Mind and Heart of Leadership

Ethical leaders are not preoccupied with their importance. They are focused on employees, customers, and the greater good rather than taking every opportunity to satisfy their self-interest, feed their greed, or nourish their ego. In top-performing companies, it is a norm that colleagues support one another's efforts to do the best work possible. Amabile et al. describe the helping relationship between the leader and those that follow them. They assert that in the work environment helping is essential to success.

The terms Inclusivity and diversity are new terms commonly used in organizations that look to grow and thrive into the future, including employees who represent a diverse community, and are critical the advancing the organization's vision, goals, and objectives. This thinking works along with products and services that address their customers' needs, provide the energy that the organization will draw, and live on well into future growth and development.

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence involves identifying, comprehending, and managing emotions in ways that positively influence stress-related issues. It also provides effective communication and to be empathy with others.

Daniel Goleman advises that the most influential leaders are alike in one crucial way: They all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. Recent studies clearly show that emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership. Without it, a person can have the best training in the world, an intelligent, analytical mind, and an endless supply of innovative ideas, but they still won't make a great leader. Goleman identifies the five components of emotional intelligence that he believes are critical to success in organizations: Self-Awareness, Self-Regulations; Motivation; Empathy; and Social Skills.

The five principal components are as follows:??????

1.???Self-Awareness?– People with high EI are usually very?self-aware.

2.???Self-Regulation?– This is the ability to?control emotions?and impulses.

3.???Motivation?– People with a high degree of EI are typically?motivated.

4.???Empathy?–The ability to identify with and understand the wants, needs, and viewpoints.

5.???Social Skills?– It's generally easy to talk to and like people with good social skills, another sign of high EI.

Leadership Models

A mental model is someone's thought process about how something works in the real world, representing the contiguous world, the relationships between its various components, and the individual's intuitive perception of their acts and consequences. It is a psychological representation of real, hypothetical, or imaginary situations. These descriptive observations suggest that an effective leader must balance emotions and critical thinking that decisions made must be pragmatic. Although empathy and humility are essential elements in decision-making, in communication efforts, and when interacting with others, particularly with those they lead, leaders must make decisions based on fact with a complete understanding of the challenges identified.

Leadership models have developed as essential tools in organizations, particularly in the 21st century where there is relevance to the context of complexity and change facing organizations, and in societal values.

There are challenges in the current environment that force many organizations to implement changes to address the complexity and uncertainty that these challenges present. Organizations continually struggle to seek balance in a more complex, competitive, and volatile environment changing strategies, structures, and processes to respond to the increased business challenges.

Leaders must be transparent and open to suggestions and ideas, demonstrating a different way of looking at solutions. As a leader, it is important that when trying to get employees to buy into your program, you provide them with the tools they need to rationalize their decision to support you. The best approach is to provide a clear explanation designed to win support by helping them justify their decision to get involved.

Employees

The most valuable resource in any organization is its employees. To obtain the best, most agile employees primed for adaptability and innovation require the talent development department to be clear about the organization's vision, goals, and objectives. The organization will then have to focus on less training and instead focus more time developing and empowering employees in their adaption of the organization's culture and applying their best efforts in supporting the organization's vision for the future.

Selecting Communication Channels

Leadership must choose the proper communication channels in addressing essential issues in the organization's life. The ability to communicate the strategic plan or simply news about the retirement of a popular employee is a valuable tool for the leadership: channels of communication give the administration the ability to inform and clarify messages. One example of effective communication is the use of various media options. Using one or two methods of communication may mean that the message sent does not get to all employees.

