Educating And Leadership Development: Traits, Characteristics, Behaviors And Styles

Leadership Traits and Characteristics

Discuss about the Educating and Leadership Development.

Self-review serves as one of the best gauges to affirm one’s progress at a reasonable rate and in the right directions. It is this review that provides a basis for developing remedial actions, alternative courses of action, revisit of the objectives and modify them if necessary, redouble the effort or seek assistance. It is, however, worth noting that irrespective of the effort we invest, the result will, more often than not, differ with the expectations. There will be missed targets, objectives not achieved, and challenges along the way. All these will serve as a redirecting tool. On the other hand, there will be achievements and lesson learnt. In the essay, I aim at providing a succinct analysis with my achievements and difficulties for at least the past two months from the various lessons taught.

For anyone wishing to become a successful leader and survive the dynamism of the current corporate world; session 2 on the traits and characteristics of leaders inarguably plays an indispensable role. The major learning outcome from the session is the ability to become an influential leader capable of generating goodwill among the subordinate to achieve organizational goals. Besides, the session enables an individual gauge himself on his capability to become a successful leader among gauges such as assertiveness, enthusiasm, power motive, and strong work ethics among others (Zaccaro, 2007, p.8). Even more interesting is the fact that as a leader, wearing a hard face each time with no smile and always being stern on your employees will not guarantee positive results. Employees are humans with feelings, emotions, stresses, and other personal feelings. At the end of the session one, as a leader, learns to become a friend to his employees who can cause a smile on their face due to their great sense of humor, he can warn them, correct them in a friendly manner if they go wrong, and more essentially, let the employees learn from your own attitude and commitment (Gotsis and Kortezi, 2010, p. 503). However, although effective leaders must possess some key features which include, but not limited to the relationship with both superiors and juniors, personality traits, and cognitive skills; there exists no gauge against which to assess leader who possesses such skills. It all depends on the public perception. More specifically, the question that comes in is, how do I know that I’m a successful leader? Do I possess leadership traits? What level of confidence and enthusiasm is appropriate or not suitable for a leader?

Leadership Behaviors, Styles, and Attitudes

Closely related to the leadership traits and characteristics are the behaviours, styles, as well as attitudes that characterise a successful leader. At the end of the session, one becomes better acquitted to lead people in different prerogative and more importantly adapt his behaviour to suit the circumstance. The adage that leaders are born and not made, however, seems to be a conflict in itself due to empirical evidence presented by history (Yukl, 2008, p. 711). While some leaders such as Churchill and Napoleon seems to have been born leaders; other leaders such as Barack Obama appear to be more made leaders rather than born leaders. However, at the end of the lesson, one reaches an inescapable conclusion that there exists neither an absolutely born or made leader. Why? Without the innate abilities that serve to predispose certain people to become leaders being strengthened with education, such abilities are nothing better than dead. On the other hand, the suggestion that leaders possess no extraordinary endowments and abilities seems to negate the absolute fact that we are all born with different abilities. As such, one cannot be solely taught how to become a leader without possessing some of the inborn abilities of a successful leader. Education primarily serves to tap that ability and magnify it such that one becomes a leader (Lovvorn and Chen, 2011, p. 280, a fact which would not have been the case had he/she undergone the training. We cannot, however, overlook the fact that all remarkable leaders command a significant leadership history behind them. They cast themselves as leaders from the word go. On the other hand, enrolling in management and leadership program will not necessarily make one a leader upon the completion of such a program. Khana and Afzalb (2011, p. 1398) further notes that one can learn soft skills, but they cannot be implanted in him/her. At the end of the lesson, the highlight of the day is that leadership rather than being a science is an art. That is, leadership serves as a collection of inborn traits which education, experience, and training serve to refine and perfect over time. One of the main achievement is the recognition of one’s ability to become a leader and perfect that trait.

After the end of the fourth lesson, one learns the slight support of charismatic leadership on the adage that ‘leaders are born’. Charismatic leadership theory advocates for the charismatic leader to influence the followers based on the inherent and supernatural powers of the head. At the end of this lesson, one learns how charisma, as a gift, sets a leader apart from the ordinary people. Even more importantly, one learns how to become a charismatic leader by articulating ideological goals and ability to generate a radical vision and ideas. One, however, faces a challenge; what happens when a leader do not possess an innate character of charisma? Does this mean he/she won’t become a leader (Okoro, 2012, p. 136)? Given the fact that charismatic leaders command a huge followership who have an unshakable belief and discernment of the leader being gifted and extraordinary, does this not avail an avenue for the leader to misuse his power or exploit the subordinates.  As an individual with a passionate and self-driven individual with an ability to take personal risk, at the end of the lesson, one is hugely convinced that he/she is a charisma leader. Most individuals possess several of the qualities of a charisma leader which include but not limited to self-confidence, deep affection, high self-esteem, and high goals. As such, at the end of the lesson, one is better acquitted to become a better charisma leader by building on these innate abilities. Also worth pointing out is that some of the charisma leaders include Mikhail Gorbachev, Martin Luther King, and former U.S President John F. Kennedy.

