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How much monkey business can we tolerate in a leader? What is the connection between leadership and character? Can a political leader with a disreputable character govern wisely? Can a leader be a cad and still be a leader? Some not so nice people still do good work - think of badly behaved artists.
Traditionally, the leader sits at the top of a hierarchy. This is a very primitive concept of leadership. Most higher animals also form themselves into hierarchies, which is biologically and psychologically primitive. Why have we not progressed beyond our animal cousins?
Everyone wants to be a hero, even if in a small way - to be admired, respected, accepted. If you admire sporting heroes, you want to be like them yourself. The true leader is essentially a hero - someone who does something outstanding. The appointed manager cannot compel hero worship.
Our primary image of the leader comes from the military. Great leaders have always been heroes, especially military heroes. Hero worship is OK if it inspires us to greater heights. But bad if it disempowers us, making us dependent on heroes.
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.
It is widely assumed that a vision is essential to lead others. The truth is that leaders provide direction but that can range from a good idea for a minor change to a grand vision like JFK's vision of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's.
Servant leadership is a very popular leadership model. It was developed by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970. The servant leader serves the people he/she leads, which implies that employees are an end in themselves rather than a means to an organizational purpose or bottom line. Servant leadership is meant to replace command and control models of leadership, to be more focused on the needs of others.
Why is leadership portrayed in terms of how managers manage people? How can you be said to LEAD people when you have the authority to tell them what to do? Business leadership is often portrayed as a decision making exercise. The CEO decides what to do and that is called leadership.
What traits distinguish servant leaders from other kinds of leaders? What is so special about a servant leader? And, do you have what it takes to be one yourself? Here is a list of proposed servant leader characteristics.
We've heard of organic and mechanistic organizations, but organic leadership? What's the main difference between the two types of organization? In mechanistic organizations, direction can be deliberately decided and planned.
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