Reflection and Leadership

Reflection and Leadership

Introduction to Leadership

Some view leadership as a series of specific traits or characteristics, others see it as certain skills and knowledge. And some think of leadership as a process which looks at social interaction and relationship. This is the idea that leadership is a type of relationship that influences people in a certain direction. Many organizational leaders still view leadership as a set of specific traits, values, and beliefs. The more of these you display as a leader, the more your followers will believe and trust in you. One question is your beliefs/values aligned with your actions? Character is not reflected by what we say, or even by what we intend, it is a reflection of what we do (Anderson, E. 2011).

Essentially leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well communicated, building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realize your own leadership potential.

In today's world there are few leaders and many mangers (whose purpose is the “attainment of goals in an efficient manner”). Until a few years ago, two of the top four soccer clubs in the British Premier League were Liverpool and Manchester United. Liverpool was then managed by Rafael Benitez and Manchester United was (and still is) managed by Sir Alex Ferguson (Anderson, E. 2011). In short, Benitez was more of a manager then a leader and Sir Alex is vice versa. Benitez talked in terms of stats whereas Sir Alex goes beyond setting goals which helped him retain some of the best players in the world and made him an effective leader. Benitez was a stubborn manager who usually was unwilling to listen to criticism from all stakeholders; he refused to change his defensive strategy of zonal marking even in the face of mounting pressure and inadequate results.

Reflection in Leadership

Being a leader, it is very essential to project the appropriate reflection upon your subordinates to motivate them. Reflection literary means that how an individual portray him/herself in front of subordinates. It plays a vital role in the career of any leader to motivate its subordinates (MacPherson, M. 2009). A team would also go in the direction, where its leader would take it, irrespective of the efforts of the subordinates. Consider the example of two countries. Pakistan is a third world country, and Mr. Asif A. Zardari is the president of Pakistan (Hogg, P. 2011). The entire country is suffering from several political and economical crises. The progress of country reflects the leadership skills of the president. Whereas, on the other hand, the president of United States has really lifted the image of the country in the global platform.

Theoretical Approach to Leadership and Reflection

Leaders tend to praise their teams for their work. The leaders usually motivate the employees beyond their expectations. It is the requirement of transactional leader to provide the vision for the future and, this help the employees and followers to manage their work and actions in a timely manner (Kerin, ...