Month: May 2020

Being a leader is difficult. That’s why most of us end up taking direction from others in our professional lives. But the ranks of the self-employed are swelling, hinting that more people are getting comfortable taking the reins in their own hands. And in fact, becoming a leader (even if it’s just of yourself) is something anyone who’s committed to the task can master. There’s no inborn quality that leaders possess. They’re ordinary people who decide at one point or another to do extraordinary things.

That doesn’t just take courage, it demands creativity the kind you need to actively nurture and practice. I’m an artist, so I like to think about leadership as an art form. And I’ve found that in order to become a leader, you need to develop similar qualities to an artist–to tap into your creative intelligence in order to keep ahead of the crowd, stay nimble, and inspire those around you to push themselves, too.

Here are five traits the most creative driven leaders–and therefore the best leaders, generally speaking all possess.

1. They Rattle Cages

Change is a constant. In the natural world, in politics, in business, the only thing that stays the same is the fact that nothing stays the same. Some people wait until they’re propelled into leadership positions by forces around them. But the best leaders from Joan of Arc to Martin Luther King, Jr. to Steve Jobs–first provoke themselves into action, then the people around them. They’re constantly imagining new possibilities. They instigate change that they envision even when others don’t.

Yet perhaps the only major difference between these great leaders and the average person is that they’re willing to do something rather than let circumstances dictate life for them. That typically means rattling cages and shaking up long-standing beliefs and institutions which is never easy or universally well-received. But that’s precisely what makes them great. To rise to your true leadership potential, chances are you’ll need to rattle a few cages as well, starting with your own.

2. They Listen to Intuition

There are things we know to be true and things we feel to be true. Thanks to our education, most of us tend to lean on our existing knowledge base to solve problems and make decisions. But the best leaders are those who realize that the things they sense those possibilities that lie just beyond the realm of the known hold a special value, too. Listening to them is how real breakthroughs happen.

Most of us have problems balancing logic with intuition. But the truth is that those faculties aren’t opposed to one another. In fact, you need to figure out how to get them working together if you’re to become a truly creative leader. Intellect without intuition makes for a smart person without impact. Intuition without intellect makes a spontaneous person without direction.

3. They Move Fast

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for anyone trying to accomplish something is perfectionism the need to get it exactly right before taking the next step. But the best leaders realize that perfection is impossible, and pursuing perfection often stands in the way of what’s most important: progress. Leadership requires making consistent strides, no matter how big. And the quicker the stride, the greater the progress.

Don’t buy into the notion that you can take a giant leap if you spend enough time carefully mapping it out. By the time you get done planning, others will have lapped you twice and already taken that leap you spent months mulling over. Opt instead to “just go” and let the sparks fly. You will make mistakes. But in the process, you’ll learn quickly and keep moving refining your skills and igniting new levels of creativity you didn’t know you had.

4. They have convictions and stick to them

“Don’t ask what the world needs,” the great civil rights leader Howard Thurman once said. “Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” There’s something compelling about a person with conviction, whether or not you agree with everything he or she represents. But conviction is rare, because in our longing for stability and security, we often make the mistake of looking outside ourselves for direction when we should be looking inside. And over time we can lose sight of who we truly are and what’s really important to us.

Conviction can be cultivated, though and it starts with you individually. While those who live with great conviction can always inspire you, they don’t know your passions and beliefs. Only you can ask, “What makes me come alive?” From there, the gaps between who you are and who you can still be will become clear. You might find you need something dramatic like a career change, or the exercise of answering that question might help propel you down the path you’re already on. The key is to find something that you feel you’re meant to do and give yourself to it.

5. They don’t (only) do what’s expected of them

The ability to come up with new ideas is a defining characteristic of great leaders. They’re able to step out of the common view and imagine new possibilities that set the course for others to follow. Each of us has a tremendous capacity for originality we’re each unique, after all but activating it can be difficult. Why? Because our lives are full of other demands our jobs, our families and we spend most of our precious time and energy just trying to keep up.

In order to free your own originality, you need to be willing to stop doing only what’s required and expected of you and start doing the things that only you can do–those ideas and projects you keep shelving until you’ve got time for them. But the truth is there’s never a convenient moment to tackle them. There’s never going to come a time when you’ll be 100% certain you’ll succeed if you do. Get started on those things today and work on them every day thereafter.

Ultimately, the real difference between you and the creative leaders who inspire you is action. You have the innate capacity to develop all the qualities they possess. The key is to start. Start today. Start now. Don’t wait around until life demands something of you it always will. That’s not what leaders do.

Contemporary roles associated with lead team as controlling the conflicts; training to improve team member performance; used to provide as troubleshooters. It appears to act in response in a group in which they have to participate with the first choice. It involves mentor who is a senior worker who sponsors and facilitates a less experienced worker. Command can be taught online as it builds trust in the working environment of the business.

Challenges facing to authority can be based on features attributed as leaders are sensible, ongoing, have strong verbal skills, understanding, are aggressive and industrious. Actually they perceive or project the looks to be a innovator. Many customers are seeking to understand — and many people are writing about the concept and methods of leadership. The idea of leadership is pertinent to any facet of ensuring effectiveness in organizations and in controlling change.

1. Failure to Communicate

The complexity of today’s business world requires CEOs to be able to communicate on multiple levels. For example, you have to create the vision and persuade your team to make it their vision too. You have to connect on an individual level and inspire people to move from “I” to “we.” And you have to build trust by ensuring your verbal communication and your non-verbal actions reinforce each other.

Effective communication is so hard because it takes commitment. You have to make effective communication a priority and that takes discipline, consistency, clarity of message, and a willingness to keep at it day after day.

