From another perspective
What is leadership?
Leadership can be defined in several ways. Being a leader involves motivating others, inspiring others, being able to cooperate with others and being determined to get the job done.
I recently attended a workshop on leadership. This workshop was part of the Georgia Education Mentorship program at Georgia College & State University. This program pairs each student with a leader in the real world.
Instead of spending my Saturday sleeping-in like the typical college student, I got up at 8 a.m. to attend this workshop. We started the day off with breakfast and an icebreaker game of ‘mingle.’ In this game, we broke into groups and found something that the whole group had in common with each member. We spent the rest of the day performing activities to form a better understanding of the role of a leader.
According to a study done in 1997 by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, effective leadership exhibits the ability to develop trust through effective communication, a vision, persistence and the want to learn. In the past, leaders have changed the way we see the world. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired hundreds to join the civil rights movement and put an end to segregation. His form of leadership is referred to as transformational.
According to J.W. Fanning, founder of J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership, a leader features 10 pillars: “custody of values, willingness to listen and to hear, the ability to articulate the heartfelt concerns and desires of people, the dispensation of hope, foresightedness, knowledge with common sense, integrity of character, courage to think and act anew, the sharing of oneself and motivation of people for action.”
Fanning’s pillars describe a leader rather well. However, one of the activities allowed us to discuss leadership. We concluded that a leader focuses on his or her vision and strives to reach his or her goal. Leaders need to listen to each member and compromise. They work for success in their line of work and learn from their own faults. The lessons that they learn along the way will benefit them as a leader. Leaders have the ability to motivate and inspire others, to cooperate with others and are determined to complete the task at hand.
Honest, competent and credible leaders attract followers.
“If you think you’re a leader, look behind you to see who’s following you. If no one’s there, you’re just out for a walk.”- Anonymous
Past leaders depict four main leadership styles: square, triangle, circle and Z. The triangle (‘mover/shaker’) style involves determination to get the job done, but pays less attention to some of the details. The circle (‘negotiator’) style works to support and encourage others. The square (‘bottom liner’) style focuses on each detail, but strives to be correct rather than finishing the job on time. The Z (‘wild card’) style incorporates creativity. The best leaders have the ability to incorporate all of these into one. These leaders can listen to everyone’s thoughts, work hard to lay their vision into place and creatively keep their followers excited about the future.
Each person deep down wants to leave their own mark on the world, so I challenge you to reflect on the lessons you’ve learned throughout your life and strive to be an influential leader in today’s world. A leader to me is someone who excels in his or her own area of excellence.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 11 2002. Filed under Opinion.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
