LEADERSHIP AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A LEADER
INTRODUCTION:
It is said that “Leaders are born, not made. It is quite true Legendary leaders like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates did not even complete their schooling and they didn’t incur leadership qualities from others.They were born leaders with exceptional administrative and technical qualities.But leadership can also be acquired through learning and dedication towards it.
Leadership is something when one person influences a group of individuals for achieving certain goals.Leaders normally get work done by authority and few leaders get work done by winning the trust of people.
BODY:
If a company is flourishing and getting good market share, it is evident that a good leader is giving orders to the workers there and if there is fall in a company’s growth, there are chances that the leader is not good there.
Leadership is very important function which increases efficiency in the organization.
A good leader inspires his team mates i.e., he will become like a role model for his subordinates. The leader creates confidence in his team and most importantly coordinates with the team.The leader will maintain the order and discipline which the company wants.He will show the direction in which the goals need to be achieved and integrates the organisational goals and also the personal goals of himself and the employees.
The leader should think creatively and also implement his creativity using his team to get the best throughput.He will be the one who boosts the morale of the team whenever the team is down and needs motivation.
To become a good leader,one should exhibit all these qualities.In addition to this,he has to look for improvement in all stages and accept changes in the organisation and the environment.He should be technically strong in the area in which he is working.
For example,a manager in an automobile company should know everything about automobiles in order to have an edge among his employees and this would help him to correct their mistakes.
The leader should always be responsible for the actions and the outcomes whether it is positive or negative.Accepting to the fault of the whole team will show real leadership skills of the leader. M S Dhoni always takes responsibility in his team’s defeat.This is a classic example for the above mentioned characteristic of a leader. A leader should also be good communicator as he has to communicate all his ideas to his team in the best way and he should develop a sense of responsibility on his team mates to do the job. Another important quality of a leader is that he should plan all his tasks and make sure they are completed on time.
CONCLUSION:
Thus leadership plays a very vital role in an organisation’s success.There are lots of examples for it. Steve Jobs was instrumental in Apple’s revival, Bill Gates was responsible for Microsoft’s position in world market and Adolf Hitler was instrumental in Germany’s historical success.All these leaders had these unique qualities which made them successful and famous.Thus leadership becomes the one and only vital characteristic and necessity of an enterprise to flourish.
By:
Mohd Afzal Ansari
Gibs B-school, Bangalore
