Essay on Reality-Based Leadership ~ My Opinion

I chose this book by John Wooden in hopes to better my efforts in terms of everyday leadership in any environment I’m put in. I feel as if I am a leader myself already as I’ve had experience in terms of playing on multiple competitive softball, baseball and ice hockey teams. I’ve also seen my leadership abilities prove themselves in every work condition I’ve been a part of and every job. I work diligently and effortlessly and hope to lead by example. I chose this book to better improve these skills I already posses and help myself become more knowledgeable on the subject.

The intention of this paper is to introduce my leadership philosophy. I will start off defining leadership as well as explaining my leadership philosophy. I will then share a summary of an interview with a Squadron Commander about a difficult situation that he needed to use his philosophy to work through and analyze how my philosophy applies to the same situation followed by a brief summary.

“Rising through the Ranks,” written by Mike Wynn is one of the popular books on leadership, which explains the importance of leadership and the ways to become an efficient leader. Wynn describes the expectations of an organization from a leader. A leader should undertake certain tasks, such as “short-term, long-term, operational and administrative and ensure the completion of tasks through people” (Wynn, 2008). If a supervisor fails to employ a leadership stance, instead employs a management stance, there are higher chances of risk to lose the effort and loyalty of the people. Adopting a leadership style of supervision has more chances of success as the people always strive for their success as well as the success of their leader.

Leaders should use their self-developed skills to serve their subordinates. As a leader, the responsibilities never seem to diminish. Yet, effective leaders are always able to care for their subordinates in all aspects of life. This is on top of their other responsibilities. Serving others above oneself improves mission readiness and fosters an atmosphere of success.

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Every leader has their own idea of what effectiveness looks like (Jones, 2015). For this study, authentic leadership will be the focus, as defined by Avolio, Gardner and Walumbwa (2004) an individual acting according to their values and convictions, building credibility and the respect and trust of those that follow. Authenticity is a choice that individuals must choose to embrace instead of a character trait that comes from within (Murphy, 2012). Outcomes of authentic leadership remain limitedly researched both theoretically and empirically (Miniotaite & Buciuniene, 2013). Authentic leadership lacks empirical evidence between the leader’s perception and the follower’s perception (Peus, Wesche, Streicher, Braun, & Frey, 2012). Wang, Sui, Luthans,

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.

There are two types of people in the work field. One is the leader and one is the follower. The people in the management do not necessary they are meant to be the leader. There are many reasons that a person became a leader, it is more important how to be a successful leader. A successful leader is able to lead the team, inspire the team and help the team to succeed and grow. There are people are born natural to be a leader, and there are some people because a successful leader by experiences or inspiration from other successful leader.

In order to move forward and keep ahead, I believe an organization need change leaders who have capabilities to have their workforce go from change avoidance to change acceptance. “One of the most significant strengths of an effective leader is the ability to create a positive work climate where people are energized to do their best work, free of unnecessary distractions” (Cronkite, n.d.). During this part of the change process I feel the change leader would have better success if he would be tactful and harness the skills of others by working in a collaborative rather than hierarchical way. Leadership in an organization involves instilling motivation and enthusiasm in the employees. An effective leader knows how to manage and tackle difficult situations and people. Many reasons can cause a force of change in organizations but I feel it’s up to change leaders to manage these planned and unexpected changes. (Word count: 548)

In today’s competitive world, leadership skills are crucial for both personal and professional development. Leadership is an important function of management which helps an individual or a business to maximize efficiency and to achieve goals. Leadership has different meanings to various authors.Most commonly, leadership is defined as influence, that is, the art of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals. (Koontz). Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of either formal or informal group in the task of goal setting and goal achievement. A leader is one whose magnetic personality innervates people for some cause. Not by words, but by their actions is

The impact of leadership style in the change process of an organization influences the performance; Leadership as stated by Martin, Liao and Campbell (2013) remains one of the most consequential contextual influencers of employee performance. Latson (2014) elucidated that some leaders may have the best intentions, but the impact will not be in alignment with the intension. But leadership trait is the ability to inspire, motivate and engage the followers to make the inspired vision happen beyond their normal capabilities (Mendez, Munoz & Munoz 2013). A change is the most frequent phenomenon of today's reality and a good understanding of how to manage the change process is very essential; Change is translation from one state into

Leadership is a process of influencing activities of a particular group of people with the aim of attaining certain stipulated goals. In defining leadership there is need to consider a particular group, the common goals and the duties that are allocated to specific members of the group depending on their abilities (Fiedler 1976). Leadership therefore cannot successfully occur unless members of the group are given different considerations in terms of personality, traits and responsibilities. In considering leadership, it is important to look at the leader, the group or organization they are leading, the members as individuals and the situation; these are

with co-workers and even managers. The idea that stress is caused by my own action and responses is a bit far-fetched for myself. This section has great value and experience for leaders but, again should be geared towards everyone in the office and not just the leadership. Management does set the tone but you cannot expect employees to understand the theory of arguing with reality if they are a huge part of the problem and not the solution in businesses. Investing in your people with adequate training, a diverse group of people where you have different backgrounds that can bring value to your team; communicating and developing a strong culture is essential for a reality based environment. Finally, Wakeman, talks about, would you rather be right, or wildly successful in find peace section. Reality-based leaders are different, they are less talk more action. They are willing to forgive, refrain from judging others and servers. They are humility in action (35). As leaders you are expected to lead by example, build relationship and have a positive attitude. Another topic discussed was the difference between having an ego and being confident. The author claims that reality based leaders are less talk more action, they refrain from judging others while serving. (35) If you have humility you won’t have an ego. Confidence is the only thing you can afford to have in the office to be successful because while an ego is prideful and will make you a terrible leader. Leaders need to have

During the past ten weeks, I have strengthened my concept of what constitutes effective leadership. Importantly, it is a leadership style that maximises the contributions of followers to achieve the desired outcomes for the organisation they represent. As Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy (2014, p.57) explains, effective leaders need to balance the drive to achieve a task with managing relationships. Therefore, it is essential for good leadership to not only focus on the task but develop, motivate and empower team members to strive for the achievement of task goals.

One of the topics in organizational development today is leadership. Leadership is what individuals do to mobilize other people in organizations and communities. According to Kouzes & Posner, there are five practices and ten commitments of exemplary leadership. The five practices of exemplary leadership include: Model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. In the Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner found similar patterns and actions of leadership that created the essentials to achieve success. Utilizing the research conducted by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, I have created a leadership plan that would apply to the Admission Department at Texas Wesleyan University.