Critical analysis of leadership models

Leadership Model agree that the characteristics you cite were to some degree present in the characters of most of the best leaders I have served under, including self-knowledge, technical competency, seeking input from others, having a moral core, playing by one\'s own rules (\"walking the walk\"), striving to bring out the best in subordinates, taking a moderate approach to risk-taking, not fearing failures, and having a sense of humor. Self-knowledge is an often overlooked component of leadership -- for example, a leader might be an extrovert, but not really know this consciously, and thus overlook the gifted but more reticent and introverted members of an organization. Ethics are important as well -- given the recent ethical scandals at many corporations, finding out that a leader has defrauded his or her employees can be devastating to the morale of the organization for years, and even small transgressions can make people mistrustful of a leader\'s honesty.

I think there needs to be further clarification, however, as to what sort of input is solicited from subordinates, and how -- is it in a participatory fashion, where the subordinates are more equal to the leader, regardless of position, or does the leader shape subordinates\' opinions more, to achieve a larger goal? Vision in general I think should be a greater component of the model -- you talk about pushing people to achieve more, but what is the purpose of pushing people to go beyond their personal expectations? Is the purpose personal improvement, to achieve the organization\'s vision, or both?

I think that the definition between a moderate balance between risk and conservatism is also too vague and somewhat contradicts the idea that leaders should not fear failure. Obviously, everyone wants to be seen as an innovative, risk-taker, but having a vision is necessary to decide what risks are worth taking. Although it is unstated, your subject, Stephen Czarowski, the music and choir director at your church, St., John the Baptist in Silver Spring must have a (realistic but challenging) vision of how the music people are playing should sound, which he urges people to realize. Although he may solicit input, ultimately as the director he has the final decision-making authority to achieve the composer\'s intent.