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Here are some quick tips on how to be a leader, covering 10 key leadership traits with an explanation of what each one means.
The concept of followership is popular in certain quarters today. Others refuse to call employees followers, feeling that such a label is disengaging. What do you think?
Leadership is often described as an influence process. We say that leaders influence people to do things that they might not do otherwise. But what exactly does it mean to say that leadership is a form of influence? Well, if we think through what this means, we might develop a different slant on leadership altogether.
Thought leadership is radically different from traditional top-down leadership. It can be directed up as well as down or sideways, has nothing to do with position or managing people, is the basis of innovative change and is egalitarian because it can shift rapidly from one person to another.
It’s time to question the traditional assumption of leadership’s fundamental purpose. The textbook account focuses on the leader’s role in maximizing employee performance. All the decades of writing about leadership style beginning over 50 years ago focuses on how different styles affect the motivation and productivity of employees. When we question the conventional purpose of leadership and offer a different foundation, we get a very different conception of leadership. Until we recognize the need for a radical shift in perspective, our vision of leadership will remain stuck in the past.
Must leaders be of good character or have sterling values like integrity, honesty or social consciousness? But if criminals, terrorists or people like Hitler can lead despite having unsavory values. then what is the connection between leadership and values?
Leadership style is about how people get work done through others. This used to be called management style until it got re-labeled as leadership style.
Leadership style in traditional leadership theory means how you relate to subordinates. Do you emphasize task structure or relationships, be unilateral or participative? Do you show consideration to people or do you get the job done through formal structure? Questions about leadership style assume that the fundamental purpose of leadership is to motivate employees to work harder.
What is leadership? And does our understanding of it need to change for today's world? When we think of leadership we visualize a larger-than-life individual in charge of some group - team, company or country.
Traditional leadership is top-down - a position in a hierarchy, an ongoing role with responsibility for people. Bottom-up leadership is a one-off act of influence, such as when an employee convinces management to adopt a new product idea. Leadership shown bottom up is like green leadership. It promotes a better way by challenging others to think differently.