Qualities for Effective Leadership - Example

Leadership and motivation Name Foundation Course – Tutor: School Department Date Good leadership is vital for every organization, but to come up with what is needed is the challenge which is faced by many organizations. Organization with good leadership achieved their goals in a simple way, and the relationship between the employer and employees is maintained hence resulting in a smooth flow of a business as well the success of the organization. Effective leadership is what is needed by many but how to get an effective leader remains the dilemma in any given organization. This paper seeks to look at the definition of an effective leader, who is an effective leader, why they are effective as well as skills of the effective leader. We can simply say that leadership is all around us, but it is hand to tell how a good leader appears? On the other side, it is also not possible to tell who is a good leader by looking at someone and the question on whether there are certain characteristics that every good leader should have emerges. Leadership has diverse definition in which all of them try to come up with the same meaning, and give the real idea of what is meant by good leadership. Leadership has several definitions, but one can simply define it as a process by which one can influence others to achieve a purpose and articulate the organization in a way that makes it more consistent and articulate. In other words, one can also define leadership as a process whereby personality manipulates a group of persons to achieve a general goal (Collins & James .2001). As the saying goes, good leaders are made and not born, but what challenges most is how to get an effective leader. The perception of power and leadership has been and will persist to be interconnected. While an individual may expect power without being a leader, a person cannot be a leader devoid of having powers. This shows the importance of using powers in order to be an efficient leader. In many cases, an organizational leader must exert powers to achieve individual, team, and organizational goals. An effective leader must be able to convince their followers to achieve greater performance; effective leaders must have superiors and peers to make important decisions, and stakeholders to ensure the vitality of the organization. Though effective leaders may seem to have simple qualities, an effective leader has much more than simply giving assignments and practice. In this case, effective leaders require time and a lot of hard work. In case one is not one of those “born” leaders, one should be prepared for a serious commitment to honing ones leadership skills since this is what is expected to come from an effective leader. According to Mihaly (2003), an effective leader excels in some areas while they should also understand their limitations. By knowing ones weaknesses and strengths, it helps one to hand over responsibilities accordingly, hire people who harmonize you and note the areas that you need to adjust on in order to become a good leader. Effective leaders have are unique, and they have qualities like the ability to determine personal strength and weaknesses, knowing the traits the group values in a leader, learn how people perceive in them as well develop a vision and solid goals. When it comes to asses of personal strength and weaknesses, effective leaders excel well in some areas as well they do understand their limitations which helps them delegate responsibilities hence share the qualities with others to make good leaders. The other perspective is learning how people perceive them. Effect leaders are known to have a scrupulous understanding of how they are perceived. In this case, while one has this quality, the knowledge makes them better and able to communicate with employees and understand what qualities one needs to work on to manage more effectively. This helps leaders learn how to fit in the environment that they are working and to create a good relationship with those they are working with. For instance, if a leader used to be a bit too harsh, one can work on the toe of voice and use more praise (Davis, 2006). Since t is difficult to know how employees perceives the leader, one should try to observe them closely or ask then in a non- threatening way and with this, one can be able to know where he suits best and change incase some adjustment are needed. Knowing the traits the group values in a leader is another quality of an effective leader. It is believed that there is no one-size-fits all leaders, and for one to become an effective leader for a given group, one needs to understand the qualities that are valued by the group. For instance, creativity, organization and trust are known to be the vital qualities that are valued most by any given group. One should hone whatever quality they value since ding this as a leader, one motivates others and inspire them to work smatter and harder. The most vital quality of an effective leader is developing a vision and solid goals for a given organization or group. For a given group to achieve what they need in least demanding way members of the group need to be conscious of what they are functioning towards. In this case, the work of an effective leader is work collaborate with employees to set measurable goals with achievable milestones along the way. Leaders should make sure that their team members know their visions fro the group as a whole as well fro them as individuals. One may assume that they are effective leaders, and the question on why effective leaders are meant to be effective is due to the efforts they have in leadership. The reason why effective