By putting a structured communication system in place that connects at the right level with all of your stakeholders, you can dramatically improve your effectiveness as a leader and drive faster top and bottom line growth.

2. Lack of Accountability

If you notice that the big things are not getting done and good ideas fall through the cracks, you lack accountability. We all need scoreboards that track the results we want. Most CEOs know this, but putting this system into place requires self-discipline and focus. Build the systems you need to support accountability and don’t get distracted until they are a part of your operations.

3. Fear of Firing

Even the best leaders worry about firing a member of their team if the team has become a close-knit family. When was the last time you fired someone who has been with you so long you know their family?

Unfortunately, we often find that the people who got you here will not get you there because the company has outgrown the person’s ability to keep up. As the company grows, so must your team members and as a leader, you have to make the tough decisions to continually upgrade your talent. People want to work for winning organizations and keeping a team member around who’s not pulling their weight just drags everybody else down with them.

4. Lack of Alignment

Imagine being a fish trying to swim upstream. It’s tough to make progress. That’s what happens when your key players are not all on the same page. Sure, you’ll have disagreements but as the leader, you have to make sure that when the decision is made, your team is behind it and they move forward in unity to make it happen. And simple things like making sure your compensation systems are lined up to reward the desired behavior are critical. Once you align your team’s incentives to those of the company, magic starts to happen.

5. Lack of Clear Vision

What is your company’s vision? If I walk into your building and ask three people, can they articulate your vision? Can they describe what the vision means to them and how the work they do supports the vision and brings meaning to their work? And your vision can’t just be a fluff statement that sounds like a bunch of corporate speak. Real leaders create a compelling vision for the future that ignites a fire under their team and keeps them working hard and doing the right thing even when nobody’s looking. Millennials, in particular, want to believe that the work they do goes beyond just a paycheck and contributes to the greater good. Does your vision inspire this greatness?

6. Poor Execution

There are three reasons leaders fail to execute. First, they don’t follow their own plan with discipline. Second, they fail to keep score on what matters. Third, they don’t have the right people in the right jobs to make it happen. If you can assemble these three puzzle pieces, you can put your company on track to win.

7. A Company Culture by Default

We all envy Google, Facebook, and Zappos for their dazzling company cultures. But what we forget is that the creator of culture is the CEO, not HR or anyone else. Did you create your culture by design or did it just happen by default? When you consciously think about and design your culture to foster your desired behavior, your culture becomes a competitive advantage that attracts top talent and drives massive results. 

Leadership is a skill you can learn. By avoiding these seven common leadership problems, you can lead your team and your company to greatness.

A leadership team is a group of two or more people who lead organizations that represent diverse functions, geographies, or areas of expertise, and who are committed to collaboratively serve some significant organizational purpose for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. By definition, these leaders hold such positions as senior vice president, department or division head, country manager, business unit leader, brand leader, or executive committee member. They are leaders of their own functional or geographic organizations who have been asked to join and work together to add value beyond what they and their organizations respectively provide.

Effective Leadership Team

Many leadership team members recognize that it takes a different set of competencies to be an effective member of a leadership team than it does to lead their own functional or cross-functional teams.

If there is tension between the leadership team members’ functional or geographic leadership role and their role as a leadership team member, there often is a tendency for leadership team members to fight. There are several reasons why these conflicts occur:

• Personal or functional agendas or goals can take precedence over leadership team agendas or goals
• The team members’ personal needs for independence, power, or control override their needs for inclusion, collaboration, and trust
• Concerns over budgets or shares of the pie take priority over strategic concerns for the overall enterprise
• There may be competition among team members to get the team leader role.

However, by fulfilling three essential conditions, your team will be effective:

1. Commitment to accountability

It’s important to align the leadership team around a common purpose and set of goals or objectives that they mutually assume responsibility for achieving. These goals are the rallying point for the leadership team and give them a sense of both identity and value in other words, the reason for their existence as a team. When positive progress occurs, team members have the willingness and ability to acknowledge success; and when there are problems and deviations, team members have the ability to identify issues quickly with a perspective of problem solving, not blaming.

2. Culture of team trust

High-performing leadership teams must operate in an environment that reflects the two most important components of team trust: credibility (an ability to make decisions, deliver results, deliver on promises, admit mistakes, and proactively resolve issues) and empathy (an ability to listen and understand, be nonjudgmental, and be concerned and supportive of each other). Because members of a leadership team are potential competitors for their leader’s position, it is even more critical that they continuously work at demonstrating their ability to give and receive each other’s trust.

3. Emotional intelligent leadership team behaviors

This is the ability of a team to establish norms and prioritize key leadership practices that govern how leadership team members want to behave with each other in order to maximize their overall effectiveness. High-performing leadership team interactions and discussions are characterized as open and respectful with the intent of thoughtful issue resolution.

Leadership Roles

No matter what your specific management position entails, being a leader is not an easy job to have. You must wear many different hats and respond to the needs of many different people not just your own team members and employees, but your managers and the people you are serving and for whom you are creating and delivering your product or service, too.

Everyone has a different leadership style, philosophy and way of executing her vision while leading her company or team. However, great leaders must always fill certain roles in order to do their jobs well, achieve progress and make their personal and company vision a success.

1. Strategist

As a leader, your work involves developing a plan for your company and the work you and your team members do. Your responsibilities include outlining specific goals for your company and determining the steps you and your employees need to take to achieve them. You should also establish what metrics you will use for evaluating whether you have achieved your goals and plans. Determine what success means upfront:

• Do you want to increase sales numbers?
• Are you looking to streamline your processes?
• Is there a particular area, product, or department that you would like to improve?

