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Almost anyone can lead, but it takes leadership to effectively lead in the right direction.
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What is leadership? Leadership is getting other people to follow you towards a common goal, bringing out the best in the people around you, and helping people find a greater meaning in the everyday tasks they are asked to perform. A person who possesses the ability to lead is a great asset to any organization, group, or department.
One of the most commonly accepted theories of leadership is that of transactional and transformational leadership. While some researchers have conceptualized these as separate and distinct methods of guidance or as the two ends of one continuum, many have begun to view transformational leadership in addition to transactional methods as being the most effective. Combined, these two techniques can help a leader go from acceptable to great.
So just what do transactional and transformational leadership methods entail? Transactional leadership consists of setting clear guidelines for behavior, rewarding good performance and punishing poor performance, providing feedback, and taking a management role in assigning tasks to others. Transformational leadership, according to our assessment, involves motivating and coaching employees to perform to the best of their ability, sharing a vision for the company or organization in a convincing and charismatic manner, solving problems in the company using an inventive approach, taking everyone's needs and ideas into account when making decisions, and setting an excellent example for others.
Research has revealed that effective leaders possess a specific personality profile. In essence, people who emerge as natural leaders are outgoing and comfortable interacting with others, possess high emotional stability, are agreeable and open-minded, and tend to be highly conscientious and responsible individuals. Unfortunately, those whose personalities differ greatly from this ideal will likely feel unnatural leading others, and may end up struggling should they find themselves in such a position.
To be an effective leader takes vision, flexibility, knowledge, communication, and hard work, among many other things. Those who have the desire and the determination to sharpen their wits, hone their skills, and accentuate their virtues can pull away and deftly lead others to success.
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