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
A leader is defined as an individual who is able to exert influence over other people to help achieve group or organizational goals where leadership is the process by which an individual
Leaders are someone that can be a positive influence in anyone’s life. Leaders are someone that people look up to and remember that person throughout his or her lives. The leader
The official definition of a leader is a person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country but, a leader is much more. A superior leader possesses creativity, courage, decisiveness, selflessness, and righteousness, but the most important characteristics consist of confidence, maturity and passion.
A leader is someone who stands out among his or her peers and is chosen to be placed into a position that requires setting an example and providing direction for that group. Although anyone can be chosen as a leader, he or she must be willing and deserving of this position.
On the other hand, a leader is a person who influences a group of people in order to achieve certain goal. According to Oliver, (2006), leader is an individual who has an ability to
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
When being asked if a leader is “born” or “made”, I always say it is both. I believe a person needs to be born with certain personality traits in order to be effective leader, but also they have to be taught different skills so they know how use their personality traits. By combining the different theories, I believe we can see what it takes to be leader. They must have the traits of emotional stability, open to experience, conscientious, and intelligence. They also need to go through different experiences and situations in life in order to be taught more leadership skills. I think an excellent example of a leader was the first United States President, George Washington. I will use George Washington’s life to show a leader needs to be both
What comes to mind when you hear the word leader? Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy? According to Webster's Dictionary, a leader is "one who leads." After participating in the Leadership Program, I have learned that a leader is hard to summarize.
Leaders are made up by traits, skills behavior and effectiveness, which are determined by distinguishing personal characteristics of a leader, such as intelligence, honesty, self-confidence, and appearance. However, the value of a particular trait or set or traits, skill behavior and effectiveness vary with the organization’s situation (Draft, 2015). For example, our executive leaders of Humana have their own unique style.
Is a leader as defined in the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, merely one who leads - synonymous with a boss? Or something more? I believe that a leader is much more than that and can be defined in any number of ways. In attempting to define a leader personally, I will use both myself and others as examples.
A leader is someone who will step up in the times of crisis and is able to think and act creatively in a difficult situation according to businessdictionary.com. A leader can also inspire others to be engage and to work together to achieve a common goal.
To be a leader in today’s society, in my opinion, one must possess genuine abilities that empower and strengthen those they wish to lead or mentor. The idea that an individual is born with the skill set and talents of someone that has spent the majority of their life “evolving” through priceless experience is both extremely farfetched and a bit unbelievable. However, throughout my own experiences, I have seen others achieve leadership positions through training and or personal development. Moreover, I am sure that there are some “would be leaders” that have a natural talent for leadership but I use the term “some” lightly. Research has shown that the qualities of a leader are not necessarily tied to one or the other but leaders have shown
To be a leader, one must have certain traits that contribute, in a good way, to their leadership. An example could be persistence. What is a leader without persistence, what would be the point of them doing anything at all? Bravery is another valuable trait to have. In order to be a leader, you must be brave enough to stand for what you believe in and what you want to change, even when the outcome may seem bleak. One more essential trait: motivation. A leader simply cannot be a leader if no one is motivated to follow them. An example of a leader who exhibits all three of these characteristics in a great way would be Martin Luther King Jr. He was an African-American man who lived in a segregated time and place. Quickly, King became a leader
There are numerous theories about leadership. Some of the theories suggest that leaders are born while others suggest that leaders are made through training.
A leader is a person who takes risks, attempts to achieve shared goals, and inspires others to action (Marquis & Huston,