Leadership Blogs: Powerful Leadership Moment - Assignment Example

Leadership Blogs Number Blog Powerful Leadership Moment Leadership is very complex and is more thanjust inspiring or coaching. I recall a friend’s moment when she genuinely believed she had a glimpse of true leadership. This was in the middle of her 12-year stint as an employee of a reputable local company. The company was starting an effort to sell a new product which was to be led by one Chris Smith, current CEO of the company. My friend recalls that Chris Smith was 5’11 but when she first encountered him, she would have said he was 6’2 as he portrayed a strong aura and leadership presence. She remembers her fear when she was invited to a meeting in the executive board room. In the meeting she only personally knew one non-VIP attendee, the rest she knew by mere reputation. None of them knew who she was so she was prepared to just sit quietly for the two hours and walk out. Mr. Smith said a few words as the meeting kicked off and then handed the meeting over to the SVP of the enterprise. The meeting tackled issues such as competitive landscape, the current technology and business trends and the company’s product though my friend, Jennifer Reed says she never contributed towards the discussions. She also remembers that Mr. Smith who was at the head table did not utter even a single word but nodded his head as points came up that he liked or disagreed with. This went on for roughly the entire duration of the meeting, and apart from framing the sentences, Mr. Smith, the executive sponsor and the guy who had called this meeting had not offered anything to the meeting. With less than 5 minutes left, he calmly took control of the room, gave an accurate summary of the whole meeting in two minutes, assigned activities and began a bi-weekly meeting to determine how to sell the product. At first, my friend didn’t realize the prudence in Mr. Smith’s methods and thought that perhaps he was very less concerned about the company’s affairs. Later on, as she got to interact more with Mr. Smith and the rest of the staff, Jennifer recalls that she finally appreciated Mr. Smith’s ways which was actually allowing the people participate more in the company’s welfare and feel valued. His tact also proved crucial in eliciting employee participation and creativity in order to collectively tap into the diversity pool of talents at their disposal. Blog 2: Leaders or Followers? I remember my early childhood school years with much nostalgia, warmth and richness. One particular memory that has stayed with me over the years was my principal’s every morning habit of always whistling as he walked down the hallway towards our Math class. Everyone would be up standing as he did this as it was a rather feared experience. In class, the principal, who also dubbed as our Math teacher, would then go around randomly asking multiplication problems. It was a rather fearful experience and one had to be accurate and on their feet as soon as they were selected. Then afterwards, the principal would always pick a few of us and inquire what methodology we had used to arrive at our answers. In time, these experiences served to shape how I would go on to mentor, lead and counsel those who were in need of such assistance/ those who I headed. In my later years, I looked back at my experience in the Math class with the principal and realized that the principal was not only trying to teach how to know the answer but also importantly, how to formulate the answer. That’s why there’s more to the fabled saying, “ You give a man a fish, he will eat for one day, but teach a man how to fish and he will never go hungry.” Teaching someone how to fish, rather than merely giving, is a very important life skill that can enable one handle complex situations in life - a trait every man requires in this day and age. This is far from insinuating that giving is bad. Indeed charitable deeds and acts of generosity are to be lauded and endlessly appreciated, but can be damaging if not properly applied as it can effectively turn a perfectly capable person into a serial beggar and a follower, constantly on the look-out for the next person to beg from. Teaching someone how to go about their businesses as a leadership philosophy, however demanding from all parties concerned, is far more valuable than just spoon feeding them every time they are in need. There always comes a time when they are supposed to stand on their own and take the organization to the next level (for example when the provider is no longer available in one way or the other). This is not achievable and the results would be disastrously calamitous if all their lives they had gotten used to getting things done for them. Blog 3: Leadership Development Leadership is very important to a business organization. Good leadership encourages members of an organization to work towards a common objective. It is this good leadership that creates a favorable work culture and environment. One of the biggest issues in development of leadership skills is whether the person concerned has a clear voice or not. This clear voice can either be literal or figurative. A literally clear voice means that a leader can draw people towards themselves to listen to them with an impressive voice and excellent oratory skills. This is opposed to a soft voice or a leader who people in the organization do not consider important enough to be heard with rapt attention. A clear figurative voice on the other hand means that a leader is clear in his head about what the objectives of the business organization are, how the work will be delegated and how and within what duration the objective will be achieved. If the leader is not clear about all these things, he will never be able to convince other people in the organization about the same. Since no one can ever do anything until and unless they are completely convinced about it, the organization will suffer as a whole (Giuliani & Kurson, 2002). Other issues that have been identified over time that often hinder the development of leadership skills is lack of vision, lack of confidence and absence of organizational capability, lacking a dominating streak (however, it should be dominating in a good way) together with lack of decision making ability which can further injure any progress concerning leadership development (Giuliani & Kurson, 2002). For a business to prosper and achieve to the best of its capability, there has to be a strong leader. The leader needs to have management skills like strategic planning and control. Control aids in ensuring assignments and delegated tasks are completed in the best ways. The right leader initiates actions, motivates employees and boosts/ creates their confidence to higher levels. However, even the best leaders at times lose hope and feel defeated in their struggles and this is where inspirational quotes and sayings come in handy to boost their spirits and cheer them up with wisdom and knowledge. If the company has to pull through difficulties of the moment, the top leadership has to demonstrate resilience and hope. Otherwise, the whole system may crumble like a pack of cards. Leadership means leading by example and never giving up no matter the circumstances. References Giuliani, R. W., & Kurson, K. (2002). Leadership. New York: Hyperion. Read More