What I Have Shaped The Way I Approach The Concept Of Leadership

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.

Leadership refers to the act of leading a considerable number of people within an establishment or the capacity to do this. Leadership has to do with coming up with a vision that is crystal clear and the ability to spreads that idea out in a manner that makes individuals, given the information, knowledge, and methods to understand, willing to follow. Subsequently, balancing and coordinating the conflicting interests of all stakeholders and members. It is typical for any good leader to step up in the event of a contingency, with the potential to imagine and act creatively in situations that prove to be difficult. Different from management, leadership can never be taught, in as much as it may be learned and bettered employing mentoring and coaching (Servant Leadership Based on Robert Greenleaf’s Writings, 2010).

The process of leadership requires self-identification of behaviors and reflection on one’s attitude (Bell, 2010). Among the thousands of leadership books in print today, this book is one that takes a different approach to examining leadership from a Christian perspective as well as relating to the process of leadership along with many

Leadership is the ultimate form of service; it requires leaders to devote much of themselves to deal with the responsibilities that come with the title. They not only serve as normal members, but they must make important decisions with their followers’ interests

Leadership is a term that cannot be defined or simplified with a standard definition (Bethel, 2011). The term’s complexity is a phenomenon, as it carries a different meaning for each person. During the

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”...

Leadership is a concept that many probably think is a clear-cut subject that is well understood and extremely recognizable. Many would picture an all-powerful individual in a leadership postion, such as a chief execuative officer (CEO) of a company or a leader of a country. These individuals, most people would identify as obvious examples of people who have qualties, skills, or traits that have set themsleves apart from “the common man” and propelled them into the positions they now hold. It would surpirse many to find out that leadership is not as obvious concept as commonly precieved. In fact, as these indiviuals begin to study the numerous theories and studies on leadership, a picture obscure and non-sensical would emerge leaving the individual feeling like they are no closer to understanding what a “leader” is then when they had started. This relatively unknown truth about the absract concept of leadership is best demonstrated by an analyses of two individuals with two unique views of leadership.

This student has held a lifelong interest in the area of leadership. From as early as age 8, this student has been intrigued with the sense of exuberance, found in personal success and achievement and began to wonder if others could be made to feel the same sense of excitement and belief in themselves. Thus, began this student’s endeavor to helping others “become”, “believe”, “expand” and “succeed”. But, was that leadership or the expression of a trait, or perhaps it was something spiritual or maybe it was an exertion of power over my life or the life of another. To answer the question, “What does leadership mean? ”, this student has selected the article “Leadership is about What We Deliver; Shaping culture, Creating Patterns of Success.”

Precisely identifying what it takes to be an effective leader can be a difficult task. Which is likely the reason that almost all who have attempted to define leadership have provided somewhat different descriptions (Grossman & Valiga, 2012). Therefore in order to develop a personal leadership philosophy the review of others writing on the subject of leadership was conducted. Maxwell concluded leadership is the ability to influence others, and while we may be unaware of it we are all leaders in one way or another due to the influence we have on others (2012). Further Maxwell went on to state, it is the responsibility of each individual leader to

Leadership has been studied extensively and many varying definitions exist. Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2015, p.4) review many of these definitions and consequently describe leadership as ‘the process of influencing an organised group towards its goals’. Leadership involves the interplay of a range of different factors, not least the leader themselves, the followers and the situation. For

“Everyone has a role in accomplishing the mission and everyone directly impacts the effectiveness of his or her organization” (Horton, p 247). According to Conger and Benjamin (1999), creditability and authenticity lie at the heart of leadership, therefore, determining and defining one’s own guiding beliefs and assumptions lie at the heart of becoming a great leader. Providing direction and exercising influence are the two functions at the core of most definitions of leadership. Leaders work with others to create a shared sense of purpose and direction and to achieve shared goals. They help to establish the conditions that

Departing from the theoretical definitions of leadership in terms of assumptions of group members and the use of broad terms like "power" and "characteristics best suited" are definitions that are more practical in nature. Leadership can also be defined as the person or persons who possess directive roles in any group interaction (Hollander, 1985). All of these theorists' definitions of leadership stress the fact that leadership is not a one-person social process. In order for a person to be a successful leader and exhibit those leadership skills which are accepted and praised by the dominant culture, there must be followers, or people whom the leader can lead (Hollander, 1985). The discussion of the qualities of leaders and origins of leadership will follow the detailing of the theoretical definition of power.

From the different readings and resources different concepts and ideologies about leadership have been developed. From these different resources, one thing that resonates is that leadership involves guiding effort and resources and influencing decision making among different people in order to induce action. In agreeing with this analysis of leadership, it is also important to note that the manner in which different people lead others depends totally on their perception on values and their cultural upbringing. In this regard, different people may define leadership in different ways. However, the best definition according to me is the one brought forth by Bass (2009). He suggests that leadership is majorly viewed as the interaction between different members of a group involving the structuring and restructuring of different ideas and concepts in order to come up with particular decisions that influence actions. Different leadership styles have brought about different styles and types of leadership. The different readings suggest that leadership can be used in different concepts. Leadership can be applied in educational settings, spiritual settings, business settings and social settings. Whichever setting leadership is applied in the main concepts of influencing action is applied.

In my childhood, many years ago in my country of origin Ethiopia Christianity was counted as crime and if you became a Christian you definitely jailed, tortured, isolated from society and also you might be killed. During this era, my grandfather was a well-known person of the locality, he has been known for discipline and values among the whole city. He was also traditional lawyer and landlord who command good practice. During this time 80 percent of his children became Christian while he and my grandmothers are remaining Muslim. My grandfather he didn’t isolate his children because of their religion or their differences, instead he advocate for them and he challenged the government body and society for freedom of religion and for equality.

“You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.” Searching for a definition of leadership can be best served when drawing upon experiences from some of the world’s greatest leaders. For me, it is Mother Theresa who has defined the idea of leadership best. It may seem a bit cliche to quote her when addressing the particular topic, but no one has set a definition more true than Mother Theresa herself. It is the mere act of leading by example that can propel leaders to greatness.