Requirements for Effective Leadership - Essay Example

Leadership Name Institution Course Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Requirements for Effective Leadership 3 Honesty and Integrity 4 Courage 4 Communication Skills 4 Humility 5 Team-Building 5 Flexibility 5 Interpersonal Skills 6 Nurthuring Growth 6 Proactivity 7 How I Meet these Leadership Requirements 7 Areas of Leadership Development 9 Conclusion 12 References 14 Introduction Leaders are considered enablers of organizational success. They inspire good performance in employees and drive an organization towards achieving goals. The fundamental responsibility of a leader is to create an environment characterized by high performing employees. According to Coleman and MacNocol (2015), without the contribution from a leader, an organization is bound to fail. Effective leadership is, therefore, part of a successful business venture. Not every manager is a good leader. Good leadership stems from possessing a combination of qualities that can drive an organization to productivity (Schyns and Meindl, 2005). Leadership is termed as the establishment of vision that can be followed by subordinates and communicating these vision to boost competitive advantage. Organizational performance relies on good leadership (Schyns and Meindl, 2005). Leaders can transform a working environment and change employees mentally by motivating them to work hard towards positive transformation. This essay will describe what I believe to be the requirements for effective leadership. In the essay, I will highlight how I meet these leadership requirements and areas of leadership that I need to develop. I will also highlight the steps I am taking to develop my leadership skills and deal with my leadership challenges. Requirements for Effective Leadership The module has given me a clear notion of the requirements of effective leaders. Although not everyone is born a leader, there are a number of components that make an effective leader. Honesty and Integrity One important component includes honesty and integrity. Effective leaders are able to build a corporate culture based on honesty and integrity (Robinson and Rose, 2004). Lack of these two core values as the fundamental keystone of a firm lead to failure in the long run. Creation of a culture based of these values starts with the leader. Effective leaders are required to be trustworthy and to practice a high level of ethical standards. They are often accountable for their action, admit their mistakes and encourage employees to do likewise (Robinson and Rose, 2004). Courage Another requirement for effective leadership is courage. To be courageous, an individual needs to be confident (Giuliani and Kurson, 2003). Good leaders are considered very confident in the decisions they make which makes them decisive. However, although they are confident and courageous, they are expected to exclude their confident without being arrogant or intimidating. Good leaders are capable of making tough decisions when the situation dictates otherwise (Robinson and Rose, 2004). Being courageous is related to having visionary skills, taking risks and strategic thinking. Communication Skills Also, another important requirement for effective leadership is communication skills. Effective leaders are expected to have good communication skills (Hooper and Potter, 2000). They should be inspirational and persuasive. To inspire the employees, leaders need to communicate clearly to them. Also being persuasive requires the ability to speak and write to audience accurately and effectively. The ability to communicate ideas and give instructions requires a leader to be a good communicator (Hooper and Potter, 2000). Humility A great leader should be brave enough to solve workplace issues and conflict without being aggressive. Although a leader is expected to be strong and take charge, he or she should do with humility instead of giving orders to employees disrespectfully (Kanter, 2006). Humility means having a driving and relentless ambition to serve people and at the same time achieve objectives. Great leaders avoid being arrogant and play a major role in motivating employees and team members (Kellerman, 2008). Team-Building In addition, good leadership should be accompanied by teambuilding. Great leaders are expected to have team building skills. They should first be able to attract and retain employees. Leaders are just like everyone else, they make mistakes possibly anytime (Lennick and Kiel, 2011). What element makes a person a good leader is to admit he or she cannot do it alone. Great leaders need a team to enhance performance and ensure success. They acknowledged the need for a team. Importantly, good leaders are great facilitators and can facilitate healthy discussions (Northhouse, 2013). They trust their subordinates to deliver good job and delegate and offer on-going feedback. Flexibility Good leadership is also characterized by flexibility. Flexibility means the swiftness to adapt to change. Flexible leaders are able to change their plans to match any changes that occur in an organization (Lennick and Kiel, 2011). With such quality, leaders can maintain productivity even during chaotic periods. Flexible leaders embrace change effectively, are ready to work with others and are open to new ideas. They treat uncertainty as a new reality and can succeed even during adverse organizational change (Lennick and Kiel, 2011). Flexibility in leadership yields positive results with regard to effective management of employees. Flexible leaders relate well with every employee regardless of their qualities and personalities. They are also able to adapt to different leadership styles when the need arises. Flexible leaders do not just use one leadership style but keep on changing to adapt to the situation on the table (Lennick and Kiel, 2011). Interpersonal Skills Good leadership can also be characterized by interpersonal skills. The ability to lead is a deciding factor for good leaders. Leaders are in need of additional skills other than just being technical prowess (Goffee and Jones, 2006). Examples of interpersonal skills that leaders should possess include assertiveness, conflict resolution skills, negotiation skills, and decision-making skills. Good leaders have the ability to solve the conflict that may occur in an organization. They can act as mediators in the event of disagreement between employees. In addition, good leaders are assertive. Being assertive enable a leader put ideas across. It entails defending ideas with confidence and being affirmative