Effective Leadership

Effective Leadership - leadership training

What are the definitions, examples and qualities of effective leadership?

Definition of leadership: A leader is person who is able to create and sustain a clear vision for a better future and who is able to communicate that vision so as to inspire others to act in order to achieve it . Examples of leadership:

From politics:

1. M.L. King
2. Ghandi

From business:

1. Steve Jobs
2. Donald Trump

From military history:

1. Caesar
2. Napoleon

From science:

1. Darwin
2. Pasteur

What are the attributes of leadership?

There are three major attributes of leadership:

1. A "vision"; to create and sustain a belief for a better future.
2. Language skills that will enable the leader to communicate that vision to others.
3. Self-belief and energy that will inspire others to take action to achieve the goal.

These three require six primary qualities of effective leadership.

1. Leadership requires a clear appreciation of the goal.

The goal is everything. A leader has to have somewhere specific to lead. That place is "a vision for a better future"

2. Language skills: Communication; the ability to transfer information and emotion

The leader has developed the expert use of both logic and emotion: Logic to convince the intellect and emotion to arouse the passion.

3. Plan, prioritise and organise

A goal without a plan is impotent. But a goal bound to an audacious plan is a powerful force for change.

Successful leaders operate according to their plan, not their mood.

Pasteur wrote: "Imagination should give wings to our thoughts. But we always need decisive proof, and when the moment comes to draw conclusions and to interpret the gathered observations, imagination must be checked and documented by factual results...."

4. Handle conflict in a professional way (non-emotionally)

Conflict is inevitable, and even fruitful, if it is well handled.
"Great leaders welcome contributions of ideas, but done in a spirit of contribution to the team, not at the expense of it.
Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress." Mohandas Gandhi

5. Self-Motivate and self-inspire

The leader's role is to inspire others; so the question arises: who inspires the leader?

Answer: Himself or herself. The leader is a self-starter.

The will of the leader is so perfectly developed that he/ she needs no external stimulus, to impel continuous action.
The leader has developed "personal initiative" derived from the contents of his / her own mind.
To the leader, it is the internal environment, the MIND, and not the external environment, the present circumstances, that matters most.

6. Inspire others to take positive action towards the goal

As a combination of the five abilities listed above:

1. Vision
2. Language
3. Planning ability
4. Handling dissent
5. Personal initiative

The leader has access to the sixth quality: the ability to inspire others.
To give emotional strength to others who, on their own, would feel weak.
To raise the vital spirits and induce activity in those, who on their own, would remain lethargic.
To inspire each individual to give more than he would have done, if left on his own.

"A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better". Jim Rohn

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