Winning Leadership Essay
LEADERSHIP ESSAY
By Redemptor Benedict
What Does Leadership Mean?
What does it mean to be a leader? Is it the title….President, Chairman, General etc? To me, it’s more than that. Titles are important…no doubt about that, but they don’t have much value when it comes to leading. True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed or assigned.
Leadership is not primarily a formal position. There have been great leaders who did not hold high positions—for example, Martin Luther King, Jr. It comes only from influence and it has to be earned. Being a leader in a mass of people is more than just having the name “captain”.
In other words, you don’t need a title to lead. In fact, you can be a leader in your family, in your neighbourhood, or in your society, all without having a title. It’s not the position that makes the leader; it’s the leader that makes the position. However, it is also true that people who are awarded, appointed or assigned leadership positions, have a key role to play in society, and if true leadership is not within them, then at least some effort is needed to build their leadership capacity or else the teams they lead are doomed.
To me, a leader is someone who demonstrates extraordinary dedication to his or her team, and will do whatever it takes to better the team as a whole. A leader infuses a sense of positivity and directs others to reach the specified goal. Leadership therefore is ‘that process” in which an individual influences an organized group (followers) to attain a common goal’. The goal is attained by mutual cooperation and cohesive behaviour. The ends of leadership involve getting results through others, and the means of leadership involve the ability to build cohesive, goal-oriented teams.
Leadership is more often than not about “soft skills” rather than hard skills. Knowledge is power and naturally, for those who believe power is the essence of leadership will assume that those who possess more knowledge and
By Redemptor Benedict
What Does Leadership Mean?
What does it mean to be a leader? Is it the title….President, Chairman, General etc? To me, it’s more than that. Titles are important…no doubt about that, but they don’t have much value when it comes to leading. True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed or assigned.
Leadership is not primarily a formal position. There have been great leaders who did not hold high positions—for example, Martin Luther King, Jr. It comes only from influence and it has to be earned. Being a leader in a mass of people is more than just having the name “captain”.
In other words, you don’t need a title to lead. In fact, you can be a leader in your family, in your neighbourhood, or in your society, all without having a title. It’s not the position that makes the leader; it’s the leader that makes the position. However, it is also true that people who are awarded, appointed or assigned leadership positions, have a key role to play in society, and if true leadership is not within them, then at least some effort is needed to build their leadership capacity or else the teams they lead are doomed.
To me, a leader is someone who demonstrates extraordinary dedication to his or her team, and will do whatever it takes to better the team as a whole. A leader infuses a sense of positivity and directs others to reach the specified goal. Leadership therefore is ‘that process” in which an individual influences an organized group (followers) to attain a common goal’. The goal is attained by mutual cooperation and cohesive behaviour. The ends of leadership involve getting results through others, and the means of leadership involve the ability to build cohesive, goal-oriented teams.
Leadership is more often than not about “soft skills” rather than hard skills. Knowledge is power and naturally, for those who believe power is the essence of leadership will assume that those who possess more knowledge and