1. What is the shape of the "perfect" leader and does he or she exist? To paraphrase, there are three rules for creating good leaders. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. There are no perfect leaders; that is why good leaders are always trying to improve themselves through self-study, training, education, mentorship, making mistakes and then learning from them, etc. Since there are no perfect leaders, it is hard to build a good leadership model; that is why there are hundreds of them. But, we can be sure of a few things that good leaders posses:
(a) A vision of the future (where are we going). (b) The ability to encourage followers to jump into that experience (work through the many changes that are required to achieve that vision). (c) A love of self-improvement for themselves and their followers. This love makes them good coaches and mentors. (d) Empowering their followers to get things done (delegates).
2. Does a leader need to be motivated? How can leaders maintain themselves to stay motivated? A leader definitely has to be motivated; those who are not will quickly be seen as frauds in their followers' eyes as they expect their leaders to be enthusiastic about their work. Motivation comes in two forms: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivators come from the outside. For example, one reason that I go to work is that I need to make a living in order to survive. Intrinsic motivators come from within. For example, another reason that I go to work is that I get a great deal of satisfaction when I accomplish a difficult task. Good leaders set and achieve goals that allow them to get a healthy balance of both motivators. Although many people believe that intrinsic motivators are the best, that is not necessarily so. Often, the extrinsic motivators lead us into new situations and then our love for doing it (intrinsic) carries us through and on to new heights.
3. Can anyone become a leader? Is it really possible? Aren’t there people who traits make them unfit to be a leader? Anyone can become a leader that has the willingness and drive to achieve that goal. Traits can be changed or reduced by focusing upon the more desirable traits and then using them to overpower the unhealthy ones. This is one reason there are no perfect leaders - we all have a few unhealthy traits. But the better leaders concentrate on and grow their desirable traits so that they over-power their weaker traits.
4. In which way do you see that new technologies will affect leadership and leaders? I do not see technologies affecting leaders, or people for that matter. What I do see are good leaders achieving their goals by selecting the right tool (technology) to achieve their goals. Good leaders focus upon their goals and then do what is necessary to achieve it; they do not pick a technology and then try to achieve some goal with it.
5. What is the relationship between leaders and followers? I see leaders as change agents who guide their followers onto new heights, while along the way; they develop and grow their followers. A leader’s two driving goals should make the organization a success and that if the leader should leave, then she/he has enough trained and developed people to fulfill her/his shoes.
6. Is there any trend that could be called "the new leader"? Or have things really not changed that much over the last 2000 years? As we have gotten a better understanding of human behaviors over the last hundred years or so, leaders have moved along the "leadership continuum" by going from Douglas McGregor’s Theory X to Theory Y. We are still a long way to Theory Y, but we have tipped the scale to its favor.
7. Does a leader need power? How can a leader avoid being corrupted by the power? The degree of power that a leader requires is determined by the goals that she/he must achieve. For example, the leader of a country requires different powers than the leader of a church. Power is the possession of control, authority, and/or influence over others. This power is used to achieve a goal. Some leaders, such as presidents, have all three possessions, while others, such as Mother Theresa, might have only one influence. Power does not corrupt. Corruption is the degree that someone’s action has veered from a moral value that a society or community has set. Although the amount of their action is controlled by the type of power they have, it is their inner-self that drives the action. For example, Hitler was a leader by almost every definition, yet there were certain groups that he hated. This hatred drove him to mass corruption (in his community it was not viewed as corruption, while in almost every other community it was). If he never achieved the position he held, his inner-hatred (corruption) of select groups would have still been there. His inner-self controlled the power. The only preventive medicine for corruption is a healthy respect for others (diversity).
8. What is the worst fault a leader can have? A failure to see the benefits of diversity. This creates "like-people" throughout the organizations and leads to one-way thinking. If you do not have a diverse team, then you cannot come up with the creative brainstorming solutions to stay competitive.
9. As far as communication is a key point, how can a shy person be a leader? Communication, from a leadership point, is more than just directing others (which shy people would draw back from); it is more about maintaining healthy relationships (which almost every shy person is capable of doing). One of my favorite quotes is from Captain Henry "Jim" Crowe, USMC. While in Guadalcanal on 13 January 1943, he used the following words and actions to motivate his troops: "Goddamn it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!" It was more than an order; it was his action of not showing his fear by being in the front that motivated his troops. Leaders use both actions and words to get things done. Bossing others is the act of directing others to get things done without having any concern for the employees. Shy persons do not normally become bosses, but many of them do become leaders’ bullies.
10. If so much material is written about leadership, why are there so few real leaders in companies? Who says there are so few leaders? The only people who can call a person a leader are the followers. People outside the organization might call a person a leader, yet she/he might have just been a dictating tyrant who used her/his power of authority to get things done. This only made her/him the boss, not a leader. Only the people who work for another person have the authority to call that person a leader. Too many people equate leaders with the power of authority, yet it is more about visioning and achieving goals through others. Organizations that are lagging behind their competitors often have a lack of leaders throughout their ranks. While great organizations have leaders throughout the organization, from top to bottom.
11. The role of principles of leadership is so extensive that it puts one to think - isn’t a good leader a kind of superman or superwomen? How can that be? Leadership is like many other difficult skills who take skills and practice. That is why it is important to develop leaders throughout your organization; although you can learn the knowledge and the skills in a short period of time, it takes plenty of practice to get it right. Senior leaders should always be coaching and mentoring their subordinates on the leadership continuum.
12. Is a military model of leadership adequate to any company, as far as it based most on authority and discipline? Researchers at McKinsey & Company and the Conference Board discovered that one highly effective route of leadership is demonstrated by the U.S. Marine Corps. The Marines' approach to motivation follows the "mission, values, and pride" (MVP) path, which researchers say is practical and relevant for the business world. The Marines invest in their front line by following five practices: (a) Over-investing in cultivating core value: Make an investment by intensely focusing on core values. Give your employees more than a brief introduction, assign some training to your most experienced and talented managers. (b) Preparing every person to lead, including frontline supervisors: Training every front line person to lead has a powerful effect on morale. Do NOT write the followers off or give them superficial attention. You most embrace the notion that front line workers can lead. (c) Learning when to create teams and when to create single-leader work groups: Genuine teams are rare in the business world where a single individual leading a group is the norm. Real teams get most of their motivation from its mission and goals. (d) Attending to the bottom half, not just the top half: Find the time to attend to the poor and mediocre performers, even if it means personal sacrifice. Normally, it is cheaper and easier to rejuvenate under-performers than it is to replace them. (e) Encouraging self-discipline as a way of building pride: Demand that everyone act with honor, courage, and commitment.
13. Is there an ideal percentage of leaders in an organization? Can an "excess" of leaders turn into a problem? Every organization is unique; hence it will require a different percentage. But every leader and supervisor must display some form of leadership, they cannot simply be bosses and expect the organization to become a great organization. As far as excess, how can you have too much of a good thing; is there such a thing as a company having too much profit?
14. How do you keep people’s loyalty in a company that is downsizing? Isn’t it asking too much of a leader? Leadership is more about enabling people to do their best and become the best, than it is about loyalty. Leaders inspire people while managers set policies that buy loyalty. Besides, organizations that have effective leaders throughout their organization will find themselves downsizing much less than organizations that are lacking leaders. That is because they will be performing the necessary steps to carry them on to the visions they have created. Also, if you have good leaders throughout the organization, you are going to find yourself doing the right things if and when it becomes cost-cutting time - being honest and compassionate.
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