When considering the practical approach to authentic leadership and emotional intelligence, self-discipline plays a significant part. (We could also consider this self-monitoring.) Wherein one must have the emotional intelligence to contain one’s base emotions when dealing with oneself before others. When under duress, a leader must remain “cool, calm and consistent” (Northouse, 2015, p. 200). It is not always easy to not fell prey to the emotional contagions of those surrounding us. One scenario that plays out in my mind quite often when considering self-discipline or self-monitoring. Imagine if a teacher overseeing a group of elementary students to take shelter during a tornado, falls into the contagion of the youths’ fear. Of course, it …show more content…
Not every work day is going to run smooth. There will be unforeseen disruptions, whether technical or human, at any given point. One can only be prepared for so much and it will take self-discipline to stay cool during the unexpected. Everyone’s version of major and minor situations differs, too. I’ve witnessed a lack of leadership self-discipline with anger. A manager’s emotions unraveling first via the growing redness in his face. This was followed by pacing, smacking desktops, heavy sighs before yelling obscenities across the newsroom. Worse, colleagues falling likewise into this behavior when the boss wasn’t anywhere to be found. How to correct such behavior from a colleague when the boss does it? It seems hypocritical to expect better from a colleague when a boss is acting the same or worse. What was shocking, were colleagues who felt this manager’s behavior was authentic leadership. Some made reference to this as a breath of fresh air, a non-politically correct environment we will all benefit from and flourish under. Never mind the obscenities were sexist, racist, and homophobic. Yes, there are certainly pros to being an authentic, being yourself as opposed to fake. However, being authentic should not be “an excuse for bad behavior” (Gruenfeld & Zander, 2014) or to be a …show more content…
However, we must also emphasize this is not carte blanche as exampled above with the angry manager to be cruel, break laws, etc.
George’s True North approach to authentic leadership training follows several key elements: “Authentic leadership can begin right now, you needn’t be born with the characteristic or leadership traits, you do not have to wait to be tapped on the shoulder to lead but step up at any point, no matter your age, because “Leadership is your choice, not your title” (2007).
George’s book also emphasizes, not to be hesitant to lead due to fear of failure or criticism (2007). Certainly his book could be used as part of training in authentic leadership. I was very pleased to find George takes a mindfulness approach to authentic leadership, too. He meditates for 20 minutes, twice a day. He became “more self-aware and more sensitive to the impact” his actions had on others via this daily ritual (George, 2012). I would supplement training with works by American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron regarding mindfulness. I would include Dr. Brene Brown’s book, Daring Greatly; teaching about shame and
The topic of leadership has been explored and written about by thousands of authors who are considerably more qualified than I am to write about the subject. However, I’ve always maintained that developing, evolving and articulating one’s own leadership philosophy is an essential part of a professional’s growth. Through academics and experience, I’ve concluded that leadership is a “soft” skill, more art than science, and that leadership principles can be universally applied. As a topic of discussion, leadership can be ambiguous and seldom does everyone agree on a single definition. Organizations and the people they consist of crave leadership, even if not overtly. Undeniably, strong leadership is essential to achieving
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B., (2007). The leadership challenge, (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
After completing the “Leadership Style Questionnaire” and analyzing my results, I have learned what my preferred leadership style is and how that influences how I lead and may be perceived from members of the group. From the results attained from the questionnaire, my preferred style of leadership is directing. This type of leadership style is best for individuals who have a low competency and high commitment level. These types of leaders are highly focused on tasks and less focused on relationships. They make decisions without consulting with the group and communicate without regarding the group’s concerns or suggestions. This type of leader also supervises the followers intently. They are very successful in creating objectives for each follower and the group as a whole to guide the group in reaching a certain goal.
(2013) separated emotional intelligence into four domains, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management (pp. 30, 38). These domains are then broken into two competencies. Self-awareness, the understanding of one 's emotions and being clear about one 's purpose, and self-management, the focused drive and emotional self-control, make up the personal competence (pp. 39, 45-46). While social awareness, or empathy and service, and relationship management, the handling of other people 's emotions, make up the social competence (pp. 39, 48, 51). These emotional intelligence competencies are not innate talents, but learned abilities, each of which contribute to making leaders more resonant and effective (p. 38). This is good news for me because I still have much to develop in regards to emotional
Hall, Peter, & Norris, Peter. (1993). Learning for leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 14(7), 35. Retrieved August 25, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 81758).
One of the challenges facing nurses today is learning how to be an effective leader. Assessing and analyzing the style of leadership the nurse possesses is the first step in facing the challenge. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and understand the characteristics of my style of leadership from an assessment performed by Gallup Strength Finders and DiSC and compare the strengths I have in common with Eleanor Roosevelt.
Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
As an officer in the United States Army, it has been imperative for me to understand every facet of leadership and why it remains important to be an effective leader. During this course, I have learned some valuable lessons about myself as a leader and how I can improve on my leadership ability in the future. The journal entries along with the understanding of available leadership theories have been an integral part of my learning during this course. For all of the journals and assessments that I completed, I feel it has given me a good understanding of my current leadership status and my future potential as a leader. All of the specific assessments looked at several areas in regards to leadership; these assessments covered several separate focus areas and identified my overall strengths and weaknesses as a leader. Over the course of this paper I will briefly discuss each one of these assessments and journal entries as they pertained to me and my leadership.
The author called out for servant leadership for long-term success for all stakeholders. Similar to other professions leader needs to hone their abilities to be effective in their leadership role. To find a purpose in what you achieve besides money, power, and fame resonates with the True North. A leader should act in the best interests of the organization that would lead to a greater good. To have a balance between IQ and EQ will lead to leadership with the True North. Passion, compassion, empathy, and courage matters the heart decisions are important components of the True North. To develop as a worthy human being, a leader must become self aware, integrated human being, and comfortable being his/herself. In addition a leader with the True North moves from I to we, is humble, serve customers, empower people, and align personal values with organization’s mission. A leader with True North demonstrates a high degree of integrity and walks his/her talk. A leader with a True North is an integrated leader with fine balance between personal, family, work, and community life. On a similar note, a leader with True North aligns and nourishes their mind, body, and soul.
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.
Motivation and Leadership are intrinsically linked in the fact that one allows an easement in the process of the other. Without the ability to use the mutual relationship of leadership to influence the motivators of followers, leaders stagnate and are limited by their own inability to accomplish all that must be for real change to occur. In less Rostonian terms (that is, based on Rost (1993)), without a motivated group of followers leaders are stranded and not achieving to a level of excellence. This paper will discuss some areas of importance for motivation in leadership as well as an application to leadership theory and a discussion on personal motivators.
According to Bryant (2016), “self-leadership is the process by which you influence yourself to achieve your objectives.” So how do you achieve this, you start with developing your leadership point of view. Developing my leadership point of view forced me to reflect on the leader models in my life. It also forced me to evaluate the key events and experiences from my past and determine how they have impacted me as a leader. This self-reflection process allowed me to discover who I am, what my values and beliefs are and what my true purpose is in life. Thus far, this process has made me more self-aware and self-awareness is key to self-motivation and motivating others.
Lussier, R.N. & Achua, C.F. (2010). Leadership: Theory, application, skill development (5th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western.
Not all leaders exhibit negative leadership behavior. However, a bad leader is one who does not have the necessary skills to lead a group or a team. They can have a bad attitude, poor communication skills, and/or bad judgment. Their actions make their group or team feel disorganized, demoralized, and make them feel that their efforts are unrecognized. Eventually, their subordinates will perform poorly and become under achievers in their work or personal lives.