Figuring out what success looks like will help you hone your strategy and the steps you will take to achieve it. Clearly define the best measures to evaluate specific goals, too. What kind of data will you generate? How can you use it to measure your efforts?

2. Communicator

Communication is crucial for all organizational leaders and really any employee at any stage in her career. You need to be able to communicate your ideas to your employees, the public, and your managers. You will also communicate with people on a regular basis; even sending a quick email, running or participating in a meeting and making a phone call are forms of communication. Whether you’re a new manager relaying plans for the company, implementing organizational change or simply communicating day-to-day procedures and expectations, effective communication is one of the most important skills a leader can have.

3. Innovator

You didn’t rise to the top solely because you possess strong skills in your industry although that is surely the case. Your capacity for innovation helped get you there, too. Good leaders don’t just continue to do things the way they’ve always been done or sit back and let “followers” carry out the responsibilities; they continually develop new ideas. Not all your ideas will pan out, but failure is part of the innovation process. In order for a business to thrive and grow, change needs to take place and you are the one who should drive that change.

4. Coach

Leaders certainly have their moment in the spotlight, but effective managers also give their employees time and opportunities to shine. Part of being a team leader or company leader means you should help your employees grow and thrive in their roles. That means giving feedback both positive feedback when they’ve done something particularly well and constructive criticism when you notice a skill or task upon which they can improve, offering direction and celebrating success, even if it’s not your personal victory.

5. Delegator

This one goes hand-in-hand with coach. A leader can’t and shouldn’t do everything. If you’re good at your job, you’ll know your own limitations and recognize when somebody else could be doing a task or project better than you could. Furthermore, you’ll understand that others need to learn because it takes many people to run a successful organization, and you need to give them a chance to develop their own skills, even if you may have already mastered them.

6. Adaptor

Management is not without its hiccups and bumps along the road. All leadership positions require a fair degree of flexibility. If a plan isn’t panning out the way you wanted or expected it to, you need to be capable of recognizing that and changing course when it becomes necessary. No one likes admitting defeat, but part of being a leader means that you have to stop wasting time and resources on something that just isn’t going to pan out.

You also need to adapt to changing environments. Sometimes market trends force a company to adapt and change with the times. For instance, new technologies are changing the way industries across the board perform their work, and as a leader in your industry, you need to make sure your company keeps up with trends. You don’t want to be the one lagging behind.

7. Networker

Networking, networking, networking. It is a crucial aspect of any professional’s life, and none more so than a leader. Depending on your specific leadership position and function, you may be the face of your company; if that’s the case, or even you’re not at the very top, you need to constantly promote your company and its values. Networking isn’t just important for your company’s growth; it’s also essential for your personal growth.

Mentoring is a system of semi-structured guidance whereby one person shares their knowledge, skills and experience to assist others to progress in their own lives and careers. Mentors need to be readily accessible and prepared to offer help as the need arises within agreed bounds.

Mentors very often have their own mentors, and in turn their mentees might wish to ‘put something back’ and become mentors themselves it’s a chain for ‘passing on’ good practice so that the benefits can be widely spread.

Mentoring can be a short-term arrangement until the original reason for the partnership is fulfilled (or ceases), or it can last many years.

Mentoring is more than ‘giving advice’, or passing on what your experience was in a particular area or situation. It’s about motivating and empowering the other person to identify their own issues and goals, and helping them to find ways of resolving or reaching them not by doing it for them, or expecting them to ‘do it the way I did it’, but by understanding and respecting different ways of working.

Mentoring is not counselling or therapy though the mentor may help the mentee to access more specialized avenues of help if it becomes apparent that this would be the best way forward.

What do Mentors do?

Mentors listen objectively and act as a sounding board. They ask questions that encourage mentees to look at issues from a variety of perspectives and focus on problem-solving, decision-making and solutions. They challenge traditional ways of thinking and encourage strategies outside of their mentee’s comfort zone.

Mentors can prepare their mentees for professional careers and assist with their workplace skills. They raise the bar regarding a mentee’s potential and provide guidance, support, encouragement and constructive feedback.

What is the impact of Mentoring?

Mentoring can make a profound difference to the lives of mentees, and in turn strengthen our communities, economy and country.

The consistent, enduring presence of a caring adult in a young person’s life can be the difference between staying in school or dropping out, making healthy decisions or engaging in risky behaviours and between realising one’s potential or failing to achieve one’s dreams.

Young people with mentors, especially at-risk youth, have more positive visions of themselves and their futures. They also achieve more positive outcomes in school, the workplace and their communities.

Self-Mentoring

‘Self-mentoring’ is a process which requires you to assemble a realistic, accurate assessment of yourself (strengths and weaknesses) with the goal of crafting your ‘ideal self’ to heighten job performance, career progression, or personal ambitions. This practice, suitable for any age, profession, gender, race, or ability, is a four-stage framework which includes: self-awareness, self-development, self-reflection, and self-monitoring.

The term self-mentoring is a registered trademark and owned by the author. You cannot own a copyright on a registered trademark.

The goal of self-mentoring is to more effectively marshal one’s strengths and maintain direction through the inevitable ups and downs of moving forward in ones life and career.  More than simply a mindset, self-mentoring is an integrated set of strategies and skills that will help you at any age or stage in life be more insightful, proactive and creative in navigating change and moving forward in whatever area(s) of your life you choose.

Self-mentoring skills, concepts and insights work by both complementing and enhancing the essential skills that all of us rely on to be effective in our chosen profession: leading, selling, listening, decision-making, motivating, creative thinking and problem-solving, just to name a few. 

