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Leadership Qualities Vs Leadership performance It is virtually impossible to name the type of human activity, where principle of leadership would not play an important role, as the main organizing factor. The effectiveness of any team work is directly related to leaders ability to have a complete comprehension of how any particular goal can be accomplished. Even though that in recent times many sociologists suggest that it is quite possible for just about anyone to become a leader, most people do realize that only certain inbred qualities allow person to effectively exercise his authority. Therefore, we can say that the role of genetic factor, in the theory of leadership, can still be considered as very important. Some people try very hard to act as leaders, yet they never gain peoples respect, because the role of leader does not suit them. Garrison Wynn in his article Listening like a Leader says: You are not a leader unless you have followers; a leader without followers is called a failure.
Regardless of your skills, if your staff doesnt feel heard and doesnt trust you, they will always do the minimum (Wynn). The most important leadership quality, on the part of individual, is his ability to manage teamwork without having to get down to details. Leader guides members of team through different challenges, but it is not his responsibility to show them how to execute their duties. True leaders talent consists of making people work autonomously, when there is no need in excessive supervision.
It is physically impossible for the leader to know every aspect of teams functioning; nevertheless, he must have a clear understanding of what needs to be done to accomplish every particular goal in most efficient way. We can say that the true leader understands more than he knows. Kristine Geimure in her research article Top 7 Leadership Mistakes makes a very good point when she says: Many of the world's greatest leaders are people of average intelligence that don't know all there is to know in their industry. They understand that they can't possibly know everything and they hire people that do know everything!
The success of any business is in the hands of its workers and the leading managers and entrepreneurs of the world all strive to hire the best in their field (Geimure). Another important leaders quality is his understanding of communication techniques. Myron Curry in his article Leadership What Makes a Good Leader emphasizes the importance of communication, when it comes to guiding others towards a common goal: Communication is one of the most key elements of leadership. Good communication skills need to be learned to effectively become a good leader or manager. When communication occurs, as a leader, you will be able to accurately convey your ideas and thoughts to those that work for you. In fact, simply being able to convey these things in the first place, much less accurately, puts you in the right direction for leadership (Curry).
It is crucial for the leader to be able to express his ideas in simple but powerful manner. Leader knows how to get to the essence of every problem, without much of analyzing. True leaders are known for their ability to allow their instincts to affect the process of decision making, while it does not result in negative consequences. Sometimes leaders way of thinking might appear as not being very logical. However, in the end, such way of thinking proves its effectiveness, because leader is always one step ahead of those who are affected by his decisions.
At the same time, real leader never allows his emotionalism to influence the process of management. This is because otherwise, he would cease to inspire respect in others. People need to feel that their leaders are being elevated to the position of authority because of their natural leadership qualities. Certain authoritarianism, on the part of person in charge, is the best way to insure this. Leader must be open to communication, but at the same time, his authority cannot be questioned. It is very important for the leader to inspire trust.
Employees need to know that their leader is in the same boat with them. If leader fails professionally, it will affect him as much as those that depend on his judgments. Thus, it appears that the elements of democracy are also the essential part of effective leadership. Leader and those under his command depend on each other, during the process of accomplishing a professional goal. If leader ceases to inspire trust, he will have to be replaced with somebody else.
Today many people confuse leadership with management. This is a very common mistake, which results in team loosing its efficiency. Managers lack vision, they can only think within well defined professional boundaries. Leaders, on the other hand, are able to assess every issue from many different prospective's. They dont follow rules but create them. Pete Coutts in his article Leadership vs.
Management was able to define the essence of both ways to provide organizational control: Leadership and management are both important, but they seek to do different things. Every organization structures itself to accomplish its goals in a way that is in tune with or responsive to its environment. Once the efficiency of the organization is established, people go about simply maintaining the system (Coutts). Leader will not be able to gain peoples respect is he is unable to think creatively. This ability directly corresponds to the level of leaders intelligence. Only a well educated person will able to keep his mind open to new ideas.
The amount of actual knowledge, on the part of leader, directly corresponds to his ability to break away from dogmatic notions. There is only one measure of evaluating leadership performance concrete results. Effective leadership always leads to reaching a professional objective. Therefore, we cannot talk about the issue of leadership out of practical context. Nowadays, the importance of social aspects of leadership is often being exaggerated. Leaders task is thought to be providing a psychological comfort for the team members.
This approach is wrong, because we cannot think of teams functioning as thing in itself. True leader does not waste time trying to accomplish inner unity within the team by adjusting teams objective. His task is to find employees, whose professional qualities would allow them to become an integral part of the team. My own practice of leadership is going to be based on the principles, mentioned above. One can only become a successful leader, if process of acquiring leadership is being natural. It is wrong trying to gain the status of leader and only then go about accomplishing teams particular goals.
In fact, it needs to be other way around. Therefore, I will refrain from trying to become a leader until the time when my leadership qualities would become un disputable. This can only happen when the level of my professional competence will allow my opinions to have a universal value. Also, the stories of successful leadership include examples of people becoming effective leaders, because of specific set of circumstances.
As we have mentioned earlier, leaders are not made through appointment. Person usually becomes a leader when he is able to take a full responsibility for decision making. People are only going to follow the leader, when they will feel that he possesses a strong sense of self-confidence. Such confidence derives out of persons realization of his own power.
To conclude this paper let us summarize its main points. 1) The quality of leadership performance is defined by leaders personal qualities. 2) Leaders cannot be trained, as it is impossible to anticipate every set of circumstances, under which ones personal qualities would allow him to become a leader. 3) In order for the leader to inspire respect, his actions do not have to be rational but they must be effective. 4) The principle of leadership is based on the notion of authoritarianism. This is why, while being open to suggestions, leader must also be able to impose his point of view on others, if necessary. 5) In order for the leader to maintain his authority unchallenged, he needs to constantly work on raising his professional level. Bibliography: Curry, M. Leadership What Makes a Good Leader. 2004. Business Training Media.
Retrieved February 24, 2007 from web Coutts, P. Leadership vs. Management. October 1, 2000. Telus Planet.
Com. Retrieved February 24, 2007 from web Geimure, K. Top 7 Leadership Mistakes. 2005. Woopidoo Articles. Retrieved February 24, 2007 from web Mitchell, R.
Strategy Formulation. 2000. Economy and People. Retrieved February 24, 2007 from http: // 64. 233. 167. 104 /search? q = cache: ihEEDTpDAm 4 J: web Wynn, G.
Listening Like a Leader. 2005. Wynn Solutions. Retrieved February 24, 2007 from web
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Research essay sample on Leadership Qualities Vs Performance
