What Makes A Leader?

Every person has a different definition of what makes a leader. Some feel a leader is inspirational, while others regard leadership as someone who can give criticism and make the tough decisions. Each definition is unique, and each is vague. This is why the definitions of leadership people use aren’t always accurate. Bolman and Deal, however, do an excellent job of presenting four frames of leadership people use to successfully—or unsuccessfully—support and lead a group of people. The four frames presented by the authors are: human resource, symbolic, structural, and political. The human resource frame is used by leaders to empathize with their followers, the symbolic frame is used to inspire and unite followers around a vision, the structural frame is used to emphasize the importance of a process, and the political frame establishes competition and focuses on creating allies.

The definition of leadership has different kinds of meanings to me. Having leadership could be a person that has done a great impact on society or has just done something that has made someone feel better. Leaders have a great responsibility probably the most difficult job for a leader is to persuade others to follow. It can only be possible if the leader inspires there followers by setting a good example. When the going gets tough, they look up to a leader and see how they react to the situation. If they can handle it well. As a leader, they should think positive and this positive approach should be visible through their actions. Some great leader over the years has had left a legacy that other people can look up to. And feel inspired to

What makes one a leader; do they have to hold a certain position or title? A leader is someone who leads by example. In order to require something from others a leader has to exemplify on what needs to be done. A leader needs to achieve own excellence before demanding it from others. The medical field is composed of many leaders, from management to nurses to doctors, and each on of these titles comes with the responsibility of being a leader. Nurses are leaders who advocate, take care of their patients and through daily tasks exemplify leadership. For these past couple of months, I have had the privilege of having Deb Daniels as my preceptor at Baystate Noble surgical department. She is a registered nurse in the operating room, she takes on the role of a charge nurse on the unit, and most importantly she exemplifies leadership on this unit. On my last week of preceptorship, I had an opportunity to sit down and have an interview with Deb on her thoughts about leadership. The interview questions went as following:

What does it mean to be a leader? We encounter leaders in everyday situations, whether it be a professor, boss, coach, or parent. No matter how distinguished or subordinate our roles, we have some type of leadership responsibility over others. How does one effectively lead other people? What methods, ideas, and skills should leaders convey to the public? It is not always easy or fun to be a leader and it is almost guaranteed that a population will not like the views and beliefs of the one in charge. What type of person or idea comes to mind when someone says the word President? Hopefully, they are positive words like leader, intelligent, helpful, and hardworking. A president has one of the toughest leadership roles because he/she is placed in a position to make very tough decisions on topics that people have many varying opinions about. As a voter, it can be difficult to stay informed on topics and determine which party to choose. A person must ask themselves what they stand for or believe in and then decide which candidate is best qualified to fulfill the requirements. Being a first time voter is a very exciting experience that comes with a great responsibility. The 2016 campaign has showcased much personal and political turmoil of the candidates, making it hard to know which side to choose. With an election year like never before, the candidates have placed a lot of pressure on voters to decide who is fit enough to bring our country back into order, but Donald Trump has

What qualities make a good leader? You can ask a hundred different people, and you will get a hundred different answers. A good leader is someone who accomplishes the mission, has the respect of their subordinates, and makes the difficult decisions when needed. For me, I believe that a great leader needs to have a variety of qualities, but most importantly a sense of fairness, hard work/care, and common consideration for others. Different experiences throughout my life and time at West Point have lead me to believe that these three tenants are what are most needed for a great leader. In terms of a leader’s moral character, common consideration has the greatest influence on the success of a leader, because without common consideration, a

Many people are responsible for providing Americans with the freedoms we have today. Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton were great world leaders due to their contributions to society, government, and public relations. In general, these men have contributed to our country in many ways; for example, they drafted the United States Constitution. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay published the Federalist Papers. Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence; John Adams, John Marshall, and Patrick Henry passed legislation that created a national government.

