LeadershipKategorie: Media i internet Liczba wpisów: 1, liczba wizyt: 781 |
Nadesłane przez: Kim456 08-02-2022 14:03
Leadership is an important tool in any organization. In every aspect of life: at school, at home, at the work place, in the business environment there is an aspect of leadership. Leaders are more open to new ideas and are always ready to read the mood of the people and react in a proper way. Leaders are role models in the society. They are expected to lead by example. The world has witnessed great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi of India, who was very active and played an important role in fighting for the second liberation of the Indian people in his hey days. Leaders are selfless and place the needs of the people they represent first. In fact, there is a school of thought that believes that leaders are more or less servants of people. US president Barrack Obama is an embodiment of such leadership. History has it that at one point in his life he declined a well paying job and instead opted to get involved in a community service. That is the kind of servant leadership expected of leaders.
In as much as leaders may be authoritative, assertion of authority is an element of good leadership. Leaders should be clear in their deliberations, no second guesses, no being equivocal about issues. A 'no' is a 'no'. When asked about his foreign military policy, the US Government, under the leadership of Mr. Obama was very categorical that security of American people was a priority and one that must be ensured at all costs. Of course critics were disgruntled about huge spending of tax payers’ money to achieve this, but that is just what leadership entails. The example of Nelson Mandela is, perhaps, a very familiar depiction of charismatic leadership. For the sake of his people, Mr. Mandela had to go to prison for a period of 27 years in his quest to fight for independence and end Apartheid in South Africa. That is the price of leadership, being in the shoes of one’s constituents.
In trying to understand leadership, various schools of thoughts have argued whether leaders are born or become ones. Despite their varied opinions about the issue, one thing is clear though: leaders inspire people they represent to achieve better results. Leadership is not only confined within political circles. There is leadership in business as well as in other spheres of life. In business, for instance, leaders provide a direction to be followed by the employees. A business leader strives to tap different talents from their employees. Conducive environments are necessary in business environment. Business leaders come in handy at this. For organizations to succeed there must be team work and good and workable business models. A good leader does just this. An example of business leadership was witnessed at Apple, where the iconic and legendary Steve Jobs rescued the company from the brinks of collapse and transformed it into the best music and entertainment enterprise. He was able to use a simple idea of peoples’ love for music. He developed the iPhone, the iPod, the iMac, among other interactive devices that virtually changed the face of technology. In his world, failure did not exist. That was inspirational leadership.
There are two main types of leadership tests: the multifactor leadership questionnaire and the leader behavior description questionnaire. The former is the most commonly employed and validated standard to measure transactional and transformational leadership. It measures a spectrum of styles of leadership: from passive leadership, where leaders reward followers, to leaders, who actually influence followers to become leaders. This model was advanced to help understand unique traits of a transformational leaders and how individuals can exploit their talents and appeal to people they work with. Success is measured by a follow-up aimed to track progresses and any noticeable changes in leadership styles. Indeed, the model was designed to develop leadership skills. In other words, leadership can be learned.
The latter leadership model puts emphasis on approachability of leaders, participative and interactive decision making as well as on friendliness of a leader. In this model, each follower is dealt with independently, and their developments are tracked. In essence this model is more of a transactional leadership than a transformational leadership. Studies have concluded that transformational leadership is more popular than transactional leadership. Other leadership models included broad leadership by Alvolio and Bass in 1991. The model defines leadership in terms of capabilities of different leaders at different stages of leadership development process from management by exception to contingent reward of leadership, consideration of individual weaknesses and strengths, intellectual stimulation, the belief in one’s self ‘I can do it,’ inspirational motivation from self and peers, to the final stage, the maturity stage where an individual has an idealized influence on his followers. These are basic steps that are taken by most leaders. With each step, there is an increase in terms of performance and impacts of such performances.
Leaders who can combine both characteristics of transactional and transformational leadership styles in one are deemed the best versatile leaders. Leaders should be trainable, should be able to transcend across diverse cultures, cultural differences, gender differences, and opinion differences. No matter what approach was used, one fact is clear though: leaders must be charismatic, intelligent, and transformational. Charismatic leadership aims at instilling confidence, inspiration, and trust in leader’s constituents. Leaders ought to be able to inspire results and influence people’s lives. Communication is important in any leadership dispensation. Leaders must be able to communicate aptly, articulately, and eloquently. Strong interpersonal connections are features that leaders must have if they are to be charismatic. Transcendence in leadership gains meaning in the belief of followers towards leader’s cause and his intended mission once they receive necessary support from followers and enthusiasts. Over a long time, leaders have been able to instill a sense of trust in their followers. This is evident during contemporary election campaigns where followers and supporters of these leaders go to the full extent of fighting with rival supporters all in the name of supporting and showing loyalty to leaders. Such loyalties are good and only encouraged if they benefit leaders and constituents.
