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Contrast of Leadership and Followership
Essays of leadership skills
Effective leadership
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and having the ability to express it clearly to my co-workers and superiors may ignite the same passion within them. It may allow them to feel empowered as it could create a shared vision, which everyone would feel proud to be apart of.
Strengths and Areas of Improvement in Leadership
The ability to identity my own strengths and areas that need improvement is an important part of being an effective leader. One leadership strength I possess is the ability to form strong relationships with the individuals. I accomplish this by caring about the people I work with and taking the time to get to know them. This strength is also a key factor in authentic leadership as “authentic leaders develop heart and compassion by getting to know the life stories
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An area of Goleman’s EI includes self management (Goleman, 2000). Although I try to best to accomplish self-control, my emotions and feelings about specific things such as if I am in a disagreement with another person are easy to read. In order to be an effective authentic leader, I need not think disagreements are personal attacks but look at the situation more subjectively. Another area I believe I need to improve on is the process of empowering the individuals around me. According to the study by Wong and Lashiniger (2012), they determined that “authentic leadership was significantly related to job satisfaction and performance through its effect on empowerment” (p.954). Therefore, in order to be an effective authentic leader, having the ability to empower others is …show more content…
In order to be an effective leader it is central to be able to determine when to take on a leadership role or when a followership role is more appropriate. As in leadership, it is vital to be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses I possess within followership in order to reach group goals and objects. One strength I possess with followership is loyalty if there is a shared goal. I place the goal first rather than the leader but look to leader for guidance and advice on how to best achieve our purpose. This role in followership can attributed to understanding my purpose and practicing my
Identifying and understanding your own personal strengths is key to being a successful leader. Knowing your strengths means you can focus your efforts to maximize results, in yourself and in others. Strengths Finder 2.0 is designed to uncover your strengths and utilize these strengths to your advantage (Rath, 2007). Identifying and applying these strengths to your leadership style, will enhance your effectiveness as a transformational leader.
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.
According to Dr. Karlene Kerfoot, “research tells us that the leadership traits of the person in charge work either as a magnet to attract, retain, and inspire or as a force that repels” (Kerfoot 2006, p. 25) and in support of this statement she makes reference to the fact that many persons go to work for a specific company with enthusiasm and eagerness and ultimately leave disappointed because of the management. “People are generally hungry for personalized leadership that speaks to their hearts”, says Dr.Kerfoot and this type of leadership motivates them to accomplish task and complete projects they deem difficult or impossible (Kerfoot 2006, p. 25)
It seems self-evident that one cannot be a leader unless he or she has followers; put differently, one cannot hold a leadership role unless others are prepared to hold followership roles. These roles are more or less symbiotic - done effectively, each role can support and benefit the other. Nevertheless, the term “follower” has acquired a negative connotation, and leadership is generally considered to be the pinnacle to which we should all strive in our working lives, if not our personal lives as well. However, thanks to the work of authors such as Robert E. Kinney, who introduced the concept of followership, the characteristics, roles and paths of followers now receive increased attention. Kinney’s groundbreaking article, “In Praise of Followers”, appears along with the work of other authors on followership in The Leaders Companion.
Being a leader you need to be in tune with your talents, strength’s, and weaknesses. Personally I feel I have many skills and talents. I am a great friend, I’m trustworthy and dependable. I can step up to the plate if needed and I can take control of certain situations without being told to. I love writing and being able to express my feelings or thoughts through writing and poetry. Along with my talents and skills I also have weaknesses. Knowing your weaknesses is twice as important as knowing your strengths in my opinion. One weakness of mine is being motivated. Once I start a task I will finish it and put 150% effort into it, but actually starting the task is my problem. Another weakness of mine is change. I have a problem with drastic change; I have a comfort with familiarity. With every leader there is going to be strengths and weaknesses and I think it’s very
For me to be an effective leader, I must first evaluate my strengths. I took the Gallup 2.0 Strength Finder report which showed my strengths in an insight and action planning guide. The results indicated the top five themes for me were input, learner, responsibility, maximizer and arranger. I believe the evaluation offered an accurate assessment of my strengths. The input theme states my mind is like a sponge, soaking up information. As a lifelong learner, the second theme is also, correct. I have a quest for knowledge about things that interest me. I am responsible, in my job and life. As a maximizer, I focus on long term goals and strive toward excellence. As a nurse, working in an environment of change, the arranger strength in my personality allows me to adapt easily and figure out the best way to accomplish tasks (Strengths, 2012).
