What Makes a Good Leader - Coursework Example

Leadership Table of Contents Leadership Table of Contents 2 What Makes A Good Leader? 3 Theories of Leadership 5 Great Man Theory of Leadership 5 Trait Theory of Leadership 5 Steve Jobs’ Leadership Personality Traits 6 Transformational Leadership 8 Transformational Leadership of Steve Jobs 9 References 10 Bibliography 12 What Makes A Good Leader? A good leader is vital for any organisation. In order to be a good leader there are certain traits which are described below: Communication Communication is one of the most significant characteristics of good leadership. Whether it is a small organisation or large business, good communication is crucial for success. Communication skill does not subsist by default; it must be developed for a good leader. It is the objective of a leader to get an important information evidently and explicit the information to the other people. Good communication requires attempt from both the sender as well as the receiver. If workers do not know about the thinking of their superiors the leadership will not be effective. Motivation Motivation is another crucial aspect of a good leader because a motivated worker displays more enthusiasm to work along with superior performance and excellence. A motivated worker is more involved with the task (Mayer, 2008). Ideal Character A good leader must possess ideal character. It is significant that a leader is reliable for leading the employees to the right path. True leadership ability comes from esteem for the good personality and honesty of the individual who leads others (White, 2011). Passion A good leader is passionate about the task and the part as a leader. People can only react frankly to an individual who has passion and enthusiasm. It is an essential characteristic of good leaders as they are regarded to be the basis of encouragement and be motivators toward the necessary achievement or cause (White, 2011). Confidence A good leader is always positive about his work and his position as a leader. In order to guide and set course, confidence is vital for a good leader. A confident person can motivate other subordinates and draws out the faith and greatest efforts from the team to perform any job well. A leader who successfully expresses confidence towards the planned objectives inspires the team members to put absolute effort for completing a task (White, 2011). Logical A good leader always thinks logically by keeping the main organisational objectives in mind. He/she views a condition as a whole, but also is competent to split it down into sub-elements for faster assessment. Leader divides the controllable measures and steps forward towards the organisational goals (White, 2011). Excellence A good leader is committed to excellence. He /she not only uphold high standards, but also are positive in elevating the bar for accomplishing excellence in every field. A leader requires acting in a logical and focused way in situations of ambiguity. Subordinates always search for guidance of leader throughout the period of doubt and unfamiliarity and find encouragement and safety when the leader shows confidence and positive behaviour. He/she is tolerant of any uncertainty and stays calm, self-possessed and unwavering to the key purposes (White, 2011). Theories of Leadership Great Man Theory of Leadership Great man theory states that great leaders are natural, and are not developed. Certain people were intended to become good leaders as deity gave them certain unique aptitudes of a divine characteristic. They became great leaders by certain divine intention. There are certain prosperous entrepreneurs and industrialists who had combined huge prosperities and they did not get any official supervision training. However, still they had successfully managed to attain great achievements in their endeavours. The success of a leader is governed by a person’s magnetism, behaviour, character, understanding and luck but not on the education, ancestry and commercial environment. Several highly successful and inexperienced leaders tend to claim their own intrinsic and in born aptitudes and talents, and they do not waver to deduct the knowledge of management education and the capability of contemporary proficient managers to become successful (Tulsian & Pandey, 2002). Trait Theory of Leadership Trait theory is developed on the basis of Great Man theory. Trait theory says that there are certain mental and emotional individualities that explain for leadership success. The leadership excellence may be innate or they can be learned by proper teaching and exercise. According to this theory, good leaders are not always natural, they can be developed. There are extensive list of traits which a good leader possess. According to the observation made by Edwin Gheselli, there are six traits which are vital for a good leader: 1. Achievement Need: These leaders search for accountability and thus perform hard for achievement. 2. Intelligence: A leader is able to make a good decision, have good intellectual power and intelligent ability. 3. Decisiveness: A leader is able to make hard judgment without any hesitancy. 4. Self–confidence: Good leader possess a confident self–image as a talented and operative individual. 5. Creativity: Leaders are creative and they always try to get task done with least or no supervision. 