Role of Leadership
Leadership is a role charged with the development of visionary decisions. There are many skills, traits, and styles associated with leadership. Some of the skills associated with a leader include being good in the development of relationships with the human entities around a leader and being inspirational to followers (Mumford et al. 2000).
A good leader must possess skills in effective communication with the stakeholders of the decisions he or she makes. Leaders have the role to drive the business forward through confidence in making decisions, and leading by example (Northouse 2013). The integration of these skills, traits and styles results in success for a leader (Birk 2010).
Traits, skills and styles of leaders I have experienced as a follower
As a follower, I have experienced a leader with efficient delegating skills, and remarkable communication skills. The leader used a coercive leadership style, and his traits revealed a man who did not care about developing interpersonal relationships with the members of the team.
Personal experience
I have served as a group leader severally in the past, and one of the most memorable cases was when I served as a team leader for a school project. The project entailed the development of research focusing on a societal problem, and the team needed to collect data, analyse it, and develop a detailed report to present to the teacher.
The project was a competition between seven groups in the class and the reward was a trophy and a fully paid trip for the winners. I was actively involved in helping the members of the different sub-groups to deliver the required results. The group took the first position in the competition, and the members were happy that I portrayed some qualities associated with good leaders.
Traits, skills, and styles I have exhibited
This experience gave me a chance to develop a leadership style that entailed being actively involved in helping the team members to attain the set goals. I was able to delegate and compel the members of the group to achieve the desired goals. The experience also revealed that I need to develop better skills in developing interpersonal relationships with my followers.
Approaches in a different situation
If I was a leader in a situation of crisis, I would have used a different leadership style. During the project, the role of the leader was motivating the team members to work harder and efficiently, but in a situation of crisis, the leader has to be innovative in the development of solutions. Times of crisis are very challenging for leaders because they need to portray confidence in their decision-making to inspire followers to fight the challenges (Northouse 2013).
Faced with a situation of crisis, I would probably need to brainstorm with the members of the team to ensure the decisions made are viable. I would engage in a participative style of leadership to ensure the members of the group are motivated to face the crisis. I need to enhance my skills in decision-making and the development of interpersonal relationships with followers (Groves 2005).
Role of a leader and its relationship with traits, skills, and styles
The role of a leader is to provide the followers with a direction in the quest for mutual objectives. A leader must possess good communication skills, and he or she must portray traits of confidence and competence (Birk 2010). The leadership style chosen by a leader is vital in influencing success for his or her team; hence, a leader should develop a leading style that appeals to followers.
List of References
Birk, S. 2010, The 10 most common myths about leadership. Web.
Groves, K. S. 2005, ‘Linking leader skills, follower attitudes, and contextual variables via an integrated model of charismatic leadership’, Journal of Management, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 255-277.
Mumford, M. D., Zaccaro, S. J., Harding, F. D., Jacobs, T. O. & Fleishman, E. A. 2000, ‘Leadership skills for a changing world: Solving complex social problems’, The Leadership Quarterly, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 11-35.
Northouse, P. G. 2013, Leadership: theory and practice, 6th edn, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.