Unit Three Essay. What Is Leadership? How Does Society

There are many qualities that come to mind when a person thinks of a good leader. It may not be an actual person that is pictured when term “leader” comes in casual conversation, but instead just a series of characteristics or experiences that might make a person fit to be in charge. Or rather instead there are some that see themselves when they think of authority and power, still even those that imagine what they could become if given the proper training. The emphasis society places on leadership is undoubtedly instilled within the minds of every child from a young age that are urged that having a sense of leadership is the only way to be successful. Despite this, only few are really fit for a position where

What is leadership? When examining this question it is important to understand what it means to be a leader within an organization. “Leadership is the influencing process of leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through change (Achua, 2010, p. 6). Leaders serves people best when they help them develop their own initiative and good judgment, enable them to grow, and help them become better contributors (Thomas S Bateman, 2010, p. 66). Unlike management leadership flows from the core of a personality and cannot be taught; although leadership can be learned and may be enhanced through coaching and mentoring. Leadership involves unique processes that are distinguishable from basic management processes (Thomas S Bateman,

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.

There are a variety of ways to define both leader and leadership. There is not, however, a clear definition of how to become one. There is no set list of mandatory traits, either innate or learned, that a person must embody to be considered successful or proved a failure. What I feel it takes is the right mix of strengths and weaknesses in a given situation to demonstrate effectiveness. No one person has abilities without accompanying deficiencies. It’s all in the way they are balanced. The balance in the way one uses his or hers’ abilities will ultimately determine the type of leadership one has throughout time. To support these claims I will examine a well-known leader throughout the military, General James “Mad Dog” Mattis. This essay

Leadership might be the most discussed and written about topics in our modern society. Thousands of books have covered this topic and people are often using this term correctly as well as in the right format. But what does it really mean? Strength? Power? Leadership could be as simple as holding the hand of a small child crossing the street, or as complex as signing the Declaration of Independence. A leader is not someone who cheats their way to the top, or tricks others into doing things. Being a leader is also not all about power and control. Power is not leadership because leaders don’t necessarily need any source of “power,” but instead are looked up to by their followers. The assertion of power can create feelings of fear, betrayal,

The belief of leadership is constantly changing, with many theories and frameworks available. Today’s organizations face ever-increasing change, which includes increased patient demands and work needs, which requires a more adaptive flexible leadership that is becoming increasingly important in the 21st century. Leadership theory and philosophy can be divided into several well-known styles. Within this paper, we will discuss the basis of autocratic, democratic, laissez faire, servant, charismatic, transformational, and situational styles of leadership within the nursing profession, then conclude the writer’s personal philosophies of leadership.

This Chapter is more specific about the importance of developing personal adaptive leadership practices. Learning to understand your internal and external personality and leadership traits will go a long way in terms of foster creativity, boldness and a clearer understanding of the insides and out of your own system.

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 difficult in situations of sudden changes and instability. According to Northouse(2009) leaders are born and not made. In other words, they have natural capacities to lead others. Besides, the pioneer of Adaptive leadership theory, Dr. Ronald Heifetz, recommend adaptive leadership style as the appropriate ?practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive. Successful adaptive changes build on the past rather than discard it and organization adaption occurs through experimentation.?? (Heifetz, 2009 p. 14-17).

Adaptive leadership may be the most follower-centric theory of leadership covered in our study thus far. As a component of Complexity Leadership Theory, adaptive leadership premise is for leaders to encourage followers to overcome problems through empowerment (Norhouse, 2013). In this concept, leaders do not assert their legitimate authority to answer the tough questions. Rather, through mobilization, motivation, organization, orientation, and focus, leaders facilitate learning transactions to resolve uncertainly or novel events.

In adaptive leadership the leader challenges people to face tough problems and learn new ways of dealing with change (Heifetz (1994).

Chapter 1: The Nature of Leadership 1. What is the best explanation for so many different definitions of leadership? a. scholarly nitpicking about trivial issues b. disagreement about what should be included in the definition c. little opportunity for rigorous scientific analysis d. leadership is a very old topic with centuries of definitions Answer: b. 2.

As previously mentioned, it is important that organizational needs are met by ensuring that leaders have the right skills, while also having a foundation of a specific leadership theory to drive the daily functions of the organization. As important as these aspects are, it is even more important that leaders take the time to evaluate their leadership style and philosophy to ensure that they remain effective and efficient in their work. Fisher (2009) notes that it is important to recognize the type of leadership that is most effective with staff, so that it can be applied accordingly. By taking the time to self-evaluate, it will allow for self-reflection on one’s own philosophies and the ability to grow as a leader in their areas of weakness and enhance the areas that are the strongest.

Leadership is a difficult word to define and according to the Miriam-Webster Dictionary leadership is the “office or position of a leader” (Miriam-Webster, 2010). This definition is definitely not one that I would ascribe to when discussing leadership. My definition of leadership is “the ability someone has to motivate and empower others to achieve a goal.” Some may add to this definition, others may discard it altogether and have a completely different definition. In the end, leadership takes on many different forms depending on who is doing the defining and we end up asking ourselves, what is leadership and why do we care?

On different schools of thought, there are those who believe leaders are made, and other who believe leaders are born. Whether it is through nature or nurture, a good, and effective leader must evolve in order to be successful in today’s environments and with the challenges present in various organizations. Some organizations are heavily diverse, or deal with new technology. Leaders have to work in a emerging global economy. Knowledge management and organizational structures provide even more challenges for teams and leaders. This paper will look at the challenges faced by leaders in today’s work environments, and how different leadership styles work best in various environmental structures in order to be successful.