Much has been written about leadership:
rules, pointers, styles, and biographies of inspiring leaders throughout world
history. But there are certain leadership ideas that we ourselves fail to
recognize and realize in the course of reading books. Here is a short list of
things you thought you knew about leadership.
1. Leaders come in different flavors.
There are different types of leaders and you will probably
encounter more than one type in your lifetime. Formal leaders are those we
elect into positions or offices such as the senators, congressmen, and
presidents of the local
clubs. Informal leaders or those we look up to by virtue of their wisdom and
experience such as in the case of the elders of a tribe, or our grandparents;
or by virtue of their expertise and contribution on a given field such as
Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in
the field of the Arts. Both formal and informal leaders practice a combination
of leadership styles.
· Lewin’s
three basic leadership styles – authoritative, participative, and delegative
· Likert’s
four leadership styles – exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative,
consultative, and participative
· Goleman’s
six emotional leadership styles - visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic,
pacesetting, and commanding.
2. Leadership is a process of becoming.
Although certain people seem to be born with innate leadership
qualities, without the right environment and exposure, they may fail to develop
their full potential. So like learning how to ride a bicycle, you can also
learn how to become a leader and hone your leadership abilities. Knowledge on
leadership theories and skills may be formally gained by enrolling in
leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences. Daily interactions with people
provide the opportunity to observe and practice leadership theories. Together,
formal and informal learning will help you gain leadership attitudes, gain
leadership insights, and thus furthering the cycle of learning. You do not
become a leader in one day and just stop. Life-long learning is important in
becoming a good leader for each day brings new experiences that put your
knowledge, skills, and attitude to a test.
3. Leadership
starts with you.
The best way to develop 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 family, friends, and
co-workers; your way of managing your personal and organizational
responsibilities; and 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 good insights on how you can achieve personal leadership.
4. Leadership is shared.
Leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but
rather 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 and
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 and among leaders and members of an
emerging team. Trust is built upon actions and not merely on words. When mutual
respect exists, trust is fostered and confidence is built.
5. Leadership styles depend on the situation.
How come dictatorship works for Singapore but not in the
United States of America? Aside from culture, beliefs, value system, and 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 and
calamity, decision-making is a matter of life and death. Thus, a nation’s
leader cannot afford to consult with all departments to arrive at crucial
decisions. The case is of course different in times of peace and
order---different sectors and other branches of government can freely interact
and participate in governance. Another case in point is in leading
organizations. When the staffs are highly motivated and competent, a
combination of high delegative and moderate participative styles of leadership
is most appropriate. But if the staffs have low competence and low commitment,
a combination of high coaching, high supporting, and high directing behavior
from organizational leaders is required.
Now that you are reminded of these things, keep in mind that
there are always ideas that we think we already know; concepts we take for
granted, but are actually the most useful insights on leadership.
No comments:
Post a Comment