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"Leaders are made, they are not born”, Vince Lombardi. Simple quote, but is that true to be an effective leader. Everyone believes that they have the qualities to be an effective leader and run an organization and its people. Many leaders believe that they hold the right stuff as a leader and for the reason to their level and title. But do people really know? If people really knew then why do organizations let go of their leader, i.e. what Apple did to Steve Jobs in 1985? Also when a leader takes his control too far and creates situations that spiral out of control, i.e. Richard Nixon resignation from the presidency in 1974. In the text that will follow, I will expand upon the traits that I believe an effective leader process, take cues from failed leaders and use some real world examples of successful leaders. This list will not be extensive or definitive, but it will touch on the ones that I believe should be the cornerstone of a leader’s profile. Take note. After reading this you may realize you do not have the qualities of a leader or better yet, that you actually have all of them.
Are you prepared to trust in the items that I am about to write? If so, then you are recognizing the first trait of an effective leader. Trust is essentially the backbone to a leader. Without trust, then they would not be able to gain the confidence of loyal followers. “Trust is the base on which credibility is built. To earn and sustain credibility, leaders have to get to know their constituents and let their constituents get to know them” (Kouzes, 2011). In the book revised book Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It, James Kouzes writes about the important trait of trust and credibility that a leader must process and how...
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...s leaders I have witness and came in contact with. These traits are also some of the traits that I have that I believe have made me an effective leader and an effective leader in training. Ultimately, the hope is that with these traits, an effective leader can mold and create other effective leaders.
Works Cited
Gosling, J., & Mintzberg, H. (2003). The Five Minds of a Manager. Harvard Bsuiness Review, 54-63.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (1993). Credibility. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2011). Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons.
Morrison, E. (1994). Leadership skills: developing volunteers for organizational success. Da Capo Press.
O'Hair, D., Friedrich, G., & Dee Dixon, L. (2007). Strategic Communication in Business and the Professions. Pearson Education.
Kouzes, James M., and Barry Z. Posner. Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People
In this book, the authors Tom Rath and Barry Conchie examine the question “What are the keys to being an effective leader?” To answer this question they had a team that reviewed data collected from Gallup polls. The data came from interviews from 20,000 senior leaders, over a million teams and more than fifty years of Gallup Polls of the most admired leaders in the world. The authors then had the team do a study of more than 10,000 followers to find out why they follow the influential leaders in their life.
Credibility is not just another term that is defined, but it is a term shown through actions. The act of believability, trustworthiness, reliability and responsibility, are key components of credibleness (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). We recognized great leaders when “their actions aligned with their words” (Kouzes & Posner, 2012, p.37). The importance of knowledge, expertise and competency, are abilities that contribute to credibility (Kouzes & Posner, 2012).
Leadership is a quality which cannot be acquired by any person from the other but it can be acquired by self-determination of a person. Leadership can best be called the personality of the very highest ability-whether in ruling, thinking, imagining, innovation, warring, or religious influencing. Leadership is practiced not so much in words a it is in attitude and in actions. Their actions leave a long lasting memory in the line of history and lead up to may events that occur today. To be a leader one will need many qualities. Leaders have a purpose and strategies to accomplish that purpose. They are driven and motivated. In the end they should be able to attain good results. These innate talents help to make up a leader that will succeed and be efficient in carrying out tasks. But, the purpose of this paper is determine what truly makes a leader successful. A successful leader should be considered more on their impact rather than their accomplishments of their organizations alone for they are not sufficient in determining the key to their success .
Lastly, the key to successful leadership is getting all of one’s followers on their side. In order to achieve this, leaders must gain all their followers trust. Bennis outlines four key elements to gain this trust. Primarily, constancy must be enforced. Leaders must stay the course. Second, congruity is essential. This is so the leaders can “walk the talk.” Third, reliability is needed so that leaders are present when it matters most. Lastly, leaders honor their commitments through integrity. All of these important, aspects gain the trust of their followers by their side.
One may wonder exactly what it is that qualities a strong leader possesses. A strong leader is determined, and strong willed. They must be of good judgment, and without bias. They cannot easily be persuaded, and they are firm, yet at the same time, a good lead must also empathize with his subordinates, and have the best interest at heart for said subordinates, at all times. However, with that being said, a good leader cannot be afraid to discipline his subordinates when necessary. Unmistakably, being a leader is a very difficult feat – one which not everyone can accomplish. A leader must be an authority, a friend and a counsellor, all at once. They must be responsible, and always take into account the disadvantages of a situation. Not everyone is suitable to be a leader, whereas, just about anybody can be a good role model.
