There are leaders and there are followers, consequently the composition of most of the human race. There have been leaders since the beginning of time, thus leadership is an extremely important element in our society, for without leaders, people would be without direction, confused, and unmotivated. However, just because one finds his or herself in a leadership role, does not mean he or she is an effective leader or a leader that can create and maintain a healthy organizational culture.
Dwight Eisenhower once said, "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it" (Lanford, n.d.). Leadership is a word that evokes a number of diverse ideas and opinions such as management, control, power, guidance, teamwork, integrity, communication, followers and so on. However, what does leadership mean? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2005-2006) defines leadership as "the act or an instance of leading." This paper will discuss the requirements of an effective leader as well as make recommendations to create and maintain a healthy organizational culture.
Leaders
Leadership is an act of service. As a leader, it is vital to serve the people one leads because it is the followers who determine one 's role as a leader. Possessing the gift of leadership means having the ability to gather a diverse group of people and get them so enthused about something that they want to put their all into accomplishing the task or goal. A successful leader should have as a personal goal to help his or her followers see the full potential they have in themselves, because a team of confident workers will be stronger, work harder and accomplish more. A successful and effective leader must be a person of integrity, self-motivated and conscientious, conscious of planning and organizing, vision oriented, and a person of character. When a leader possesses these five characteristics, he or she will be effective no
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