The benefits of using methods in self-mentoring when acclimating to new positions are abundant. This is especially true in the university setting. Academic professions are often self-directed within the domains of performance guidelines, review procedures, and promotion decisions employed by the university. Research suggests there is heightened self-esteem and self-efficacy with the application of self-mentoring practices. This, in turn, enhances connection and commitment to the institution.

To understand ways an individual can adapt to and apply self-mentoring skills, the following personal example illustrates this process. This case involves an instructor in higher education.

The detailed concept of self-mentoring (with all 4 levels embedded) was born as a result of a superintendent’s adversities transitioning into higher education position. She found her new work at a university overwhelming as a disconnect persisted between her and her assigned mentor. While her mentor was more than proficient in ability and expertise, their mentor/mentee relationship struggled and wasn’t serving its purpose. Through the complexity of this experience, self-mentoring evolved as a tool the faculty member clung to and crafted in order to survive her new role.

In developing the process of self-mentoring, the new employee drew upon her innate as well as learned leadership skills and competencies. She established a plan for survival that involved setting expectations, forming strategies, gathering and analyzing data, networking, and monitoring progress. Pleased with her success at the end her first year, she continued her job and more importantly began sharing her methods she fittingly named, ‘self-mentoring’. The basic tenet leading this concept is ‘You are your own best mentor’ (Bond & Hargreaves, 2014). Kimberly Horn (2013) explains there will always be times in one’s career when the right mentor-mentee match simply doesn’t happen. This is when self-mentoring becomes the perfect option for acclimating to the change(s) and growing personally and professionally as a result.

For this retired superintendent, the shift into a role of university practitioner was met with obstacles she surmounted through the process of self-mentoring. After the creation and follow-through of this practice, this professor was honored with three prestigious academic awards. Self-mentoring has now moved beyond the field of education and impacted weight loss programs, student leadership, mentoring, and executive coaching experiences.

Self Leadership

Self-led people mostly take their own decisions and set personal targets. This ability is typical of entrepreneurs, mentors, top managers etc.

We say a person has self-leadership skills when he has foresight, makes the right decisions and choices on his own, and exhibits dedication towards achieving his goals.

Aside goal setting, self-awareness is another factor that helps make people great self-leaders. Every manager must possess self-leadership skills.

Importance of self-leadership

Self-leadership is the first stage or level of leadership. For employees, whether mangers or ordinary subordinates, self-leadership is of great importance.

As a manager, you receive very little or no supervision. This means you should be able to plan and set your objectives on your own, as well as influence your own self to follow those plans.

As lower level employee, you can never be sure the kind of management or leaders you will meet in the course of tour career. Despite whatever leadership you may come across whether laissez faire, democratic or autocratic you should be able to exhibit self-leadership. Employers like workers who can take great decisions on their own and are able to influence themselves to work effectively.

Self-leadership helps make the individual proactive, disciplined, and an independent decision maker. People who have no strong sense of self-leadership tend to feel they are not in control of themselves, often lack focus and get overwhelmed easily.

How to improve on self-leadership

Self-leadership is indisputably a lovable skill. Here are four tips that should help you improve on self-leadership skills.

• Clarity of purpose. Every leadership or leader has a vision. Being your own leader, your purpose or vision will be the foundation upon which you will build self-leadership. Without properly scripted objectives or purpose for your life, you will be at peril trying to follow people’s plans or ideas for your life and you end up stuck in the middle of nowhere.
• Aim at success and take reasonable risks. Risk taking is an essential aspect of life. Challenge yourself to take on daring projects. Don’t discourage yourself with past failures of yourself or others focus on success. However, they should be reasonably calculated risks that are relevant to your purpose.
• Spend time to reflect on your life. While you remain the active doer of the things you do, you may see things from your perspective only. Take some time off to reflect on your life compare the past to the present and the present to future goals. Until you take a break to analyze yourself, you may never identify certain petty shortcomings. Reflections can also mean allowing someone to make an objective assessment of you.
• Don’t tolerate just anything. You cannot put your vision at risk.  You should learn to be intolerant of any suggestion or ideas which are not in line with your vision. This intolerance is not towards others only but yourself too. It includes not tolerating negative aspects of your nature such as laziness, fear, timidity etc.

Online leadership is a social influence process, mediated by technology, to produce a change in attitudes, feelings, thinking, behavior, and performance with individuals, groups, or organizations to direct them toward achieving a specific goal;. As stated by Avolio and Kahai (2002), this involves enhancing the relationships among organizational members in a context in which work is mediated by technology. In this case, communication and the collection and dissemination of information occurs via information technology. Traditionally, leadership in organizations involve face-to-face interactions. Now, leaders may lead entire projects from a distance and interact with followers solely through information technology. Today, organizations are incorporating technology that interactions, creating a need for e-leadership. This wiring involves forms of technology such as videoconferencing, online collaboration software, cellphones, e-mail, and Wi-Fi. As a result, organizations are struggling with technological-integration issues while employees face a steep learning curve;. However, our understanding of how information systems change human dynamics has lagged behind the introduction and use of new technology. Thus, technology is being used without knowing the full extend of its impact on human dynamics in organizations.

Online leadership Research

Researchers have investigated online leadership in both the organizational and laboratory setting. According to Avolio and Kahai (2002), field studies of virtual teams suggest that early interactions during the formation of the teams can predict subsequent trust, satisfaction, and performance. For example, teams who spent early meetings identifying team members and clarifying expectations were found to have higher performance several months later. Thus, in order to provide virtual teams with a reason to work together, e-leaders should promote interdependence and reliance on each other. It must be noted that virtual teams may be geographically and culturally dispersed. Thus, in order to foster close relationships in geographically dispersed team, leaders should encourage a variety of task related communication. Online leadership has also been investigated in more controlled settings. According to, controlled experiments on e-leadership suggest that participative leadership may be more suitable for generating solutions for un- or semi-structured problems while directive leadership may be more suitable for generating solutions for structured problems. These studies also report that features of the groupware system that is used for communication may substitute for leadership. Finally, controlled experiments also report that motivation is enhanced by anonymity. Thus, e-leaders should probably consider using anonymous chat rooms and polls as mentioned previously.

