What Makes a Dynamic Leader?

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Recommended: The evolving theories of leadership

The dynamics of leadership require that one look at more than just the leader. In order to assess leadership one must consider the situation, the leader’s behaviors and the followers; all must be analyzed and the leader must understand how to interact depending on the situation (Northouse, 2010). This means, the leader must deal with situations differently. Because of this, it is possible that a person may be a great leader in one setting or situation and not successful in another. This in itself proves that leadership is not defined by a cookie cutter design of traits. However, traits, behaviors and situations are all important components of leadership. A leader must be introspective and cognizant of personal strengths and weaknesses. In addition, a leader’s ability to recognize different personalities of followers or subordinates and deal with individuals differently is important. Even though followers or subordinates must be treated fairly no two people are alike, thus, it is important that a leader be equipped with the ability to deal not only with the group dynamic, but with individual personalities. Different people have a different hierarchy of needs and, therefore, need to be managed diffidently, if they are to reach their potential. For example, persons in high “nAch” may require more frequent performance feedback (Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly & Konopaske, 2009). Therefore, in order for any leader to be successful it is necessary that he understand the different theories. This will allow the leader to apply the appropriate leadership style depending on the situation, the people, and the internal and external forces that the leader and the organization may be facing.

Leader with a lower success rate:

In terms of succe...

... middle of paper ...

...at Rob treated each person as an individual.

There are many reasons for Rob’s success, but one of the most compelling was his ability to create followership. That being said, there was a price of admission. Rob would not sacrifice the goal of many for a few that refused to get on board. Those who did not have the vision that we all shared were not coddled, they were ejected and replaced.

References:

Conger, J. A. (1998). The necessary art of persuasion. Harvard Business Review , 81-96.

Gilley, J. W. (2006). The manager as politician. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.

Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership theory and practice, 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications.

Vecchio, R. P. (2008). Leadership: understanding the dynamics of power and influence in organizations,( 2nd edition). Notre Dame, Indiana: university of Notre Dame Press.

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