Leadership Development and Leadership Effectiveness

There are two kinds of people in this world, followers and leaders. Followers are the people that never take a leadership role in any activity. "They are more valued by followers and have higher performing teams." (Cherry 2014) However, leaders are the ones that use their leadership skills to make a difference in this world, such as presidents, teachers, or even college graduates. Leadership is not something you can learn from a book, but you have to gain this skill through experiences such as holding an office, organizing an event, speaking in front of people, or participating in a leadership program.

When an organization wants to better and improve itself the leadership is the most important resource available. They are the rock of the organization and the engine that pulls the weight of the cars. In order for the organization to help grow a comprehensive leadership development plan must be established and used. A leader can make or break the organization as they are the ones that make things happen or let things fail. This paper will discuss how the Mississippi Army National Guard (MSARNG) can grow their leadership by creating a new leadership development plan using new strategies and objective.

Organizations—irrespective of their sizes and areas of businesses—always take on their leaders’ personality. So, leadership development programs gain prominence in every organization. Research says that leadership training and development programs assist in maximizing productivity, promoting harmony within the organization, and shaping up a positive organizational culture. It is; therefore, said that the future of an organization rests on recognizing and identifying leaders.

In this leadership development plan, I will describe how the three leadership areas I selected in Module One (Adaptation to critique and transformation, presentation and communication, and the influence of others and providing feedback) will be improved by practicing Challenge the Process and Enable Others to Act. In addition, this paper will also analyze how the sharing knowledge and information will improve the leadership areas I have selected in Module One (listed above). The improvement of these leadership areas with these practices of exemplary leadership is essential to any leader, and all three must be improved together to continue the process of change.

The authors of the book The Leadership Challenge are regarded as the prominent leadership scholars and educators in the U.S.. Kouzes is the Dean’s Executive Professor of Leadership of Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. Posner is the Dean of the Leavey School of Business and professor of Leadship at Santa Clara University. They have been together produced a lot of award-winning leadership books, among which The Leadership Challenge has won both the James A. Hamilton Hospital Administrations’ Book Award and the Critics’ Choice Award. Kouzes & Posner are also the developers of the Leadship Practices Inventory(LPI), a list of questionnaire for evaluating leadership behavior, which is one of the worldwide frequently used leadership assessment tools. The most distinguished honor that both Kouzes & Posner have received is the Management/Leadship Educators of the Year by the International Management Council. They then joined the team of 50 top leadership educators of the nation. Kouzes & Posner are not only studying and researching leadership, speaking actively at universities, leadership conferences, and seminars, but also conducting programs of leadership development for more than a hundred of national & multi-national companies.

Every organization is in need of some type of leadership. Some organizations have several leaders who are interdependent upon each other. With an ever changing global economy and demographics, the demand for strong leaders is high. In reading, one will learn the differences in leaders, leadership, and leadership development.

The main factor in assessing leadership effectiveness is improving personal capacity to lead in a changing world regardless of reform. This change may involve improving skills, competencies, and behaviors through purposeful, self-directed, personal learning, and skills to anchor directions for work groups, teams, or organizations. These leadership skills have the capacity to align people, systems, and resources with a common vision; motivate and inspire; and successfully handle change. In order for leaders to expect change, they must understand the change process and how members will react to change. Every member of the organization must be receptive to change to keep the vision

Too many business leaders today are out of touch with the employees they lead despite the fact that billions are spent every year on leadership development. Part of the problem is our primary method of developing leaders is out dated to the type of leadership we need. Training focuses on best practices, while development focuses on next practices. In this paper I will discuss 9 ways to develop your leadership skills, developing leadership pipelines at every level. Some of the importance skills of leadership development and conclude with my opinion.

When working to improve schools, leadership is the most valuable resource a school has. The school’s leadership team has the responsibility of developing a vision and mission, organize logistics, resolve problems, and influence all stakeholders. Principals have a significant role in their school as the school’s educational leader. They are responsible for ensuring strategies and systems are in place to support diverse learning. For many principals, they look for potential leaders to be apart of their leadership team in order to develop and nurture them into future school administrators. This could be accomplished by developing a potential educational leaders program. A program such as this provide teacher leaders with practiced-based and leadership development opportunities. Principals may select individuals who are strategic thinkers, ethical decision makers, and someone who is willing to work collaboratively. Principals may also select highly motivated individuals who possess the following four traits: results-driven, decisive, change agent, and developer.

This formulation of a leadership approach is the result of weeks of study. This includes a compilation of, and refection upon, data collected from several assessments. From this data, a leadership profile emerged, leading to a plan for growth. A foundation for the development of a leadership approach is growing through a study of the history and philosophy of leadership, including various motivational theories. Through interviewing two respected leaders, viewing videos of successful leaders, and conducting further research on leadership, my views on leadership have become much more defined; and through reflection, both

Becoming an effective leader is a lot like being in the stock market. You don 't make your fortune in a day; you make it daily, a little bit at a time. What matters most is what you do day after day, over the long haul. The secret to leadership success is investing in your leadership development, much like letting your assets compound. The final result is "Leadership Growth" over time.

Leadership is built on a foundation of qualities that can be learned and improved upon. These talents are acquired through an individual’s willingness to learn and acquire more. The leader uses challenges as a motivator to become more knowledgeable and uses failures as learning

Organizations around the world are very concerned about understanding, research and leadership development. Whatever type of organization, leadership is bound to play a vital role in creating high performance teams. Due to the increase complexed working environment and adapting to constant changings factors in a organization leaders are faced with greater challenges than ever. It becomes clear that leaders must have the ability to make adaptation and power to influence related to constant changes. Meanwhile one of the most important aspects of management is Leadership (Weihrich, et al, 2008) as leadership has a direct influence on the organisation, whereas strong leadership tends to direct the organisation on a certain path towards success.

Leadership has many relational and scientific concepts that must be explore. Even through accurate study and behavioral modifications, leadership practices are still developed through experience and trial and error. The practice of leadership develops one’s skills. Leadership is a progression. Though positions may grant authority and power, the ability to effectively

From leadership theories and observations and my personal experiences, I found that leadership is a life learning process and best practices of leadership skills. Surprisingly, the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) points out that informal development opportunities, such as training, are responsible for only 10 percent of the actual learning in leadership development, and ninety percent of learning for leadership development is achieved in formal settings, mainly in everyday job activities such as development assignments and challenging tasks and interpersonal interactions at work, such as networks and mentoring relationships. Cronin and Genovese (2009) insist that what is required in leadership are three things: practice, practice, and practice. Mastery, however, requires more.