Online Leadership Approaches/Styles

Online leadership can involve the same style and content as traditional face-to-face leadership, especially as the advancement of technology enables more visual virtual interactions. Participative leadership involves creating opportunities for individuals to be more involved in decision-making. Considering the importance of having members involved in the decision-making process, participative e-leaders can use technology such as chat rooms with anonymous input and electronic polls as tools to inform both their followers and themselves. Like the more traditional transformational leadership, e-leadership can also be inspiring. To this end, e-leaders can use tools such as e-mail to communicate compelling visions, pride in the accomplishments of followers, or excitement about new ventures.

Successful online leadership

No one can deny that being a successful leader requires building relationships and trust. However, in the case of e-leadership, one may have the added challenge of building relationships and trust more rapidly. Close personal relationships are possible in virtual settings and leaders can aid in fostering them by considering factors of media richness. In choosing modes of communication, these leaders must consider its capacity to provide immediate feedback, availability of personalization, language variety. To this end, leaders need to learn the vividness and interactivity of media to make their presence felt in a positive way. Avolio and Kahai (2002) mention that successful e-leadership involves an appropriate balance of traditional and new methods, avoiding misunderstandings by carefully and clearly communicating intent to followers, using technology to reach out to others in responsive ways, and using technology to deal with greater workforce diversity.

For many businesspeople, the last thing you want to worry about (or do) is managing people. You want to get out there and meet customers and create awesome products and bring exciting new opportunities through your front door. But unless you’ve hired people to take on the task of managing your employees, then you’re still on the hook.

The good news is that you can make that task a little bit easier for yourself by remembering these 7 essential leadership keys, and your organization will benefit as a direct result.

1. Delegate wisely

The key to leadership success is to learn to effectively delegate both the responsibility for completing assignments and the authority required to get things done. Many bosses feel that they need to control every little thing that their employees do. This is a recipe for disaster. When you delegate work to employees, you multiply the amount of work you can accomplish while you develop your employees’ confidence, leadership and work skills.

2. Set goals

Every employee needs goals to strive for. Not only do goals give employees direction and purpose, but they ensure that your employees are working towards the overall organizational goals. Set specific and measurable goals with your employees, then regularly monitor their progress toward achieving them.

3. Communicate

Far too many bosses communicate far too little. It’s often difficult for busy business owners and executives to keep their employees up-to-date on the latest organizational news. Regardless, you must make every effort to get employees the information they need to do their jobs quickly and efficiently.

4. Make time for employees

Above all, leadership is a people job. When an employee needs to talk with you–whatever the reason–make sure that you set aside the time to do so. Put your work aside for a moment, put down your smartphone, and focus on the person standing in front of you.

5. Recognize achievements

Every employee wants to do a good job. And when they do a good job, employees want recognition from their bosses. Unfortunately, few bosses do much in the way of recognizing and rewarding employees for a job well done. The good news is that there are many things bosses can do to recognize employees that cost little or no money, are easy to implement, and that take only a few minutes to accomplish.

6. Think about lasting solutions

No matter how difficult the problem, there is always a quick solution, and leaders are happiest when they are devising solutions to problems. The trouble is that, in our zeal to fix things quickly and move on to the next fire, we often overlook the lasting solution that may take longer to develop. Although it’s more fun to be a firefighter, the next time you have a problem to solve in your organization, deal with the cause of the problem instead of simply treating the symptoms.

7. Don’t take it all too seriously

Without a doubt, running a company is serious business. Products and services must be sold and delivered, and money must be made. Despite the gravity of these responsibilities, successful leaders make their organizations fun places to work. Instead of having employees who look for every possible reason to call in sick or to arrive to work late or go home early, organizations work hard and play hard end up with a more loyal, energized workforce.

Effective Leadership

Effective leadership shines not only when the going is good, but also (even more so, sometimes) when things are rough. They’re respected (not feared) by the people around them, who in turn, become motivated to work harder and make more significant contributions to the betterment of the organization as well.

Leadership is not about working towards a goal single-handedly. In fact, leadership is about inspiring and motivating people to work together towards a goal.

Good leadership is important. As an article from Pennsylvania State University states, “Effective leadership is essential to a functioning society.” In a smaller scale, the fact remains true in organizations and businesses. It’s basically impossible for a company to continue to evolve and grow with the times without effective leadership. Especially during this time where digital technology is changing every aspect of how business is being done and how customers are engaging with brands, a brand without effective leaders will be like a ship sailing without a captain directing which way to go.

What make good leaders?

Being a good leader isn’t something everyone can do. It’s not easy. Every effective leader needs to possess and/or work towards their goals and vision. Good leaders are keys to improved productivity and morale among members of an organization. So what makes an effective leader? Many good leaders share several traits and attitudes. Here are some of them.

1. Good leaders are decisive

Effective leadership is about not wasting time. That includes the time needed to make decisions. More often than not, so much time can be wasted in the decision-making process that many opportunities are missed. Production sometimes even comes to a halt. Good leaders are all about making informed decisions, but are always mindful of the timeframes involved. And once a decision is made, they commit to it and see things through. They realize that putting-off important decisions can have significant effects on an organizations productivity and growth.

