Leadership Has Been Examined From

Leadership has been examined from a number of perspectives to demonstrate the factors that enter into the leadership role, how to make leadership more effective, the limits of leadership, and so on. Differing perspectives are offered by Goleman (2004) and Prentice (2004).

Prentice (2004)

Prentice (2004) describes leadership in terms of being able to read people and to understand them. The author denies such leade4rship qualities as charisma and ses most leaders as other than able to gain loyalty and support through the force of their personalities. Instead, he sees leadership as an achievement more than an abilty, as understanding what his or her subordinates want and how they can find what they want through the goals set for them as part of the job. Having said this, though, the author also recognizes that knowing how to achieve this and how to learn what is needed in order to get the best out of workers is a difficult task. Crude forms of leadership rely on certain types of rewards, and while this may be effective, it is not as effective in the long-term and cannot be translated into success for all tasks and all personnel.

The idea most people have of the leader derives from an image of the military, though in reality, morale is usually poor in military units. There are good reasons for this, but that does not mean that leadership is more effective when based on more than imposed hierarchy. Leadership should develop through the understanding of the leader of what makes people do things and then how to get them to do what is needed. Knowledge of people is key in this view of leadership, and this requires recognizing the complexities of human being sand also the variety and the fact that all people are different. Having only one way of treating people will fail. The author says that the application of the Golden Rule ahs been recommended but does not lead to the success desired. It is important to understand the goals and purposes of each worker and not to assume that those goals and purposes are merely the same as our own, for they may not be. The author also notes problems with human perception and so with the ability of the leader to perceive the goals of his employees, though doing so is quite important. Other factors that can intervene and make the leader less effective are also noted. A knowledge of the goals of the subordinate are one thing, but how this information is used is equally important and requires tact, something many leaders should nurture but do not. They will be less effective as a result. The author concludes that the leader needs to use his or her skills and human insight in the manner of an orchestra leader, one who understands the needs and abilities of each subordinate and who melds these into a working whole. In order to be able to make use of these perceptions and understandings, the leader has to have an orderly arrangement of functions and an accurate perception of his or her role as leader.

Goleman (2004)

Goleman (2004) asks what makes a leader and sets out to answer that question. For Goleman, the essential ingredient that makes a leader effective is emotional intelligence, which he sees as more important than traditional intelligence or technical skills. The author says this applies to different types of leadership and different situations. The author also finds that emotional intelligence is not always given the attention it deserves in company training and company thinking, which generally focuses more on competency training than on developing emotional intelligence as a prerequisite for leadership positions. Emotional intelligence begins with self-awareness, says the author, and people who achieve this recognize how their own feelings affect other people and their job performance alike. The individual with high self-awareness will also be able to deal with others more effectively even if the other person is difficult. The self-aware individual has a better understanding of his or her own goals and so of the goals of others. The person who is self-aware can generally speak about that fact more openly and about the impact this has on his or her work. The author also points out that self-awareness can be discerned in others by various means, from performance reviews to the level of self-confidence seen in the person being evaluated. This is important in developing future leaders, beginning with recognizing who has the potential.

Self-regulation is cited next, meaning the ability to control internal forces that might shape behavior in a way that is not conducive to the best performance. Such a person can control emotions like anger so that he does not act impetuously or precipitously. Self-regulation enables the leader to pick the most effective response rather than the one that might leap to mind first.

Motivation is another trait required by the leader, specifically those who are motivated to achieve. They mist also motivate others, and they first need to have that motivation in themselves.

The author puts more emphasis on how to identify the potential leader, noting that the motivated person has a passion for the work and is persistent.

Empathy is cited next as a requirement for emotional intelligence, and this is defined as the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people and to treat people accordingly. Empathy is needed to recruit and retain talent in any endeavor. Today, this has to include cross-cultural sensitivity to avoid problems that are associated with a failure in this regard.

Social skills are necessary for the leader, based on an ability to find common ground and to build rapport with subordinates and others. Along with empathy, this dimension is necessary in working with others.

Analysis