Communication, trust, and vision in effective organizational leadership

Leadership Concepts

Fundamental Leadership Skills

Contemporary concepts of leadership outline numerous attributes and skills that are desirable in leaders. Among the most important are: (1) Communications Skills, (2) The Ability to Influence Others by Inspiring their Trust and Confidence, and (3) Strategic Vision (Maxwell, 2007). Arguably, communication skills are the single most important of all leadership skills because leadership is, at its core, the ability to communicate ideas and values to others and to cultivate followership. Organizational leaders must be able to share their beliefs, values, and their ideas for the success of their organizations in a manner that enables their followers to understand those concepts and in a manner that achieves their cooperation.

Renowned corporate leader John Maxwell (Maxwell, 2007) explains that the single most defining characteristic of effective leaders is their ability to establish a climate of honesty and trust in their relationships with others because those elements are the foundation of their ability to earn the trust of their followers and inspire their confidence and loyalty. In that regard, Maxwell (2007) also explains that effective leadership requires that leaders demonstrate integrity to their statements, beliefs, and values and that followers naturally trust leaders with integrity and doubt leaders who fail to do so.

Maxwell (2007) also emphasizes the importance of strategic vision in organizational leaders because that is the most important skill upon which the long-term success of organizations depends. In essence, the ability of organizational leaders to communicate effectively and establish and maintain the trust of their subordinates allows them to maintain their influence over them. Meanwhile, it is their ability to think and plan strategically that allows leaders to make productive use of those relationships (Maxwell, 2007).

Personal Leadership Development

Having recently been promoted into a leadership position in which I am responsible for increasing their productivity, I hope to emulate the three principles of good leadership outlined by Maxwell. Additionally, I plan on doing everything possible to avoid the psychological traps that are functions of egoism (Fitch, 2010). Finally, I plan to fully embrace the notion that I have as much to learn from my subordinates as they may have to learn from me in other contexts, particularly in isolated circumstances in which they may have more to offer me than the other way around (Gove, 2010).