What makes a good leader? Is it someone who is bossy? Someone who leads autocratically? Someone who leads free-reign? Well, if someone asked me what qualities a good leader would possess I would think of 5 things: creativity, passion, honesty, good communication, and organization.
Creativity:
Creativity is so important in leadership. Anyone can go through the basic steps when it comes to leadership but it is the leader that executes the task just
I think that throughout the semester of Management and Leadership I have been pushed to think outside of the box. One specific activity was when we were broken into groups and told to make a bird house. Although I wasn’t allowed to participate in making the bird house, because I was an observer, I began to think of several different ways that I would build it. I think the biggest lesson was learned when we shared our birdhouses with the class. The lesson I learned connects with seeking to understand, then to be understood from 7 Habits. If we take a second to listen to our group members we could be pleasantly surprised with the ideas they come up with and even if you don’t like their ideas maybe one will spark for you!
Passion:
Have you ever worked in a group where there is one person that isn’t as interested in the task at hand as the rest of the group? For me, this is a difficult moment I face as a leader. At the beginning of this class I would probably get frustrated with this group member but as the class has progressed my leadership has too. I would say this connects to the leadership unit because you might not always be placed with group members who are as invested as you are. A way I learned you could boost motivation is with positive reinforcement. Things such as rewards and acknowledgement are things group members like to receive from their leaders. As a leader I also need to recognize who I am working with and what decision making style (ex. Autocratic, participative, free rein) I would use when I am working with my group. An example of when I have had to use problem solving is during my leadership impact project. Right off the bat I recognized the types of group members I had and decided to lead autocratically and sometimes a participative leadership style.
Communication:
This might be one of my favorite qualities a good leader possesses and I’m not just saying that because I love to talk. Communication is so important to good group dynamics and success because without it you can’t get your point across. This addresses seek first to understand then to be understood from 7 Habits because effective communication is when you learn to listen to your group members before you act. The beauty of communication is that it comes in so many forms. From email to social networking to face to face it seems like it is so hard to keep up. One of my favorite communication lessons that put me a little bit at ease was when we learned about short concise writing and how to send emails. I liked this because it taught me how to get my point across without having to be too lengthy. This is so important to being a good leader because many people don’t want to read a lengthy paragraph when you could have gotten the point across in a sentence or two. I have definitely started to integrate this lesson into my life by being the president of my church’s youth group where I have to update the group when we are having meetings via e-mail and Facebook.
Organization:
One of the main objectives to our leadership impact project was to leave a long lasting plan that future groups could work off of. I believe that the most successful legacies are the groups that left things organized. Not just organized in the sense that you have all your materials but also that your process is organized. In 7 Habits we learned about beginning with the end in mind which basically means to focus on your goal. I think that in the management unit I learned that, although it is tempting, skipping steps doesn’t lead to success but rather disorganization. A good leader knows that planning might be a bit tedious but once things are up and running the process is much smoother as opposed to one that is unorganized.
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