2. They practice what they preach

Effective leadership, in essence, also involves leading by example. It’s hard to respect someone who asks everyone to come on time, or work towards a certain goal if that person isn’t willing to come on time or put in their share of the work themselves. Many times, good leaders set the bar and meet it instead of just talking down to everyone. As an article in Forbes says, “A leader who rolls up their sleeves and gets dirty from time to time will create a loyalty in his or her people that will result in achieving goals beyond what we usually expect.”

3. They don’t lose sight of goals

Effective leaders are problem-solvers. Or at the very least, they don’t dwell on problems and instead focus on working towards a solution. They don’t have the answers all the time, but they sure will always be working to get answers. They don’t complain and instead look forward and move forward, always keeping in mind the goals they set at the beginning, and always looking at the bigger picture. To this end, they prioritize and set the tasks that need to be done first.

4. They are passionate about what they do

Effective leadership is about believing in what one is doing. Good leaders don’t and will never say, “it’s just a job,” or “I just work here.” They care about what they do, they care about the organization, and they care about the people they lead and work with.

5. Good leaders are humble and accountable

This plays into the aspect of effective leadership that relies on generating respect that is earned, instead of relying on one’s position or title in the organization. It is humility that makes great leaders open-minded and willing to listen to others and even take constructive criticism. They don’t let pride get in the way of accomplishing goals and executing their vision for the business. They are also willing to take responsibility for their actions and don’t point fingers at the people they work with when things go south.

6. They give credit where credit is due

Often you’ll hear the story about the boss that stole an idea, or took credit for someone else’s accomplishment. Good leaders share the glory, and are quick to credit a team member or colleague for a good idea. They know that success is through teamwork, and they respect the contribution and work other people make.

7. Helps people grow

Great leaders help people grow. They willingly share what they know and look out for learning opportunities for the people they work with (or the people who work for them). They build up the team and foster strong relationships, rapport and cooperation within that team. They know the weakest link, and work towards strengthening that weak link.

8. Communicate effectively

An integral part of effective leadership is strong communication. And communication isn’t just saying “I want this to happen.” It’s all about listening and truly considering the input that comes from other people in the team. Proper communication allows for better dissemination of information, as well as a stronger ability to work well with others when the situation calls for it.

Charisma

Charisma is Greek word means “divinely inspired gift”. In general use it means charming and colorful personality.

According to Weber, charisma occurs when there is a social crisis, a leader with exceptional personal qualities emerges with a radical vision that provides a solution to the crisis and attracts followers who believe in the vision and perceive the leader to be extraordinary.

Types of charismatic leaders

Charismatic leaders can be catagorized into five types

1. Socialized charismatic’s
2. Personalized charismatic’s
3. Office holders charismatic’s
4. Divine charismatic’s

1. Socialized charismatic leaders

• A socialized charismatic leader is the one who restrains the use of power to benefit others
• They try to bring group member value in line with his or her own values
• They formulate and pursues goals that fulfill the needs of group members and provide intellectual stimulation to them
• Their followers are autonomous, empowered and responsible

2. Personalized charismatic leaders

• Such individuals primarily serve their own interests and exercise few restraints on their use of power
• They impose self serving goals on their constituents and offer consideration and support to group members only when it facilitates their own goals
• Their followers are typically obedient, submissive and dependent.

3. Office holder charismatic

For this type, the leadership is more a property of the office occupied than of his or her own personal characterics.

They attain high status by holding a valuable position in organization.

4. Divine charismatic leadership

In 1924 Max Weber defined charismatic leadership as mystical, narcissistic and personally magnetic savior who would arise to lead people through crisis

Charismatic leadership is basically the method of encouraging particular behaviors in others by way of eloquent communication, persuasion and force of personality.  Charismatic leaders motivate followers to get things done or improve the way certain things are done.  This is accomplished by conjuring up eagerness in others to achieve a stated goal or vision.  In essence, the charismatic leadership style has its basis in a form of heroism.  This leadership style is almost of divine origin.

The charismatic leadership style relies on the charm and persuasiveness of the leader. Charismatic leaders are driven by their convictions and commitment to their cause.

Charismatic leaders also are sometimes called transformational leaders because they share multiple similarities. Their main difference is focus and audience. Charismatic leaders often try to make the status quo better, while transformational leaders focus on transforming organizations into the leader’s vision.

Charismatic leaders are often identified in times of crisis and exhibit exceptional devotion to and expertise in their fields. They are often people with a clear vision in business or politics and the ability to engage with a large audience.

A charismatic leadership definition is incomplete if it does not focus on the leader personally. More than other popular leadership styles, charismatic leadership depends on the personality and actions of the leader not the process or structure.

Qualities of Charismatic Leaders

The following are some of the most prominent characteristics of charismatic leadership.

1. Communication

Charismatic leaders have extraordinary skills in communication. This helps to motivate employees through tough times and also help them stay grounded when things are good. The leaders are equally comfortable communicating one-to-one or in a group setting.

2. Maturity

Though they have a very powerful personality, a charismatic leader also has maturity and character. They don’t believe in empty showmanship, but they draw on their wisdom and knowledge which they have accumulated over the years of life and business experiences. They behave in a mature and responsible manner on all occasions.

3. Humility

Charismatic leaders also have a sense of humility. They place a lot of value on each employee, and have the ability to truly listen to their concerns. The charismatic leader is able to convince the employee of the value that they bring to the organization, and show them how their contributions impact the strategic interests of the company. They inspire great loyalty from their employees.

4. Compassion

Successful charismatic leaders are also compassionate. Charisma alone may not be enough, because there’s a very real possibility that it can disintegrate into mere hero worship. Compassion, integrity, honesty, and fortitude are also qualities that successful charismatic leaders exhibit.