to what you believe in (Kanter, 2006). When used effectively, it can enable a leader gain respect from others. It is a very important interpersonal skill particularly during conflict situations. Assertiveness ensures that leaders take the position of authority and avoid being servants of the employees (Kanter, 2006). Nurthuring Growth Good leadership also entails nurturing growth. Effective leaders maximize their employee’s chances of success by nurturing their growth. When leaders introduce the culture of nurturing in the organization, the employees are motivated to reciprocate by working hard towards achieving organizational objectives (Adair, 2009). Good leaders are expected to inspire the best from employees by supporting their training and developing and coaching them in a way they can improve their performance. Good leaders also offer clear directions to allow subordinates to organise their work and be productive (Adair, 2009). Proactivity Good leadership is also linked to proactivity. Proactive leaders champion company’s vision and attain objectives with ease. They are able to positively transform the workplace by making decisions and planning ahead (Grint, 2005). They are goal-oriented and advocate for team work. How I Meet these Leadership Requirements With all the above mentioned requirements, an individual can be an effective leader. In different ways, I believe I meet these good leadership requirements and I can be an effective leader. To start with, I am a good communicator and possess interpersonal skills required to be a great leader (Adair, 2009). I am able to communicate and relate well with people. Whether it is speaking in a group or presenting a new idea to people, I can concisely communicate without any fear. The ability to communicate to a group has propelled me from being a good leader to a great leader (Ismail et al., 2010). According to Blanchard (2013), communication is in two forms; verbal and non-verbal communication. Being a great leader requires the ability to communicate verbally and non-verbally. As a leader, I have the ability to use powerful body language and add value to the audience (Grint, 2006). And as such, I stand a chance to become a great leader of a start-up. In addition, I am a proactive individual. Having this quality qualifies me to be a great leader. I have the ability to use my power as a leader to influence people and lead by example. Generally, leaders who lead by example with regard to values and ethics inspire the followers and thus lead to success in accomplishing set goals (Goffee and Jones, 2006). This shows how power can be linked to values and ethics. I am accountable for everything I do and can influence people to work towards specific goals and objectives. As a requirement of the module, I was required to role-play as a leader. In the course of the exercise, I learned a lot about leadership requirements. As a leader in the start-up business, I need to be 100% sure of what I am going to do and how I will approach the business, because everything starts from scratch and you cannot just let your workers take control of your business or take over the authority from the leader (Ismail et al., 2010). So, objectives, missions, strategies and values needs to be set out and agreed by the leader before the business proceeds (Carter, Uirich and Goldsmith, 2005). While I as a leader in the business need to make sure that the business is fully under my control, I need to make sure I give enough freedom to my workers to perform and work, thus I need to strike a balance between giving freedom to workers and holding the position of authority. I also learnt that presentation skill is essential to leaders. No matter how well a leader understands his or her business’ model and how much potential the business has, an investor will not be impressed or the pitch presentation may not be as successful as expected if the pitch of the product is not influential (Scoller, 2011). It is therefore important to be well-prepared and have enough rehearsal before doing it. Thankfully, I received meaningful feedbacks from my team on how well or bad I led them. It helped me identify areas I need to improve and change as a leader. The module has given me an opportunity to identify my areas of improvement as a leader and my areas of strengths. Areas of Leadership Development There are several areas that I need to improve in order to meet all the requirements of a good leader. For instance, my leadership style has been too relaxing and not decisive enough. When I take a leadership position, I tend to take the position of a subordinate. I tend to act as a team worker instead of a team leader. From the module, I have learnt that I should not act like a team worker when I am the leader. Courage is important quality of a leader. In order for the subordinates to respect me and listen to my guidance, I am expected to be courageous and take the position of leadership (Knapp et al., 2014). There are so many leadership lessons I have learnt during the module. For instance, I have learnt that effective leaders need to have multiple approaches in order to manage different people (Coleman and MacNocol, 2015). There are a number of leadership styles that can be used by leaders when leading their teams. Examples of these leadership styles include transformational, charismatic, transactional, and visionary leadership styles among others (Ismail et al., 2010). Transactional leaders are vigorous benchmarks and are not interested or influenced by other people opinions. This type of leadership style is exceptional in that, it is in the best interest of employees to do exactly what the leader requires (Ismail et al., 2010). This leadership style is favourable when dealing with troublesome workers. On the other hand, transformational leaders are described as leaders who yield exceptional results and offer follower creativity. They have always been known for developing long-term vision which often positively influences the minds of the people (Ismail et al., 2010). They are able to connect company’s long-term goals to people’s values and put employees fast. Transformational leaders patiently instruct and assign jobs or tasks to employees (Ismail et al., 2010). They give a chance to employees to speak from their perspectives and contribute to decision making (Ismail et al., 2010). What these leaders do is to inspire their followers to contribute more by boosting their confidence and showing their caring (Coleman and MacNocol, 2015). I learned that being a leader means being able to be flexible to use different