Defining Leadership
Thomas M. Montgomery
Bethel University
Issues In Management (MOD 310)
Kameke Payne
April 24, 2017 Defining Leadership
What comes to mind when you hear the word leadership? Do you think of a person in the military? The President? Maybe your pastor comes to mind. The truth is everyone has a different picture of what leadership looks like. We will explore some of the various aspects here to bring clarity to this subject.
Being A Leader.
Leadership is defined as a process whereby an individual influences a group of people to achieve a common goal. Is everyone a natural leader? Absolutely not, but the art of leadership can be a learned skill. There are many traits that come to mind when we think of a leader. Being decisive,
There are many definitions for the term leadership. This term have different meanings to each individual. Leadership is defined as a complex phenomenon involving the leader, the followers, and the situation (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). Leadership is a quality that one can gain through employment experience and/or through education and can also be gained through mentorship. There are many different leadership styles that a leader may fall under. Each type of leadership style has its own uniqueness that makes the leader fall under that particular
Being a leader can have many different definitions depending on the person. Leadership can be an overarching umbrella over many traits. Leaders possess the ability to be trustworthy, honest, and confident to name just a few. Leadership can be used throughout all aspects of life. Becoming a leader has been a big part of my life thus far. Many steps have been taken to educate myself on the roles and traits that a leader possesses. Learning leadership can be a process, but I took to it right away. Teachers and parents are just a few of the significant people that show leadership skills and impart them on others. Leadership has been taught to me by many different people, and I plan to use those skills to help the future generations become great leaders.
In my opinion the term leadership is a very broad and various definitions are given by authors. One definition of leadership is that it is
According to Webster’s Dictionary, leadership is the power or ability to lead other people, the act or instance of leading. I believe that Leadership is an art, the art to get others to follow and accomplish a common goal or task in a harmonic manner. A leader can be shown in all kinds of shapes and forms. To be a great leader many people believe it consists of modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart. Over the course of me learning how to become a better leader and being in leadership roles, I’ve learned that all these are very necessary to be a great leader.
John C. Maxwell once stated that, “a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” Although leadership can be discovered in various sectors of life, leadership signifies many different qualities about a person.
Leadership comes with every aspect of life. Everyone has to step up in some aspect in their lives at some point and be a leader. We are leaders in everyday life without even knowing most of the time. There are three different types of leaders and they are all necessary in different atmospheres. Autocratic leadership is not my style but it is essential in many different fields of work. These types of leader have to have strong characteristics of discipline, lots of planning and victory. This
Leadership is something that we are all born with because we are all born. Therefore, who is a leader and who is not depends on who really wants to be a leader and who does not. Leadership is a skill and so it can be learned. As anything that is learned it demands practice and practice to be the best. It would not be something that will happen in a matter of a day. There are multiple elements that make a leader. Collaboration is a key element for successful teamwork. Therefore, a leader must always be in the look for ways to foster collaboration. Creating trust within the team, support face-to-face collaboration, transfer responsibilities when making decisions, and ultimately teach other how to be leaders. All of this is not done if it is not done from the bottom of your own heart.
Webster’s Dictionary defines leadership as “the action of leading a group of people or an organization”. That definition does the word no justice as leadership can look like a great many things to different people, and there are equally as many ways to lead. A leader can lead through fear or respect, by word or by action. Numerous leaders have influenced my career and leadership style to this point. Most notably, the Chief of my first Patrol Boat was one of the biggest influences I have experienced in my career. He conveyed confidence, empowered his people, and exuded the charisma to inspire people to want to be better, if nothing else, to not disappoint him. Simultaneously, he demonstrated the ability to hold people accountable, and
My idea of leadership is being able to inspire others, motivate, set a vision, communicate, respect others, and of course, lead by example. A leader must have an honest understanding of who they are, what they know, and what they are capable of. To be a successful leader, you have to be able to convince your followers, not just yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed. In my opinion, this can build confidence in their followers to have faith in you, in order to be able to lead. I strongly believe that good leaders are made rather, and not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders are developed through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and
Leadership is not an easy topic to define; therefore, everyone has their own ideas of what a leader should be and do. Some people define leadership as a demanding and cruel position. They believe that tyranny and fear are the only way to maintain control and obedience from people. These tyrants use fear as a vital tool in their reign. Other people believe that leadership is a position where they need to hear themselves talk rather than hear what others have to say and add to the conversation. Their own ideas and values take priority over the ideas and values of others lower. Qualities such as these only define self-centeredness and cruelty which are not qualities of an effective leader. Leadership is actually serving, listening, and discussing.
Leadership is a characteristic that encompasses numerous qualities that are unique to each individual. Over the years I have learned what it means to be a leader and to posses these qualities. I have also learned that each individual has a unique perspective on what it means to be a leader and this perspective is developed over years of failures and success.
group.I believe that is very true, however with the Military rapidly growing, and becoming more
Leadership is when a person motivates, inspires, encourages, and directs activates that will lead to reaching goals (Jones and George, 2013). Being a leader is an important role, one can be a leader at their job, and in their home life.
Leadership does not have one universally accepted definition; it is according me an ever-evolving concept. I firmly believe that even though individuals can be groomed and trained to be leaders, however some leaders could motivate and influence individuals around them more effectively/easily then others and direct an organization into a coherent and cohesive way in order to accomplish objectives and targets. This exact school of thought is actually a common thread or an existing element in various theories and
Leadership is a difficult word to define and according to the Miriam-Webster Dictionary leadership is the “office or position of a leader” (Miriam-Webster, 2010). This definition is definitely not one that I would ascribe to when discussing leadership. My definition of leadership is “the ability someone has to motivate and empower others to achieve a goal.” Some may add to this definition, others may discard it altogether and have a completely different definition. In the end, leadership takes on many different forms depending on who is doing the defining and we end up asking ourselves, what is leadership and why do we care?