The Importance Of Personal Leadership

Personal leadership and its continued development are important to leaders because leadership development itself is a lifelong journey. To lead others, one must have the ability to lead and develop oneself along the way. Ignoring development of oneself or being unwilling to develop your leadership skills is failure on the part of the leader. A leader is one that never stops teaching people and learning about themselves throughout their life. This is continually mentioned in many articles and books. It is something I have always found true throughout my life. Today, I will discuss what I have learned about leadership, its development, my personal leadership style; my strengths and weaknesses from the book Leadership: Theory and Practice,

Northouse (2017).

What is leadership? According to Moore, (1927, p. 124) the term leadership is defined by ‘the ability to impress the will of the leader on those led and induce obedience, respect, loyalty, and cooperation’ (as cited by Northouse, 2017, p. 2). When I hear the word leadership I immediately envision some of the leaders of the past and I want to know and learn how they became great leaders. I want to identify what made them great, so I, myself may grow and develop into a better leader.

There are many ways I know that I can develop and grow my leadership. Communication is one way I know that I can do this. It is a key element of leadership that should be learned and continually developed. Leadership gives you the ability to inspire people. One way to inspire people is simply by communicating with them. Communication can come in many forms. It is important in everyday life and in leadership. If you cannot communicate what

According to Northouse, (2017) “the LMX theory makes the dyadic relationship between leaders and followers the focal point of the leadership process” (p. 137). Reading and learning about the theory it was very clear that this style was best the best fit for me. It was not a surprise that I fit into this category at all. First off, I love to talk to people and find ways to relate to them. I am very empathetic in nature. People always seem to confide in me whether they know me well or not. I have often been told that I give people a sense of calmness and put people at ease. Secondly, I have always gotten along well with my leaders from my first job until now. I continually develop a positive/unique working relationship with my leader(s) and vice versa. It is always a team effort. This falls in line with what the LMX theory believes. The LMX relationship is one of mutual trust and greater satisfaction between the leader and the follower which is why I think it works so well for me. It seems to show increased effort for a leader when there is a high LMX relationship and vice versa for the