Judith R.

Dela Cruz
BSN IV

Leadership

Leadership is both a research area and a practical skill encompassing the ability of an
individual or organization to "lead" or guide other individuals, teams, or entire
organizations.

Characteristics of Good Leader

Honesty

One of the qualities that define a good leader is honesty. When you are responsible for
a team of people, it is important to be straightforward. Your company and its employees
are a reflection of yourself, and if you make honest and ethical behaviour as a key
value, your team will follow. So remember to lead by example.

Delegate

Regardless of the situation and position you are in, always remember that you can’t do
everything on your own. Good leaders recognise that delegation does more than simply
passing the task to someone else. It is trusting and believing that your employees are
able to handle the task given to them. Delegating to others shows that you have
confidence in their abilities, and this can result in a positive morale in the workplace.
Your employees want to feel appreciated and trusted. So by giving them a task, they
would generally feel honoured that they got selected and they would feel the importance
of having them around.

Communication

Communication is the key to success, said everyone. Without a clear communication,

your employees would not understand your mission, goals, and vision. Communication
should be consistent when it comes to establishing work expectations or giving
constructive feedback. With great communication, your employees will have a broad
understanding to what they are working for.

Confidence

Another quality that defines a good leader is having confidence. Admit it, there may be
days where the future of your brand is cloudy or the monthly sales do not look
promising. Any company or businesses would have gone through these issues before;
so it is not something new.As a leader, it is your responsibility to maintain the team
morale and keep moving forward. Keep your confidence level up and assure everyone
that setbacks being looked into. By staying calm and confident, the team would not
worry as they put their trust in you.

Commitment

Nothing shows commitment like getting your hands dirty with the rest of the employees.
There is no greater motivation than seeing their leader working alongside everyone
else. By proving your commitment to the company and especially your team, you will
not only earn the respect of your team, but will also instil that same hardworking drive
among your staff. Showing your commitment sets the example for others to follow, and
leads to greater loyalty and respect for you as a leader. Set the tone of commitment,
and others will follow suit. Remember that if you expect your team to work hard and
produce quality work, you would need to lead by example.

Positive Attitude

You want to keep your team motivated towards the continued success of the company,
and keep the energy levels up. Whether that means providing snacks, coffee,
relationship advice, or even just an occasional beer in the office, remember that
everyone on your team is a person. Keep the office mood a fine balance between
productivity and playfulness. If your team is feeling happy and upbeat, chances are they
won’t mind staying that extra hour to finish a report, or devoting their best work to the
brand.

Creativity

As a good leader is someone the team could look up to for answers or solutions, it is up
to you to think outside the box when any issues arise. You could also gather the team
and start brainstorming ideas to build upon some of your ideas. When you get your
employees involved in a decision or an idea, they often the importance of their
existence in the company. They feel respected and wanted and at times, even looking
forward to work!

Inspire

Another quality that defines a good leader is being inspiring. Being able to inspire your
team is great for focusing on the company’s vision and goals, but it is also important for
the team during their current projects. When your team are drowning in workload or
their morale is low, you as a leader need to be inspiring and start finding ways to inspire
your team. It is your job to keep spirits up, and that begins with an appreciation for the
hard work that they have put in. Start off by giving words of encouragement once in a
while.

Empathy

Having empathy as a leader goes a long way. Empathy is the ability to understand or
feel what other people are experiencing. In other words, they put themselves in other
people’s shoe. Extraordinary leaders praise in public and address problems in private.
At times, leaders need to look after their team‘s feelings. The best leaders guide
employees through challenges and are always on the lookout for a solution. Instead of
making things personal when they encounter problems, or assigning blame to
individuals, good leaders look for constructive solutions and focus on moving forward.

Accountability

A good leader takes responsibility for everyone’s performance as well as their own.
When things are going well, they praise. However when problems arise, they identify
them quickly, seek solutions, and get the team back on track.

Enthusiastic

A good leader is enthusiastic about their work or cause and also about their role as
leader. People will respond more openly to a person of passion and dedication. Leaders
need to be able to be a source of inspiration, and be a motivator towards the required
action or cause. Although the responsibilities and roles of a leader may be different, the
leader needs to be seen to be part of the team working towards the goal. This kind of
leader will not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty.

Focus and Driven

A good leader is generally focused and they are able to think rationally. Not only does a
good leader view a situation as a whole, but is able to narrow down the cause as well as
find the solution to the problem. Leaders should also be self-driven to work harder in
wanting to achieve better results for the company. They are the driving force in the team
and also someone the team could look up to and encourage the rest to work together.

Responsible

The last quality that defines a good leader is being responsible. Great leaders know that
when it comes to their company or workplace, they need to take personal responsibility
for failure. A good leader does not make excuses; they take the blame regardless and
then work out how to fix the problem as soon as possible.

