The 3 Concepts of Effective Leadership

When it comes to leadership three images may come to mind. You may think of a political leader working to pursue an economical cause, you may think of an explorer cutting bushes and vines making a path to get other explores to a destination or you may think of an executive developing a company strategy to beat its competitors. Leadership describes so many people and jobs. There is this quote by Professor Warren G. Bennis that I found interesting, “Leaders are people who do the right thing, managers are people who do the things right”. This quote is saying that leaders may work hard to do the right thing but it may not necessarily be done right and managers work hard to do things right but may not be the right thing. Leaders and managers may at times think differently but when they both think correctly and get tasks done right, they are one.

It is important to know what makes an effective leader. An effective leader creates an inspiring vision of the future, motivates and inspires people, manages delivery of the vision and coaches as well as builds a team. A leader works hard to bring together of a common goal or interest. Together they work hard to succeed. The leader may teach and coach the team how to achieve the goal or vison but together they work hard to achieve it.

I took the test How Good are Your Leadership Skills and I scored a 70. The description it had for a person that scores a 70 said “You are on your way to become a good leader. However, you can never be too good at leadership or too experienced”. It told me to look at the areas I scored high in and the areas I can work on and see how I can improve.

The first area I scored high in which is a 10/10, was positive attitude and outlook. That area talks about me having a positive attitude in life and having a good outlook on life as well as being optimistic. I scored a 7/10 in emotional intelligence which is about understanding people. I agree that I need to work on understanding people more and it is a hard concept since you cannot always read people’s minds. I got the same score for providing a compelling vision and motivating people. Providing a compelling vision is about presenting ideas, the future and having knowledge of the area you are working in. I would say that I need to present my ideas better and have better knowledge of certain areas I work in. Motivating people is about creating and selling the vison, as well as convincing others of the objectives.

I scored a little higher in role model, 8/10. A role model does what they say and they communicate with others. I can work on that and become a better role, especially by keeping promises and communicating with others. My last two scores were in managing performance, 6/10 and providing support, 15/20. Managing performance is about setting expectations clearly and telling people what you want; that is an area I can work on. Providing support is about making in a work place feel good and motivating them. You want to challenge them, motivate them, and make them feel good.

Lastly, I watched this short video that described leadership styles. The styles are autocratic, democratic, laissez-Faire and transformational. Autocratic is about talking and communicating with the team and asking what they think, what their opinions are. Democratic is talking to the team about making decisions and which one they should make. But democratic will not work if a quick decision has to be made. Laissez-Faire is about managing time, and helping the team manage their own time. Transformational is about communication and working together but this style will not work if you expect more than others or more from others.

The whole website was full of information and very helpful. The test itself was short and very helpful at understanding where one stands in leadership. I really enjoyed this assignment and all that it had to provide.