leadership style. Leadership is a quality that not everyone has. According to trait theory, leaders are born with the qualities that enable them to effectively take leadership roles. Leaders are born with leadership qualities such as intelligence, creativity, risk-taking and sense of responsibility (Robinson and Rose, 2004). Leaders are born with a combination of characteristic that differentiate them from other people. However, behavioural theory argues that leaders can be made. Anyone can become a leader through experiences and training (Carter, Ulrich and Goldsmith, 2005). For my case, I am not born a leader. Being a leader require me to overcome my weaknesses. In order to address my leadership issues and concerns raised by my team leaders, there are many changes that I have to make to ensure I meet the requirements of good leadership. Typically, some people are willing to develop leadership skills by taking on leadership responsibilities (Robinson and Rose, 2004). Likewise, in order for me to become a great leader, I have identified areas I can take responsibility as a leader in order to gain knowledge from my experience. For instance, the opportunity for me to role-play as a leader in the module exercise exposed me to different opportunities. I was able to identify my weaknesses and enhance my leadership strength. My team members gave me constructive criticism that has given me an opportunity to work at improving my leadership capabilities. The starting point for my leadership development plan started with assessing my strengths and development needs. I try to engage myself in self-reflection and receive feedback from my team about my leadership strength. This gives me an opportunity to gain insight from people around me that assist me in enhancing these leadership strengths (Carter, Ulrich and Goldsmith, 2005). According to Robinson and Rose (2004), leaders are expected to not only be smart but to have emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence enable a lead know how to reaction situations and control his or her emotional expressions. In order to be a great leader, I am endeavouring to develop emotional skills in order to be able to control my emotions and make sound decisions (Robinson and Rose, 2004). Also, I have taken the initiative to read a couple of leadership books to gain insight on the leadership requirements. I have read famous books by Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to understand leadership and way of doing things. Exposure to literature materials has enhanced by the willingness to learn and adapt to leadership characteristics. From these books, I have learnt that everyone has his or her uniqueness. It is possible to be an effective leader through leadership developmental plan and willingness to learn (Carter, Ulrich and Goldsmith, 2005). Through different module exercises, I have gained an understanding of the nature of good leadership. Effective leaders have deep human qualities that’s relate to kindness (Robinson and Rose, 2004). The concept of serving is important in leadership. The work of effective leaders is to serve a group of employees and ensure they perform well in accomplishing tasks. This can be done through attentive listening. Throughout the module, I have learnt that integrity is an important quality of a leader. A good leader takes control and is accountable for his actions (Carter, Ulrich and Goldsmith, 2005). He commits to his mistakes and instils the same attitude to the employees. To be an effective leader, I should develop integrity as a skill and work towards building trust with my team. Growth of any start up requires a leader who has self-confidence, takes control of the company and shows integrity (Robinson and Rose, 2004). With such characters and competences, I would be able to drive success in a start-up. To practice everything I have learnt from the module and enhance my leadership skills, I have decided to create a leadership development plan. The plan includes the definition of what makes a good leader with regard to the lessons learnt from the module. Another component of the development plan involves taking a self-assessment. This comprises of tests that breaks personality traits and strength and determine my strengths and weaknesses (Schyns and Meindl, 2005). Another step of leadership development plan involved identifying my core values. Core values are fundamental in leadership decision making. The core values that I possess include collaboration, creativity, self-respect, loyalty, advancement and team-work etc. Another step of the leadership plan is analyzing the reactions from team members about my personality and leadership skills (Robinson and Rose, 2004). This has given me an opportunity to identify my areas of weaknesses and establish my areas of strengths. Under my leadership plan, I have decided to take a short course on leadership qualities and competencies that can prepare me to take a leadership position in the future. In addition, I have also learnt from the course that employees to not automatically give respect to their leaders. Leaders work hard towards earning subordinate’s respect by developing certain qualities important in leadership (Carter, Ulrich and Goldsmith, 2005). Conclusion In conclusion, leadership is an important element of organizational success. Leaders form the backbone of any company and have the ability to drive productivity and performance. However, to do this, leaders need to meet a number of requirements. For instance, leaders should have effective communication skills. They should be able to communicate well with the employees and motivate them towards achieving goals. In addition, Effective leaders are able to build a work environment based on honesty and integrity. Lack of such values may lead to failure of a start-up. Through the different module exercises, I have gain knowledge of good leadership. The module has helped in identifying my leadership strengths and weaknesses. My team members gave me constructive criticism that has given me an opportunity to work on improving my leadership competencies. I have taken a number of measures to overcome leadership weaknesses that I possess. For instance, I read leadership books to gain insight on leadership issues and enhance my leadership strengths. Leadership developmental plan is important in guiding an individual towards successful leadership career. References Adair, J.E 2009a, How to grow leaders: the seven key principles of effective leadership development, London, Kogan Page. 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