Different Leadership Styles

1. Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic leadership style is centered on the boss. In this leadership the leader holds
all authority and responsibility. In this leadership, leaders make decisions on their own
without consulting subordinates. They reach decisions, communicate them to
subordinates and expect prompt implementation. Autocratic work environment does
normally have little or no flexibility. In this kind of leadership, guidelines, procedures and
policies are all natural additions of an autocratic leader. Statistically, there are very few
situations that can actually support autocratic leadership. Some of the leaders that
support this kind of leadership include: Albert J Dunlap (Sunbeam Corporation) and
Donald Trump (Trump Organization) among others.

2. Democratic Leadership

In this leadership style, subordinates are involved in making decisions. Unlike

autocratic, this headship is centered on subordinates’ contributions. The democratic
leader holds final responsibility, but he or she is known to delegate authority to other
people, who determine work projects. The most unique feature of this leadership is that
communication is active upward and downward. With respect to statistics, democratic
leadership is one of the most preferred leadership, and it entails the following: fairness,
competence, creativity, courage, intelligence and honesty.

3. Strategic Leadership Style

Strategic leadership is one that involves a leader who is essentially the head of an
organization. The strategic leader is not limited to those at the top of the organization. It
is geared to a wider audience at all levels who want to create a high performance life,
team or organization. The strategic leader fills the gap between the need for new
possibility and the need for practicality by providing a prescriptive set of habits. An
effective strategic leadership delivers the goods in terms of what an organization
naturally expects from its leadership in times of change. 55% of this leadership normally
involves strategic thinking.

4. Transformational Leadership
Unlike other leadership styles, transformational leadership is all about initiating change
in organizations, groups, oneself and others. Transformational leaders motivate others
to do more than they originally intended and often even more than they thought
possible. They set more challenging expectations and typically achieve higher
performance. Statistically, transformational leadership tends to have more committed
and satisfied followers. This is mainly so because transformational leaders empower
followers.

5. Team Leadership

Team leadership involves the creation of a vivid picture of its future, where it is heading
and what it will stand for. The vision inspires and provides a strong sense of purpose
and direction. Team leadership is about working with the hearts and minds of all those
involved. It also recognizes that teamwork may not always involve trusting cooperative
relationships. The most challenging aspect of this leadership is whether or not it will
succeed. According to Harvard Business Review, team leadership may fail because of
poor leadership qualities.

6. Cross-Cultural Leadership

This form of leadership normally exists where there are various cultures in the society.
This leadership has also industrialized as a way to recognize front runners who work in
the contemporary globalized market. Organizations, particularly international ones
require leaders who can effectively adjust their leadership to work in different environs.
Most of the leaderships observed in the United States are cross-cultural because of the
different cultures that live and work there.

7. Facilitative Leadership

Facilitative leadership is too dependent on measurements and outcomes – not a skill,

although it takes much skill to master. The effectiveness of a group is directly related to
the efficacy of its process. If the group is high functioning, the facilitative leader uses a
light hand on the process. On the other hand, if the group is low functioning, the
facilitative leader will be more directives in helping the group run its process. An
effective facilitative leadership involves monitoring of group dynamics, offering process
suggestions and interventions to help the group stay on track.

8. Laissez-faire Leadership

Laissez-faire leadership gives authority to employees. According to azcentral,

departments or subordinates are allowed to work as they choose with minimal or no
interference. According to research, this kind of leadership has been consistently found
to be the least satisfying and least effective management style.
9. Transactional Leadership

This is a leadership that maintains or continues the status quo. It is also the leadership
that involves an exchange process, whereby followers get immediate, tangible rewards
for carrying out the leader’s orders. Transactional leadership can sound rather basic,
with its focus on exchange. Being clear, focusing on expectations, giving feedback are
all important leadership skills. According to Boundless.com, transactional leadership
behaviors can include: clarifying what is expected of followers’ performance; explaining
how to meet such expectations; and allocating rewards that are contingent on meeting
objectives.

10. Coaching Leadership

Coaching leadership involves teaching and supervising followers. A coaching leader is

highly operational in setting where results/ performance require improvement. Basically,
in this kind of leadership, followers are helped to improve their skills. Coaching
leadership does the following: motivates followers, inspires followers and encourages
followers.

11. Charismatic Leadership

In this leadership, the charismatic leader manifests his or her revolutionary power.
Charisma does not mean sheer behavioral change. It actually involves a transformation
of followers’ values and beliefs. Therefore, this distinguishes a charismatic leader from a
simply populist leader who may affect attitudes towards specific objects, but who is not
prepared as the charismatic leader is, to transform the underlying normative orientation
that structures specific attitudes.

12. Visionary Leadership

This form of leadership involves leaders who recognize that the methods, steps and
processes of leadership are all obtained with and through people. Most great and
successful leaders have the aspects of vision in them. However, those who are highly
visionary are the ones considered to be exhibiting visionary leadership. Outstanding
leaders will always transform their visions into realities.