5. Substance

Charisma can exist without substance, but only for a very short time. Flashy and glitzy behavior may capture the attention of people, but eventually they will want something substantial beneath the facade. A charismatic leader must not only talk the talk, but also walk the walk. Charm gets him the face time, and substance closes the deal.

6. Confidence

It goes without saying that charismatic leaders are truly confident. They are the glass half full kind of people, and are comfortable with who they are. They understand themselves well and do not try to be anyone else. Charismatic leaders are secure and confident enough to be comfortable in their own skin.

7. Positive body language

One of the first things that you’d notice about a charismatic leader is their warm, open, and positive body language. They make eye contact with were that they are talking to, smile, and introduce themselves to strangers with the genuine joy of making a new contact. They have an endearing swagger, and they are authentic.

8. Listening skills

Charismatic leaders are extremely good listeners. When they listen to you, they don’t fidget or look distracted. A charismatic leader pays attention to what is being said, and listens with interest. They are engaged in the conversation and act with empathy.

9. Self-monitoring

One of the attributes of charismatic leaders is that they often tend to watch themselves. They are aware of their powerful personality, and the fact that their followers are watching them constantly. For this reason, they consider it important to portray a good image of themselves to their followers. This can be achieved only with self-monitoring.

10. Self-improvement

A charismatic leader understands that he has certain qualities that make him different from others, and that these are the qualities that get him attention and make him charismatic. So he also knows how important it is to continually improve himself.

Examples of charismatic leadership

Charismatic leaders are from all walks of life. In addition to business, this leadership style can be found in religious institutions and political and social movements.

Religious examples of charismatic leadership

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Born in 1929, Dr. King followed in the footsteps of his father as a Baptist minister. He started his civil rights career as the leader of the bus boycott the night that Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama. Dr. King’s powerful speeches and belief in peaceful protest put energy into the civil rights movement. In January 1957, he and several others founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1960, Dr. King gained national notoriety for his arrest at a lunch counter sit-in, which came to the attention of presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. He was soon released and went on to have even greater influence in the fight for civil rights.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches ignited smaller movements for equal rights through the American South and beyond. Dr. King is best known for the August 28, 1963, march on Washington that drew more than 200,000 people. At that march, he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The following year, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.

Mother Teresa

Born in Macedonia (now Yugoslavia) as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910, Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun best known for her work with the poor. Mother Teresa joined the Sisters of Loreto when she was 18 and moved to India in 1929. As a novitiate, she was sent to Calcutta and taught at St. Mary’s School for Girls.

In 1946, Mother Teresa abandoned teaching to follow what she considered her calling, founding the Missionaries of Charity to live and serve in the slums of Calcutta. Over the course of the 1950s and ’60s, she established a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic and a string of mobile clinics.

In 1971, she traveled to New York to open her first U.S.-based house of charity. In 1985, she spoke at the 40th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly. By the time of her death, the Missionaries of Charity numbered over 4,000 sisters with 610 foundations in 123 countries. Her inspiring, devout persona and devotion to a singular idea make her a good example of a charismatic leader.

Pope John Paul II

In 1920, Pope John Paul ll was born in Poland as Karol Józef Wojtyla. Under Nazi occupation, he began his theological studies in a secret seminary in 1938 and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1946. John Paul became the bishop of Ombi in 1958.

Well regarded for his work in the church, John Paul was made a cardinal in 1967. In 1978, he was elected pope, a role he occupied until his death in 2005. Pope John Paul II was instrumental in examining the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the modern world. He traveled to more than 100 countries and was a vocal advocate for human rights.

Political examples of charismatic leadership

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in 1911. He gained fame as an actor after signing a seven-year movie contract with Warner Brothers in 1937. During World War ll, he made training films for the military. Although he served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, a labor union, Reagan’s political views shifted from liberal to conservative in the 1950s.

He began giving motivational talks to businesses and moved to the national stage in 1964, when he gave a well-received televised speech for Barry Goldwater. He ran for president beginning in 1968 and won in 1980. President Reagan was able to articulate his political vision in ways that appealed to his followers. Along with Teddy Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, Reagan is recognized as one of the most charismatic American presidents of the 20th century.

Sir Winston Churchill

Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born in 1874. Although he is best known for being the prime minister of England during World War ll, he honed his communication skills as a war correspondent in World War l and crafted legislation for Parliament as a member. He was a powerful orator who used radio speeches to buoy the British people’s resilience during Germany’s World War II bombing of England.

Strategic Leadership is the ability to influence others to voluntarily make decisions that enhance the prospects for the organization’s long-term success while maintaining short-term financial stability. Different leadership approaches impact the vision and direction of growth and the potential success of an organization. To successfully deal with change, all executives need the skills and tools for both strategy formulation and implementation. Managing change and ambiguity requires strategic leaders who not only provide a sense of direction, but who can also build ownership and alignment within their workgroups to implement change.

Strategic Leadership can be defined as the ability of the top level managers or executives to determine the future courses of action and direction of the firm and motivate the members to make efforts in that direction.

Strategic leadership provides techniques that focus organizations when they are deciding on their purpose and best business practices that are critical for remaining competitive and relevant. Being able to learn and adapt has become vital for sustainability. Failure to be able to adapt to changing technology, climate change, and economic factors risks the organization becoming obsolete.

Strategic Leadership aims at inspiring others to make those decisions that bring better opportunities for the enterprise’s long-term success, without compromising its short-term financial stability.

Strategic Leadership is an intricate form of leadership, wherein the strategic leaders, i.e. managers or top-level executives design an organization structure, allocates resources, inspire employees to follow their ideas.

