What Makes A Great 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.

A leader must be able to move quickly from one agenda to another. A leader must be able to inspire a person or a group of people to want to do their best. A definition of leadership can be, “A relationship through which one person influences the behavior of other people” ( Mullins, p. 904 ). One of the biggest problems that a leader in any organization has to deal with is change. Leaders have to be versatile and willing to make tough decisions in today’s economic climate. We will analyze what it takes to be a successful leader and how to manage the people around you for the best results. Asking questions

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

What makes a good leader? Is it someone who can effectively tell others what to do? Someone who can make tough decisions? Someone who can take control in a difficult situation? A leader should be all of these things, but also they should be much more than that. Throughout this semester we have learned how we can become better leaders in both our personal and our professional lives. There are many different ways we have learned how to become better leaders. In order to apply what I have learned this semester I need to develop a plan on how to improve my leadership abilities and forge myself a more successful future.

Defining leadership is complex and varied in nature. The complexity derives from a multiplicity of societal depictions of “what is leadership?” leadership is found in different levels of society thus giving different meaning and definition depending on the audience.

What is a good leader? Often, when we think of a “good leader”, we think that they must be good people. We associate the word “good” with empathy, ethics, being honourable, and morality. Because of the implication of the word, we have a skewed and biased understanding of what makes a “good” leader. Instead, I want you to think of what it means to be an effective leader. This removes the bias that comes with the word good. So, what is an effective leader? Being a visionary, being persuasive or inspiring, and achieving set goals are hallmarks of effective leadership. An effective leader does not need empathy or ethics.

Leadership can be described many times with one word. When most people think about what leadership is, it is always going to be related to the field they are working or familiar with. Most people, who have or had a military background, would immediately think about authority or rank. While others who have a business background would probably think of words like impact and prestige.

Leadership is a word that is portrayed uniquely by each individual who demonstrates it. It is molded by a person’s morals and ideals of who a leader should be, and it is this versatility of the word that makes it so exclusive. My idea of a leader has always been extravagant, brilliant human beings who seemed to be miraculously gifted, something that someone so minuscule like me could never dream of achieving. Looking back, I regret having that assumption for I believe everyone has that ability inside them. I do feel as though some people radiate leadership while others have to dig deep to uproot it, but I sincerely believe it is inside every single one of us. Although the complexity of what it means to be a leader is something I will never fully grasp, through my knowledge and experience I have come up with a self-created definition which helps me with my understanding. I had the opportunity to take leadership test which was based on a series of questions, and the results had a much different set of definitions of leadership then I have. This got me thinking; what kind of leader am I? What qualities do I possess or need to possess to make me worthy of being followed? The results of my analysis of these questions were rather enlightening

The ambition to succeed, to encourage others, whether it is a team playing a game and pushing them to a win, a personality that can give anyone courage to achieve their dreams, the respect of what others believe and effective communication are all traits that can make a good leader. Growing up we have all had leaders that have stood out and have shaped our minds to what we believe a good leader can be. Leaders are everywhere in our community, we may have them in a camp that we attended over the summer, a teacher that has made a lasting impression, or even a family member. In my case my aunt is someone who I believe is a leader, not only myself but to the rest of the family, friends, and the community. I have grown up in a close family; if you decided to mess with one of us you get the whole gang. We looked out for each other and put others before ourselves.

This journey started when I was younger and my father owned a contracting company in Saudi Arabia. He supplied equipment and materials for construction but it was in the warehouse where the hard work was done is where we always found him. There are followers and then there are the leaders. There is nothing wrong with being a follow because what makes the effectiveness of a leader is reflected in their follower’s accomplishments. For my father, it was about acknowledging that people are people and they are not all the same. Each has their individual strengths and it is up to the leader to learn to surface their strengths and utilize them in a way where it benefits the goal of organization.

Behind every successful company, you will find great leadership. There are many qualities and characteristics that are always used to describe what makes up a great leader, but I found that three characteristics are consistently cited. Integrity, intuition, and innovation are the main building blocks of strong leadership. These qualities enable leaders to inspire others to learn more, to do more, and to become more. In this chapter, I will explain why each of these characteristics are essential to effective leadership in the business world.

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.

As a leader, sometimes we control not only our destiny but also the destiny of our followers as well. Hence, our decision-making skills should be impeccable, compared to an average person. When one thinks about it that is a lot pressure on the leader to consistently make good decision. It is even harder when one has a follower who tends to challenge one’s decision on a regular basis, like first mate, Chase and second mate, Joy on the Essex. As a leader, one should always never disregard the opinion of one’s subordinates. But, it is up to the leader to defend his or her opinion when challenged by one of the follower. Defending one’s principle or idea is key because this will showcase everyone one’s knowledge and wisdom that the person possess. Knowledge and wisdom alone cannot ensure a person from win an argument. He or she need to have good communication skills and is needed to get one’s points across. Apart from that, a leader should have the brains and that patience that is needed to explain an idea to a group of follower where each person has different intellectual levels. This is why a good communication skill is needed. A leader should have the same key ability as every good teacher: ability to teach a group of followers with various learning curves. Another important ability that a leader needs to have is the ability to trust on his or her own gut feeling. Many would agree that more often than none, one’s gut feeling is right. Sometimes, it might be wrong but as long

Some people want it, while others shy away from it. It is harder then it looks, but it is vital part of our lives. It can be used for the good and bad. This quality is called leadership. Leadership is important for a group to succeed. It brings power, status, and authority to who ever possess it. There are many qualities that make a great leader. There are many kinds of leadership that one can possess. Leadership is one of the most modern management topics and is also one of the four functions that constitute the management process. It can be agreed on that leadership success begins with the ways a manager uses his or her power to influence the behavior of other people and successful leaders are

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