The right people, with the right skills go hand -in-hand with effective leadership. Only special kinds of leaders can entice their follower’s commitment to fulfill difficult missions when it seems impossible. They carry a combination of characteristics that help inspire to greatness. Two styles of leadership that often get confused by each other because of the similar styles are visionary leadership and charismatic leadership.
Visionary leadership can be defined as, “The ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, and attractive vision of the future that improves upon the present situation.” (google). The primary responsibility is to bring the vision to the table. They serve the goods as a whole. A visionary leader can verbalize their dreams and goals efficiently. This helps others see the vision of the leader. These leaders are also risk takers that work with their imagination and insight.
Most importantly, these types of leaders are strategic planners. They are social innovators and change agents, seeing the big picture and thinking strategically. (McLaughlin) They are able to see the future. They are able to envision what the organization will look and function like in the future. (Patrick) Visionary leaders are able to create an environment where they transmit their energy to others giving them a sense of hope. They concentrate more on the win/win philosophy than the win/lose philosophy. They tend to be more proactive than reactive.
We live in a world where leaders become rich at the expense of the citizens, where leaders live for selfish reasons or even where leaders send others to fight on their behalf yet they stay safe. However, Mohandas Gandhi, also known as Mahatma (“The great Soul”) Gandhi was not one...
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Visionary leadership takes normal leadership to the next level. Leaders entail many qualities such as responsibility, respect, integrity, hard work, and more. Nevertheless, visionary leadership adds a revelation that can change not only our community but also our world. There must be action for the
This source is helpful since it really demonstrates the main points of Mandela's achievements. For instance he gave hope to millions of Africans and inspired them. The article strongly states the effect he had on African people which is a crucial part of my essay. It is well organized in terms of chronoligal order and importance which is essential in my essay.
Visionary Leader There are numerous traits that make up a visionary leader; I believe that true visionary leaders have multiple traits in common that propel their followers to accept their message and embrace their vision to achieve goals that serve a purpose higher than they could have ever imagined. One trait that visionary leaders have in common is adaptability. Within the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education [BCEE] (2015) study guide on change management, adaptability is a key trait. Within adaptability there are three characteristics, for a leader to be considered adaptable, they must possess two out of three. Colin Powell possessed both cognitive flexibility and dispositional flexibility.
Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
McLaurin, J., & Amri Al ,B. M. (2008). Developing an understanding of charismatic and transformational leadership. Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict. Proceedings. Cullowhee. 13(2), 15-19.
In 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected to the highest office of the land. Faced with issues like an economic crisis and racial tensions, Mandela inherited a difficult set of problems. While Mandela’s new position had allocated legitimate power, “influence that is created through a title or status”, due to the severity of the issues, Mandela needed new means of acquiring power, “the ability to influence how others behave,” to garnish unified support throughout the country (P. 329). Mandela understood that to achieve this he would have to adopt various techniques to provide leadership, “a process of influence aimed at directing behavior toward the accomplishment of objectives” (P.326).
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.
A charismatic leader is one whose followers are drawn to his or her personality and magnetism. They have extraordinary qualities and are described as almost god-like to those that follow them and look up to them. With being a team leader, their whole purpose is to try and allow for their passion and enthusiasm to rub off on their team members by portraying a positive and energetic attitude. Charisma stems from participating in something you truly have a passion for, something that undoubtedly sparks your interest. Charismatic leaders seem to become apparent in troubled times, whether it being within personal relationships or within an organization, simply because an inspiring personality helps to reduce any stress or anxiety amongst its followers. Charismatic leaders strongly appeal to the values and morals of their followers and the psychological ...
Nelson Mandela played an important role in the abolition of Apartheid. He helped start and lead some of the riots and protests that led to black rights, and he spent a long time in prison to pay for it. He inspired many people. He said, quoting Marianne Williamson, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
According to McLaurin & Al Amri (2008) charismatic leaders can be defined as those who have a high self confidence, a clear vision, engage in unconventional behavior and action as a change agent, and while remaining realistic about environmental constraints. When you hear the names President Bill Clinton, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, Adolf Hitler or Larry Ellison; whether or not one can categorize their leadership style, most people are familiar with the effect that these leaders have had on society or business. These leaders have demonstrated qualities that have caused them to be known as “charismatic leaders.”
1. The movie “Invictus” shows great examples of the trait leadership theory that Mandela portrayed as the President of South Africa. Mandela was able to influence the people of South Africa through his traits of being an extravert leader and having great integrity. According to the text, extraverts are sociable, assertive, and energetic people. Mandela displayed traits of an extravert leader. Whenever he would greet people he always had a genuine smile and good intentions towards everyone he met. Even the people who worked for him, especially his security, were expected and required to always have a smile to portray a welcoming atmosphere. Mandela was a very sociable person, he made sure to go to all the rugby tournaments and had a very magnetic personality that he portrayed to everyone he spoke with. At every rugby tournament Mandela went to shake the players’ hands, wished them good luck, and went into the stands to greet fans that attended the game. Mandela also led his country with great integrity. The text describes integrity as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Mandela had strong believes and values which is one reason why he won the Presidency election of South Africa. Through his strong integrity he was able to unite his country. There were many hardships along the way of people not agreeing with his views or values, but that did not stop him from leading his people. Mandela even lost his family because unfortunately they did not agree with his belief or accepted what he was trying to accomplish. This shows that no matter who disagreed with Mandela’s viewpoint he did not let it affect who he was or the integrity of his goal to benefit the country of South Africa.
Dilts, R. B. (1996). Visionary Leadership Skills: Creating a World to Which People Want to Belong. USA: M E T a Publications.
A visionary leader is an individual who is able to desire things about the future that others may not see, but nonetheless, the immensity of such vision is amazing that it is able to be transmitted to society(Turner, 2013). According to Patrick Morley(2015), a visionary leader possesses the qualities of “vision, innovation, sacrifice, integrity, optimism, ability, impact, relation to others, excellence and servant to others.” All of those qualities, and many more, are those of the world humanitarian known as Nelson Mandela(1918-2013).