Managers in a Leadership Position with Organizational Vision - Essay Example

?A Leader’s guidebook “The 7 Essential Qualities of leadership” Ted Ward defines leadership as a serving relationship that has the effect of facilitating human development (cited Wiersbe, p.53). Every individual is talented and unique. Most of the times this extraordinary and unique talent gets unnoticed as people fail to identify these and appreciate the uniqueness. To nurture the talent everyone needs a push, which a leader can do. When managing a group, it is imperative for the leader identify potential leaders that can take on future leadership roles. To lead, individuals must possess certain vital qualities that will help in being effective leader. This guidebook presents seven such vital qualities of leadership and the key elements that would nurture these vital qualities. The 7 essential qualities of leadership 1. Character : Built upon honesty, integrity and humility Leadership begins with inherent character. Character is that of righteousness, kindness, humility and attitude. These result in values that the individual deeply believes in and are uncompromising. It is believed that values are inherent and are related to ancestral origin. However, this myth can be disproved if the leader embodies honesty, integrity and humility. Any individual, whether or not in a leadership position, can adopt these attributes. Honesty breeds respect from fellow men and even rivals. Abraham Lincoln is a true example of this who earned the respect of his countrymen and even rivals (Phillips, 2009). Integrity is in doing the right thing and in the right way. Followers tend to emulate their leaders, and so it is the leaders’ responsibility to show the right path. Whatever path the leaders show tends get carved that is used even in future. Hence, integrity in actions and thoughts facilitates carving the right path for future generations. Great leaders like Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela etc are epitomes of integrity. Leaders are not leaders without followers, and humility attracts people. Leaders need to be humble in order to understand people’s needs as well as emotions. Arrogance, aggressiveness, ego and selfish desires tend to weaken person’s character; hence, these should never be adorned by people in leadership positions. 2. Earn trust and confidence: Requires integrity. Stephen Covey asserts, ‘Rhetoric and good intentions aside, if there is little or no trust, there is no foundation for permanent success’ (1992, p.17). Leaders need the trust and confidence of their followers in order to lead. To earn their followers’ trust, leaders need to be open and fair. Leaders’ conviction will also earn followers’ confidence. Trust and confidence are more important when leaders adopt a participative approach (Northouse, 2009). Participative leadership is the best when leaders seek innovation and commitment from their followers1. Northouse states, ‘Leaders with integrity inspire confidence in others because they can be trusted to do what they say they are going to do’ (2009; 21). In turn, it is also equally important for the leader to trust his/her followers and their abilities which in turn improves the followers’ trust in their leader. 3. Passion and hard work: Cultivate energy, knowledge and creativity. Leaders should be passionate about their role and work hard that would in turn creates energy and enthusiasm; improve their own as well as followers’ knowledge and skills. Passion takes leaders to far extent to achieve their goals and makes them very determined. Through this, leaders set an example of winning attitude (Monastero, 2011). Leaders’ actions infuse energy and enthusiasm in their followers. Leaders should never quit or lose interest if they fail in any situation. Lincoln is best known for a leader that bounced back every time he failed to achieve his objective. Leaders never compromised on people or their purpose, but on the hurdles that impede their action. To lead a team, leaders must possess necessary knowledge and skills without which they will not be able to gain the confidence of their followers. Moreover, leaders should be open to learning new things every time, which will also instill learning culture in their followers. A continuous look out for innovation helps leaders to try new approaches to work and management. Leaders are more successful when they adopt a path that is new and authentic. For example, most of the successful business icons have been innovative thinkers. Innovation helps in inspiring the team members to try new approaches and breeds new learning. 4. Affiliation towards organization: Follow a Vision True leaders are the ones with a vision. In an organizational context, managers in leadership position are required to align their objectives with organizational vision; yet, these leaders can have their own vision. Leaders with a vision know what they want, which makes it simpler to lead others towards their vision. However, leaders should be able to articulate organizational and their vision in the right manner to bring others to follow their vision. Visionary leaders should also possess coaching, mentoring, communicating, and persuading skills that will earn followers to their vision2 (Harkavy & Halliday, 2007). Leader’s vision can promote followers’ affiliation towards leader and also organization only if the leader is able to translate his/her or organization’s vision to a shared vision that benefits even the followers. 