Leadership credo

Running Head: Leadership credo Insert Name: Insert Course Title: University Affiliation: Date: LEADERSHIP Some believe that leaders are born, not made, while others think that leadership is a quantifiable set of skills and ways of thinking that can be taught CITATION Car00 \l 1033 (Carrison, 2000) Concepts of leadership, ideas about leadership and leadership practices are the subject of much thought, discussion, writing, teaching and learning (Bashford, 2003). What is it that makes an effective leader? What are the attributes, skills and competencies leaders of organizations possess, and can these sets of skills be developed through training? Can some leaders perform below their potential, even becoming toxic leaders, and if so how is this occurrence recognizable? This report will investigate these concepts of leadership in order to provide a simple blueprint of the important aspects of what it is to be an effective leader in an organization. Leadership is a special case of interpersonal influence that gets the individual or group to do what the leader wants done. It is the ability to influence people to willingly follow ones guidance or adhere to ones decisions. A leader therefore is one who obtains followers and influences in setting and achieving objectives. S(he) influences his followers because of the perceived authority and power. Authority is the right to control, right to make decisions and commit the organizations resources. The exercise of authority involves: * Determination of subordinates workload and specific duties * Taking decisions on behalf of the group * Giving orders * Allocating rewards and imposing penalties on subordinates It can be formal: when accompanied by outward display of status. For Instance in Marine, the type of attire between managers and Subordinates besides the office outlay and furnishes for both ranks. On the contrary, power is the ability of an individual or group to influence the belief or actions of other people. It`s a measure of persons potential to get others do what he wants done. It can be seen as a form of dominance, punishment and control. Power is positive when the individual involved in exchange of it is doing so freely but negative when the individual involved feels sense of being forced or controlled to participate. In marine, power can be exercised upwards, downwards, and horizontally. Power is exercised from a position of command such as the leader of a troop in army. The five main attributes or competencies required for effective leadership within an organization are identified as follows; (1) vision and creativity; (2) setting objectives/achieving targets; (3) confident decision making; (4) team building; (5) coaching. These five attributes are by no means exhaustive when discussing leadership qualities. However with these five skills in place hand in hand with the organizational goals in mind, organizational outcomes and effective leadership success will more often than not be achieved. The relationship of each attribute to organizational outcomes will now be established. SOURCES OF POWER * Legitimate position power This power comes with the position held. Managerial position will provide authority which in itself carries positional power. The higher the position in the hierarchy, the greater the power of individual. In Marine, those in high ranks command more power such as the marine commander. * Reward and punishment This means the ability to grant favors or cause discomfort to others. * Charisma/Referent power This power is derived from personality one an individual and how that personality is perceived by others. Leadership roles A good leader should be : * An educator They should be able to teach subordinates on job skills, organizational values, acceptable code of behavior and conduct. This makes them serve as role models through their work habits, attitudes and behavior. They are responsible for formal training of employees. * Counselor As a counselor, a leader should be listening, giving advice and preventing and solving employee problems. They must be aware and concerned about the employees, must be ready to assist them in solving those problems. * Judge As a judge a leader will be involved in upraising the performance of workers, reinforcing policies, procedures and regulations, settling disputes and dispensing justice. * Spokesman Leaders speak for their subordinates by passing all suggestions and concerns and views to higher authority. Generally, a leader should be a fore figure in his team. Nature of leadership Leadership has three elements; the leader, the led and the environment. The leader handles the leadership situation by his managerial philosophy, values, needs and strengths or preferences for a leadership style. A leader`s philosophy about work and people will influence his approach I leadership. The led have to accept to be supervised by the leader and must be work hand in han...