According to Mr. Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, “Leadership is an obligation and a privilege of every person, young and old, because it is based on simply what we do.” In the world’s society this is commonly forgotten. Among all the different leadership roles, people pass over the fact that everyone is a leader, not only because it is an obligation, but because leading is a privilege. Society needs to be reminded what true leadership is, and that it comes in all shapes and sizes. Leadership has many roles, styles, effects, benefits, and contributes to personal success in our society. The issue with leadership is it is so diverse, many people don’t understand its’ true potential. In every society there are leaders. No leader is ever the …show more content…
These two leaders differentiate the most in that instrumentals depend on acquiring respect from their followers, while expressive leaders fixate on receiving affection. (Macionis, 1997) Within these two leadership roles comes three leadership styles; authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire. Each style may have an instrumental or expressive leader, how the leader dictates the actions of the other members determines the style. Some style favor one role over the other, but both are possible. An authoritarian leadership style focuses towards an instrumental leader because the authoritarian style is more demanding, and involves strict decision making. So as a result instrumental leaders are more successful in an authoritarian style leadership. (Macionis, 1997) Almost the complete opposite is the democratic style. The democratic style leans on the side of an expressive role. Democratic leadership includes everyone in the process of making decisions. This style most often is used in creative and developing situations. As an expressive leader, with skills focused on the well-being of all, the democratic leadership style will be a tighter fit. Last but not least, is the Laissez-faire style. This style rarely exposes a true leader, and generally focuses on the freedom of each member to think and participate freely. In conclusion to it’s carefree leadership style, Laissez-faire is less commonly used, because it lacks efficiency and direction. These
Leaders are perhaps uncovered at many different levels and situations (Simmons, 2011). However, leaders in many organizations lead when forced into the spotlight and find out they are not equipped to function effectively. Becoming a leader can be as simple as leading a small team, a group or a community organization (Jennings, 2012). The truth of the matter
Many believe that leadership –whatever form it takes-cannot be taught and that leaders are born not made. Elizabeth Winslow, director of the Cohen leadership development program at Tuck-trucking Company, has no trucks with the mentality of “Leadership can be taught,” she insists, and anyone is capable of showing leadership. It’s all about learning when the step up and when to let others step up.” However, business author Henry Mintzberg thinks leadership –like management- can’t be taught. Leadership is “earned” by gaining the respect of others at work, he said, and schools that clam to teach leadership are “dishonest”. Winslow, unsurprisingly, would beg to differ but admits even some of her student’s starts off skeptically. “We have to convince them that everyone is capable of leadership”, she
The democratic leadership style provides for a happy medium between the autocratic and laissez-fair styles of leadership. In this scenario the leader attempts to provide direction to the group without overpowering or creating follower dependency on himself. This style of leadership is most likely to provide for satisfied and empowered followers. An example of this style of leadership can be seen in a workplace where employees feel empowered to work independently with clear and concise direction from leadership.
In the Leadership Challenge, 4th edition, it is Kouzes & Posner (2007) intention to present a road map for individuals to follow on their leadership journey. The authors stress that “leadership is not a gene and it’s not an inheritance.” Leadership they assert is “an identifiable set of skills and abilities that are available to all of us” (p. 23). They make clear that the “great person” theory of leadership is “plain wrong.” Leaders are our everyday heroes who do extraordinary things on a regular basis (p. 23).
For many years, I have been told by teachers, family, and friends that I am a good leader. Until fairly recently, I had never truly thought about what it means to be a good leader and just took it as a compliment. Leadership is an intangible concept which cannot be properly outlined in a dictionary, but one which must be formed and explained only through one’s own philosophies and experiences.
When I was younger, I thought that a leader was a superhero or the President. I assumed that because I wasn’t the most talkative or daring kid, I couldn’t be a leader. I had always taken the role of the shy girl that nodded and smiled at other’s suggestions. As I grew up, I realized that my stereotypes didn’t truly show who a leader is. I saw people who silently lead behind the scenes, who inspired and motivated others to achieve their goals. While a leader might be bold and outgoing, a leader can also be a listener and a motivator. A successful leader listens, gains trust and respect, and works with their team, not above them. If someone is loud and full of ideas, but doesn’t hear or discuss other thoughts, are they a leader? The American dream is to be that bold, dominant champion, but that isn’t
Leaderships are to focus on the goals of being a leader. An instrumental leader wants to ahead of all task seriously. So, she will give it to her top worker that she knows will succeed. Expressive leader is there to support you, they are there to make sure you have everything together emotionally. Also, a democratic leader is the leader to make sure everyone is all happy with the decisions to the point where it’s a vote to accommodate everyone. The laissez-faire leader is the same as the democratic but it’s not really a debate it’s just
Leadership is an important aspect of life as it pushes us to create leaders out of followers or become leaders for a change. Leadership serves distinct purposes for everyone, but the quote “leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality” by American scholar Warren Bennis directly relates to my views regarding leadership. Bennis shows how a leader guides others to victory by successfully helping them fulfil their plans. As a leader in multiple situations, I believe that a leader always has to prevent others from falling and motivate them to create their aspirations into reality. If a leader fails to do so, he or she decreases the confidence and morale of its followers and averts the followers from becoming leaders in the future.