A successful message delivery system consists of multiple channels. In today's environment, either business or other types of organizations, there are various channels for getting messages out to the public and employees. The two primary channels are as follows:

• A verbal channel involves a one-to-one, face to face or one-to-group form of communication; it may also include video conferencing or the telephone. This type of communication is considered oral communication.
• Nonverbal communication channels involve printed messages. Some examples are memos, bulletins, posters, email, letters, proposals, manuals, policy, or training manuals; these messages are written and meant to last until they are updated or rescinded

Other non-verbal communication channels include body language, facial expressions, touching, and posture. Using the right channel to get the expected results is most effective in getting messages out to those with whom they are communicating.

Mixed Messages

The broad scope of the discipline of organizational communication is reflected in the variety of different organizational communication measurements developed. The most widely used measures are in two categories: process instruments (e.g., measuring issues of conflict management, team building, and communication Competence) and comprehensive instruments (involving an overall approach communication.

Leaders and Followers

Leaders and followers are in a symbiotic relationship. Each depends on the other in efforts to achieve the vision and goals of the organization. The leader lays out the pathway, describes the strategic plan and hopes to convince followers (s) to come along in support of them. It is often said that a good leader knows how to create, manage, and maintain relationships with their followers. Regardless of the style of leadership, followers are critical to success. There are some followership styles.

Alienated Follower:

Independent critical thinker

Passive in the organization

Conformist

Dependent uncritical thinker:

Active in the organization

Pragmatic Survivor

Passive Follower:

Dependent uncritical thinker

Passive in the organization

Effective Follower:

Independent critical thinker

Active in the organization

These different types of followers work in an organization and can be effective, critical, and independent thinkers who are active and behave the same toward everyone regardless of their position in the organization. Followers are defined by their behavior-doing what others want them to do. It is who a follower is and what they do. They may comply not to put money or stature at risk in the workplace.

If the flip side of leadership is followership, it stands to reason that if leadership is essential to performance, followership must also have something to do with it. They are an effective follower enlightened on how to be an effective leader. This relationship describes how to lead and how to influence those who decide to be followers and to buy into the vision as offered by the leader. The leader who embraces transparency and clearly articulates their vision can expect to win overwhelming support from followers.

In linking the importance of the leadership-followership relationship, it is the quality of the relationship of leaders and followers, all the way up and down the organization chart, and makes or breaks organizations. Our society is in love with leadership but uncomfortable with followership. Even though the subjects are inseparable, we don't honor followership. We talk pejoratively of weak followers, which is true in most situations. Organizations, particularly those with an authoritative leadership style, pay scant attention to cultivating a leadership-followership relationship; they instead expect employees to follow the direction of their leaders.

The impact of technology is another consideration in relations between those with power, authority, and influence, and those seemingly without - is in evidence everywhere. But followers are armed with information. The capacity to communicate with each other and the means to be heard makes leaders vulnerable in ways they never were before. The introduction of technology into the equation of the leader-follower relationship gives the follower more power because the information is power, and technology opens up the opportunity for followers to obtain information or tools other than those offered by leadership. With this added information, followers are better equipped, more educated, and more informed.

Everywhere in society, politics, business, religion, and other institutions, we find leaders who are vital to our existence and our progress as a society. Leaders must establish a vision for the future and design appropriate strategies via a roadmap, timelines, or milestones to achieve the vision.

Leaders cannot lead themselves or accomplish their vision by themselves. They must acquire and influence like-minded followers who, after the vision is explained, will lend themselves to helping the leader be successful in their efforts, and in establishing their vision, leaders must determine which followers have the skills and the passion needed to meet the needs of the strategic plan.

Leaders must provide the resources tools the followers must have to do the work. These resources include the physical environment, education, psychological support, empathy, motivation, and guidance. Also included is a platform or framework where feedback and discussion can occur, all-important to building relationships based on trust and sustainment.

Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones in their article, Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? suggest that it is essential to get buy-in to the leadership program. When there is a strong relationship between those who are leading and those who are being led, then the organization's vision is realized because everyone is working toward a common goal. Although there may be diverse opinions about the best way to achieve the goals, the team coalesces around a common theme and works effectively.