leaders are referred to as effective is due to their ability to lead themselves. In most cases, the most vital and hard person to lead will always be yourself. It is feature of management that will require the largest part of discipline obligations as well as determination. However, this is known to be the aspect that reaps the greatest rewards. The most known effective methods of effective leadership is to lead by examples. Everything to be effective in an organization, it must start from the top. As a leader, the tempos that one sets will generally ser the tone for how members within the organization interact with each other as well as how they interact while outside the organization. This is mainly viewed as a double-edge sword since it can give a leader a great pressure over creating a positive mentality within the organization. Effective leaders have unique qualities which makes them differ from other leaders, hence the reason to be called effective leaders. Different from other leaders, they are able to cast their vision, set goals for their organizations, be leaders fro themselves, have a good relationship with employees which makes them able to achieve the goals of their organizations. Strong leaders are said to have the ability to understand the pulse of their employees. However, the secrete behind been an effective leader is by having skills which guide them. T here are several skills which leaders possess for them to be capable of doing their jobs efficiently. Some of the skills include mastering of one own time. In this case, effective leaders are in a position to manage their time well (Roger 1994). They have the capability of knowing how to prioritize the list of activities and any pending tasks as well they differentiate between urgent and important hence know how to fix them. They manage employee’s professional growth: In this case, effective leaders are known to always chart out a personal development plan (PDP) along with his/her employee. Effective leaders should identify the training the employee needs to go through having in mind his personal development plan as this always encourage the employees as they feel valued. Facilitating brainstorming to generate ideas: As an effective leader, one will always encourage people to get in a room, and brainstorm on ideas to solve a particular problem. It is advisable to use discussions since they are healthy and they have solutions which are mutually agreed upon. Giving employees time to speak. Effective leaders should be good listeners and therefore they should have an open hour with their employees where they should let them speak their heart out. With this, one is always shocked to know the number of ideas they have. As an effective leader, one should have in mind and believe in the hymn “silence is Golden”. By doing this, it will help to come up with many ideas which are useful in administrating an organization. Creating talent pool In this case, smart leaders are known to be ready for any shortage in staff. In case this happens, they will always have their talent pool ready in case of any crisis situation. On the other hand, they also ensure that every employee has trainable back-up incase of anything the organization will not be affected in anyway since they are always ready for anything. Being courageous For one to be successful more so in any given organization, one should have the aspect of being courageous, since a time one is faced with difficulties in making a decision but while one is courageous he/ she will be in a position to take a courageous decision when required. Being competent The art of blasting ones horn without blowing it is viewed as a delicate balance of demonstrating ones expertise by intriguing credit in a way that people become aware of their success. One of the safest ways to do it is by celebrating and bringing attention to team achievement. Good leaders praises people whenever they do good work Shaking hand is also another motivating aspect as this shows employees that you are happy about their contribution and their success, hence this prove out competence as a leader. Being visionary The most fundamental skill of an effective leader is planning on the future. What is lying ahead in the future is a topic of attraction and has sage appeal. This is a peculiarity of absolute confidence and should be handled with a lot of care. Effective leaders should have specific goals with possible outcomes as well as benefits, without making empty promises. Effective leaders are believed to know their goals and they check if performance and goals are in proportion. In conclusion, everyone can become a leader but having an effective leader is what is seen as a challenge to many. Effective leaders has their skills and they are leaders of themselves in this case, leaders to have the same skills and qualities, handle their employees in an appropriate manner hence by doing this, they will have a good relationship with each other hence the goals of organizations will be meet. References Collins, James C. ( 2001). Good to great: why some companies make the leap--and others don't. New York, NY: HarperBusiness,. Print. Davis, E. E..( 2006) Qualities for effective leadership: school leaders speak. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Education,. Print. Hesselbein, Frances, Marshall ,Goldsmith, and Richard Beckhard (1996). The leader of the future: new visions, strategies, and practices for the next era. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,. Print. Schwarz, Roger M.( 1994)The skilled facilitator: practical wisdom for developing effective groups. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers,. Print. Read More