What Makes A Good Leader?

Every person has a different definition of what makes a leader. Some feel a leader is inspirational, while others regard leadership as someone who can give criticism and make the tough decisions. Each definition is unique, and each is vague. This is why the definitions of leadership people use aren’t always accurate. Bolman and Deal, however, do an excellent job of presenting four frames of leadership people use to successfully—or unsuccessfully—support and lead a group of people. The four frames presented by the authors are: human resource, symbolic, structural, and political. The human resource frame is used by leaders to empathize with their followers, the symbolic frame is used to inspire and unite followers around a vision, the structural frame is used to emphasize the importance of a process, and the political frame establishes competition and focuses on creating allies.

What does it take to be an effective leader in today’s fast paced and ever changing world?

In the world today, there are leaders everywhere such as Parents, Pastors, The President, CEO of Companies, Supervisors and World leaders just to name a few, these individuals can be good or bad, for you or against you. A leader is a person that sees things through in order to make change either in the mental growing aspect of one’s life, the economics of the world, or spiritual belief. The characteristics of a good leader are the leaders’ ability to inspire others willingness to leader and integrity.

As we continue to learn about leadership, we continue to see the importance of having certain qualities. There are differing opinions on what traits hold more importance than others, but in the end, each quality plays a specific role in forming an excellent leader. Three qualities that preform a role in the equation, and that needs strengthened in my own leadership skills, are enthusiasm, persistence and charisma.

What does it take to be a leader? Can leadership be taught? What are some of the skilled sets that are needed to be a leader? In my opinion you need communications, the ability to delegate responsibilities/tasks, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, the ability to inspire your team, vision and intuition. I interviewed two good leaders from my department. One of the interviewee is a senior manager (Tami Martin) and the other is an account manager (Angela Cook). Both are successful in managing departments and both have different ways of leading. I will start with Angela’s interview first since she’s in middle management.

What makes a leader a leader? Are leaders born or are they shaped by their experiences? Do we follow leaders because we believe in the same ideology or simply because they are charismatic? Many theories argue many ways a leader is made, yet it is truly not crystal clear what makes a leader a leader.

Successful collaboration requires strong and reliable leaders to guide individuals through decisions. Anyone can be placed in charge, but there are few people who can govern efficiently. A leader is a person who has been trusted with the responsibility of the group and is looked towards for guidance. A capable supervisor is just as important as a dedicated worker. Certain characteristics are required in order to fulfill the role of a leader. Knowing the characteristics needed in a leader will help people establish better cooperation among the people they work with. An effective leader has integrity, awareness, creativity, confidence, optimism, focus and accountability.

In the world we live in, many leaders have come and gone, but only a select few have made a big enough impact on society that we remember them forever. Those leaders are marked down in the history books which is why we continue to study and learn about them today. Many leaders exist, some whom lived in the past and others that are still alive and continue to be a leader. Thomas Jefferson was a significant leader in the past who contributed greatly in establishing America. As a founding father, Jefferson made many positive impacts on how our country would function, what form of government we’d use, and the freedom all citizens deserved.

What qualities make a good leader? You can ask a hundred different people, and you will get a hundred different answers. A good leader is someone who accomplishes the mission, has the respect of their subordinates, and makes the difficult decisions when needed. For me, I believe that a great leader needs to have a variety of qualities, but most importantly a sense of fairness, hard work/care, and common consideration for others. Different experiences throughout my life and time at West Point have lead me to believe that these three tenants are what are most needed for a great leader. In terms of a leader’s moral character, common consideration has the greatest influence on the success of a leader, because without common consideration, a

To be a great leader, one must have character. Many can lead during the good times, it is when the going gets tough, that one sees the true character of a good leader. Tribulation and selflessness plays a huge role in the ethics of a good leader. Aristotle proposed that character “is that which reveals choice, shows what sort of thing a man chooses or avoids in circumstances where the choice is not obvious” (Nussbaum, 1992 as cited in Hannah, Avolio, & Walumbwa, 2011). While competency is a vital leadership characteristic, the absence of strong character will ultimately topple a talent (Dees, 2013).

I never would have imagined when I started this journey a year ago that I would be so changed in my opinions of what a good leader should be. We began with organizational behavior and the importance of the individual and what motivates them, and how this applies to group cohesiveness. Throughout each module we were given insight by example of how certain types of leadership works and does not work. After eighteen years of working for the same company and being led by several different types of leaders, I hope to combine what I learned through this last year with what is really needed to become an awesome leader.

A good quote is a powerful motivational tool which can help you grow in all areas of your life. When the quote is by established CEOs and entrepreneurs, who’ve done it all and who are talking from experience, you can learn a great deal about things such as leadership.

If you do not truly love what you are doing you are not going to convince anyone else to love it either. A good leader has to be strong in their convictions and confident in themselves and their teams. Everyone needs encouragement especially when it comes to giving it your all for the company. By providing a good reward system you are fostering good conversations of feeling appreciated and needed on these projects. It will make employees want to do well not only to impress you, but to impress those who may hold future roles for them.

Make decisions. When we think of what makes a great leader, one characteristic that comes to mind is decisiveness. Leaders must have a certain set of skills in order to make effective decisions. Since decisions are based on conceptual ability or “the ability to conceptualize situations and select alternative to solve problems and take advantage of opportunities” (Lussier-Achua, p.11). Other skills such as diagnostic, analytical, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, time management, the ability to be creative, perceive trends, anticipate changes, and recognize problems and opportunities are important for leaders to have to make effective decisions. They are capable of making quick, calculated decisions and communicate the goals to others. Effective leaders also understand how to balance emotion with reason and make a decision that positively impacts no only themselves but their employees, stakeholders and organizations. As discussed in the Improving the decision-making process PowerPoint slides, there a two types of decision-making styles. They are rational decision-making and intuitive decision-making. Which type of style to use depends on the situation at hand. Rational decision making is most appropriate when a situation has presented all the facts and there is a clear understanding of possible consequences of actions. The rational mind can make reasoned decisions founded on the certain order of the world. However, when faced with the unknown the rational mind

Forbes contributor Tanya Prive lists ten qualities that make a great leader: honesty, delegate, communication, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition, inspire, and approach (Prive, 2012). The greatest leaders exemplify most or all of these attributes, and Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, is no exception, although he particularly excels at “commitment” and “inspire.” Zappos has made multiple appearances on “Best Places to Work” lists and is famous for its unique culture. Hsieh says that company culture is his primary focus as CEO, and he only hires those who fit into the culture. Hsieh is so committed to creating positive culture that Zappos offers new hires $2000 to leave after orientation if they do not feel like Zappos is for them (Reiss, 2010). Hsieh’s commitment to building culture is nearly unrivaled in the business world, as is Zappos commitment to customer service. The number one “commandment” at Zappos is “deliver WOW through service” (O’Brien, 2009). For years, Zappos, led by Hsieh, has been committed to having the best customer service in the industry, and Hsieh is a master at inspiring the people who work for him to embrace this vision. The employees at Zappos have clearly bought into his vision (as did Amazon when they bought the company for over $800 million). Hsieh has said that having a vision is the first thing an entrepreneur needs to have and employees and customers will sense that vision and enthusiasm. He wrote in his book