According to Barbara Kellerman, in her article, What every leader needs to know about followers, she explains that good followership is the stuff of nearly nothing. Everyone wants to understand just what makes leaders tick—the charismatic ones, the retiring ones, and even the crooked ones.

Followers

Followers can be defined by their behavior—doing what others want them to do, and they generally go along to get along, particularly with those in higher positions.

Good followers have several qualities.?

1. Judgment.?Followers must take direction, but they have an underlying obligation to the enterprise only when ethical and proper approach.?
2. Work ethic.?Good followers are good workers.?
3. Competence.??The follower cannot follow properly unless competent at the task that the leader directs
4. Honesty.?The follower owes the leader a forthright assessment of what the leader is trying to achieve and how.?
5. Courage.?Followers need to be honest with those who lead them.?They also need the courage, to be honest.?
6. Discretion.?A favorite saying in World War II was, "Loose lips sink ships."?"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."?
7. Loyalty.??Good followers respect their obligation to be loyal to their enterprise.?Commitment to the enterprise and its goals is fundamental when problems, interpersonal or otherwise, with a particular leader.?
8. Ego management.?Good followers have their egos under control and are team players in the fullest sense of the concept.?They have good interpersonal skills.?Success for good followers relates to performance and goal achievement, not personal recognition, and self-promotion.?

Followership will always be in the shadow of leadership, but there are no leaders without followers, and success with weak followers will usually prove elusive.?

General Omar Bradley encapsulates and crystalizes the accepted concept of leadership and shapes how good leader perceives themselves: The test of a leader lies in the reaction and response of his followers. They should not have to impose authority. Bossiness itself has never made a leader. They must make their influence felt by example and instill confidence in their followers. The achievements lead to measuring the greatness of a leader, the ultimate test of his effectiveness.

When an opportunity is missed, it is because leaders often have not prepared themselves or their employees well enough to see and seize it. Preparation demands accountability and is an individual responsibility with so many interdependent factors.

There are always obstacles and challenges to winning followership. A leader must meet them head-on and inject flexibility into the process while mitigating detours or distractions that threaten success; flexibility allows the alteration in the change process, keeping in place the established milestones while introducing new technology and systems to aid the success of the project.

Becoming a successful leader requires more than just hard work. Truly outstanding leaders cause their passions and enthusiasm to set a charge into their organizations. Let your passion be a part of who you are as a leader. Lead with both your head and your heart.

Personal and leadership values include:

• Integrity and trustworthiness –adherence to moral and ethical principles with the soundness of moral character
• Competency, responsibility, and accountability - the duty or obligation to satisfactorily perform or complete a task and being held accountable for its completion
• ?Respect, appreciation, and advocacy - demonstrating respectful attitudes to those that follow your lead while being appreciative and openly advocating for others who may not be in the position to advocate for themselves effectively
• Community contribution and involvement – working to build a working relationship with the community in which the organization resides
• Expansive gratitude – being humble and effusive in praise of others who are partners or team members, expressing gratitude to those who have contributed to the success
• Strength of self-mastery – self-education and being aware of significant trends within the environment that may influence the vision
• Strength of action - being active and doing more than talking about doing, identifying the essential tools, resources, partners, and followers necessary to complete the mission.
• Strength of your ability to build and sustain relationships – the ability to influence those around you in positive ways and in getting others to come along with you.
• Listening – actively listening, not merely to hear others, but to understand thru engagement in the conversation, will provide information that helps the plan move forward. Paying full attention to non-verbal communication is also essential in understanding what is being communicated.

Conclusion

Leadership is both complex and all-encompassing. It requires training and the instinct to lead. Like Robert Greenleaf explains, The essence of leadership begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve first and that the conscious choice to serve brings out one's aspiration to lead in a system of managing people and a way of life. Among the many leadership traits, the three most relevant for a successful leader are empathy, active listening, and communication. These are the building blocks to building followership and leading holistically.

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