Leadership Application Project - Essay Example

Leadership By Example We have read or heard people who have etched their name in history books as a great leader of their time, whether in fame or notoriety. People like Moses in the Bible, Churchill and Hitler during the World War II or Obama and Bin Laden in the 21st century have captured the imagination of the world. They were leaders on their own right, whether chosen by their people or self proclaimed themselves. There are so many types of leadership: charismatic, participative, situational, transactional, transformational, quiet, and servant.

What do these people have that they have so many followers? What are their traits? Do they have maxims they earnestly follow? For this project, we will try to look into the style of leadership which an individual can follow which will eventually make him/her a good leader. Firstly, let’s define what leadership is, according to Northouse (2007)“Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent” (p. 3) in simple term, it is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal or objective.

There is a notion that leaders are born rather than made. On the contrary, leaders are made through knowledge and skills which is called “Process Leadership” by Jago, 1982. Jago added that we have traits that can influence our actions which he termed as “Trait Leadership”. When we are task to lead people, we will be confronted on how to strategize them to follow what we have initially planned, in order to achieve our goal. In this case, we choose the leadership by example because study shows this is what the great leaders demonstrated in achieving their objectives.

As Mahatma Gandhi once said “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” It is not from another person that we rely for an answer to our problem, it should come from us. No matter our position or role maybe we can take the initiative and make the decision to show the way for others. I would like to cite a simple case in a family. The father, usually the breadwinner, who will take care of the basic needs of the family, that is, food, shelter and clothing. If the father remiss his duty-bound responsibilities because of his irresponsible attitude and unsound decisions, he will not gain support worse respect from his children and spouse.

The father should be a role model to his children by leading by example. By showing that you care for their well-being and have an open communication, these two traits alone will work effectively in the family. How do we correlate this in an organization or a big corporation? In a setting where a leader plays a vital role to accomplish an organization’s objectives, he/she should have the traits, skills and knowledge necessary to perform his/her assigned task effectively. A classic example of a person balancing family and corporate affairs effectively is psychologist Lily Kelly-Radford, a vice-president of the prominent nonprofit Center for Creative Leadership (CCL).

As quoted by Deborah Smith Bailey, Kelly-Radford says “if you’re good at what you do, take self-care measures and get creative about integrating your work and family life, you can be a successful leader and fulfill personal obligations” (Monitor Staff). She had an extensive experience in teaching and private consulting prior