Leadership Behavioral Attributes - Essay Example

Leadership Behavioral Attributes Leadership Behavioral Attributes Change champions are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that they bring change in their different areas. This can be achieved by their being involved in helping various teams in the implementation of a variety of new organizational systems that have been carefully designed to ensure that the organization is able to achieve relatively very high output levels. Change champions are expected to eventually enable those around them in an organization, to be able to find better perspectives in their work and live, as well as in greatly increasing their individual productivity levels.

To achieve these objectives, change champions should have a number of key personal traits, these include:Empathy: Change agents should have a highly empathic personality trait as this traits serves to aid them in better understanding the feelings of the individuals that they interact with. Empathy in turn results in improved understanding and communication between the change champion and these organizational members.Patience and Persistence: According to Lunenburg (2010), it is important to note that complete change processes do not often tend to occur overnight.

Change champions should cultivate the trait of being highly patient and persistent. If change champions fail to have this important trait, they will tend to get frustrated at the change not taking place fast enough which might result in a reduction of their leadership capacities.Knowledgeable: Change champions should be highly knowledgeable and have the desirable attribute of often leading by example. For leaders to be able to create some change, it is important that they not only be able to clearly articulate exactly what the change will look like, but also be able to lead by example and demonstrate exactly how they wish for this change to be like.

Change champions should ensure that they do not lose touch with the important actually that might be happening on the ground so as for them to be in a position to better influence change in a position that will yield the best possible results (Lunenburg, 2010). The role of being a change champion is widely perceived to be one of the key roles expected of leaders in today’s increasingly competitive global environment. For leaders to become more accomplished in this crucial role, they must ensure that they constantly demonstrate a high degree of confidence in a given vision as well as the necessary passion to see this vision through.

These leaders need to actively practice inclusive leadership through which they demonstrate a general willingness to actively engage a number of diverse constituent groups. Merely having a vision is usually not enough and it is important that these leaders to ensure that they are keen to clearly articulate the vision in a manner through which it will clearly resonate and effectively mobilize their supporters and followers (Kaufman, 2005). Kaufman (2005) argues that leaders that wish to become more accomplished in their role of change agents should also cultivate good skills in overcoming the numerous cultural obstacles that are inherent in the modern organizational environment.

Long-tenured players in a given environment are often noted to have invested in a set status quo and any attempts to try and change this status quo, can result in the change champion facing resistance from these players. Before undertaking any change process, these leaders should strive to carefully do the necessary homework and attempt to clearly size up potential challenges so as to avoid any possibility of drawing faulty conclusions.Conclusion Change champions are important strategic thinkers that carry a vision that happens to be shared across the entire institution.

Although quite fearless, they are also very pragmatic risk-takers who are able to envision success in whatever it is that they are undertaking. Leaders wishing to become more accomplished change champions can cultivate a number of important traits such as patience and their being highly knowledgeable. By cultivating these traits and improving their basic leadership skills in respect to their ability to resolve cultural conflicts and demonstration of high levels of confidence, leaders can successfully become more accomplished in their roles of change champions.

ReferencesKaufman, B. (2005). The Leader as Change Agent. Retrived on May, 2014 from http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/leader-change-agentLunenburg, F. C. (2010). Managing change: The role of the change agent. International Journal of Management, Business and Administration, 13(1).