Leaders must act as role models in organizations they lead. It is very important that they provide directions to people they lead. These could be instilling discipline and sense of purpose among their constituents and their followers. Business leaders like Donald Trump do just that. They initiate programs that are meant to boost the entrepreneurial acumen of their workers employees and the general public. Donald Trump, for example, has done just that in his famous and widely televised The Apprentice. The program was meant to expose contestants to real business opportunities within his business empire including conglomerates and real estates. Contestants were drawn from all over America and different parts of the world. The contests, as expected in any contest, came in their numbers, and took elimination tests. At different stages, some contestants were dropped. The smarter ones proceeded to tougher levels. At the end of the process, those displayed the best business acumen in real life businesses were recruited. The moral of the story is that leaders can be made, but nonetheless it takes determination and hard work for a person to succeed. Such models have been used all over the world. Today, there are some reality TV shows meant to nurture leaders and discover talents that could then be trained to fill leadership positions in various companies and corporations.
Another example that is commonly used is Steve Jobs and the Apple Company. Steve Jobs was able to combine his entrepreneurial acumen with his charismatic leadership to rescue Apple from a collapse. His intervention came at the right time when the company was faced with economic threats of huge debts and non-moving stocks. Though a paradigm shift from a high end market, the company through his visionary leadership was able to change direction and exploit the untapped music and entertainment potential market, one that was represented by music and technology-loving youths. Leadership is about providing sense of direction and creative solutions. This is exactly what Steve jobs did, transforming Apple and leaving it a better place than it was.
Leaders should be omnipotent in the sense that they exert some power and authority not on their subjects but in their visions and ideas for the country. Whatever they seek to do should bring a positive gain to people. They should be able to provide answers, solutions to problems that affect their subjects and areas of jurisdictions. Leaders are heroic in the eyes of their subjects. They are role models, who provide exemplary leadership. They empower their subjects in terms of accessibility to resources and infrastructures they championed for.
Richard Branson, founder of Virgin group of enterprises, is another example of a charismatic leader in the entrepreneurial front. His charisma is evident in his persona and in the way he carries himself. It is in his gestures. Leaders are confident and sure about their next move. That is the image he portrays. Starting at the age of 16, the multi-billionaire has transformed the face of Virgin enterprises. He promotes hard work, common sense, and confidence, which is a trait common among political and business leaders.
To understand the differences between leaders and managers, it is important to look at their different approaches. Leaders challenge status quo it. The manager defends a company. He is the foot soldier. He is to be blamed for any problem the company may experience. The responsibility is squarely on his shoulders. On the other hand, the leader defines oneself. The company and the leader are considered to be two separate entities. Managers do things right. Leaders do the right thing. It is common sense to do what is right. Managers have been known to stick to details. For them, it is more of a routine. They are not flexible enough to accept views and criticism from employees. A good working environment requires that all players in a company or work place are given a chance to make their contributions. In this way, everyone grows. Leaders provide this kind of environment, managers do not. Employees expect their managers not just to allocate them jobs, but also to define purpose for them. Management and leadership are crucial for delivery of good results. Although similar in some aspects, they involve different outlook, skills, and behavior at their workstations.
Leaders must have a vision of what they expect to achieve. These visions should then be communicated to other players. Leaders must come up with strategies to help them realize these goals. Workers should then be motivated, resources divided, and available support exploited to realize these goals. Leaders have missions that they expect to achieve. They are charismatic. This charisma makes them stand out. They are ahead of the pack. Leaders are able to organize workers to work together for realization of a common goal. They are able to make decisions and act on them appropriately. Leaders use creative ways to solve problems. This promotes better care. It also creates conducive working environment.
Managers lack clarity of purpose. They do not understand exactly what their tasks are. A leader, on the other hand, defines himself and his purposes. Managers do not have the ability to communicate task results effectively. They are not able to negotiate the administrative processes efficiently. The leader, on the other hand, is an administrator who delivers what is expected of him. They have better delegation skills. For a good working environment to be created, certain conditions must be met. Managers and support staff should be chosen on merit, depending on their expertise. They must earn respect from their employees. Naturally, leaders have these attributes.
Different models have been proposed to find out whether leaders are born or created. Leadership is about service to the group in which leaders are created. It is important for leaders to be charismatic and be role models to their constituents. Leaders should be visionary and confident.