Inspire a Shared Vision- leaders believe that they can make a difference in getting others excited and drafting them into their dream and the future possibilities.
One of my greatest skills is being able to be compassionate towards others. By placing myself into someone else’s shoes, I find myself being able to better understand where other people are coming from. I am an extremely caring person that will go to great lengths for anyone. I can easily overlook the differences in other people, and this is what helps me get along with almost anyone that I come across. In order to lead people in a positive direction you need to be able to relate to them on a more personal level. It is much easier when people feel comfortable around their leader. I always like to lend a helping hand or even a shoulder to cry on when it is needed. My strengths include integrity, optimism, faith, innovation, and adaptability. These strengths are important to have in leadership positions. Leaders should have a firm hold on their beliefs and morals in order to have a positive impact on people. Keeping my commitments is crucial to me, because I am a woman of my word. I think this is a good trait in leadership, because people need to be able to count on the person that they look up to. Optimism is also something I value. I belie...
To understand followership better, one must understand what makes a follower effective versus ineffective. Effective followers are able to manage themselves, commit to the organization or purpose, build their competence, and are honest and courageous. A follower role is sometimes played by a leader while followers might take on leadership functions too, another reason to give more focus to what followership means. Both roles depend on each other, but little time and money is spent on developing followers compared to leaders.
Leadership can be shown through any person in any type of situation. In a classroom discussion, on the playing field, or in public a sign of a leader is evident. A person is born a leader. Certain humans know what to do when the time calls for it. Many people in positions can be entitled a leader such as basketball players. Even a famous movie star can be given this title. These people are not true leaders. True leaders are the belaboring teachers and the intellectual speakers. These are the people who show that leadership is an action, not a position.
Finally, relationships in the work place and in our personal lives are one of the most important aspects that define us as individuals. Everyone knows how much more can be accomplished in a situation where there is a good working relationship verses the opposite. In a leadership role it is important to have a good understanding of each individual team member. This understanding can include what motivates, what is important, and how the leader can tap into these resources. As each of us progress in our leadership roles, it is important to remember, it’s not all about me. I believe once we accept any type of leadership role, we accept the responsibility to serve others. If we consider it only for personal gain, we will probably not be remembered as a good leader.
I would describe some of strengths as being able to define clear objectives when working in group settings whether it is in the working world or in academic settings and communicating clearly to the rest of the people in my group when I am in the lead or not. I communicate clearly to other people what I want to achieve out of working in a group, but also what I want them to achieve themselves. As a leader it is imperative that I allow other people in the group to learn and grow along with the rest of the group. I enjoy defining clear objectives when I am a leader and not a leader because it provides the rest of my peers an efficient way of working together. If the objectives are not clear and concise then the productivity of the group will
One of the most important components of leadership is the leader. A leader is responsible for his or her followers and the overall goal of the group or organization. Leaders are the people held accountable or everything that happens, good or bad. On the other hand, the second major component of leadership is the followers. Without followers, a leader would be worthless. Followers make up the backbone of a leader because they are the masses that get goals accomplished. A leader is just one person, but the number of followers is countless. In order to be an effective follower, there are a countless number of characteristics that allow a follower to be the best they can be. Five of these characteristics include a positive attitude, communication skills, being part of the process, being open to new ideas, and patience.
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.
I believe the 5 Essential Qualities of Effective Followership is the most important concept described in Module 5. Followership greatly impacts us as leaders and yields the most significant results when accomplishing the mission. Demonstrating effective followership enhances my ability to lead my subordinates, and it allows me to gain the trust and respect from my leadership, peers, and subordinates. To be an effective follower, I have to be able to give constructive feedback. Feedback is imperative to meet our mission objectives. Without being a good follower, I could greatly impact the views and understanding of our leaders vision in the eyes of my subordinate. If I don’t fully understand the mission, support the intent of my leaders, and be able to execute decisions made, my subordinates could imitate my actions and in turn not support my leaders vision as well. This could greatly impact the productivity within my unit and degrade mission objectives. To be an effective follower, I will be ready to accept any role needed to accomplish the mission while remaining committed to my units’ purpose. While remaining focused on becoming an effective follower, I will be able to effectively communicate constructive feedback to my leaders while my subordinates will