Some may say that great leaders are born. While there are some born leaders, I believe that most leaders gain their skills through extensive practice. This is the road that has been given to me. I believe that effective leadership is much more than simply giving assignments and direction. It requires communicating a vision, collaboration, planning and practice; these skills, takes time and lots of hard work to become an effective leader. I have been in a lengthy preparation concerning this serious commitment to polishing my leadership skills and styles. In addition, I believe a good leader excels in some areas, but also understand his or her limitations. This is also a necessary attribute that I have come to understand about my

Someone who is considered a leader has to have many qualities and abilities. They must have

Communication is the process of sharing information, ideas and feelings between people through speech, writing, or body language. Effective communication extends the concept of requiring that the content is received and understood by someone in the way that was expected. The objectives of effective communication include the creation of a common perception, behavior change and the acquisition of effective communication. Communication leads a person to be a leader. All coalitions need a strong leadership base, with current and emerging leaders, who have the skills, relationships, and vision to change individual interests into one collective strategy to achieve change. These skills of a good leader include: Effective communication, conflict management, organization, and ability to delegate tasks, relationship building and ability to share decision-making. (Foster-Fishman PG, Berkowitz SL, Lounsbury DW, Jacobson S, Allen NA, 2001)

What makes a manager of an organization one that can be properly characterized as an authentic leader? Furthermore, what makes the people who report to that manager motivated to not only accomplish the needed tasks and meet the required deadlines, but also to go above and beyond that to simply do the right thing, or, for the benefit of others in the organization? I will demonstrate through this post that I believe the one characteristic that makes a very good leader a great (and truly effective) one is when they display authentic leadership. I will discuss two specific methods that characterized my manager’s display of authenticity in his leadership style as an accounting manager: ethics and trust, and other-centeredness (described by Robbins and Judge as, “socialized charismatic leadership”) (2011).

I never would have imagined when I started this journey a year ago that I would be so changed in my opinions of what a good leader should be. We began with organizational behavior and the importance of the individual and what motivates them, and how this applies to group cohesiveness. Throughout each module we were given insight by example of how certain types of leadership works and does not work. After eighteen years of working for the same company and being led by several different types of leaders, I hope to combine what I learned through this last year with what is really needed to become an awesome leader.

Romans 12:8 describes a good leader as one who is generous, involved, and zealous. As in biblical times and in today’s culture, these qualities are vital to leading, whether it be a small group or a large organization. One example of a leader whose leadership qualities allow her to be successful in her career is Lynn Good, president, chairman, and CEO of Duke Energy. Duke Energy thrives as one of the largest electric power companies in the United States with more than 7 million customers and both commercial and international business. Previously chief financial officer of Duke, Good worked under former CEO, Jim Rogers, and is said to have helped him “build his shiny empire “(Otterbourg, 2015, p12). With a background as a partner in two accounting firms and Cingery Corp, Lynn’s comprehension of strategic planning, resource allocation, and utility management allowed her to become head of the company in 2013. That same year, Good was named one of the 10 most influential people in the energy sector by SNL Energy, and in 2014 and 2015, Fortune named her #13 among the “Most Powerful Women in Business”. In 2014, Duke Energy was listed by Business Insider as one of the “50 Best Companies to Work for in America” and DailyWorth named Duke as one of the “25 Best Companies for Women”. Lynn Good’s forward thinking and implementation of the four management functions, planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, combined with her understanding of her organizational environment, allows

Leadership is a word that is portrayed uniquely by each individual who demonstrates it. It is molded by a person’s morals and ideals of who a leader should be, and it is this versatility of the word that makes it so exclusive. My idea of a leader has always been extravagant, brilliant human beings who seemed to be miraculously gifted, something that someone so minuscule like me could never dream of achieving. Looking back, I regret having that assumption for I believe everyone has that ability inside them. I do feel as though some people radiate leadership while others have to dig deep to uproot it, but I sincerely believe it is inside every single one of us. Although the complexity of what it means to be a leader is something I will never fully grasp, through my knowledge and experience I have come up with a self-created definition which helps me with my understanding. I had the opportunity to take leadership test which was based on a series of questions, and the results had a much different set of definitions of leadership then I have. This got me thinking; what kind of leader am I? What qualities do I possess or need to possess to make me worthy of being followed? The results of my analysis of these questions were rather enlightening

A great leader shows strength as strong as an ox, wisdom like the king Solomon taught to us as children in Sunday school, and the fortitude like a lion. Leaders have to be this way in order to control the masses. The great leaders of our past impact the world and leave their legacies behind for leaders to follow. Future leaders look up to these men and women for guidance on how they had the gentle but forceful hand at being a dynamic leader to the multitude of people.

What is leadership? When people are asked that question, what probably comes to mind are the thoughts and images of a charismatic individual, rallying a group together, significantly boosting their moral to push forward and fight in the face of insurmountable odds. A common or unanimously accepted definition cannot be found for the fact that leadership, is something that is very complex. “Leadership is the influencing process between leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through change.” (Lussier & Achua, 2016, p. 5). Curpy and Hogan (2012) defines leadership as a person possessing the aptitude to build a team and attain results.