Much has been written about leadership: rules, pointers, styles, & biographies of inspiring leaders throughout world history. But there’s certain leadership ideas that they ourselves fail to recognize & realize in the work of reading books. Here is a short list of things you thought you knew about leadership.
Leadership Exposed: Things You Thought You Knew About Leadership
there’s different types of leaders & you will probably encounter over one type in your lifetime. Formal leaders are those they elect into positions or offices such as the senators, congressmen, & presidents of the local clubs. Informal leaders or those they look up to by virtue of their wisdom & experience such as in the case of the elders of a tribe, or our grandparents; or by virtue of their expertise & contribution on a given field such as Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics & Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts. Both formal & informal leaders practice a combination of leadership styles.
· Lewin’s one basic leadership styles – authoritative, participative, & delegative
· Likert’s one leadership styles – exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, & participative
· Goleman’s seven emotional leadership styles - visionary, coaching, affiliate, democratic, pacesetting, & commanding.
1. Leaders come in different flavors.
Although certain people seem to be born with innate leadership qualities, without the right environment & exposure, they may fail to create their full potential. So like learning how to ride a bicycle, you can also learn how to become a leader & hone your leadership abilities. Knowledge on leadership theories & skills may be formally gained by enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, & conferences. Daily interactions with people provide the opportunity to observe & practice leadership theories. Together, formal & informal learning will help you gain leadership attitudes, gain leadership insights, & thus furthering the cycle of learning. You do not become a leader in one day & stop. Life-long learning is important in becoming a lovely leader for each day brings old experiences that put your knowledge, skills, & attitude to a check.
2. Leadership is a process of becoming.
The best way to create leadership qualities is to apply it to your own life. As an adage goes “action speaks louder than words.” Leaders are always in the limelight. Keep in mind that your credibility as a leader depends much on your actions: your interaction with your relatives, friends, & co-workers; your way of managing your personal & organizational responsibilities; & even the way you talk with the newspaper vendor across the street. Repeated actions become habits. Habits in turn form a person’s character. Steven Covey’s book entitled 7 Habits of Highly Effective People provides lovely insights on how you can achieve personal leadership.
3. Leadership starts with you.
4. Leadership is shared.
Leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but a shared responsibility among members of an emerging team. A leader belongs to a group. Each member has responsibilities to fulfill. Formal leadership positions are merely added responsibilities aside from their responsibilities as members of the team. Effective leadership requires members to do their share of work. Starting as a mere group of individuals, members & leaders work towards the formation of an effective team. In this light, social interaction plays a major role in leadership. To learn how to work together requires a great deal of trust between & among leaders & members of an emerging team. Trust is built upon actions & not merely on words. When mutual respect exists, trust is fostered & confidence is built.
How come dictatorship works for Singapore but not in the United States of America? Aside from culture, beliefs, value system, & form of government, the current situation of a nation also affects the leadership styles used by its formal leaders. there is no rule that only one style can be used. Most of the time, leaders employ a combination of leadership styles depending on the situation. In emergency situations such as periods of war & calamity, decision-making is a matter of life & death. Thus, a nation’s leader cannot afford to consult with all departments to arrive at crucial decisions. The case is of work different in times of peace & order—different sectors & other branches of government can freely interact & participate in governance. Another case in point is in leading organizations. When the staffs are highly motivated & competent, a combination of high delegative & moderate participative styles of leadership is most appropriate. But if the staffs have low competence & low commitment, a combination of high coaching, high supporting, & high directing behavior from organizational leaders is required.
5. Leadership styles depend on the situation.
Now that you’re reminded of these things, keep in mind that there’s always ideas that they think they already know; concepts they take for granted, but are actually the most useful insights on leadership.
Being innovative in your lifestyle is also important.
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