Leader Definition Examples – Term Paper

Leader qualities

Leaders are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that their actions are ethically correct at any given time. Ethics in this case refers to the rightfulness or wrongfulness of an act.  Leaders should strive to abide by the legal requirements by ensuring that the decisions that they make are always in accordance with the laid down regulations. As they perform their roles, leaders increasingly encounter situations that may compel them to engage in activities that may not be viewed as appropriate by their followers. However, leaders must remember that they have moral obligations that their followers always expect them to fulfill irrespective of the harshness of the situations in which they might find themselves (Tom, 2016).

Leaders are obliged to be just to everyone  irrespective of their cultural backgrounds. For instance, a leader who is taking care of a group that comprises of individuals from different cultural backgrounds must ensure that he or she attends to everyone’s needs without any form of discrimination on the basis of gender, race, color, sex, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. Ensuring justice and fairness when handling people from diverse cultural backgrounds helps to create harmony and to strengthen relationships. Since it is the responsibility of leaders to ensure unity in either their teams or in the the society, it can therefore concluded that leaders have moral obligations (Tom, 2016).

Additionally, leaders act as role models of their followers, and the best way through which they can help to create a peaceful society is by remaining moral. For instance, many youths will always engage in activities that make them happy at the expense of the society. However, they will learn to do the right things based on what they observe from their leaders. This scenario is similar to what happens in families where children tend to see their parents as role models. In this respect, a leader who pays maximum attention to morality is likely to have a morally upright team. Therefore, leaders have moral obligations because this helps to create a morally sound society (Tom, 2016).

Conversely, one might argue that leaders do not have a moral obligation by claiming that there are certain instances when a leader might be compelled to engage in immoral activities. Such a claim is not right because leaders cannot escape morality despite the fact that they may at times be faced with difficult situations.

;Ideally, all leaders need to act as role models and they should strive to ensure that morality is maintained at high levels in the society. The only way through which they can achieve this is by remaining moral. Therefore, it can be concluded that leaders have moral obligations.

Reference

Tom, R. (2016). Leadership and morality. International Leadership Journal, 6(7), 1-16 doi: 10.009876657712.

Leaders skills

Respect is a virtue that is important in all aspects of life, especially the workplace where people from diverse backgrounds, lifestyles, and personalities meet to achieve a certain goal. In today’s world, people from all walks of life congregate daily in their offices in order to accomplish set tasks, which in turn derives them compensation. In the course of their work, they have to interact with each other at personal and work levels. This requires one to possess critical qualities that makes him or her able to work with the rest to achieve he common goals of the organization or establishment. Therefore, demonstration of respect at the workplace is critical. The first method to do this is to understand the organization’s structure or hierarchy. For example, it is respectful to greet one’s superior at the workplace using his title, which shows that the employee respects protocol. In return, the superiors have to treat their subordinates with compassion and humility. Additionally, employees who interact with external clients have to choose their words carefully when communicating with them. This is because the manner in which employees interact with clients reflects on the entire organization and the employees themselves. Secondly, an individual can demonstrate respect through inculcating courtesy in his or her actions. For example, it is courteous to use words like “please,” “thank you,” or “may I,” as the situation demands. Thirdly, an individual can demonstrate respect at the workplace by being a team player. Simply put, involving others in decision-making activities or listening to their opinions indicates that you respect them. The fourth way to demonstrate respect at the workplace is to be mindful of other people’s feelings. For example, if you know that one of your colleagues is allergic to strong perfumes, it would be respectful to avoid using the,m at the workplace. Similarly, it would be respectful to inquire about colleagues’ well-being, which shows that you care for them. In addition, in workplaces where people come from different races or religions, it would be respectful to avoid using terms that could upset them, no matter how much one disagrees with their color or views. Whereas respect seems like a straightforward quality, it is a virtue that many people at the workplace lacks, which subsequently causes many conflicts and inability to meet set targets. The fifth and perhaps most important way of demonstrating respect at the workplace is to to practice tolerance. What this means is that an individual should learn to live with others regardless of what he or she feels about their  views. For example, it would be respectful to tolerate an employee who hoards the bathroom. Finally, people can demonstrate respect at the workplace by showing compassion, yet being firm in their intentions. For instance, whereas tolerance is an important aspect in demonstrating respect, it would also be equally important to admonish an employee who goes out of hand by using firm, but respectful words.  However, given the erratic nature of human beings and the reality that respect differs from one to the other, it will take a long time before all people inculcate respect at the workplace.