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14 Leadership Traits
Characteristics of a leader and follower
Leader definition
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Leadership is an important factor of knowing how and why events in society happened in certain ways. Leadership in certain environment allows people to distinguish the past, and possibly attempt to assume the future, culture and structure of that environment. Leadership is defined in many different ways, Max Weber, for example, believed “a leader possessed power by virtue of his position (1922).” But in 1938 Chester Bernard defined leadership as “The ability of a superior to influence the behavior of subordinates and persuade them to follow a particular course of action (Barnard 1938).” With all the different definitions of leadership that is out there, the ultimate meaning of leadership is pretty simple because the meaning in the in word itself. An individual with leadership skills is assumed to lead his or her followers to success. In today’s society, many people believe that an effective leader not only bring the people of the organization together but also strive to bring success to the organization as a whole.
History
Leadership skills have been around for centuries. Date back ...
Before you can summarize the concepts related to leadership theory, you have to define what leadership is. Leadership is a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task or goals. The fundamental concept of leadership is indirection. In any organization, the leader indirectly impacts the performance of the organization through the performance of individual team members. To make that impact, the leader takes on the role of the coach, and the inspiratory. As the coach, the leader improves the performer's skills. As the inspiratory, the leader inspires the passion required for optimal performance. A good leader can make decisions with a clear mind and will listen to theirs but can run through every consequence and possibility in their head. They take every angle and come out with the best answer for the majority of the people or situations it effects. And will not let their emotions be shut off but will have feeling where it is needed.
Leadership is the ability that someone has to motivate, guide and empower a group of people, in the particular case the personnel of an organization, in order to achieve specific goals.
According to Business Dictionary.com, leadership is defined as the individuals who are the leaders in an organization, regarded collectively. It also can be define as the activity of leading a group of people or an organization or the ability to do this. Leadership involves the establishing of a clear vision, sharing the vision with other so that they will follow willingly, providing the needed information, knowledge, and methods to realize the vision and coordinating and balancing the conflicts interests of all members and stakeholders.
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.
The Civil Rights Movement in the United States took place mostly during the 1960s. This movement had many strong faces ready to lead a movement of African-Americans to get the rights that they deserved. However, it was two of the less-recognizable faces that helped shape the movement. Ella Baker, who wanted to put a change in the system, and Fannie Lou Hamer, who is well known for her actions on trying to gather support, were two women who helped change the way the Civil Rights Movement played out. The SNCC, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was formed to prevent violence from younger blacks, and to try and settle the issue of segregation in a peaceful manner. Fannie Lou Hamer and Ella Baker both had ideas on how to change the unacknowledged racist policies of some states at the time, and their way to leadership roles within the African-American society is intriguing for both women.
Leadership is the procedure of influencing others to comprehend and concur about what should be done and how to do it, and the procedure of encouraging individual and aggregate endeavors to achieve shared targets/goals.
Leadership is all about having the right amount of heart and determination to help make a difference in someone’s life. It takes certain qualities to be considered a good leader. A leader should want to help inspire others to make a change and to be the best that they can be. A true leader does not need to feel powerful, instead they empower those around them. Throughout my life I have come across various leaders who have made an impact on my life. It takes a very special person to inspire and touch people’s lives. Leadership is so much deeper than having power and bossing people around.
“Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes” (Rost, 1931). But in today’s time, the styles of leadership are changed every time a new technology is invented or discovered so there is lack of persistency. The only thing which manages to stay constant is the principles of carrying out business activities. There are philosophies and ideologies on leadership which can be used in any time period as they are mostly a reflection of the principles of leadership. Theorists and authors like Hobbes (1679), Lewin (1947) and Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), in their time have produced enough material which can be put into use by modern day leaders and managers. Philosophers like Aristotle, who was known to be one of the most business-oriented and practical philosopher of his time, his work is still used by businesses today because of their relevance as he is interested in defining principles in terms of the ethics of leadership (Santa Clara University). In the essay I have tried to show how leadership has adapted to the changes around them and compared to the past and what circumstances caused need to change it. As a layman, anyone would think that the principles centuries ago will be very different to what we follow now but after studying on Hobbes, Lewin and Aristotle it has made a big impact on my way of thinking because the work produced by them still has more relevance compared to some of the work produced now. I have tried to explain the evolvement of leadership through three aspects which are psychology, sociology and philosophy.
There are lots of definitions and interpretations for the term LEADERSHIP. One is “A relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people” (Mullins, L.J. 2002, Management and Organisational Behaviour, 6th Edition, FT Publishing, p904). Another popular definition would be, “the process of influencing an organization or groups within an organization in its efforts towards achieving a goal” (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2005, Exploring Corporate Strategy, 7th Edition, FT Prentice Hall, p.519)
Over the past fifteen year the Army’s definition has been entrenched in my mind. The definition had to be memorized for varies boards throughout my career. Nearly, to an extent that one would believe it is the only definition of leadership. The Army’s definition of leadership as outlined in the Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 6-22 states “Leadership is the process of influencing people by provide purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization” (1-1). To summarize the Army’s definition in my own words would be; leadership is influencing an individual or group to complete a task or tasks to the best of their ability. I believe Peter G. Northouse’s definition of leadership is very similar to
Leadership is defined as a process by which an individual influences others to obtain goals. There are three aspects that should be addressed when explaining leadership. One aspect is that leadership is a social influence process; leadership could not exist without a leader and one or more followers. Another leadership aspect is compliance; all of the leader’s directions must be complied with voluntarily. Compliance is what separates leadership from other influence-based formal authority. Finally, leadership results in the followers’ behavior, that is purposeful and goal-directed which must be in some organized setting (Leadership Theories and Studies, 2009).
What is leadership? Leadership is defined as a process by which a individual will influence others to obtain goals. Leaders will guide, direct motivate, or inspire others. Leadership is defined by not only traits but actions as well. Leaders are inspirational, trustworthy and charismatic. Many people may think a manger is leader. Although leadership and management go hand in hand, they are not the same. Everyone has their own beliefs about what characteristics an effective leader should have. To me, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and having a vision are few characteristics of becoming an effective leader. A leader is not only born, but made. Some are born as leaders or some are made to be leaders.
Many people believe that leadership is simply being the first, biggest or most powerful. Leadership in organizations has a different and more meaningful definition. A leader is someone who sets direction in an effort or task and influences or motivates people to follow that direction. The power point presentation explains leadership is the influence that particular individuals exert on the goal achievement of others in an organizational context.
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
What is leadership, and how do we attain the best and most effective leaders? These are questions that are as old as civilization itself. Bass (1974) wrote that, “from its infancy, the study of history has been the study of leaders” (as cited in Wren, 1995, p. 50). Since the study of history in the West is commonly held to begin with Herodotus of ancient Athens, it is not surprising that we should examine the historical views of leadership through the eyes of two titans of Greek thought: Plato and Aristotle.