Question

Write a 2-3 page paper double spaced on the following topic - leadership. In your own words - what does leadership mean to you? Describe an example of a person (known or unknown) that you consider to be a true leader. Describe what characteristics this individual holds that makes them a leader? Please cite sources that are used within the body of the paper and on a reference sheet. The title and reference pages do not count towards the required content pages.

Answer 1

Leadership is a trait that does not have a certain origin point. Some are considered as born leader while others go through certain situations which bring out the leader in them. This is the regular mindset of any person when then consider leadership attribute. Very often a leader is considered to be someone who knows more, does more, thinks more and acts more than others. Very often a leader will have high amount of following skills:
• Technical Skill
• Conceptual Skill
• Analytic Skill
• Communication Skill
• Interpersonal Skill

Very often people equate being an expert in any of the above sections as being a leader. It is also a common practice to equate greatness and public visibility with leadership. I have come across many people who are not considered as leader by organizations but they had the courage to take decisions and start something small when other stood back. For me that is the trait of a leader. When others analyzed the risks and considered the work as small and not worth, someone who took the initiative to start the small work can be considered as a leader. In organizations people misinterpret the leadership quality. The ones who are leaders are typically the one who have higher experience, higher knowledge or higher access to the wallets. While they are leaders in their own might, everyday around us we can see leader who stand up when others hesitate.

Based on these set of skills, a leadership is usually designed. Typically, a leader is someone who outgrows one specific skillset to focus on the larger details. He will never set a limitation based on his/her experience or any current challenges. A leadership style that is developed over the years will usually take a certain period of adjustment to redesign into a new one. Consider a leader who was leading a technology division of a large organization. His technical, conceptual and analytical skill might have been excellent but they were focused only on one particulate domain. If this leader is given the opportunity to lead the entire organization, he will have to rethink his approach to dealing with challenges and grasping the various opportunities. Just balancing the P&L books will not be sufficient. The board and entire organization will look to him for guidance and assistance in times of need. He will also have to inherit a lot of qualities that is embedded within the organization culture and framework.

I recently had the opportunity to witness such a leader. The office I work in has a lot of contracted workers who clean the aisles and window panes. Recently one worker found a leaky sprinkler system and it was escalated. But there was no corrective action taken on it. The only action done was to shut down the sprinkler system completely. Last week there was spark from the data center nearby and the flames arose fast. The rescue team were concerned about the issue since the system was turned down. But when they investigated no issue or casualty was obtained. One further investigations it was revealed that one of the worker who has initially identified the lead had himself made the changes in the sprinklers and turned on the water system to ensure other employees were safe in case of any accident. While the educated leaders and team was still trying to take corrective action an uneducated worker took the onus on himself and prevented a catastrophic incident. This shows leadership skills. Taking a decision when no others took one. Taking the initiative to perform the action without any consideration for appreciation.

If we consider such small activities which we see around us, we can see leaders all the time. When we see such leaders it helps in appreciating their hard work more than we do.

References: “forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/03/22/11-powerful-traits-of-successful-leaders/#6279da97469f”

“journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002188638201800303?journalCode=jaba”