To Be Loved or Feared as a Leader? Essay

Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, Jesus Christ, Mahatma Ghandi, Lucifer; the list could go on. All these men had one thing in common; they were extraordinary leaders who gained loyal followers. These men also had several differences; the biggest being that some were destructive with their power and their ideals weren’t exactly on par with normality. Yet, what made people follow and respect the wishes of leaders who were destructive and insane? The attraction to these powerful leaders is found in the way that they are able to fill a void in that individual’s life. This void could consist of longing for safety and care, being lonely, or even missing

Grojean, Resick & Diskson (2004) suggest that leaders are responsible for facilitating their follower’s to become capable and guide them to improving their capabilities and strengths. Differentiating between different leadership styles can be done in a number of ways. It was determined that the traditional styles of leaders include authoritian (autocratic), democratic, permissive (laissez-faire) and bureaucratic (Viinamäki, 2009).

This approach emphasize that having a leader with a certain set of traits is crucial to having effective leadership. It’s the leader and the leader’s personality that are central to the leadership process.

Effective leaders interact with their followers in a positive manner to learn about them on a personal and professional level (Colorado State University – Global Campus, 2016). The United States Coast Guard (USCG) refers to this type of communication as deck plate leadership. Deck plate leadership blends an interest in junior personnel’s professional development and well-being (Smith, 2010). Often, before one becomes an effective leader they participate in a follower role. The level of follower engagement may be a precursor to the type of leader they later will become. Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) C. MacInnes is the Executive Officer (XO) of Enlisted Personnel working directly for the commanding officer (CO) at the USCG Academy in New London, Connecticut (http://www.uscga.edu). LCDR MacInnes oversees several divisions at the Academy, meaning he has numerous direct reports. He is an example of a person in a leadership and followership role.

Our societies, countries and the world at large are not enjoying the best of leaders and leadership today because bad leadership style such as authoritarian leadership style. In this type of leadership styles, citizen especially in the under developed and developing countries such as in leader and a where the leader believes that all power resides in him, an donly him has the power to make decision and exercise control, reward and publish instead of a democratic management style. Such organisations or countries is always a failure.

In Lesson 6, Dr. Fischer explores the ideas of whether leaders are born or made. In some cases certain traits such as extroversion, conscientiousness, openness, and emotional intelligence can suggest that leaders can in

Throughout history, certain leaders were described as having exceptional qualities, such as charisma, that enabled them to motivate followers to achieve outstanding performances. Used wisely, it’s certainly a blessing; indulged, it can be a curse and therefore, these leaders can lead people ahead or astray. Famous leaders such as Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Roosevelt all shared a similar quality, charisma, which helped them rise in power and become leaders for their countries. This rise in leadership is a cause of crisis situations, distress in people, and inspirational and charismatic leaders who give promising deliverances. At the time, many leaders were struggling to rebuild their nations and as a cause, many totalitarian dictators such

However, in a dynamic environment the changing amalgamation of a refurbished society and a greater media presence has cultivated an anti-leadership perspective”. For example, Herman (2002) uses irony to suggest that individuals who seek out leadership are egotistical and pretentious. This is further fuelled by media coverage capturing scandals, including Priest voluptuous exploitation, major non-profit organisation being corrupt and military-leader arrogance leading to foreign hatred. Hence, Herman (2007) further advocates that we have been conditioned to expect distrust and fear in the ways leaders act. Though she draws upon historical figures including, Nelson Mandela and martin Luther king suggesting that students don’t resonate with the

Throughout time the question of “ Are leaders born or made?” continues to be debated. This question has been part of several myths that try to explain what makes a person a leader. According to the trait approach theory, it sets a benchmark for what certain traits an individual must possess in order to make them a leader. Before leadership traits were considered innate. However, as time has progressed research has indicated that situations differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Therefore, an individual does not possess certain traits, rather it is the relationship between the person and its society that make him/her leader. All leaders must have a set of skills that help them lead subordinates to reach an overall vision. A vision must originate from both the leader and its followers, and it is the leader's job to articulate the vision. Furthermore, leaders demonstrate the capacity to lead their followers and

Leaders are respectful and loving. Leaders always give people their trust. They give their trust because they want people to trust them. Leaders always care about people who are getting lead. They care about people because if they get hurt or something bad happens to

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 the world we live in today the roles of power and leadership are often confused. Although they have similar meanings, they can be distinctly defined between the latter. The key difference between the two is the term of effect. Power is the exercise of leadership, and leadership is only defined if you have power. Leadership always involves attempts on a leader to affect behavior or a follower in a situation, whereas power is not equivalent with influence on another person’s behavior. Although power and leadership have similar meanings, they are certain differences that can point out what makes

To me, leadership is more than a title. It is more than just being in charge. Leadership is honestly, learning, listening, and most importantly application. Leadership means going the extra mile or two, doing the right thing no matter who’s looking, staying encouraged and encouraging other even when times are hard and you have every reason to quit. Leadership doesn’t mean you’re rich, well known, liked, or respected but it does mean you are a passionate, caring, and authentic. Leadership means you care about something so much you are willing to risk everything you have for this belief or idea. Leadership is doing whatever you can in your power to make things better for those around you.

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.

“The greater a leader’s skill at transmitting emotions, the more forcefully the emotions will spread. Such transmission does not depend on theatrics, of course, since people place close attention to a leader, even subtle expressions of emotion can have great impact” (Goleman, et. al, 2002, para. 3). As