Leadership Example – Term Paper

Essay about leadership

Great leaders are with good leadership elements are few in the current society. In fact, if we consider the current political circles, such leaders are a handful. Becoming a great leader requires one to have certain leadership traits. It has been argued in most cases that great leaders are born, other scholars argue that great leaders are made. There are several traits that make one to be termed as a great leader. The most common definition of a leader is that a leader is someone who has been allocated a responsibility of ensuring that a people that the leader is in charge of achieve a certain goal. To achieve these goals, the leader needs to use his influence and position to make sure that the goals are achieved (Mumford, 2007).

There are several elements that a leader or a person who intends to lead other people should poses in order to be considered as a good leader. To understand the elements of a good leader, we will look at some of the great leaders that the world has had. Mother Teresa was considered a great leader due to her leadership traits and personal elements. She was a simple, determined, humble and a spiritual woman who founded Missionaries of Charity in 1950. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work with the poor when she was at Calcutta. She was determined and focused on helping the poor regardless of their geographical position, race or position. She worked fearlessly becoming a role model for many who experienced her love and passion to help those who were in need. The other great leader that history records was Nelson Mandela who became South Africa’s first black president. The traits that accorded him respect as a good leader include; courage, selfless, disciplined justice among much more. The two are just but a few of the leaders who are considered to have been great with excellent leadership elements.

There are many elements of leadership. Intelligence is key among the elements of leadership. Intelligence is generally the ability to make use of knowledge and skills to deal with challenges. It involves skills like good communication skills, reasoning ability, perceptual ability among much more. A good leader should also be confident. This element makes a leader to feel self- assured of achieving goals.  Good leaders are role models and therefore they should first feel assured that they are the best to guide the others. This assurance makes them to be charismatic. Charisma makes the leaders to an agent of influence to those that they are guiding. Apart from this, leaders are supposed to be sociable. This element will enable they relate well with those that they are guiding (Northouse, 2012).

There are several approaches that are utilized in leadership. The leadership skills approach deals with the traits that a leader has to have. The approach is leader centered in its perspectives. There are three skills that an effective leadership should have (Katz, 2009). The skills include; conceptual, human and technical skills. Technical skills deal with knowledge relating to the area and what is expected in the area of jurisdiction. Human skills are the intrapersonal attributes which deal with the way the leader relates with other people that the leader is to guide. Lastly, conceptual skills deal with the mind and reasoning of the leaders. The way they deal with issues and ideas and challenges that they may face in their duties. 

In conclusion, a leader must be a person who is able to use the elements of leadership in such a manner that can make a positive mark in people’s lives. Good leaders influence people with their characters and remain role models even in the books of history. 

References

Katz, R. L. (2009). Skills of an effective administrator. Harvard Business Review Press.

Mumford, T. V., Campion, M. A., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). The leadership skills strataplex: Leadership skill requirements across organizational levels. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(2), 154-166.

Northouse, P. G. (2012). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage.