Leadership: Fifty Great Leaders - Research Paper Example

Leadership: Fifty Great Leaders Introduction Working Thesis Statement: A leader is someone who motivates other and facilitates others’ choices always working towards a desired change. Characteristics of a creative leader are communication, cooperation, dependability, motivation, respect and confidence in common. Communication: Communication is one of the vital aspects for becoming an active leader. Communication can be said to e as the flow of ideas and information from the leader or any person to subordinates or other individuals. It is the vital to be an effective communicator for becoming a good and effective leader (Gill, 148). Communicating in person Making a great first impression: Communication helps the leader to leave a first impression among the followers. During communication the leader must leave a positive impression in the eyes of the listener. Eye contact: The leader must make an eye contact while communicating with anyone. This show the confidence of the leader (Northouse, 417) Body language: The leader must show a positive body language while communication. Body language is also a form of communication which the leader must use while communicating (Gill, 157). Developing “character”: It is vital for the leader to develop a character while communicating. With the use of gestures and effective communication the leader must develop a positive character in the eyes of the listener. Assertiveness: The leader must be forceful in its communication. The words of the leader must be forceful to change the mind of the listener and make him or her follow the path of the leader. Active listening: The leader must also be a good listener. For the purpose of active communication two way transmission of information is vital, so it is vital that the leader must also listen while communicating with others (Northouse, 448). Feedback: Feedback is one of the most vital parts of communication. Leader must require providing and getting feedbacks related to the active communication done. Giving feedback: It is vital for the leader to provide the feedback to the listener about the communication done in order to clear that whatever the leader has understand during the communication is needs to be conveyed. Getting feedback: It is also vital for the leader to get the feedback from the listeners in order to analyze that whatever the leader has communicated has been appropriately understood by the listeners or followers (Kliem, 47). Cooperation: A leader must be cooperative in nature. Without proper cooperation no leader can organize any event or lead any activity. Effective cooperation is the basic requirement for becoming an effective leader. Interaction: For developing cooperation it is vital that the leader must interact in a positive and effective manner. Two way interactions is a must. Interacting with others: The leader must interact with other as it is vital for managers to interact with other in order to get their ideas and cooperate with them and gain cooperation. Employees Management: For the proper management of the employees within any organization it is vital that the leaders must manage the employees in a proper and effective manner, and for achieving this leader must cooperate with the employees related to the issues raised by them (Kliem, 47). Cooperating with employees: Cooperating with the employees is one of the most vital factors for the leader to lead. Effective cooperation leader to proper management of organizational activities and thus aids the leader in attaining the organizational objectives in time (DuBrin, 158). Developing team: For the effective development of the team the leaders must try to be cooperative. The leaders showing effective cooperation’s can help the people in the organization to develop the team within the organization and helps the organization in attaining organization objectives. Dependability: The leader must be the one on whom the followers or subordinates must depend. Dependability is one of the major characteristics of the leader. The leader on whom the follower can depend is effective in managing its followers. Dependency on a leader creates faith and belief among the followers on their leader, the more the followers depend on the leader the more the effective the leader is (Kliem, 87). Responsibility: The basic characteristic of becoming a leader is to develop responsibility for its followers or subordinates. Leader must develop skills related to taking responsibility of its actions and words and also responsibility of its followers. Taking responsibility from others: By taking responsibility the leader generates power. The leader must be responsible for its actions and mistakes and also the shortcomings of his followers. The leader must take responsibility otherwise the leader may not remain a leader for long. Taking responsibility is also one of the vital characteristics of leadership (DuBrin, 168). Strong personality: The leader must also possess strong personality. As no follower would like to be under a leader who lacks courage, confidence and wisdom. The personality of the leader must attract the followers and make them feel like becoming like the leader. Personality is one of the major characteristic of the leader which makes them to lead people. The personality includes different aspects of leader and is the combination of different traits and qualities (Polelle, 288). Knowledge: Knowledge is also one of the most vital characteristic of a effective leader. The leader must be knowledgeable in different aspects of life. He must be knowledgeable in order to show the followers the right path to move on. Knowledge is one of the most vital assets of a leader as this makes him apart from all and stands him out of the crowd. Knowing outcomes: In order to be dependable the leader must also be aware of the outcomes of his actions. The leader must have knowledge and awareness of the actions taken by him or her and the outcomes which will be gained after the actions. Knowing Outcomes helps the leader to be confident and let the followers stay dependent on him. Background: Leader must possess a strong background. For the purpose of becoming a leader the leader must possess a strong background in terms of achievement, education, activities, actions and so on. Strong Background helps the leader to be effective and make the followers to follow him in an efficient manner. Motivation: A leader must be a good motivator. As leaders require qualities to motivate followers and subordinates from time to time in order to keep them enthusiastic related to the activities to be performed. Motivation plays a vital role for keeping the leader to be effective in the eyes of the followers. Motivating employees make them to perform well and take actions as per directed by the leader and attain the desired objectives. Achieving goal: It is vital for the leader to attain the desired goals. For becoming a good leader the leader must focus on attainment of goals in specific time period with the specified use of the resources. Attainment of goal is also vital for the leader to keep the followers motivated and follow him (Polelle, 296). Patience: Looking at the characteristic of any leader it is vital to look at the level of the patience of the candidate. It is one of the foremost quality to become a good leader. The leader must have a good listening power and must have patience to understand every aspect of any issue or problem as this acts as the