What is Leadership? :
What is Leadership? “Influence, nothing more, nothing less”.
“a total commitment to purpose, accompanied by the determination to carry it out.”
“the supply of vision and direction in a situation of confusion and uncertainty”.
"effecting change to take an organization from one state to another, better state".
as a set of principles that can be learned and applied.
It's not just how you lead the people that are governed by principles that you should be aware of and consciously align with – where you lead them is also governed by principles. With great power comes great responsibility. Those who lead not in accordance with these principles, intentions not withstanding, are guilty of misleading.
Leaders who align their practices with these principles will be effective leaders. Leaders who align their goals and the goals of the organizations they steward with these principles will be authentic leaders – leaders who are empowered to create a better world.
“everything rises or falls on leadership”. Failures or lack of leadership can be found near the root of all problems. At this present moment in time, with so many social and environmental indices tottering toward the red line, the world is crying out not just for effective leadership, but for authentic leadership.
Types Of Leaderships :
Types Of Leaderships There are four primary leadership roles:
Strategic Leadership
Directive Leadership
Team-building Leadership
Operational Leadership
You have a unique character, with particular strengths and weaknesses. When you understand and play to your strengths you can develop your natural leadership ability, and you'll find that you are suited to a particular leadership role. Effective leadership necessitates a leadership team with the right mix of aptitudes. One is too small a number for greatness, as the saying goes. Getting the right mix of people on the leadership team is crucial. Too many of one aptitude and there will be dysfunction of the organization or of the leadership team itself. Wrong mixes may manifest as a harmonious but ineffective leadership team, or a volatile leadership team characterized by internal strife. All of the four roles are necessary for a complete leadership team – in areas where one person is weak, another person is strong.
Wherever there are strengths there are corresponding weaknesses. These weaknesses can become strengths when they are acknowledged and understood, and a team is built around them. "Know Yourself", and your area of contribution, is the beginning of individual effectiveness, leading to team effectiveness.
Slide 4:
Persons who are suited to Strategic Leadership are thinkers. They lead out of a strategic strength. Their primary concern is why to do things. They love the challenge of understanding and planning. They value knowing over doing. This gives them a detachment which enables them to more accurately and objectively analyze the situation. They value knowledge and wisdom, and admire perceptive and wise people.
To assess your strength in this leadership role score one point for each of the
following characteristics of the Strategic Leader that you possess:
1. Analyst of reality
2. Create practical ways of converting vision into action
3. View emotions and sensitivity as detrimental to the cause
4. Do not hesitate to ask the hard questions
5. Do not mind creating controversy
6. Content to remain in the background
7. More loyal to the vision than to the people
8. Take great pride in being knowledgeable in their area of focus
The corresponding weaknesses of this type are the following:
1. Useful but generally not popular
2. Usually portrayed as insensitive and robotic
3. Usually happier working with ideas than people
4. Often take a long time to arrive at decisions
5. Lean toward perfectionism
The extreme archetype of this leader is Spock from Star Trek.
Slide 5:
Persons who are suited to Directive Leadership, also known as Executive Leadership, are initiators. In the hazy smoke of battle (literal or metaphorical), while others are stumbling around in shock and confusion, looking for guidance, the Directive Leader is the one whose response is to charge forward boldly, and inspire others to follow them. They love to direct, and are able to initiate action, and to sustain action. They value doing over knowing. A person with a reduced strength in this area may be able to initiate, but unable to sustain action. In terms of Myers-Briggs or Keirsey personality typing, this person is often an NT. They value competence and effectiveness, and admire competent and effective people. In order to get an idea of how strong in this leadership role you are, score one point for each of the following characteristics that apply:
The Directive Leader:
1. Casts a compelling vision
2. Does not spend time or energy in the details of the process
3. High motivational capacity
4. Effective speaker
5. Good listener
6. Make people feel important
7. Intuitive decision maker
8. Air of confidence
9. Makes tough calls
10. Seldom compromises
The corollary weaknesses of this type are the following:
1. Disinterest in the minutiae of the process
2. Little patience in discussion about detail
3. Great with large groups but not especially warm with individuals
4. Restless
5. Have short attention span
6. Favour action over reflection
7. May ignore financial limitations and realities
8. Have a high interest in making good things happen now
Slide 6:
The Team Building Leader is all about people. They are natural people persons, and generate cohesion in any group that they are part of.
Their characteristics are as follows:
1. Enjoy organizing people around a common cause
2. Rely heavily on their relational network
3. Charismatic
4. Generate high morale
5. Place high value on people
6. Ability to interact with a high variety of people
7. Receives loyalty and respect from the team
Their weaknesses are:
1. Hate paperwork
2. Waffle on detail
3. Tendency to ignore agendas, action plans, and budgets
4. Allow relationships to hinder progress
5. Get hurt by people
Slide 7:
The Operational Leader is the final leadership role. This is a very practical, on-the ground leadership role.
The characteristics of an Operational Leader are as follows:
1. Provide stability to the organization
2. Devise systems to make things run smoothly
3. They act as a hub through which people go in the organization
4. Often reports bad news, but is seldom responsible
5. Create new solutions to old problems
6. Often complement the other three aptitudes
Their weaknesses:
1. Easily slips from leader to manager
2. Dislike conflict
3. Fail to see the big picture
4. Lack motivational skills
5. Can be viewed as a hindrance to progress
6. Often lack the influence of the other three aptitudes