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Qualities to become a good leader
Essential characteristics of a leader
Qualities of a good leader in details
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Jean-Luc Picard as a Leader
Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Starship Enterprise, is a good leader because of his ability to guide and direct his crew in such a way that protects the Federation from its enemies and inspires others to have similar goals. Every leader has their own unique characteristics and Picard is no different. He is able to utilize his crew members' talent's, ship's technology, and his own experiences to be the best leader he can be.
Webster's New World Dictionary defines a leader as one who guides or directs in a course that inspires the conduct of others. As well, a leader is one who makes decisions based his or her knowledge gained personally and from other sources. A leader is also aware of all the consequences of their actions and the ability of those that they lead. He must be a responsible and trust worthy person because of the many people who follow him and depend on him. Jean-Luc Picard has these qualities and uses them to the best of his ability to lead his crew on the Starship Enterprise.
In the episode "The Defector," Picard shows that he is a leader by making smart decisions and by giving direction to others. From the beginning, Picard is directing the android Data in a scene from Shakespeare's play Henry V , with the help of the halo deck. He is giving advice on how Data can act more as a human. He explains why King Henry has gone in disguise among his troops before the battle. Picard explains that it was to find out the state of the Kings army's morale and confidence (The Defector, Dec 30, 89) . Picard knows that it is important to know the confidence of his crew because it directly corresponds to him because he is like the king of the Enterprise. Later, in another encounter with Data, Picard asks him to make a record of the events before their possible war with the Romulans . The last thing he asks Data is, " How is the spirit of the crew ?", and as Data responds , "they are confident, why do you ask?" Picard responded by saying that, "It would be hard to disguise myself and walk among my crew like King Henry did" (The Defector, Dec 30, 89). This shows that Picard is generally concerned about his crew as any leader would be.
He was very persuasive too when he convinced his crew to carry on working. These are all characteristics of what I would say makes a perfect leader.
Introduction According to the Oxford Dictionary, a leader is defined as “the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). Though there is a definition for what a leader is, people still have different ideas about what a leader should be and how he or she should act. There has never been a concrete idea of what a leader is; the only thing we know is that this person is the one in charge of the unit. We look at characteristics of those people we see as leaders and use those attributes to compare other people to see if they are able to be as good as, or even better than, those aforementioned leaders. We have to keep in mind that in different situations, leaders must do different tasks which indicates the need for different qualities.
In Star Trek the Next Generation : "The Defector," does Captain Picard prove himself to be a good leader? In trying to answer this question, I thought "Well, what makes a good leader? Who do we (the general public) consider to be good leaders?" The most obvious choices popped into my head: President of the United States, Congress Representatives, CEO's of large companies. But after considering these leaders, I did not see how Picard compared to them. After all, he is the Captain of the Enterprise, a military space ship. I guess that makes him more of a Colin Powell type-a U.S. military officer of the highest ranking. It makes sense that U.S. military officers are considered to be good leaders. But, does Picard (as a military officer himself) measure up to the standards of a U.S. military officer?
Kouzes and Posner remark that leadership experiences are ?voyages of discovery and adventures of a lifetime?[and] they are challenging explorations under rigorous conditions? (174). While this may be true, it is often in an extreme crisis situation that leadership is ultimately tested. This is the circumstance that Shackleton faced with his crew of twenty-seven, while stranded in the ice floes off the Antarctic Continent. Credit is due to the leadership of Ernest Shackleton; every member aboard the Endurance survived, and was finally rescued after six hundred and thirty-four days. Shackleton said of leadership, ?If you?re a leader, a fellow that other fellows look to, you?ve got to keep going? (qtd. in Morrell and Capparell 215).
Sir Ernest Shackleton was an extraordinary leader, because he led his crew with equality, compassion and kept calm even in the direst situations. He never expected anything from his men that he wouldn’t do himself, and did his fair share of work. Shackleton never showed any signs of stress, nor did he exhibit any of his anxieties. More importantly, he showed a deep trust and caring for his crew. All three of the traits combine to create the ultimate leader, which Sir Ernest Shackleton truly was.
Captain Picard is a good leader because of his ability to think clearly and objectively in all situations. He does not have pride blocking his ability to think rationally and see all sides of an issue. Also, he is not easily swayed by his emotions and does not allow them to cloud his judgment. Picard's ability to act quickly leads to effective delegating and exemplary leadership.
The word leadership can mean many things if you were to ask individual people to define it. Some may say, “Oh that’s the person in charge”, others may argue that leadership is a “position of power”. I define leadership as the person that others look to in times of crisis and need that they aspire to follow. A leader is always looking for meaningful ways to take care of those around them, sometimes with discipline and others with a calm voice of reason. Throughout my career I have had many different levels of leadership from junior people that would lend a helping hand to senior leaders that always had my back and the answers to tough questions. The most influential person in my career was a First Class Petty Officer when I was fresh out of school and new to the ship. I had never been to sea and was excited to learn. The next three years were some of the best years of my career. Each day we would do nearly everything together when it came to our equipment, we would troubleshoot complex equipment problems sometimes late
Leaders should also possess confidence or faith, in themselves and in others. Odysseus is a great example of a confident leader because he never gives up on himself or his men. “More fearsome is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in a cave?...Did i not keep my nerve, and use my wits to find a way out for us?” Odysseus inspires and gives his men a boost of confidence in themselves whenever they lost their oars at sea.
Although, there are some leaders who are born “natural-born leaders” many must learn the skills to become a successful leader. Every leader has natural strong traits as well as weak areas that need improving. A leader becomes stronger while using their natural talents as well as building on their weaker ones.
Leadership is derived from the Latin word laedere, which roughly translates as “to show the way” and if someone were to look it up in the dictionary, it would come up as “the position of a leader, the ability to lead, and direction.” However, for some this word can be arguable because everyone thinks differently. Leadership or leader itslef can be described or defined as someone promoting good character, a trustworthy person as well as a person who has dedication and takes responsibility for not only him or herself but also takes responsibility for the people surrounding them.
A leader is described as a person who guides others and has authority and influence over others. They work to influence others into meeting certain goals. There is no right or wrong definition of a leader and there is no recipe that ensures effective leadership. Successful leaders have a good balance of vision, influence, and power. Leaders gain their authority from their ability to influence others to get the work done; because of this, anyone has the potential to be a leader. (Finkelman. 2012, p15)
Is a leader as defined in the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, merely one who leads - synonymous with a boss? Or something more? I believe that a leader is much more than that and can be defined in any number of ways. In attempting to define a leader personally, I will use both myself and others as examples.
To be a leader you need to be able to inspire others, get people motivated, and set an example to other people. A leader needs to do all of these because if one of these aspects fails people don’t look at the leader...
When we work together in a team, or in a broader sense as a society, the leader takes on the most important role. It is the leader that helps prioritize activities and direct people’s thought process in the right direction. They are the ones who have the ability to bring the group together as a whole. Because of this, not anyone can be a leader. Only people with certain qualities and abilities are able to fill this role. So what makes a good leader? There is a defined path and specific characteristics that makes someone a good leader.
According to Shockley and Zalabak (2009) "Leadership is a process of guiding individuals, groups, and entire organization in establishing goals and sustaining action to support goals.Leadership is like mapping out where you need to go to win". A Leader is a person who has a strong personality and who has an ability to manage people and work. He is also the person who is able to direct people .Usually a leaders has a lot of attributes that