Leader or Follower?

Ability to positively influence the behavior of others toward attaining a specified goal is what makes for effective leadership. Situational leadership is the best approach that could make leaders effective. Leaders need to be flexible and open minded to be able to utilize the different styles of leadership in different situations. Flexibility is a major quality of effective leaders who wish to get things done and in the right manner. Works Cited Johansen Murray, (2011).

There needs to be a desire to lead but at the same time teach with patience. A leader cannot let their own desire to lead cloud the goals of the group as a whole. An effective group leader must be able to admit his or her weaknesses and be willingly to constantly improve. Leadership is essential in a group in order for the leader and its followers to move the group further in reaching and obtaining its goals.

Successful organizations have strong leaders and managers that develop, support and encourage employee longevity within a company. There is a significant difference between leadership and management however both skills have to be used collectively and both are important to a profitable organization. Leadership is a notion of communicating an organization’s vision, whereas management is more of the implementation of the organization’s vision. The manager typically carries out the responsibilities written by the organization and has a good team underneath them to carry out the duties and meet the goals. Most companies have a mission statement that mirrors and supports a company’s vision.

Management can be defined as the ability to handle or direct with a degree of skill, to make and keep compliant, to treat with care, and to exercise executive, administrative, and supervisory direction of a business (Kinnes 2004). Effective business skills are imperative to provide the best quality service to people. Typically, companies focus on profit, market share or growth, but in order to maintain productivity, first-class management skills are essential. Management skills are not easy to come across, as they are hard to learn and quantify. Most managers come from within an organization, as it is imperative to send employees through management skills courses.

To a certain extent, I consider leaders are born with the desire to lead exceptionally well and the ability to be open to learning from their mistakes and predominantly to learn from other individuals they are trying to lead. Leaders inspire, rather than direct. They coach, encourage, and guide. Effective leaders earn agreement with the people about what has to be done. Leaders in my opinion are driven by stepping forward when no one else wants to, opportunity, wanting to make a change, and standing up for the better.

The challenge of leadership is being able to respond to the diversity of today’s society. It is important to be able to interact with followers and develop an alliance in order to achieve goals. A leader must be willing to take risks and explore opportunities for improvement and growth. By delegating and giving others responsibilities, it rewards their accomplishments or provides a learning experience for mistakes. People who recognize the value of individual freedom in addition to working hard using their own leadership skills and understanding to influence others will find a stronger character within themselves.

Finally, relationships in the work place and in our personal lives are one of the most important aspects that define us as individuals. Everyone knows how much more can be accomplished in a situation where there is a good working relationship verses the opposite. In a leadership role it is important to have a good understanding of each individual team member. This understanding can include what motivates, what is important, and how the leader can tap into these resources. As each of us progress in our leadership roles, it is important to remember, it’s not all about me.

Leadership doesn’t mean you’re rich, well known, liked, or respected but it does mean you are a passionate, caring, and authentic. Leadership means you care about something so much you are willing to risk everything you have for this belief or idea. Leadership is doing whatever you can in your power to make things better for those around you. Although, that is the definition of leadership is important, the characteristics that make a person a leader are just as important. A leader must be inspiring, they must be able to invite and welcome others.

In order to command respect and obedience leaders must be prepared to lead. (Borkowski Stanisław) A strong leader motivates from complacency to competitiveness. The accomplishments of an organization can directly be related to the combined efforts of everyone involved. Appropriate directing leadership style has very large impact on the company and may affect the staff both positively and negatively, which also reflects in the final effectiveness of the entire organization (Jelačić & Stasiak-Betlejewska,

An organization possesses effective followers is just as important for success as having effective leaders. Hersey and Blanchard describe this relationship as dynamic and use Situational Leadership (R) as a model for the leader’s to improve the performance of their followers. Manz and Sims describe a historical view of leader types which has evolved to view the superleader as the most effective type for our current culture. The role of the superleader is to empower followers to become self-leaders themselves. The Situational Leadership model may contain the word “Leadership”, but it is mostly about effective management practices and does not address developing the role of the follower.