5. Interpersonal relationships: A healthy and positive atmosphere Strong relationships with followers and other associated fellowmen are the most essential element of leadership at every level. To establish such relationships, effective communication, humour, persuasion, empathy and trust are essential qualities leaders must develop. Good communication skills include writing, conversational and listening skills. All great leaders that the world knows today have been great speakers that attracted huge masses on the basis of their powerful speeches. Leaders also required good persuasion skills to convince people on a personal level. Leaders that try to gain follower acceptance by authority or power tend to remain temporary leaders; to gain acceptance permanently or to leave a long term impact, leaders must master the art of persuasion and influencing others. A sense of humour has significant place in effective leadership as it helps in managing conflicts from blowing up; it helps in clarifying work tasks; helps in motivating and changing behaviours; helps in coping with stress and in creating a lively atmosphere (Martin, 2007; p.367). Empathy helps leaders to understand their followers’ emotions and intentions and helps in avoiding any undesired reaction like dismissal, aggression, excitement etc. Extreme reactions from the leaders will convey contrasting meaning, which could affect followers’ motivation and morale. Possessing all qualities required for establishing personal relationship will not help unless the leader earns followers’ trust; and trust is an aspect of leaders’ integrity and honesty. Thus personal relationships and character are interrelated. 6. Team working: Motivate others and build teams Besides earning followers, leader should be able to foster team work. As Henry Ford puts it, ‘coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success,’ (cited. Maginn 2003, p.4). For this, the leader should be a good team player and should believe in followers’ abilities. Leader should constantly recognize every team members’ contribution and appreciate their efforts. The leader can express confidence in team members’ abilities by delegating critical tasks to the able ones. Moreover, leaders should also provide constructive feedback that fosters improvement and instills confidence through the support given. Situations when the leader has to provide support, delegate work, provide feedback etc can be well understood from Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory3. 7. Embrace change: Preparedness and foresightedness Organizations are exposed to constantly changing market demands and leaders play a vital role in sustaining the organization’s position by making employees realize and adapt to the changes. For this, some leaders promote change and few adapt to the change. To embrace change and yet sustain performance, leaders need to think and promote creativity (Puccio, Mance & Murdock, 2010). Secondly, leaders should have a strong foresight to envisage multiple aspects of work, business and people; this foresight helps in planning and being prepared for any potential challenges. Practicing foresight helps leaders to avoid impulsive reactions and helps in proactive planning for future (Wis, 2007). In conclusion, a leader has the potential to lead people to places and points where they would not dare to go by themselves. For this, leaders must possess certain essential qualities, as elaborated in this guide. For leaders to be effective, they have to make others realize their potential and give them their due credibility. Leaders have to make others accept and follow a common vision. Leaders have to demonstrate honesty and integrity through actions and frankness in their speech. Leaders have to gain others confidence by being open, empathetic, and taking action. Leaders have to promote and facilitate team working without which they will continue to struggle towards achievement of a personal ambition with little or no success. Leaders have to attract followers through honesty, humility, persuasion and humour. Leaders have to be open to change and develop the ability to foresee potential issues and plan for the future. References Covey, S. 1992. Principle-centered leadership. New York: Fireside. Harkavy, D and Halliday, S. 2007. Becoming a coaching leader: the proven strategy for building a team of champions. California: Thomas Nelson Inc. Maginn, M.D. 2003. Making teams work: 24 lessons for working together successfully. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional Martin, R.A. 2007. The psychology of humor: an integrative approach. California: Academic Press. Monastero, S. 2011. Winning at Leadership: How to become an effective leader. Indiana: iUniverse. Northouse, P.G. 2009. Leadership: Theory and Practice. London: SAGE. Phillips, D. 2009. Lincoln on leadership. Illinois: Companion Books. Puccio, G, Mance, M and Murdoc,M.C. 2010. Creative Leadership: Skills that drive change. 2ND ed. California: SAGE. Wiersbe, W.W. 2007. On being a servant of God. Missouri: Baker Books. Wis, R.M. 2007. The conductor as leader: Principles of leadership applied to life on the podium. Chicago: GIA Publications. Read More