Characteristics of a Great Leader

The next question posed to Rene inquired about essential characteristics of a leader. After giving the question some thought she responded by saying that a leader must be able to remain objective and prioritize. “Prioritizing in my job is essential,” Rene stated, “with so many issues to deal with some nights it can be difficult to determine which to tackle first. However, remaining calm and objective in your decision making can help a leader prioritize properly, which can improve patient outcomes.” Additionally, Rene emphasized that the best leaders lead by example. By displaying desired attitudes and behaviors, a nursing leader may inspire their staff to act in a similar manner. Another area Rene stressed when posed this question was a leader’s ability to support learning. She went on to state that “it is necessary to focus on learning, not chastising. Placing the blame on someone rather than stepping back and looking at the details of a problem, deters the team from achieving the overall goal. Incident reports remain vital to the process of learning.” Rene continued to emphasis that by filling out incident reports individuals can analyze a situation or process and determine where the flaws or errors remain present. Without incident reports and learning from mistakes, growth remains difficult. Diana S. Contino (2011), author of “Leadership Competencies: Knowledge, Skills, and Aptitudes Nurses Need to Lead Organizations Effectively,” believes that organizational and

Forbes contributor Tanya Prive lists ten qualities that make a great leader: honesty, delegate, communication, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition, inspire, and approach (Prive, 2012). The greatest leaders exemplify most or all of these attributes, and Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, is no exception, although he particularly excels at “commitment” and “inspire.” Zappos has made multiple appearances on “Best Places to Work” lists and is famous for its unique culture. Hsieh says that company culture is his primary focus as CEO, and he only hires those who fit into the culture. Hsieh is so committed to creating positive culture that Zappos offers new hires $2000 to leave after orientation if they do not feel like Zappos is for them (Reiss, 2010). Hsieh’s commitment to building culture is nearly unrivaled in the business world, as is Zappos commitment to customer service. The number one “commandment” at Zappos is “deliver WOW through service” (O’Brien, 2009). For years, Zappos, led by Hsieh, has been committed to having the best customer service in the industry, and Hsieh is a master at inspiring the people who work for him to embrace this vision. The employees at Zappos have clearly bought into his vision (as did Amazon when they bought the company for over $800 million). Hsieh has said that having a vision is the first thing an entrepreneur needs to have and employees and customers will sense that vision and enthusiasm. He wrote in his book

the article 10 Unique Perspectives On What Makes A Great Leader, written by Brent Gleeson, states one aspect of a great leader is an articulate a clear vision. The article proclaims how a good leader “possess a clear vision”. Ralph always wanted to get rescued and was focused. “They let the bloody fire go out” (Golding 68). His main priority was the fire, getting rescued, and serving the greater good.

What is a leader? A leader is a person who commands a group, organization, or country. Throughout my life I have encountered the chance to experience position of being a leader. I have experience democratic leaderships through playing on a high school football team, being apart of groups in college for class presentations, being a youth leader in my church, and also being apart of a family. I have gain important qualities of being a good leader through these experiences. Some of valuable leaderships traits that I obtained and strengthened are: how to be a team player, to be a better listener, to have more patience, to be not afraid of constructive criticism, to be outspoken, and to be a problem solver. Even though I have gained a lot, I

What makes a great leader, and how can I be that person? Or maybe the better question is, could I be that person? I’ve spent some time this semester asking the people who I considered to be great school leaders what are the characteristics of a good Leader? Two of the most common answers included: A good leader is someone that empowers people to make their own decisions. This sounds good, however, implies that we let the employees make up their own minds about what to do, and how to get the end result. What if the decisions made are not in line with the goals of the organization? Another one: A good leader is someone who gives clear, direct orders, and commands her employees. Good as well, although seemingly a contradiction to the

It is evident that integrity and competence are two crucial traits of any successful leader. In order to get to know the importance of a quality over the other, we need to find out which of the two can a leader survive without.

What defines a leader? Are there inherent differences between leaders and followers, e.g., genetic makeup, behavior, characteristics, intelligence, or another physiological, social, emotional, or cognitive capacity? Are leaders the product of nature or nurture, more specifically can leadership be taught? These fundamental questions about leadership form the basis of research on the traits, behaviors, relationship dynamics, and communication competency that encompass different leadership roles and styles. My paper will provide a synthesis of the reading from chapters 1, 2, and 9 of the textbook, “The Leadership Experience,” highlight novel leadership concepts, notions, and theories for me, as well as, any clarification or reinforcement of

A trait is a distinguishing quality or characteristic (Trait, n.d.). Businesses spend around $1,228 per employee on learning and development. Forty-four percent of businesses believe they will be increasing the amount of money spent on leadership development (The 10 defining traits of an amazing leader, n.d.). Could they save money if research could determine what traits and characteristics are imperative for a good and effective leader?

Starcorp Industries is an aerospace contractor employing over 8,000 employees, and they are geared up and ready for their new NASA project. Starcorp has focused on the human resources of the organization to deal with the organization’s dysfunctions created form the layoffs, terminations, and lack of trust issues. In the process lost their CEO to a high level government position, their Board of Directors is looking for a new leader who can take on the company leading it to the next level by creating a culture of highly motivated, innovate employees. Starcorp Industries needs a leader to help guide the organization’s current position into a successful one, while working to complete the contract they received from NASA.

Mahatma Gandhi, Mike Krzyzewski, Pope Francis, and Abraham Lincoln. All great leaders, all posses the same characteristics. When it comes to leadership many different names can be added to the long list. If you were to take a closer look on those people you will find what makes up a great leader. Being a leader is meant for only a certain breed of people. To be a great leader a person must consist of Confidence, Intelligence, and they must be versed. Great Leaders are all alike in someway.

The author (Cronkhite) listed several traits that are associated with leadership (Cronkhite, 2013, p. 331):

Some experts say while executives should stay close to the core of their business, they should also be able to delegate by understanding group behavior and knowing what makes a good leader. They can do this first by recognizing their own leadership traits and management style. Senior executives should recognize that if their company is growing that they may not always be able to manage all of their accounts, but should always lead them by influencing a group to successfully completing their goals. Matching leaders as well as groups and understanding their traits and behaviors to fit the situation or project can be successful.

There is no single rule for leadership, a good leader makes own list of preferences and adapts to new styles to make a company a success. A good leader provides great motivation and empower other employees by encouraging them to be part of the decision making process. As a leader, I will take the responsibility of my mistakes when needed and design an alternative plan by seeing advise of my co-workers. While making my action plan, I would make sure that my goals are specific, measurable and realistic. As learned in this course, the idea of making a change and sustaining one, are two different things. The goal of the organization should be to sustain a change successfully.

Our world is constantly changing. Society grows, views change and people evolve. As the world changes, we need to change with it and in order to do that we all need guidance, advice and authority to be pushed in the right direction. It’s the leaders in this world who really help us be our best selves, and aide us in making the changes we want to see in the world.

This session helped me to recognize all the skills that need to be a good leader. During this day, I have been able to discover many of my skills, and more importantly, it helped me to identify my weaknesses. Now, I can work and change this weakness; as a result, it will improve my performance as a team and be a great leader.