Charismatic Leadership

Contrary to the charismatic leadership, at the end of session 5, one is empowered to become a transformational leader by imparting the characteristics of a charismatic leader into the followers/employees. As such, it seems that in transformational leadership, the leader aims at creating charismatic leaders from the followers. The reason being that a transformational leader aims at motivating his/her followers to achieve the organisational goals and objectives beyond the expected results. As such, the leader has to develop suitable methods for inspiring a change of attitude, beliefs, and values and not necessarily seek compliance from the followers. Harteis (2012, p.101) notes that research has served to demonstrate that transformational leadership command a huge impact in military domains. The difficulty, however, comes in when generating appropriate methods to motivate attitude change among the followers as the slightest blunder must result into grave errors in the organisation. That notwithstanding, at the end of the topic, a student have the capacity to develop his/her team into charismatic leaders. As Johnson (2008, p.87) argues, coaching plays an indispensable role in transformational leadership given the fact that it is through coaching that a leader can impart certain skills and behavioural approach to particular circumstances. As such, one gains the knowledge on some of the complementary concepts that complement other tasks for better results.

As a leader would you act as a chameleon-like leader, who changes his ‘color’ to adapt to the circumstances at the workplace or do you act in such a way that you change the ‘color’ of the work environment to suit your leadership style? Are your presence and effect felt at the workplace or do you feel your presence and the effect of the workplace in you? These are some of the most vital questions that a leader has to answer. At the end of sessions, four and five one is better suited to become a better leader depending on the circumstance. Among key achievements is the experience that a leader has to make his presence and influence be felt at the workplace (Harris and Leberman, 2012, P.36). His ideology has to be bought and subscribed to by most of the employees if the leader is to have any impact on the organisation. While situational leadership theory advocates for a chameleon-like approach to leadership by the fact that situation serves to dictate which leadership style a leader had to adopt; the contingency model differs a little bit. Otherwise known as the fielder’s theory, the contingency theory advocates for a leader’s influence and presence to be felt at the workplace. As Caligiuri and Tarique (2012, P. 620) argues, leadership style serves as a rather fixed aspect which is difficult to change. The difficulty, however, comes in when a mismatch between the situation and the leadership style exist. The primary learning outcome is that one is better acquitted to become a better leader in all situations.

Transformational Leadership

We cannot overlook the relationship between power, politics, and leadership especially owing to the immense power attributable to political offices (Byrd, 2007, p. 277).  At the end of session 7, as a student can recognise the role played by politics in organisations. Besides, one learns how to attain personal power in an organisational setting by seeking to gain an understanding on how organisations assign power to make decisions to various individuals and offices. As such, I am better acquitted to become an influential leader in any organisation not only through the formal power gained from the organisation but also from the innate ability to lead. The challenge, however, comes in when trying to figure out a solution in a circumstance where different people in the same organisation aggressively advance conflicting interest (Amagoh, 2009, p. 993). It is at this crucial time that an understanding of the political dynamics comes to our rescue. One learns the immense benefit of understanding the political dynamics of any organisation as it serves to influence both negotiations and mediation. As such the lesson has made me develop critical and reflective thinking abilities and recognise the impact of organisational politics in leading change and resolving the conflict among employees with conflicting interests. Among the powers that one need to either acquire or generate innately include referent power, technocrat power, codetermination power, autocratic power, and democratic power.

Among the most notable learning outcome from the topic 8 is the fact that there exists a critical area of departure between leading and managing people; however, the two disciplines are not without some grey areas. While leading focuses on stimulating commitment and good will among the followers such that they work due to their personal initiatives (Northouse, 2015, p. 193), management, on the other hand, focuses on getting the work done through the power vested in the manager by the organisation. The difficulty, however, comes in when distinguishing the results of a leader-lead team from those of a manager lead team. Since there are not price tags to set out the differences, we are enmeshed in a muddle particularly when both results are each and in the same direction. Although, we learnt to form the topic that leadership aim primarily at influencing people and the three most possible outcomes from such influence is compliance and commitment, one is still left in the dark. Which factor serves as a gauge of influence? (Den and Belschak, 2012, p. 197). Is it positive results, working without complaints, following the directions and guidelines from the leaders, or meeting the target? If this is the case, then managers might not be different from leaders since due to fear of punishment say for example demotion or firing, workers might generate a faked commitment to their jobs to cast themselves in a positive light in front of the manager. Will such a move make a manager a leader? Does it mean that a manager leading stubborn employees is not a leader? The questions serve as the primary challenge in understanding the concept on leadership and management.

Becoming a Successful Leader

At the end of lesson nine and ten, one affirms the fact that ‘no man is an island’. No one can do it on his/her own. A manager cannot afford to overlook the immense benefit that comes with teamwork which includes but not limited to the generation of synergy (1+1=3) (Chiang and Wang, 2012, p.216), help an individual employee gain acceptance in the group, and enhancing each member’s job satisfaction. However, teamwork does not come without some challenges which include loss of power and the unnecessary power to conform to the group’s norms and chief opinions.

Regardless of the shortcomings, Aggarwa (2011, p.58) notes that the benefits of teamwork justify the costs it comes in with. At the end of the lesson, one develops the ability not only to perform but also to lead service in group settings. Besides, given the fact that being a leader encompasses the leader being part of the team (Mohamadkhani and Nasiri, 2012, p.57) one has to express empathy as opposed to sympathy for other team members especially those who have diverse opinions and attitudes towards us. Coaching serves as one of the best tools that enable employees to ply to their strength and abilities and also helps in minimising the blind spots on their jobs. The main challenge that a student faces in this session is that, as empirical evidence has proved, there exist no standard method of delivering coaching programs. Even if a model were to exist, it would not take into account the diversity of organisations and its members. At this point, as a leader, one is left in a muddle.

Conclusion

At the end of this lesson, as a student, I am left ready to be a leader who understands what needs to be done, where it needs to be done, how it have to be done to achieve the desired results, and to what extent it needs to be applied.

References

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