6. Supervisory Ability: Leaders have good management competency and they get task done successfully by other subordinates (Manning & Curtis, 2002). Steve Jobs’ Leadership Personality Traits Steve Jobs has unique leadership traits. His personality boasts of a range of traits such as ruthless, devious, charismatic and absolutely unwavering. He often disagreed with organisation’s other managers since the beginning. However, Steve Jobs is enthusiastic for creating innovative products. Steve Jobs has perfection and impatience traits in him. The charismatic and eccentricity leadership traits had caused several internal problems in the organisation. He is renowned as a leader whose intelligence and uncompromising ideas has changed the computer world. By his leadership traits, Steve Jobs has fascinated other talented persons towards him. However, he is being criticised that his leadership style is inclined towards showing bad temper and criticising and embarrassing employees who differed from his thoughts. Steve Jobs has a tradition of making decision and unexpectedly changing it which makes it at times hard to work with him. Steve Jobs has salesman eagerness for a product, an evangelist’s passion. He always sought to be perceived as calm hardware entrepreneur. Loyalty is another personality trait of Steve Jobs. He always lives in willpower and courage. Through his astonishing luck, anticipation, creativity and hard work, Steve Jobs has successfully evolved as a unique leader in the digital technology (Young & Simon, 2005). The core personality traits that are found in Steve Jobs’ leadership are: Innovation Charisma High Enthusiasm Passion for making his business successful Trust in success Perfectionism Capability to express his thoughts to the subordinates for their awareness Converting self–interests into corporate interests for the benefit of himself and the team Transformational Leadership Transformational leadership is vital for any organisation. As the global challenges increase, there is requirement for leaders who can positively craft and contrivance bold approaches that can transform or bring into line the organisation’s strengths and faults with evolving opportunities and difficulties. Increased precariousness and ambiguity in the external business environment is viewed as one of the contributing issues to the development of transformational leadership. It is a procedure of positive inspiration that changes and transforms employees, companies’ cultures and societies. Transformational leadership is completely connected with individual group and managerial performance (Covey, 2007). In the individual level, transformational leader inspires their subordinates to make the alteration from emphasis on self–interest to cooperative interest. This type of leader knows the significance of trust building as a cause for developing a strong responsibility to task driven results. By their personality the transformational leader controls to stimulate and encourage followers to believe and follow their pattern. They can successfully generate enthusiasm and dynamism by concentrating on the future. In the organisational level, transformational leadership can modify both organisation’s environments and principles. It has durable and major effect on the organisational culture (Lussier & Achua, 2009). Transformational Leadership of Steve Jobs Steve Jobs can also be a regarded as a transformational leader; he is capable to influence his subordinates and induce them do tasks which they have not performed previously. However, certain acts are vital for understanding Steve Jobs’ ideas and plans. He is seen as an individualist which is essential part of a successful transformational leader. This characteristic often seems to be an assertive force for motivating towards success in business. Steve Jobs is egocentric towards himself and his employees in making them accomplish what appeared to be unattainable before. This personality trait has made Steve Jobs a successful entrepreneur. Despite the individualist characteristics, Steve Jobs has also able to develop a successful team of employees that can introduce new products for fulfilling the customers’ preferences and demands. Steve Job is very customer centric which has helped to make his products successful. He understands that a successful business is the outcome of great product and it can be achieved by great team. Innovation is very important in leadership and innovation is not possible without team effort. The success of Steve Jobs’ team has partially occurred because of his egoism and high principles. However, his transformational leadership has accepted the fact that a small team of talented employees is more valuable and creative than the troops of less talented employees. As a good leader, Steve Jobs is competent to pool his great ideas with customer requirements, ideas and abilities of handling his team (PromptPapers, 2011). References Covey, S., 2007. The Transformational Leadership Report. Developing Tomorrow’s Transformational Leaders Today. [Online] Available at: http://www.transformationalleadership.net/products/TransformationalLeadershipReport.pdf [Accessed August 04, 2011]. Lussier, R. N. & Achua, C. F., 2009. Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development. Cengage Learning. Mayer, T., 2008. What Makes A Good Leader & How Might The Performance Of Leaders Be Measured. GRIN Verlag. Manning, G. & Curtis, K., 2002. The Art of Leadership. McGraw-Hill International. PromptPapers, 2011. Jobs Transformational Leadership. Leadership: Steve Jobs. [Online] Available at: http://www.promptpapers.com/02.pdf [Accessed August 04, 2011]. Tulsian, P. C. & Pandey, V., 2002. Business Organization and Management. Pearson Education India. White, B., 2011. Seven Personal Characteristics of A Good Leader. Synergetic Resources. [Online] Available at: http://www.synergeticresources.com/documents/Leadership/sevenpersonalcharacteristicsofagoodleader.pdf [Accessed August 04, 2011]. Young, J. S., & Simon, W. L., 2005. iCon Steve Jobs. The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business. [Online] Available at: http://www.economist.com/media/globalexecutive/icon_steve_jobs_e.pdf [Accessed August 04, 2011]. Bibliography Blagg, D. & Young, S., 2001. What Makes A Good Leader. Harvard Business School. [Online] Available at: http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/2001/february/leader.html [Accessed August 04, 2011]. Lussier, R. N., 2008. Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development. Cengage Learning. Read More