making everyone important is significant to having a smooth running organization for a number of reasons; these reasons include making people feel like they matter, listening to everyone’s opinions, making more productive members,
The authors then described these five practices throughout the book by presenting real life experiences of leaders. The authors take it a step further adding ten commitments of leadership (p. 26) as an extension to the five practices. The leaders must model the behaviors they expect of others (p. 15). Kouzes & Posner suggest that a leader must first know who they are (p. 50). They must know what they stand for by finding their voice. Leaders must know what they believe and what they care about because it helps them when faced with tough decisions (p. 51 and p. 72). In order to understand their role as lea...
Phillip V. Lewis remarks that emotional firmness is indicated in the way leaders deal with people. This strength is expressed in understanding, trust, confidence, tolerance, loyalty, and sympathy. Phillip V. Lewis continues by providing eight traits which characterize a mature leader: First, have tact and get along with people. Second, they avoid interfering in others’ affairs. Third, they constantly accept change because of their underlying security. Fourth, they do not blame others when things go wrong. Fifth, they are able to develop a solid esprit de corps (a feeling of pride, fellowship and loyalty with a particular group) because they work well as part of a team. Sixth, they handle criticism and differences in others. Seven, they are
"Developing a Philosophy of Leadership." . Leadership Paradigms Inc., n.d. Web. 12 Nov 2013. .
Although, there are some leaders who are born “natural-born leaders” many must learn the skills to become a successful leader. Every leader has natural strong traits as well as weak areas that need improving. A leader becomes stronger while using their natural talents as well as building on their weaker ones.
Emotions are frequent companions in our lives. They come and go, and constantly change like the weather. They generate powerful chemicals that create positive and negative feelings, which have a powerful effect on leadership. Some emotions can either facilitate leadership, while others can detract from successful leadership. This course, Emotionally Intelligent Leadership, has truly opened my eyes to the affects that emotions have on being an effective leader. Peter Salovey and John Mayer defined emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions to use the information to guide one’s thinking and actions” (p. 5). This definition in itself states that emotions, whether it be ones own emotions or those of others, is the underlying factor that directs the actions of a leader. Therefore, throughout the progression (advancement) of this course, I have learned the importance of the development of emotional intelligence for being an effective leader, and because of this I plan on developing the capacities that contribute to being an emotionally intelligent leader for my own success, now and in the future.
(2013) separated emotional intelligence into four domains, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management (pp. 30, 38). These domains are then broken into two competencies. Self-awareness, the understanding of one 's emotions and being clear about one 's purpose, and self-management, the focused drive and emotional self-control, make up the personal competence (pp. 39, 45-46). While social awareness, or empathy and service, and relationship management, the handling of other people 's emotions, make up the social competence (pp. 39, 48, 51). These emotional intelligence competencies are not innate talents, but learned abilities, each of which contribute to making leaders more resonant and effective (p. 38). This is good news for me because I still have much to develop in regards to emotional
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.
When people think of leadership so many things rush through their heads. For example am I a leader, am I apart of a group that has a leader, and what does being a leader mean? A common definition of being a leader is a person who leads or guides a group of people. So now knowing the definition of a leader who pops into your head; Phil Jackson, Mike Krzyzewski, Martin Luther King Jr.? All of these people are great leaders, but the real question is why are they so great? One very important thing that all these men have in common is they have a philosophy of leadership. This philosophy is going to help guide these men during turbulent times, or when they need guidance themselves. Nobody is perfect and everyone needs direction no matter how wise or gifted you are. I am no different, which is why writing this philosophy of leadership is going to be a fruitful experience for years to come.
There is an importance of leaders to first analyze the impact of their emotional manifestation. Leaders should own emotional intelligence. Those leaders that don’t possess emotional int...
Emotional Intelligence is the ability of awareness and understanding of an individual towards the others signal and emotion, in order to display a positive and accurate feedback. Identify effectively human being’s reaction and emotional would prepare the leaders to handle with different situation in an impassive manner. Emotional Intelligence indicate its self in five categories: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.
The principles of leadership and management are helps to understand the management style and make the effective decision. An effective decision helps to gain the success of an organization. Lots of way to manage and collect information/question for leadership and management which are describing in the below:
There are many different positions in an organization that require different knowledge, skills and abilities. Supervisory and management positions encompass more than just technical knowledge, skill and expertise in their given area, but being leaders over others. This is of interest to organizations in having leaders who are able to motivate, understand and get their teams to work together. Many organizations are looking to improve their performance and productivity through finding and placing the right people in leadership positions. How the concept of emotional intelligence and its evolution has come to the forefront in assisting companies about leadership performance and decisions will be discussed along with the debate among researchers and the review of three assessments as to their impact and uses.
...adership Practices in Relation to Productivity and Morale." In D. Cartwright and A. Zander, Group Dynamics: Research and Theory, 2nd ed. (Elmsford, NY: Row, Paterson, 1960)