Stereotypes Of Leadership

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

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” John C. Maxwell

Casse, P. (2014c). The new drivers of leadership. Training Journal, p. 27. Retrieved from academicguides.walden.edu/library

Throughout history, the most important and influential leaders have been recognized for their positive or negative impact among various civilizations. Regardless of their outcomes, great leaders around the world undeniably share particular traits or skills that have enabled them to achieve their vision. Dr. Travis Bradberry’s 12 Habits of Exceptional Leaders, attempts to deliver a condensed list of essential elements that characterize great leaders. According to the author, great leaders possess a variety of 12 unique traits that individuals can follow to enhance their leadership skills. Although the author offers a clear summation of these elements, the article is vaguely credible as it fails to provide evidence and effective methods to

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).

In Scott’s conclusion she writes, “Fierce leaders aren’t born that way; crossing the bold line between leadership and “fierce” leadership takes courage and work. It requires that you hone your faith in others and in yourself” [p.292].

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.

In my reflections as I prepared to write this paper, I came to the realization that leadership is much more complex especially since the paper requires that I focus on a few traits. In an effort to make it simple, I wrote down the traits that came to mind and in process had over 10 important traits but an even bigger challenge was on how to narrow them down to 3 or 4 and this is the place that required a good deal of reflection. Eventually, however, I had to prioritize them since in any case; it is not possible to get a leader that has all the traits. As I thought of the various leaders who have inspired me, I noticed that while they strived to provide the best leadership by focusing on their strong points, they still had their weaknesses. To me this provided a justification for at least identifying key desirable traits and thereafter working to improve them. I did manage to settle on four traits, which for me are indispensible if a leader or a leadership is to become effective.

In the article titled “Clearing the Air: Identity Safety Moderates the Effects of Stereotype Threat on Women’s Leadership Aspirations” by Paul Davies, Steven Spencer and Claude Steele, the authors discussed two studies which investigated the effects of commercials with stereotypical ideas on women’s ambitions and goals. In this study, the researchers were concerned with how stereotypical commercials affect a woman’s attitude towards leadership roles, responsibilities, life-long goals, aspirations and dreams. The researchers alleged that certain gender-stereotypic commercials and images reinforce roles sex-specific roles and may play a role in future decisions made by women. The researchers also suggested that stereotype threat, which is the act of confirming to a stereotypic role or a perceived social role, also plays a part in women not reaching their full potential in the workplace, especially in leadership positions.

Understanding the cognitive processes of organizational psychology light on the causes of events based on stereotypes. Fri and the leadership of the research focuses on a variety of business environments, students and administrators. the general manager of the matter, I think it 's a good model "is sometimes described as a thought that is incompatible with the behavior of male and female" leader refers to the idea. For example, the pronunciation of certain parameters in order to promote stereotypes. Time is expected that the management style, bad, indifferent, or from top to bottom, is expected by the traditional male behavior leaders. This is the temperature of the power and personality of women waiting to discover the impact of stereotypes associated with this organization, effective, can make it difficult for women in leadership positions in dichotomous balance.

In this paper I will review the article How outstanding leaders lead with affect: an examination of charismatic, ideological, and pragmatic leaders (Griffith, Connelly, Thiel, Johnson, 2015) and discuss key findings.

“There is no good or bad leader but thinking makes it so” Shakespeare phrased once and it seems relevant to perceive the importance of charisma in being a good leader. Who are the good leaders? What makes a good leader? Are charismatic leader always good? Good in whose eyes and in what time frame? It is trivial to get bogged up with intuitive questions when we are asked such a straightforward but complex question about the importance of charisma in being a good leader. Max Weber (1947, pp.358-359) tossed the term charisma in early 1920s as being “set apart from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities.” Up until 1970s, Weber’s hypothesis lay dormant and it wasn’t until 1977 when Robert House further developed the charismatic leadership theory. This literature review will argue that charisma isn’t important in being good leader by bringing together various literature studies focusing on both the sides of the coin but ultimately filtering the core argument.

“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).

These leaders are genuinely humble and fearless with intense professional will (p. 22). These operate with strategy, by “first getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats – and then they figure out how to drive it” (p. 13).

It is the general consensus that leadership, does matter and everything rises and falls on leadership (Maxwell, 1999). Leaders have vision, game plan, and a strategy to attain their desired goals. Furthermore, people are drawn to leaders for various reasons such as: their character, charisma, knowledge, experience, skills, and their ability to effectively communicate to followers. There are many ordinary unsung leaders that have made a great impact on the lives of others. One such person is Mr. Gregory Reid who has, and continues to positively affect my professional life. For this reason, it is fitting to explore and examine the path taken to leadership by Mr. Reid which includes his family, education, career path and document pertinent comments and approach that can be applied to my career, professional life.