A leader who motivates and inspires passion in a team while streamlining the operations of their department is truly an effective leader. The opposite of this would be a leader who instills anxiety and fear by commanding, while expecting high performance from their direct reports. We all have a choice in the leader we want to be and from this class, have been provided the tools to build a positive path for this journey. As a new leader, my ultimate goal is to create more leaders to share this journey, not just to have more followers.
Five years ago, the director of my department retired. A new person was brought in who had the education, the experience and the highly proclaimed ability to make our department more productive. For the sake of privacy, she will be referred to as Patty. As a team of about 60, we were excited for a fresh start. Unfortunately, that fresh excitement faded as reality set in. The new director was just that, a director. Patty’s leadership style represented all the negatives and very few of the positives that have been taught over the course of the last eight weeks.
Patty spoke of the values of our organization, but she did not model these values. Her behaviors were inconsistent with achieving the organization’s quality and personal experience goals, yet she encouraged the rest of us to “just get it done.” Patty laid the groundwork early on about the rules that needed to be followed with regards to staffing, assignments and training. Our days were filled with “mandatory” this and “mandatory” that. When there was deviation in the rules as written, there were trips to her office to sit in the “hot seat.” As an employee who was not afraid to speak up about inefficiencies in the des...
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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,
For over fifteen years at Weston University, Dr. Powers operated from a human resource view, providing the faculty with security and stable working conditions (Bolman & Deal, 2013, p. 16). As a result, the leader's authority is derived from making sure that the faculty's individual needs are the highest priority, rendering a servant leader as a pushover (Bolman & Deal, 2013, p. 56). The contrast of leadership styles is primary problem in this case. Dr. Power's longtime human resource frame to Dr. Ball's new structural frame following a set of rules governing performance that utilizes a hierarchy of offices (Bolman & Deal, 2013, p. 46).
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.
When Professor John Doe assigned this reading assignment, I had really no idea what academic book would appeal to me. I definitely wanted to choose a book that would impact me in the long run and that I would benefit from. When I told my brother about the book, he said that he was just finishing a book called “The Cheating Culture, Why More Americans Are Doing More To Get Ahead” by, David Callahan. When he quickly explained what the book was about I knew that was the book I was going to read. I figured that this would be a good choice, because everywhere you look these days you see cheating. This book was published back in 2004 so even though it is a decade old, I do believe that many of the examples in the book are still problems, if not, even worse today than they were a decade ago. Weather it is kids in school, athletes, or the average business man. Everyone is cheating and trying to cut corners to get ahead. Nearly everyone has cheated in their life rather you would want to admit it or not. Reading this book, I was hoping to learn exactly why so many people try to cheat, and what alternatives people could take to prevent from cheating.
Harold could have also attended the meetings and taken an initiative to ensure that all employees were happy. Roberts should have focused on his own strengths as a leader and could have identified his areas where he was better than Rankle. This way he would have never thought of changing the job. Roberts could have communicated his concerns regarding Rankle with his supervisor and teammates. Rankle should have taken permission and discuss with others about his new ideas. Base on this case study, it is very clear that effective communication is the key factor in the success of any
Great “leaders are made, not born” (Skrhak, 2014). A great leader motivates and influences a team to reach seemingly impossible goals. A great leader has a compelling sense of purpose and duty. Great leaders portray excellence and in return they expect no less than excellence. An effective and great leader is not defined by only personality, but by their values, ability and skills, and leadership style.
To inspire and influence others, a leader must possess many skills and abilities. As motivational speaker Peter Northouse, states, “a leader should be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant” (Northouse, 2013) Moving an entire group of individuals toward a singular goal is a considerable undertaking. Without effective communication skills and a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, one will feel like they are trying to herd cats rather than leading.
I’ve had a lot of supervisors over the past 10 years in my military career, but not too many true leaders. When I think of what it takes to be a leader, I think of someone who represents the traits, values, morals and experiences needed to positively influence everyone around them. A leader is someone who can impact their followers intrinsically and motivate them to perform at higher levels. The lesson concept that is most important to me is “Idealized Influence”.
... From such things as struggling with your weight to larger things such as buying a house or getting the promotion you desire, taking an encompassing goal and breaking it down to smaller specific goals allows you to create a defined map that will promote your progress, one small step at a time, until your dreams have been achieved. Works Cited Cohen, S. (2013, January). Student Health 101 @ Ashford University. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from http://readsh101.com/ashfordu.html?id=ec8bd17d.
Many Scholars characterize the core qualities and skills necessary for an effective leader. Useem defines leadership as “Creating a vision and translating that vision into actions”. Historically, an effective leader was assumed to be exceptionally knowledgeable, authoritative, and dominate. Those leaders applied the command and control method to lead an organization. With the passage of time, this definition has been changed. The modern definition of an effective leader is honest, courageous, trustworthy, inspirational, and result-oriented. Today’s leaders create shared values and vision, and empower others to achieve their targets.
Leaders is an effective tool for summarizing and inspiring leadership, not in that it teaches tough strategies and manipulations, but that when looking at an overview of its content, Bennis and Nanus are essentially teaching human relations and human decency. All in all, this book highlights strategies for us all to be better in our lives and our everyday interactions.
However, individuals have various reactions to corrections and may not lead to positive outcomes, such as self-justification, resentment, and grudges. Nonetheless, the overall leadership experience made me realize two important points: the importance of tact, consistency, clear mission, objectivity, detailed facts, self-control, and trust in confronting staff and my strong aversion in pursuing a management role. In truth, it is necessary, but a tough act to execute on a regular basis. Still, a steadfast leader, with adequate
To inspire and influence others, a leader must have many skills and abilities. As motivational speaker Jim Rohn, states, “ the challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” (2010) Moving an entire group of individuals toward a singular goal is a considerable undertaking. Without effective communication skills and a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, one will feel like they are trying to herd cats rather than leading.
Locke, Edwin A., and Gary P. Latham. "New Directions in Goal-Setting Theory." Current Directions in Psychological Science 15.5 (2006): 265-68. Print.
According Carpenter, Bauer, Erdogan, (2009), “an effective leader was defined as someone with the ability to influence and motivate others not only to perform work tasks but also to support the organization’s values and meet the organization’s goals” (p.70).