It encompasses the ability to envision, forecast and stimulate others to contribute to the implementation of strategic change in the organization.

Strategic Leader

A strategic leader is someone who determines the organization’s strategies and actions and makes every effort to implement it, in an intended manner.

In general, the manager acts as a strategic leader in the organization, who foresees and interprets, the dynamic business environment and work on issues that can influence and can be influenced by the events that occur to/with the organization.

Functions of Strategic Leader

• Setting the direction
• Strategic decision making
• Human capital management
• Translating strategies into actions
• Change Management
• Effective communication within the organization
• Ensuring efforts are made in the right direction.
• Developing strategic competencies.
• Framing policies and plans for the effective implementation of strategic decisions.
• Developing and maintaining a constructive work culture

The strategic leader has the following qualities – Open-mindedness, Foresightedness, Accountable, Risk-taking ability, Influential, Discipline, Endurance, Up-to-date, Self-control and Self Awareness.

Roles played by the strategic leader

1. Navigator

A strategic leader identifies the major issues and its causes. Further, he/she always look for better opportunities, to affect actions.

2. Strategist

As a strategist, he/she develops such strategies which have a long range view and establish those objectives which suit the organization’s vision and mission.

3. Entrepreneur

A strategic leader has the risk-taking ability, who takes risks after completely analysing it. For this purpose, he/she always looks for opportunities and exploit them at the right time.

4. Change Agent

As a change agent, he/she initiates changes in the organization, wherever required. And to do so, first of all, he/she makes sure that the members of the organization realize the need for change so that they can accept it positively and the changes are successfully implemented.

5. Motivator

A strategic leader plays the role of a motivator, by attracting, developing, encouraging and retaining talent in the organization, to make sure that the organization possess the best human resource.

6. Captivator

As a captivator, the strategic leader aims at developing passion, dedication, persistence and commitment towards the common goals, by influencing them in a way that people get ready to follow the vision.

Apart from these roles a strategic leader also plays the role of a visionary, policy maker, crisis manager, spokesperson, process integrator, mobilizer, enterprise guardian etc.

To conclude, Strategic leaders can create vision, express vision, passionately possess vision and persistently drive it to accomplishment.

Leadership is a trait of influencing the behavior of individuals, in order to fulfill organizational objectives. A number of leadership theories have been propounded by various management experts considering behaviour, traits, nature, etc. namely, Authoritarian, Laissez-faire, Transactional, Transformational, Paternalistic and Democratic. Transactional Leadership or otherwise known as management leadership, refers, to a leadership style which lays emphasis on the transaction between leader and its subordinates.

On the other hand, Transformational Leadership is a type of leadership which becomes a reason for the transformation (change) in the subordinates. In this style, the leader works with the subordinates to ascertain the desired change in the organization.

Transactional Leadership

A leadership style whereby the objectives and goals are predefined and the leader uses reward and punishment to motivate his followers is known as Transactional Leadership. It focuses on improving the current situation of the organization by framing the steps and controlling the organizational activities. The basic purpose of this type of leadership is to revamp the existing corporate culture and to enhance current policies & procedures.

In 1947, the style was first proposed by Max Weber followed by Bernard Bass in the year 1981.

In this leadership style, the leader uses his authority and responsibility as his power as well as the style has a formal approach. Prize and penalties are the two primary tools employed by the leader to inspire his subordinates i.e. if an employee achieves the target within the stipulated time he is given initiative for his work, whereas if the task is not completed within the required time, then he will be penalised for the same.

Transformational Leadership

The style of leadership in which the leader uses his influencing power and enthusiasm to motivate his followers to work for the benefit of the organization. Here, the leader seeks the requirement for a change in the existing organization culture, gives a vision to his subordinates, incorporates mission and implement the change with the dedication of his followers.

In transformational leadership, the leader acts as a role model and as a motivator too who offers vision, excitement, encouragement, morale and satisfaction to the followers. The leader inspires his people to increase their abilities and capabilities, build up self-confidence and promotes innovation in the whole organization.

James MacGregor Burns first proposed the concept of this leadership style in the year 1978. The main idea of this leadership style is that both the superior and subordinate work for lifting each other for improving their morale and motivation.

Differences between Transactional and Transformational Leadership

The following are the major differences between transactional and transformational leadership:

1. Transactional Leadership is a type of leadership whereby rewards and punishment are used as a basis for initiating the followers. Transformational Leadership is a leadership style in which the leader uses his charisma and enthusiasm to influence his followers.
2. In transactional leadership leader, is lays stress on his relationship with followers. Conversely, in transformational leadership leader lays stress on the values, beliefs and needs of his followers.
3. Transactional Leadership is reactive whereas Transformational Leadership is proactive.
4. Transactional Leadership is best for a settled environment, but Transformation is good for the turbulent environment.
5. Transactional Leadership works for improving the present conditions of the organization. On the other hand, Transformational Leadership works for changing the present conditions of the organization.
6. Transactional Leadership is bureaucratic while Transformational Leadership is charismatic.
7. In Transactional Leadership, there is only one leader in a group. In contrast to transformational leadership, in which there can be more than one leader in a group.
8. Transactional Leadership is focussed towards planning and execution as compared to transformational leadership which promoted innovation.

According to some researchers, transactional leadership is best while some think that transformational leadership is better. So the debate is never ending, for the two leadership styles. In my opinion, there is no standard leadership style which is best suited to all the circumstances. So, an organization should not rely on a single leadership style. It must employ the requisite leadership style as per its needs and prevalent conditions.

If you are searching for the best leadership style between transactional and transformational leadership, then you will end up saying that both are having its merits and demerits. It depends on the situation which leadership style will be most appropriate to it.