Five Characteristics of a Future Leader - Essay Example

Running Head: WEEK 6 Week 6 Discussion Questions Week 6 Discussion Questions DQ1- What five characteristics will be necessary for a future leader to be successful? By definition, Leadership is influencing others to follow you in relation to a common objective. While in the past the egotistic boss was a common figure, today a true leader needs to bring out the best in their staff and to help those people find a greater meaning in the everyday duties. This requires the first characteristic, that of Transformational leadership. In order to implement this one must lead by example in order to inspire others. There must also be complete transparency and honesty with all team members as well as incorporating self-actualization and personal growth into all aspects of team building and leadership. The next is Team / Shared leadership. It is important top put others first and value the input of those around you. You must constantly seek their input and let them know that you value their contributions. As Bandura points out, “...belief in their capabilities to master activities affects their aspirations, their level of interest in activities, and their accomplishments” (1994. p.130). A leader must also be Ethical and Honest, to be as upfront and straight forward as possible while acting in a professional manner. This is one of the most critical areas where one must lead by example. The next characteristic is Visionary Leadership. This often requires a leap out of the leader and perhaps the team’s comfort zone. In order to progress and grow, I this dynamic ever-changing environment, change is a necessity. But change, good or bad, is always difficult to implement This requires someone with vision that can also share that vision with others as well as the passion to complete it. This leads to the final characteristic of Influencer. Being able not only to share facts and communicate directive, but charging the task with emotional content is perhaps the most important aspect of a leader for the future. Gone are the days of work being its own reward, staff today need to feel empowered and part of the process both intellectually and emotionally. As Goldberg states, "Process your learning continually. Be open to amazement" (2001, p. 58). Keeping an open mind and continually learning and developing are both the secrets to not only good teaching and leaderships, but to a great life as well. DQ2- Why are some of the characteristics of leader in the future different from those of leaders today? In the past, a paradigm shift occurred when the industrial revolution created thousands of jobs and new technologies evolved for mass production. Then another shift occurred when the economy moved from produced goods to services and this is the present day situation. So now the future leader needs to manage not only service, but information as well. Performance in the first phase, production of goods, was measured by the amount of volume and precise work that a worker could perform, a stopwatch and quality control could measure these mechanical tasks. Then a leader just need to push production to the limit and be assured that employees would either sink or swim. Henry Ford stated that: A man may, by his industry, deserve advancement, but it cannot be possibly given him unless he also has a certain element of leadership. This is not a dream world we are living in. I think that every man in the shaking-down process of our factory eventually lands about where he belongs. (Ford…) Going forward, a leader cannot possible know everything about every task or event performed by their staff, but must now manage the intelligence and experience of that staff to its fullest potential. Therefore, leaders must shift from a threatening and hostile work ethic to one that creates an environment that helps to empower those staff to succeed not only for the company but also for themselves. The emphasis going into the future will be the leader’s ability to control human skills and intelligence, of forging strong relationships and crating an environment of trust. Also, unlike earlier periods when the employees had to compete against each other to get employment from the best company, now the employers are competing against each other for attracting and retaining the best employees. DQ3- What are some characteristics that leaders will always need, both today and in the future? Why are they important to maintain? A leader’s role, now and in the future, must be more of a facilitator that involves him or her in the function of teamwork. There is an increasing tendency for leaders to promote the idea of team spirit among the staff as well as within the management. This increases camaraderie overall as well as promotes better productivity and improves management of employee relationships. Thus supervisors are required to lead their team by being a part of the team. Leader’s also must act as the liaison between their staff and upper management. A leader must also be able to use process interventions where the facilitator encourages the group to stay on track with the agenda, discouraging criticism during brainstorming, and eliciting equal participation from all group members. Content facilitation is another method that involves interventions that relate directly to the problem being discussed. For example, a facilitator might supply an insight, opinion, or interpretation of facts or events in the case. “Charismatic” leaders who want to perform or be the main player are often their own worst enemies. The challenge is to influence the group but not to dominate. One has to suppress their own ideas and encourage others to talk. Also, instead of focusing on the subject matter of the meeting, pay attention to the process level, which sits below the content and relates to how people feel about taking part. This is the key to unlocking the groups potential because it is where you get the politics and the interaction between group members. Sometimes this requires getting one’s ego out of the way. Ego works for leaders who have to use energy to work the team the way they want it to go, but facilitators need to remove their own viewpoint as much as possible so that everyone on the team can participate equally. A system of values laid out in a team charter will also assist with facilitation. "Transcend individual conflicts. Values provide a language and way of understanding individual differences. They also help open the door for nonjudgmental acceptance of different ways of doing things" (Jaffe and Scott, 1998, p. 27). A facilitator is also a negotiator and interpersonal persuasion is the key to it all. For instance, a worker who shows up late and is reprimanded by his or her boss may think that her supervisor is just being unreasonable, while the leader certainly thinks the opposite. Unless the leader can accept that he is not communicating well and change the situation to a positive communication outcome, someone will probably be loosing a job, the employee for coming in late or the supervisor for not correcting the situation. References Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 71–81). New York : Academic Press. Ford, Henry (1922/2005). My Life and Work. Project Guttenberg: Literary Archive Foundation. Retrieved on August 11, 2010 from http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7213 Goldberg, R. A. (2001). Implementing a professional development system through appreciative inquiry. Leadership & Organization Development Journal , 22 (2), p. 56–61. Jaffe, D. T. and Scott, C. D. (1998). “How to link personal values with team values.” Training and Development; 52(3), p24-31 Read More