The Truth About Leadership By James Kouzes And Barry Posner

Leadership in an organization often plays a critical role, and is frequently, though not always, one of the major drivers of the success or failure of a company. (Bass, 1990) Effective leadership helps a company through times of peril and brings a future of brightness. It makes a corporation successful. However, what is leadership? According to Kouzes and Posner, it is the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations. (1995, p.30) Leaders set a clear direction for us; they help us realize what is ahead; they support us to achieve and win; they encourage and inspire us when we feel depressed. Without leadership, an organization will degenerate into chaos and unstructured because people view things in different ways.

First published in 1987, The Leadership Challenge is a guide for becoming leader. The book received many awards and its above two million copies are internationally sold. The book teaches principles of leadership that apply whether the leader is running a sports team or a fortune 500 organization. The book includes stories and examples of many leaders from micro to macro level (Founders and Authors, 2013). The basic leadership principles can be adopted by anyone to challenge status quo and increase leader productivity multifold. The book tells about the flow and hierarchy of values too (Machedo, 2013). One can use the guide without an instructor to develop leadership traits.

Leadership is the most essential aspect of a successful operation; without a leader there is no concise direction or defined power in charge. A leader’s intangibles and instincts must be sharp, knowing that everything hinges on their ability to place their people in the best possible situations to thrive. For as long as humanity has existed, man has always had a leader; both good and bad leaders, qualified or unqualified. People are divided on the concept of what a leader is. Are leaders naturally born? What makes up a leader? How do we determine a leader?

Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal. The article “Leadership That Gets Results” by Daniel Goleman is an article that helps readers understand that there is not only one way of becoming a successful leader. Research indicates that leaders with best results do not rely on only one leadership style. Goleman, describes leaderships styles as array of clubs in a golf pro’s bag. Over the course of the game, the pro picks clubs based on the demands of the shot. Thinking is involved during the selection, but usually it is automatic. The pro is aware of the challenge ahead, quickly utilizes the right tool, and puts it to work. It has also been found that emotional intelligence

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.

Abstract: There are numerous definitions of leadership, all of which contain elements related to people (the leader and the follower(s)), communicating in person or by the written word, actions (organizing, directing, coaching, and/or motivating), and for a purpose (meeting a goal(s) or accomplishing a task(s)) (ADP 6-22) (Fisher 2015) (Bolden 2013) (Hogan 2005). Additionally, everything done occurs within a given context. Effective leaders are poised, proficient, pertinent, and practical in the application of the art of leadership. This means leaders are ready to engage the group with effective methods and

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.

Leadership is both an inherent value and is forged overtime. Inherently, some people are born good leaders and intrinsically have good values imbedded. Leadership traits can be honed and developed overtime; you never stop learning to be a good leader. Leadership is the cornerstone of all successfully run organizations and is what drives stewardship to successfully carry on the organizations mission statement. Throughout one’s life experiences, they come across some great leaders and some not-so great leaders. Those life experiences transcend one to become a better leader through experiential circumstances.

This simple interaction has allowed me to realize that who I am as an individual does not stop me from being a leader. In fact, my definition of a leader was the only factor preventing me from doing so. In reality, leadership is not about being exclusively extraordinary, impressing others with acts, or moving mountains single-handedly. Instead, a leader is the opposite. A leader comes from within a group, when one takes the first step to create a pathway for the group to follow.

What leaders really do? This is the question I am sure everyone asked themselves many times. John P. Kotter wrote a book in title “What Leaders Really Do”, and throughout his book he explains how the role of good leader should look like. The book states that most organizations lack good leadership, and Kotter is trying to help its reader to understand what real leaders really do. True leadership, he reminds us, is an intangible quality, and too often we confuse management duties and personal style with leadership, or even mistake unworthy leaders for the real thing. With John Kotter on What Leaders Really Do, readers will learn how to become more effective leaders as they explore pressing issues such as power, influence, dependence, and strategies

Leadership is an influential word: and its meaning may differ from person to person. Some describe leadership as the people in the highest and most powerful positions within an organization. But as I look back on the positions I have held and the people I would consider leaders, the people I would choose to follow, they were not necessarily the higher ranked people in the organization. They were the people with vision and moral compass who moved the company forward. These people live by their own values and stayed true to these principles every day in their roles within the organization. Those who try to lead by intimidation are not actually leaders but managers, who will have some success in achieving goals but will

The truth from our book, The Truth About Leadership, that has stuck out to me the most is in Chapter 2 when it talks about credibility. I think this stuck out to me the most due to my relationships I've had in business. I've learned from my father (business owner for 20+ years) the best way to be in a position of leadership is honest and truthful. People can tell when they aren't being told the truth and when it seems like you're unsure of yourself or playing the part you are soon caught by your colleagues. Most importantly from this chapter I took away that leadership is for someone who aspires to lead and who can guide a group of followers.

The essay “How to Be a Leader” by Michael Korda, published on January 5th, 1981 in Newsweek, illustrates what attributes make a good leader. People seek for a leader in desperate times, inflation, crisis’ or unemployment. Korda argues that we have a distinct image in our heads of what a leader should be like. An unforgettable trademark is one feature that is easy to remember, whether it be a big nose or a hat. Furthermore, people look for someone better than them, but they should not be too different than the majority.

For decade’s individuals, companies, and organizations have spent an unprecedented amount of money on researching, molding, modeling and working to define what a leader is and what characteristics make successful leaders. Despite all the research, there is not a quick answer or even full agreement as to what makes an individual an effective leader. The definition of a leader is “someone who can influence others and who has managerial authority.” (Robbins, Decenzo, Coulter, 2015. P.370)