For my view of leadership, I am taking a page Zenger and
Folkman’s The Extraordinary Leader. They illustrate leadership through a
tent model. I utilized the same
structure, however I changed the support beams of the “Leadership Tent.”
My view of leadership requires that a leader be
knowledgeable, understanding, and a person of action, honesty and
integrity. A person can be a good leader
with a combination of all of these elements, but a great leader posses all of
them and has moral courage to live by them.
Knowledge refers
to someone having core competencies developed through their education, job
experience, and life experiences.
Understanding
refers to a leader’s ability to recognize that everyone has a different story
to tell, and everyone has something unique about them. A leader utilizes the
strengths of others, and empowers those to see the world from different
“lenses.” A great quality here would be to an empathetic listener. When one
listens empathetically, they will listen first and not feel compelled to push
their thoughts or views onto others.
Action is the
vessel that turns dreams into realities. Some many great people never implement
their goals or dreams for one reason or another. Without action, leadership should only remain
in books. A leader recognizes not only when to act, but when to follow as well.
Aristotle once stated that on should, “Do the right thing, at the right time,
for the right reasons.” A leader recognizes his/her own motives and acts in the
best interests of the group.
Honesty &
Integrity is almost essential for all leaders. Words like accountability,
trust, respect and sincerity will go a long way in establishing great
relationships with followers.
Moral Courage is
the backbone of any leader. Every leader feels that gut wrenching feeling when
they know they should act. It is pushing through the feelings of
doubt/hesitation that makes a good leader an eminent one.
