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Leadership As A Leader Is A Person Or Thing Who Leads

Decent Essays

Introduction If you could in your own words define a leader what would you say a leader was? A leader could be considered many different things depending on who you ask. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary a leader is a person or thing who leads. That’s a pretty broad definition. Sanjiv Kumar defines leadership as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals (Kumar, 2014). BusinessDictionary.com defines a leader as a person or thing that holds a dominant or superior position within its field, and is able to exercise a high degree of control or influence over others. Leaders can be found in every setting. Examples of leaders include parents, teachers, religious leaders, managers, or even a band director. Good …show more content…

A leader in the corporate world may need different characteristics from a leader in the sports field. This does not mean that some characteristics will not be evident in all leaders. Confidence for example is almost always a trait in a leader no matter who they are leading or what capacity they are leading in. So if a leader needs a combination of characteristics that makes them successful is a leader born or made? The answer is both. Some people already possess the traits that they need to be leaders and are often leaders from an early age. Some people observe and eventually become leaders. Leadership can be taught. Over the years many theories about leadership have been developed. These theories include but are not limited to trait theories, behavioral theories, contingency theories, and functional theories. Trait theories assume all leaders share a number of common traits. This theory identifies traits or characteristics that are essential when being a leader. Traits like assertiveness, good decision making, empathy, integrity, and confidence are some examples of traits of successful leaders; however, there is no magic combination of traits that will guarantee someone to be a successful leader. Traits are based on our inner thoughts and beliefs. Many different studies about leadership traits agree only in the general righteous qualities needed to be a leader. Those traits are known as core traits. The core traits include

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