EMBA 560 Executive position week 1 discussion 1 - Essay Example

Not too long afterward, traditional consensus shifted from the belief of a predestined leader to the idea that there were natural-born leaders – that is, individuals who have the natural traits that are associated with good leaders. The concept of ‘leadership’ shifted at this point, from the view that leaders were great people who defended their people during wartime, to the concept of leaders who competently acted as stewards of their people. Leaders were thought to be virtuous, gifted, and had a charismatic appeal that won over people’s loyalty and adulation.

The problem with the leadership traits theory is that the good leader eventually was though to possess all the possible positive qualities (and none of the negative qualities), which is an impossible proposition (Ledlow & Coppola, 2010). With the coming of scientific management, it became generally accepted that leaders can be trained and developed. This is the skills approach, indicating that people who are trained at leadership skills (technical, human relations, and conceptual) can become good leaders.

Simultaneous with this is the leadership style theory, which categorizes a leader as autocratic, democratic, charismatic, bureaucratic, laissez-faire, and a host of other styles. While leadership skills are the capabilities with which an individual functions in the duties of leadership, leadership styles pertains to how the leader relates to his followers. Insofar as ‘skills’ are viewed as talents, then it may be said that talents help make a leader, although not to the exclusion of other factors.

More recently, leadership has been viewed as falling into two general categories – transactional and transformational. A transactional leader deals with followers on a transaction basis, that is, if the follower does what is expected, he gets a reward. A transformational leader, though, brings lasting change to his followers so that they are motivated to perform according to expectation. References: Bass, B M & Bass, R (2009) The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications, Fourth edition.

New York, NY: Free Press, Simon & Schuster, Inc. Ledlow, G R & Coppola, M N (2010) Leadership for Health Professionals: Theory, Skills and Applications. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc Waite, M R (2008) Fire Service Leadership: Theories and Practices. International Association of Fire Chiefs. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc. 2. In your opinion and experience, what do you believe to be the most important role / duty of an executive. Off the cuff, I (and many others, I would imagine) would feel that the most important role of an executive would be to reach the goal (of the organization) and to maintain the peace.

Ultimately, that is the goal of all leaders, particularly in the matter of attaining the objective. That would be fine in the case of short-term projects, where there is a singular objective, a definite start and end, and a fixed lifespan. In a continuing undertaking, however, the objective is recurring and people in the organization are made to work together over a long – theoretically an infinite – period of time. In this case, leadership takes on a more profound role, that of motivator for his many followers.

From my experience, the best way for a leader to motivate his/her followers is not only to articulate a goal for them, but to provide them with a vision that they can assimilate in their