As children we don’t understand the sacrifices our parents have to make in order to provide us better lives but we understand that we are led by them. When we become teenagers, we start looking up to our favorite musician or celebrity as a leader and aspire to be just like them. It’s when we become adults that we start to question what an actual leader is. We continue to see our parents as great leaders but now we have people at work who lead us and we see them in our personal relationships as well. In “Six Qualities Leaders Need to Be Successful,” Melanie Greenberg states “Leadership is more than a set of procedures and activities. It is an expression of the type of person the leader fundamentally is at heart. To become a great leader, you need to know your higher purpose and believe in it.” Leaders should recognize their failures and should offer us opportunities to help us to be better individuals. Leaders should be altruistic and build emotional relationships. It is important to know what a leader is made of wherever you go
Leadership is something that I must use every day in my career. When people watch how you lead, one’s actions must show concern for others and inspire them to do
Leadership is a fundamental part of everyday life! Leadership and the concepts and practices associated to it play an intricate role in the society in which we live in. This one aspect of life is so vital to the existence of the human race that is taught to children at a very young age. As an adult, I can look back over my childhood and recall many memories that have fashioned the person that I am today. The most prominent memories, which I can recall from my childhood, include hot summer days, riding my bicycle, and childhood games. As I look back over my childhood, I reminisce over childhood games like Follow the leader, Simon says, and Mother may I. Now that I am an adult, I can see the life lessons
Throughout the semester we have been challenged to understand leadership and all of its many styles. When you ask the average person what leadership is; they most likely will feel like the answer is common sense, and say something like, to lead a group. This is how I used to think before taking Foundations of Leadership. After completing the course, I have come to the realization that leadership is much more than just leading a group. Leadership in itself if very complex and it can look very different. Leadership is not just one thing there are many styles, theories, practices, and approaches to leadership. Knowing this I challenged myself to pick someone to interview who before taking this class I might not have considered them to be a
This course has been a journey of self-analysis and reflection on the study of leadership. Leadership is a journey throughout life in the realms of personal and professional application. Time, experience, study, observation, and reflection offer the path to continuing improvement.
Leadership is a complex subject, but for our purposes can be defined as the act of one person influencing another person or group of people towards a common purpose that is beneficial for both the leader and their followers. Many approaches have been taken by academics in attempting to understand what leadership is at its core. Useful information has been unearthed by studying leadership qualities in individuals and by studying the dynamic between leader and follower. However, the abstractness of these studies left researches at somewhat of a loss for practical and relevant information, that is until research began on the observable behavior of leaders. The Style Approach is a useful way to look at the leader-follower relationship because it incorporates elements of behaviorist psychology and applies them to the study leadership as a phenomenon. The goal of this essay is to use observable behavior in the context of the Leadership Grid to determine the best course of action for leadership in any scenario.
Leadership is a crucial part of life. Without leaders the world would probably fall apart. People need leaders to follow and to set an example for them. Leaders step up and stand up for what they believe in. They can be men or women and even children. Leaders can be found in every country, state, and city. They are located around the world, but not all leaders are good, effective leaders. There are leaders that abuse their power. However, there are also selfless leaders who truly make an impact on lives. A huge example of a selfless leader is Mahatma Gandhi. He was born in 1869 on October 2nd in North West India. After college, he took a job in South Africa but later moved back to India. Upon his return, the most influential period of his life started. He started non-violent civil disobedience and began to encourage the locals to improve their circumstances. Gandhi did a lot of awesome things during his lifetime. The things he did can still be used as lessons today. He encouraged people to fight for their freedom. (Mahatma Gandhi 2013) I use fight very lightly though, because he was a non-violent person. He was a role model for many other famous leaders including Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. One of the biggest reasons why I admire him is because he was so humble. He did not think of himself as a good leader. He was just doing him job as a decent human being.