Developing Potential It is undeniable, in an honest examination of the world, to deny that leadership will determine the success, or lack of success in almost every endeavor. This holds true for small group projects through the largest possible business venture, and beyond. John Maxwell discusses principles followed by great leaders and utilized by others to increase their own talents. His book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, is a valuable resource to those who seek to improve individual leadership abilities. The Law of the Lid The first in the list of twenty-one; it simply states, “Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person’s level of effectiveness.” This is an important point; Maxwell explains that on a scale of …show more content…
Managers placed in this manner, typically only maintain systems, processes, and direction. Leadership is necessary to change direction. “The only thing a title can buy is a little more time – either to increase your level of influence with others or to undermine it.” The Law of Process 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.” The Law of Navigation Regardless of one’s leadership level, it is impossible to know all and have all the answers. It is necessary to listen to many sources including your leadership team and people within the organization to know what is going on at all levels. Leaders know to rely on a team; they do not attempt to navigate the course alone. The Law of …show more content…
The premise is that you cannot teach or expect what you do not show yourself to be. A leader will find that his followers are not honest, punctual, nor enthusiastic if he or she does not demonstrate these traits. If people are not following, the example set by a leader, it is not that leader, they are following. The Law of Priorities “Busyness does not equal productivity. Activity is not necessarily accomplishment.” It is because of this that leaders must prioritize; they must always think ahead and know how everything relates to the overall vision. A leader must be able to recognize when it is necessary to reprioritize as situations shift and change. The Law of Sacrifice “There is no success without sacrifice.” Sacrifices of, time and money seeking knowledge, time and perspiration seeking high levels of physical performance. These efforts to succeed cost, money, time away from loved-ones, and many other possible losses. “Leaders are often asked to give up more than others.” This principle is driven home in the Marine Corps; a leader at any level in the Marines is expected to take care of those he or she leads before themselves. This is demonstrated most visually when Marines eat; when a platoon forms for chow it is by rank. The lowest will always receive food before the senior ranking of the group. It is through this that Marines, are continually reminded, to take care of those in their charge before themselves. Success
The role of a leader is often inaccurately defined as an individual who is in a position to give orders. However, there are enormous differences in the attributes of an outstanding leader, and one of mediocrity. An outstanding leader, above all else, is a role model for their peers. In doing so, a leader of the highest caliber is trustworthy in both their peer’s trust for the leader as well as the leader’s trust of their peers. A leader must also display exceptional skill in communication which transcends speaking and, more importantly, includes listening and consideration to the ideas presented to them. Furthermore, a leader must be supportive of and willing to help their peers build their own strengths. The attributes listed above represent only a small subset of what makes an outstanding leader. Yet,
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.
Ramsey, R. (2006). Lead follow or get out of the way: How to be a more effective leader in
“In order to be a good leader, there are two things to remember. Lead from the Front and always set the Example. From these two leadership principles, everything else will fall into place.”
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.
The most effective leaders know better than to try to be someone they are not. They should always be searching for opportunities to reinvest in their strengths. Leaders need to stay true to who they are and make sure they have the right people around them. The book says those who surround themselves with similar personalities are at a disadvantage to those who are secure enough to be surrounded by people who strengths will compliment theirs.
The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner (2007) is the result of twenty years of research on the factors that influence and create great leadership. Through studies and stories from leaders with various backgrounds throughout the world, the practices and characteristics that create great leadership are delineated. Leadership is viewed not as a group of inherent characteristics, but as learned behavior that anyone can achieve. The goal of Kouzes and Posner’s book is to inspire and educate leaders through transformational leadership. As such, leadership is about mobilizing others to become and do extraordinary things.
Maxwell states that working hard and raising the lid increases effectiveness and potential. The leadership impact is always determined on how high the lid is. Leadership is not held in one category or one character there are different forms and positions of leadership and each require their own laws.
The theory believes that a leader is a servant to those he or she leads. And that a leader should focus on serving others rather than being served. The servant leader creates an environment of trust and cooperation, which results in reciprocal service and ultimately higher performance. Much of Jesus’ approach to leadership used this model.
Leaders will no matter what have an influence on our world. They have missions, dreams and ambition, and with these things they are bound to go far. For leaders, what makes these dreams come true is having strong qualities such as leadership practices, values and strengths. If developed and learned how to use correctly, these are what take leaders to the next level and accomplish great things. In the following paper I will talk about leadership in our ever-changing world, explore my leadership practices, values and strengths as well as elaborate on the goals I have made to challenge myself as a leader.
It is very common in this day and age to become discontent with where you are at in leadership. One of the reasons for this discontentment can be because influencing all of those around us is not an easy thing to do. If we are to not only stay content, but also excel in leadership we must keep in mind that ninety-nine percent of leadership does not come from the top of any given organization, but the middle. John C. Maxwell, author of The 360-Degree Leader, speaks to us about the principles that leaders can use to bring value and influence to any organization from any level within the organization, enabling them to do, what John C. Maxwell describes as leading up, leading across, and leading down.
Leadership has been described as a “complex process having multiple dimensions” (Northouse, 2013). Over the past 60 years, scholars and practitioners have introduced a vast amount of leadership models and theories to explain this complex field and examine its many perspectives. Numerous leadership theories and models have attempted to define what makes a leader effective. From the early 1900s, the trait paradigm dominated leadership literature, focusing on inherited traits of leaders and suggesting that “leaders are born, not made”. However, during the 1950s, the trait approach lost enthusiasm as focus shifted to the behavior of leaders. Similar to the trait theory, the behavioral paradigm was based on general effective leadership behaviors
Currently, many articles, academic publications, and books have been written on issues relating to leadership. This trend is so widespread that it has become difficult to point out the global values or mannerisms linked to a truly efficient leader. However, some names speak for themselves, as the work they have done is significantly efficient and felt all over the world. Bill Gates of the Microsoft foundation is one of the best leaders and businesspersons of this century. Using the huge diversity in his personal traits and qualities in management, he has managed to portray in the workplace, he can be defined as a great leader. When a person embarks on the role of leading others, whether in parenting, social settings, sporting the world or even in the business sector, they strive to show characteristics and behaviors that go hand in hand with values and standards required to win people over. This having been said; it is rather unfortunate that there are few efficient leaders in the business world today. Most managers are not good or effective leaders. Leadership is everywhere and is a key path in daily life prevailing in every aspect of the society. Leadership is not a choice since, at one point; one is required to be a leader. The only choice lies on how we choose to execute leadership. Just as Bill Gates has done, leading efficiently involves engaging the followers in a common aim and pursuing compulsory vision known to all. For a successful career as a leader, one needs to have characteristics of tolerance, inclusion, patience, self-drive, ability to improve and most of all the ability to convince others around you to share in the dream and vision. Bill Gates key personal attributes include ability to interpret, analyze, and exh...
“Leadership is the quality of behavior of individuals whereby they guide people or their activities in organising efforts” — Chester I. Barnard
Leaders of the future will be faced with many challenges. As the world changes, we must adapt the ways in which we face these challenges, and in turn grow as leaders. A leader is not merely someone which commands a group or organization. A good leader exhibits the ability to take an average team of individuals and achieve greatness. Leadership is not supervision or leading. It is the ability to inspire or influence others towards the end goal. As Barendsen and Gardner stated (2006), “the best leaders are individuals who, in their work, exhibit three distinct meanings of good: (1) an excellent technical and professional quality and competence, (2) an ethical orientation, and (3) a completely engaged sense of fulfillment and meaningfulness” (p. 266). Good leaders must utilize all of these traits in order to meet the challenges of the future. A few emerging challenges that future