Why Leadership Now

Those that follow a transformational leadership framework believe that leaders possess many of the aforementioned qualities, but the focus is on one’s ability to inspire and empower others (Ross, Fitzpatrick, Click, Krouse, & Clavelle, 2014). These leaders literally ‘transform’ their followers by inspiring enthusiasm and performance towards a

I believe that little if any leadership ability is genetic, and therefore anyone with the motivation to do so can adopt the necessary characteristics that will make them good leaders. Without the motivation to be a leader, let alone the motivation to strive to be a great one, no one will willingly follow you. I believe that at the very basic level if a leader is well-motivated, and if this is acknowledged by his/her subordinates, the subordinates will see him as a role model. A personal example of this is seen in my Cadet Flight Leader in first year was very motivated. He participated in all flight/squadron events, kept himself very

Everyone has a different quality and different strengths that they can contribute when being a leader.

There are many models of leadership that exist across a range of fields (e.g. social work, education, psychology, business, etc.). The ability to transform an organization successfully requires a different set of attitudes and skills. Transformational leadership is an approach where a leader utilizes inspiration, charisma, individualized attention, and intellectual stimulation with their employees (Iachini, Cross, & Freedman, 2015, p. 651). Transformational leadership helps to clarify organizational vision, inspires employees to attain objectives, empowers employees, encourages employees to take risks, and advocates the seeking of alternative solutions to challenges in the workplace (Transformational Leadership, 2015). It allows the leader to engage and motivate each follower identify with the organization’s values and goals.

In order to do so I needed to learn how to be an effective leader. Thus, I ran for National Honor Society President and won the election. This has increased my people skills; I can communicate with officials easier because I am more confident and assertive. This increased my ability to be a problem solver and taught me how compromise. It informed me that other people will have opinions that differ from mine. However, it’s important to listen to them because those different opinions could be better than mine. Other than being National Honor Society President I have had other leadership positions such as creating the year round freshman mentoring program at my school. Taking my idea to an actual successful organization has taught me patience and discipline. This also forced me to plan out every single detail, handle public questions and concerns, and persuade my officials that my plan was worth funding. I created contracts, rules, and guidelines for this mentoring program. Everything I have done has improved my abilities and skills. Every organization I joined, every class I have taken, and every choice I have made has been to achieve my end

find that people might expect more from me in terms of knowledge and leadership; rightly so.

At this time the major challenge I see towards this goal is that I’m really not in a position to make major decisions in either area that could result in a significant change. Perhaps I’m over thinking the matter, but I feel that my contributions should be the result of observation of the status quo, development of a better idea, analysis of efforts to implement the idea, and

to be groomed into creative, efficient, and productive leaders. It is also my intent to

In the article, Curtis and O’Connell discuss the difference between transactional and transformational leadership. Transactional leadership is based on

The same is true for leadership. Not all who effectively lead are born with innate abilities that attract followers. Each of us brings our own combination of life experiences, personal traits and stylistic preferences to the practice of leadership. Through the act of deliberate reflection and contemplation, we become aware of ourselves and how our experiences and traits are likely to help or hinder our pursuit of effective leadership. We become aware of our personal truths, our strengths and our faults and I believe this is the foundation from which leadership is built.

To achieve optimum results as a leader, a leader must produce a clear and vigorous plan for to stimulate higher performances from a group. As well as incorporating humility and professional will to lead a team or an individual. One of the forms of leadership that achieves this level of compassion for an individual’s progress and the advancement towards a goal can be characterized a transformational leadership. A transformational leader also, “creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders.” (Transformational

Discovered by Dr. James McGregor Burns, Transformational Leadership relates to engagement and connectivity. Dr. Bernard Bass expounded Burn’s work with transactional leadership in his publication Work Leadership. Burns and Bass suggest that leaders should raise consciousness to their followers by sharing the importance of the values and goals of an organization, in turn, motivating followers to address higher management level needs. In 1985, Bass released Leadership and Performance beyond expectation breaking down transformational leadership into four parts.

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” – John C. Maxwell

Transformational leadership is a process that motivates individuals by appealing to their moral value, instead of their own personal interests (Doody & Doody, 2012). This theory is credited to Burns, but continues to evolve and expand by others throughout the years. There are four main components when describing transformational leadership:

This is related to the fist commitment in The Leadership Challenge, about finding your own voice and affirming shared values. When we find our own voice, we must be direct about our feelings. Moving past assumptions helps clarify what the real issues are, so that they can be addressed in a professional manner (McClure, 2000). According to McClure, being direct consists of three things: going to the right person about your feelings, making it clear what your goals and purposes are, and being specific about what the real issues are.