Building the Bridge as You Walk on It:

Leadership is, and always has been, a vital aspect of social and economic constructs. It is essential to the survival of societies, industries, organizations, and virtually any group of individuals that come together for a common purpose. However, leadership is difficult to define in a single, definitive sense. As such, theories of leadership, what constitutes a great leader, and how leaders are made have evolved constantly throughout history, and still continue to change today in hopes of improving upon our understanding of leadership, its importance, and how it can be most effective in modern organizational cultures.

Casse, P. (2014c). The new drivers of leadership. Training Journal, p. 27. Retrieved from academicguides.walden.edu/library

Leaders change systems, structures and policies that have not yet been confronted. They hire, promote and develop employees who can implement the vision for change. In addition, they revitalise the process with a new round of projects or change agents.(Cengage Learning AUS, 2015)

as two basic types of leadership and examines the concept of moral leadership by investigating

Leadership is a term that cannot be defined or simplified with a standard definition (Bethel, 2011). The term’s complexity is a phenomenon, as it carries a different meaning for each person. During the

In today’s business world, one of the most important contributing factors to the overall success of an organization is the effectiveness of their leadership. Effective leaders carry with them a strong skill set along with a broad knowledge base gained from experience that allows them to effectively and efficiently manage change initiatives. An organization that possessing an effective leadership team is more likely to experience success, especially it comes to creating effective change. The leaders’ role is crucial during a change

The topic of leadership continues to attract several theoretical arguments as the practice of leadership varies depending on a variety of factors (Loveridge, 2014). However, the contributions made by John Wooden in transforming leadership are impeccable, with his many years as a basketball coach earning him admiration and success in equal measure. John Wooden, therefore, explains how leaders can get the maximum potential out of their followers through enhancing the individual abilities and shaping the personal efforts in a manner that guarantees personal peak performances and subsequent improvement of team or organizational performance.

Boseman, G. (2008). Effective Leadership in Changing World (pp. 36–38). Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

following is my personal insight on leadership and how I feel we can successfully guide

Leadership is important within in the Marine Corps because it serves as a path of guidance for subordinates to follow and emulate. There are many traits and principles that are taken into consideration when describing a great leader however; there is always room for leadership improvement no matter how great an individual may be. The leadership principle: know yourself and seek self-improvement, is one that is significantly lacking most amongst the noncommissioned officer ranks because, leaders are failing to check personal attitudes, participate in self-reflection, and aren’t willing to admit and learn from failures and weaknesses. By adhering to this principle it would certainly benefit the noncommissioned officer in meeting the obligation that the Marine Corps expects from its leaders. To begin, one way to effectively change one’s leadership positively is by examining one’s own attitude.

Appreciative Inquiry organizes sequences of positive questions around constructive topics. The difference can be seen by citing the example of a conversation I had with a high school class who wished to learn about their community. Four of the teams had originally chosen “crime” as their area of study before I arrived and designed questions accordingly to ask the local police chief. I asked them why they wanted to investigate crime. They said it was because they felt unsafe. “What is it that you want?” I inquired. After struggling with the question, they finally responded, “I guess we want to feel safe.” “How do you think you’re likely to feel after you ask the police chief about crime in your neighborhood?” A girl responded that they would likely feel more scared, because they would find out about more bad things that might happen to them. “What if you asked him instead about community safety, important practices that support it, what the police are proud of

Transformational Leadership has always intrigued me. However, leadership does not necessarily be about styles. Leadership can reach many areas such as techniques in effective leadership, business leadership versus political leadership as well as leadership theoretical frameworks. Within this assignment, the student identifies three related peer-reviewed mixed-methods research articles using the university’s library about leadership. These sources involve actual conducted mixed-methods studies. Within each article, the student discusses the following elements:

Creswell, John W (2006). “Five Qualitative Approach to Inquiry” Retrieved January 20, 2017 from http://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/13421_Chapter4.pdf

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage Publications.

As a graduate student approaching her final semester in school, thoughts regarding my leadership abilities in the soon-to-be “real world” have occupied my mind lately. To further explore and develop my ideas about leadership, I decided to develop my personal leadership theory. So, I asked myself the following questions: What makes a successful leader? How do you recognize a leader when you meet one?, and lastly, what is my theory of leadership? With this last question I thought about what leadership meant to me personally and how I personified it in a role of authority. While I had given thought to how I led, I had rarely taken the time to fully understand what my personal leadership theory entailed. Throughout the length of this paper I will analyze how my leadership skills, traits, values and elements from both Authentic Transformational theories help me to shape my leadership philosophy. In doing so I hope to define the leadership values that influence the way I view and practice leadership.