strengthening tool for any leader. Ambitious: For becoming a good leader one of the most vital characteristics is to be ambitious. Ambitious leader make their followers ambitious and motivate them to grow aggressively. It also helps them to motivate the subordinates and set example in front of the followers. Ambition helps the leader to set goals in front of the followers or subordinates and motivate them to attain it is desired frame of time (Western, 197). Optimistic: A leader must have a positive or optimistic attitude. The leader must not think negatively and show negative attitude in planning anything. Person who shows mostly negative attitude and plans mostly with negative attitude can never become a leader. For becoming an effective leader he must be courageous. The leader must face the problems with courage and try to solve problems instead of blaming and embracing others. A positive attitude is a must for gaining followership. Respect: The leader must respect his followers and subordinates in order create respect for oneself in the eyes of the subordinates or followers. Respect generates effectiveness for the leaders among the followers or subordinates. Respect is one of the basic characteristic which a leader must possess. Respect brings effectiveness in the leaders activities and actions and provides him with authority to guide the followers as per id deed (Western, 236). Ethics: Leaders are responsible for influencing others or followers or subordinates to perform certain actions or behave in some specific manner. Effective leaders influence the behavior of the followers and also bring changes in the follower’s attitude and values so he must perform actions in an ethical manner. Ethical leadership can be said to be as the leadership that involves leading in a manner that gives respect to the dignity and rights of people. As the leaders have social power so they must focus on using the power in a ethical manner and engage in a manner that influence others in a positive manner. Empathy with others: A leader must be empathic and put him in the shoes of others and then think this provides him an idea of the situation of the followers and then decide about the decisions to be taken. For becoming an effective leader putting oneself in others shoes helps them to take effective decisions. Good manners with people: For becoming an effective leader he or she must behave well with the subordinates or followers. Good behavior with adequate manners increases the effectiveness of people. Followers find it more suitable to follow a leader which is well mannered and behave in appropriate manner with each class of people (Polelle, 47). Honest: Honesty is also one of the main characteristic of becoming a great leader. A honest leader in much more effective and powerful than a leader who is not honest to the followers. Honesty brings power to the leader and helps him to address all the obstacles faced rather than avoiding it. Honesty also bring better assessment and growth opportunities for the leader in the eyes of the followers or subordinates. Organization: A leader must be fully organized in his approaches and activities. He must develop proper organization for each activity. Activities must be accomplished in an organized manner. He must develop his team in an organized way in order to accomplish the desired and targeted objective or goal. Time Management: Proper management of time is also one of the vital aspects of the organizational development. A leader must manage the time in an appropriate manner, and allocate the tasks in between the subordinates or followers managing the time. Leaders must also keep a watch on the time factor and develop goals based on it. Confidence: This is also one of the vital characteristics to become an effective leader. Confidence provides effectiveness to the leader. A leader who is confident in his words and actions is followed the most. Confidence is one of the vital traits which the followers looks in their leader. A confident leader takes actions without being nervous about the results and participates actively in all activities. Experiences: This is also one of the major characteristic of an effective leader. An experienced person has more knowledge about the decisions to be taken in several circumstances as compared to an inexperienced leader. Experience brings effectiveness in decision making and motivating employees. Followers follow much a person who is experienced as compared to inexperienced (Polelle, 471). Working for a while: Leader must work at least ones and gain experience related to the field where he wants to lead. As experience and working brings knowledge to the leader to lead and guide the followers or subordinates in an effective manner and bring respect of the followers. Taking a lot of training: A leader can also become effective by taking a lot of training of the subordinates or followers and guide then and train them related to the tasks or activities to be accomplished. A leader must also gain training related to several aspects related to his field where he is leading. By attending lot of training a leader gains insights into the field and manages to be do effective leadership. Outgoing: A leader must be outgoing and does not feel shy in performing any task. This helps them to be effective in the eyes of the followers and motivates the followers to do the same or similar task. The outgoing characteristic shows the leader confidence and makes him effective. Attending Conferences: A leader must attend several conferences and show his outgoing attitude to the followers. By attending several conferences the followers also comes to know the level of knowledge of the leader and his insights into several topics of the conferences (Polelle, 225). Taking a chance to talk in front of people: A leader must take chances to talk in front of people in order to show his skills, knowledge and talent. This aids to increase his effectiveness and perform in an effective manner. Summary The above research paper includes the discussion about the factors that are found in a creative leader. There are in all nine factors that are considered to be vital for becoming an active leader. The research paper above includes the discussion about the aspects like, communication , coordination , cooperation’s, respect, motivation, dependability, confidence and communication. The research paper also includes the subdivision of these factors which are required in order to find the qualities which are associated with this the effective leader. The research paper also includes the analysis of these factors which are vital to be in a leader for showing effective leadership in every situation. The research paper also includes the analysis of several sub factors for each main factor which are also vital for the leader to possess in order to excel in presenting itself as an effective leader. Thus it can be said that from the analysis of all the above factors that the leader must posess these qualities in order to be effective. References DuBrin, Andrew J. Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills. USA: Cengage Learning, 2012. Gill, Roger. Theory and Practice of Leadership. UK: SAGE, 2011. Kliem, Ralph L. Leading High Performance Projects. J. Ross Publishing, 2004. Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. UK: SAGE, 2009. Polelle, Mark Robert. Leadership: Fifty Great Leaders and the Worlds They Made. ABC CLIO, 2007. Western, Simon. Leadership: A Critical Text. SAGE, 2007. Read More