In an effort to understand the questionnaire, one must first understand the definition of an Authentic Leader. Genuine, trustworthy and reliable are a few words that are interchangeable with the term authentic. Authentic leaders exhibit qualities of confidence, transparency, and high moral standard and are usually very confident (Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May and Walumbwa, 2005). A person that is considered to be authentic is one who taking account for their behavior and a person who is true to themselves and what they think. A quality of an authentic leader is that he/she exudes the level of authenticity through their actions that encourage others to want to behave the same way. The leader who acts in this manner believes that all individuals have something to contribute to a goal and
Leaders do not just appear out of thin air and automatically start making great things happen in the world. A leader must learn from prior leaders or role models that they are surrounded by that they look up to. Not everyone can be a leader, only some people have the correct characteristics it takes to lead others in the right direction. Those who do great things, for example volunteering at a homeless shelter, are not leaders. Many people mistake a “great person” as being a leader, which is completely incorrect (Kouzes and Posner, p. 3). While playing an active role in your community is a positive thing it does not make someone a leader of that community. All leaders have a group of people they have inspiration too and that is a good way of determining who your personal leaders are. My mother, brother, and grandfather are my leaders because I have always looked up to them and tried to mimic some of the great things that I have seen them do. My mother has always been an independent women with goals and an action plan to accomplish those set goals. Stephen, my elder brother, is outgoing and tends to have a leveled head when it comes to evaluating stressful situations. My grandfather is the most caring person I know and he is amazing at keeping situations under control in order to please everyone. These are all the qualities I want to combine into my own leadership style. I know I am not a efficient leader of these actions yet, but I plan on growing into this as I more on into my career, fulfill my set goals, and adjust to the curve-balls that life throws at me.
Trustworthiness in a leader will instill confidence in students, patients and other coworkers (Northouse, 2016, p. 38). Also, having a sense of empathy will show people that you understand and can relate to their problems (Northhouse, 2016, p. 38). The weakest traits were self-confidence, self-assured, and determined (Northhouse, 2016, p.38). Self-confidence has always been a weakness and something I continue to work on daily. As a leader, I must show confidence in myself in order for others to have confidence in
Honesty and integrity are the two most important characteristics for leadership success in any work place. The foundation of any relationship is honesty. To be a good leader, one must be honest. My goal is to create a workplace that every people can trust me and I can trust them so that we work together for a common goal. I would like to be a trusted leader because I am sure this characteristic will bring Done Right and On Time result in my career.
Perhaps the most important qualities of a leader are passion and motivation. Especially when leading a group for a particular cause, a leader must be personally attached to that cause. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., for example, is a legendary leader because he fought for a cause that directly affected him. had he not been pushing for a personal reason, his actions would not have been as passionate. This would have caused a lack in motivation, another essential leadership quality. A leader faces many roadblocks and opposition and thus, must be motivated to continue fighting and leading. A leader’s attitude and opinions are valued by the group and therefore, if a leader is motivated, the group will be, too. The continued actions and successes, no matter how small, which move the group closer to its goal also help its motivation and drive.
Many Scholars characterize the core qualities and skills necessary for an effective leader. Useem defines leadership as “Creating a vision and translating that vision into actions”. Historically, an effective leader was assumed to be exceptionally knowledgeable, authoritative, and dominate. Those leaders applied the command and control method to lead an organization. With the passage of time, this definition has been changed. The modern definition of an effective leader is honest, courageous, trustworthy, inspirational, and result-oriented. Today’s leaders create shared values and vision, and empower others to achieve their targets.
Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2011). Contemporary management. (7 ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Throughout my life I have encountered the chance to experience position of being a leader. Being part of groups in university for class presentations, being the organizing secretary of my campus fellowship, being a youth leader in my church and the church admin, also being part of a family. Leaders are charismatic, inspirational and trust worthy. I have gained some important qualities of being a good leader through these experiences. Most of the valuable leadership’s characteristics that I obtained and strengthened are: learn to become a better leader every day, how to be a team player, to be a better listener, to be an effective communicator, to have more patience, not afraid of constructive criticism, to be outspoken, and to be a problem solver. Even though I have gained a lot, I still have more things to learn to become a better leader such as being more assertive, being more disciplined, becoming a better public speaker, and learn how to be realistic and not too optimistic. You are a leader if someone else choses to follow you.
What does it take to be an effective leader? This is something that has been asked many times over the course of human history. Some might say that having a strong personality and a commanding presence is needed in order to be a strong leader. Others might say that someone who stays on top of everything and keeps order is more effective as a leader. Everyone has their own opinion on this subject and in many regards, they are not wrong. Good quality leadership is something that is hard to possess and is not something everyone can do. Leadership is something that has been studied and analyzed many times, and from these studies, many theories have emerged from them. Each of these theories of leadership has their own benefits and can be useful