5 Things You Should Know About Leadership

A lot has been written about leadership: rules, pointers, styles, and biographies of inspiring leaders. But there are five leadership ideas that we need to recognize and realize.?

Here are the five things you should know about leadership.?

1. Leaders are formal and informal.

There are many different types of leaders, and you will probably come across more than one type in your lifetime.?

Formal leaders are elected into positions or offices, such as senators, Congress members, and local club presidents.?

Informal leaders or those we look up to because of their wisdom and experience, such as in the case of the elders of a tribe or our grandparents; or by their expertise and contribution, like Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts.?

Both formal and informal leaders practice a combination of leadership styles.

Here are the leadership styles as described by some of the experts:

Kurt Lewin describes three basic leadership styles authoritative, participative, and delegative.

Renis Likert believes the?leadership styles are; exploitive, authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, and participative

Dr. Daniel Goleman discusses the six emotional leadership styles - visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding.??

2. Leadership is lifelong learning.

Sometimes, some people seem to be born with many of these leadership traits, but without the right environment and education, they will fail to develop their full potential.?

So like learning how to ride a bicycle, you can also learn how to become a leader and develop your leadership abilities.?

Knowledge of leadership and the skills you need can be learned by enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences.?

Daily interactions with people provide the opportunity to observe and practice leadership theories. Together, formal and informal learning will help you gain leadership attitudes and insights, thus furthering the cycle of learning.?

You do not become a leader in one day and just stop.?

Life-long learning is important in becoming a good leader, for each day brings new experiences that test your knowledge, skills, and attitude.?

3. Leadership begins and ends with you.

The best way to develop leadership qualities is to apply them to your life...Action speaks louder than words.?

Leaders are always in the spotlight. Remember that your credibility as a leader depends on your actions: your interaction with your family, friends, and coworkers; your way of managing your personal and organizational responsibilities; and even the way you talk with the waitstaff at your local restaurant.?

Repeated actions become habits...Habits, in turn, form a person's character.?

Steven Covey's book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People provides great insights into how you can achieve personal leadership.?

4. Leadership is not about you...it is shared.

Leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but it is a shared responsibility among team members.?

Each member has responsibilities to do. Formal leadership positions are just added responsibilities as a member of the team.?

Effective leadership requires members to do their share of the work. Starting as a group of individuals, members and leaders work towards forming an effective team.?

Thinking this way means social interaction plays a major role in leadership. Learning to work together requires a great deal of trust between and among leaders and team members.?

Trust is built on actions and not by words. When mutual respect exists, trust is developed, and confidence is built.?

5. Leadership styles must be flexible depending on the situation.

When the staffs are highly motivated and competent, a combination of high delegative and moderate participative leadership styles works. But, if the staff has a low competence in one area or low commitment, then a combination of high coaching, high support, and high directing behavior from organizational leaders is what works best.

The best thing you can do as a leader is to have someone who you trust give you honest feedback. Many coaching clients I work with find this is the first time they said something about themselves that needed to change. ?

Be the leader people want to follow,

Richard Grehalva

Transformational Leadership Coach?