Becoming an Effective Leader

Becoming an Effective Leader

What is Leadership

The term 'leadership' defines those character attributes and personality traits of a person that allow them to adapt to the setting around them so that the people around them feel empowered to contribute in a creative way and work towards the resolution of problems (Weinstein et al., 2004). It is the ability to do something through effective utilization of a person's talents (natural ability) and skill (proficiency acquired through rigorous training and experience).

Leadership is adaptive by nature. This means that a leader is able to make the appropriate adjustments at the appropriate time in order to progress towards the defined goal (Weinstein et al., 2004). Leaders who fail to make the necessary adjustments in the territory are more likely to lose their focus and this tends to jeopardize the process of achieving the defined goals.

Leadership acts according to the surrounding environmental setting, meaning that leaders make adjustments that are based on the state of the surrounding environment and the people in it. In an organization, a good and effective leader will carefully make observations of the state of his surrounding environment in order to discern things of value (Srivastava, 2003). The leader will then look for ways that help him and his followers to adapt to the setting most effectively.

Impact of transformational leadership on organization

Transformational leaders exhibit some distinct behaviors and traits in order to inspire and motivate their team members to rally around a common goal or vision (Srivastava, 2003). These traits and behaviors generally include intellectual stimulation, charisma, individual consideration and inspirational motivation for tem members or group members. For several reasons, transformational leadership plays an integral role at the micro (individual) level as well as the macro (organizational) level (Srivastava, 2003). Transformational leadership impacts an organization in the following ...