The Leadership Views of Lincoln - Term Paper Example

• Abstract

The study is about the leadership views of Lincoln. It is believed that leaders are inborn and cannot be created. As the skills to lead and motivate people to work for fulfilling targets is not easy. Managers and the leaders are little different from one another but the author believes that though the leaders can be created and there is also a relationship between the management and the leadership in an organization. As by performing and developing necessary skills like communicating with others, motivating people, creating friendly environment etc leadership styles can be developed which can benefit not only for the people but also for the organization.

• Introduction

Leadership means the ability of a person to lead and motivate others individuals, teams and sometimes the entire organizations to reach the final goals. Both the practical skill and the analysis skills are required to lead someone. The leadership skills can be inborn but sometimes it depends on the situations, functions, power, and behavior and also on the intelligence of the person to lead and inspire others. Since leaders set directions, inspires vision to create something new in the life of the people or within an organization so leadership is about scaling what to do to win as an organization or team. The focus of the study is why the leadership is important and how Lincoln’s ideas can help to make executive strategies in the present world scenario. It also describes and explains how the different principles of Lincoln on the leadership can be applied in different perspectives.

• Discussion

Lincoln developed different principles which can help a person not only to become a good leader but also to become successful in life. He said that a leader should be very dynamic and have a good personality not only to make the works done by the others but should be able to solve their problems. A leader should be clear about the targets to be fulfilled within a time by accepting new ideas. He said a leader should work along with his or her follower’s in spite of only explaining to them what to do. The leader should move and see how the work is being done. It is also said that the leaders should respect the followers, build strong bonds with them so that they can know their leader well and work nicely for the leader. The leader should be careful and good to help people in their problems and difficulties, should be strong-minded so that he or she can be able to lead his or she the team nicely by guiding them with good directions. He also said a leader should not fight unnecessarily but should respect the feelings and the ideas of the people. They should take decisions without any influence and should have the power to fight for whatever is right. The leaders should possess good qualities not only to lead but to act as a symbol of inspiration for others. Honest and Integrity are the best policies as it helps the people to understand that they are valued. They should be able to handle any criticisms which may sometimes be wrong and should continue to do good works for the people. They should not work in hurry but should take time to understand the situations and then take the necessary steps. A leader should not be scared to communicate in front of the public and has the ability to influence either by story-telling or conversation (Fairhurst, and Connaughton, 2014).

Based on the Lincoln principles of Leadership, the author divided those qualities into four parts. They are People, Character, Communication, and Endeavor. According to him, the leaders are not inborn but they can be created too. He also showed that the qualities can be used in the management perspective as well. In People quality, managers should be people oriented and should respect and listen to their problems attentively so that it can be solved nicely. They should work while inspecting whether the works are being done correctly or not. If not then the manager should guide his or her subordinates so that they can understand that they are working in a safe condition under a good person. The manager should be able to create a good work environment and should be able to lead the team nicely. The manager should build strong and good alliances so that the people can perform their best in the team following the directions. They should listen to listen and may accept the ideas from the subordinates but should work according to his or her will. In Character quality, it is explained that both honesty and integrity are important qualities which should be present in the manager (Philips, 2017). The manager should be impartial and should not differentiate among the employees. They should have the courage to accept criticisms even if the mistakes are not done by them and give their best. They should take decisions with time. In endeavor quality, the managers should have the capacity not only to motivate and inspire but to lead by an example for the subordinates. In communication quality, they should be able to speak nicely and influence them so that the employees feel motivated and work hard to reach their targets.

The study helped to understand that the leaders can not only lead some employees to fulfill his or her goals but they can also become good managers as well. There are many outcomes of the study. One of the outcomes is that leaders can be formed which means that there can be transformational leaders. It is also understood that managers can become good leaders based on the situations they face in the organizations. It is also important that everyone should respect each other; decisions should not be taken in hurry. As decisions are taken quickly and without think can create lots of problems among the people as well as in the teams while performing best for the organizations. Employees should be allowed to allow innovating ideas creatively and perfectly. Expressing new ideas to perform certain works should be allowed (Kotler, 2012). Another lesson is that managers and leaders should be clear about their mission and vision where they want to reach. So, that they can lead and inspire people to learn new things and reach their targets and objectives. People should be respected and behaved nicely irrespective of their works. It is also understood that the leaders should be active in their works and in spite of orders to do the work they should be monitoring how the works are being executed by the people. They should also be able to explain the goals that should give good results. People should be giving good training and employee engagement should be encouraged a lot. The leaders should also be able to create positive working culture (Northouse, 2015). One should also know that communication is an integral part of becoming a good leader and manager as well. As inspiring people for doing something may not work until and unless they understand the objectives and the instructions clearly to reach the set targets for the development of both the organization and the people as well. So it is necessary for a person to speak fluently and nicely while giving a speech or explaining them about anything. He or she should be able to attract the attention of the audiences’ by good speeches. For giving good speeches they use the methods of storytelling or sharing experiences. People should be motivated to learn not only new technologies but also to increase their knowledge to fulfill the given tasks (Booher, 2017). A person should know how to control his or her emotions while working and should not discriminate while giving rewards or appreciations for certain works. It can also be figured out that a leader should be strong and should be generous and kind as well. He or she should give respect to the ideas and suggestions of the employees so that they can know that the leaders are always present with them (Neill, 2011). The leader should have a positive attitude. He or she should be confident and a good commitment not only towards the works but also towards the people and the organization as well.

• Conclusion

Thus, it can be understood that though the leaders and the managers have same qualities still they are different from one another. As the leader focus, only the people and works for the development of the peoples but the manager works and manages the people. So a leader and the manager should be able to motivate and work for the benefit of the people. It is also understood that the development of trust among the people so that they can listen and solve their problems and also work for the benefit of the people. Good leadership helps in the increase of the productivity and development in the growth of the career as well. It also helps to create a good working environment among the employees and increases the trust of the people in one another, in the long run, can work for the benefit of the organization