Free Custom «Effective Leadership» Essay Paper

Executive summary

There are several theories give a description of an effective leader. A number of good traits of an effective leader have been explained in the discussion. Honesty, leading by example and trust is examples of such traits.

Discussion

Thomas and Carlo in their writings have explained the characteristics of a leader.  Leaders have different characteristics from the people who are not leaders. These characteristics are inborn. People inherit the personality and character of which someone may be a leader or not. Individuals who come from the family where the parents are leaders will most of the times be a leader, as well. These characteristics may include the intelligence. A leader is a person who is intelligent; he or she can make a sound decision diligently. A leader is one also who is persistent. A person who cannot stop insisting in something that he or she thinks is right.

An effective leader is one who has the dominance characteristics. He should have the winning image. However, someone who may be a leader in one field might not a good leader in another field. Different people have different leadership characteristics. People emerge as good leaders in different areas. Leaders should have high problem solving skills. Any company or organization requires a leader who can help in problem solving. In the office, a manager is expected to provide solution when other employees encounter a problem.

The manager or the leader in an organization should be able to lead the others well. They should be kind of motivation to the other employees. Employees should be treated well to make them industrious in the work place. The employees should be rewarded when they do something good. Rewarding employees can be done financially or none financially. Employees, on the other hand, when they fail they can be punished so that they may repeat the same mistake another time. However, this should be done well in a way that does not discourage the employees. The leader, however, should reward the employees or the juniors fairly or justly. There should be no favoritism in rewarding the employees.

A good leader should lead others by example. They should participate in any work that the others are doing. The manager who is the leader is expected to play a big role in supervision and management of others. A leader should have good communication skills. The way the leader operates will bring the impact on the productivity of the juniors. The leaders are the people who shape the work place. The management or the transitional theory is similar to the trait theory in that both explain that the characteristics of a leader are important to any leadership (Sperry, 2002).

The leaders are expected to have a good relationship with the juniors. Good communication between the leader and the other employees will bring understanding among themselves. The leader should encourage others to air their views concerning any decision that is to be made. The leader should at most of the times having a positive mood. He should be able to transmit this positive mood to the team members. He should also have the affective tone. The leader who has a positive mood will definitely have the group affective tone.

The research found out that a leader should have a positive ego; positive ego will result to a positive self-esteem. Leader with a positive self-esteem will be able to lead others well. The behavior of a leader determines the behavior and the productivity of the juniors in an organization.

A good leader should be able to lead employees based on the situation of other people. Some individuals may have a personal problem and the leader should be able to lead them as desired. He will also show concern to them. When an employee has a problem, the leader will show concern to him encouraging them to be strong. A leader may also focus on the accomplishment of a task. He may set a target himself for the employees. This will encourage them to work even harder. The employees who meet the set target should be rewarded and those who do not meet the target should be punished or motivated to work harder. The role of each employee should be clarified. The employees should be hold accountable for everything that takes place within his or her field. This will give the leader an easy way for supervision and monitoring of the employees (Adair, 2009).

Members of the leadership may have different traits, therefore, it is the work of the leader to understand each of them thus encouraging and motivating them to work even harder. The transformational type of leader focuses much in the performance. He is interested in the way each person does his work. The leader has a duty of motivating and encouraging the other team members to work harder to meet the set target. He should also encourage the team members and give them space to unleash their full potential. Each person should be given some freedom to work hard; however, the leader should ensure that the freedom given to them is not misused. The behavioral type of leader has been proven to have high standards of moral values (Roka, 2006).

Conclusion

Leaders are believed to be born, and not made this is according to Carlyle1917. Leaders have certain traits and characteristics that distinguish them from the non-leaders. Good leaders should be able to motivate their juniors so that they may meet the company's objective. They should have good communication skills some that they may understand the team members.