Leadership As A Theory Of Leadership

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.

Throughout my short life, I have come to realize that a leader does not necessarily, although they may, maintain a defined position of leadership. A leader is one who will rise to the challenge even when the odds in opposition. A leader will tackle any barrier that stands in the way of the goal. A leader is willing to be hated and face criticism for doing what is right. Leaders come in all different forms, but a leader is the one who is always willing to make the difficult decisions.

As a growing debate, the question at hand is whether great leaders are born with specific leadership traits, or if one can be taught certain traits over time. According to (Wikipedia.com) the approach of listing leadership qualities, often termed "trait theory of leadership", assumes certain traits or characteristics will tend to lead to effective leadership. I believe that leadership traits such as honest, competent, initiative, inspiring, hardworking, intelligent, and the ability to lead the masses, are some of the leadership traits one should possess. Within this paper, I will examine the overall concept of leadership traits, while observing the traits that were, or can be associated with successful leaders.

The same is true for leadership. Not all who effectively lead are born with innate abilities that attract followers. Each of us brings our own combination of life experiences, personal traits and stylistic preferences to the practice of leadership. Through the act of deliberate reflection and contemplation, we become aware of ourselves and how our experiences and traits are likely to help or hinder our pursuit of effective leadership. We become aware of our personal truths, our strengths and our faults and I believe this is the foundation from which leadership is built.

In modern day business, leadership has become an issue that is given far more attention and investment than ever before. Leadership involves establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly, providing the information, knowledge and methods to realise that vision, and coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and stakeholder. This essay will discuss whether leaders are born not made, with varies of theories being compared and contrasted and the strengths and limitations of leaders itself. Further this essay will analyse the future aspects of theories which would establish whether a leader was born with leadership qualities or made into a successful leader.

My theory of an effective leader is having the ability to influence others to do something by obtaining results. After 10 years of being a Soldier without a mentor or a reason to excel in the military, I wanted responsibilities. During the beginning of my eleventh year, I took control of my destiny as a Soldier and started seeking ways to become a leader. My service has always been selfless; for that reason, I wanted every junior Soldier whom I encountered to have an idea of what his or her purpose is in this organization.

When judging the qualities of leadership, there is a tendency to think of the gifted, or natural leader, involving some expectation that leadership is an inherent personality quality that some have, and

The trait leadership theory focuses on the individual leader’s personal characteristics as the basis of its investigations. It is one of the earliest leadership theories upon whose tenets many researches on leadership have been done. Although it is not very coherent, its heuristic nature has contributed to its significance in leadership research. Zaccaro and Klimoski (2002) define traits of reference to leadership as the stable personality characteristics, which result in a consistent leadership performance pattern, given different scenarios and groups. They include individual personalities, temperament, rationale, prowess, as well as cognitive abilities. Initially, the theory explored both physical and psychological characteristics that tell apart leaders from non-leaders.

John F. Kennedy once said “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” Often, people make the assumption that the great leaders of generation were naturally gifted and born to be leaders. While these leaders, like John F. Kennedy, did have a certain aptitude for skills involved with leadership, the level of the successful leadership attained by them cannot be totally attributed to their natural ability. The ability to lead is found through learning and personal experience. Each individual brings a unique set of strengths and styles to their leadership discovered through learning and experience. Without those experiences and lessons learned, an individual holds only skills associated with leadership, not leadership ability itself.

The word leadership has lost its power. A leader, in today’s vernacular, liberally signifies any individual who occupies a position of authority or management. Leadership is more than a discounted buzzword or entitlement. There are an infinite number of interpretations of leadership and no singular, definitive solution. However, despite the seemingly insurmountable challenge that leadership is, authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner scientifically defined what makes a great leader. Their book, The Truth About Leadership: the no-fads, heart-of-the-matter facts you need to know, provides ten truths that define proper leadership.

Chapter sixteen discusses various leadership theories which can implemented by leaders to achieve success. The choice of leadership theory differs from leader to leader as they possess different vision and way of managing. A theory isn 't always perfect in itself, it is the endless effort of the leaders which makes the theory a perfect one. Two approaches of leadership that I prefer are Situational Leadership Theory and Servant Leadership Theory. Among many theories I prefer these two because I tend to practice those principles most of the time and I assume these are theories that I truly tend to continue in a long run.

“Leadership is more ability than job. Moreover, it is all about determination, ability to solve problems, set direction for followers, gather them for common purpose and motivating people to achieve tasks. Furthermore, it is a charisma and the ability to reacting at the right time for a particular competitive situation” (L.Mullins, 2010, P372).

Leadership comes from various aspects of resources. Some of these resources are based on scholarly articles. Each individual that is interested in becoming a leader should be able to pick up on various traits and characteristics so they can develop into strong

“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” — Douglas MacArthur

Research on leadership began with a search for inherited characteristics that differentiated leaders from non-leaders and