Mgt 460 Leadership Priorities and Practice

Over the years in my career I have come to learn the different between an effective manager and a non effective manager. With all that I have learned is it possible to live up to whom I want to be. In the following essay I explore the skills and techniques used by managers that have lead to a successful career. I will also demonstrate how I plan to integrate these skills and techniques into my future as a leader. In many organizations leadership is the key to a company success, and many companies find out the hard way that managers do not always demonstrate the abilities to be leaders. Managers who do not demonstrate these abilities are individuals, who have been given a hierarchy position, follow the “corporate code” and do not think outside the box. Also, “managers with the best intentions in the world often flub opportunities to get invaluable feedback from subordinates. Managers may send unintentional messages that they’re too busy to be bothered, not respond to subtle hints, or simply fail to schedule regular feedback opportunities” (Ashford University edition, 2007, p.30). Many managers fail to realize that to be a great leader you must have followers; your followers believe in you, and they want to succeed. In my years of being a manager I have worked for leaders that think they have all the answers and do not need the help of the people that work under them. I have seen that this may work for a little while but in the long run it tends to back fire on them and the company as a whole. This leads to what I feel a leader is and how the qualities of an effective leader are spread out through organizations.
Leaders are individuals who have skills and techniques that motivate individuals to use critical thinking processes, promote positive behavior patterns and are confident in their subordinates under them. In an interview with Linda Hill (a professor from Harvard Business School) she spoke in reference to a term known as leading from behind. This idea

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