Discussion on Leadership (Essay Sample)

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Self-Awareness
According to the trait leadership theory, leadership is one of the genetic qualities that are passed on from parents to their children. The theory's proponents argue that leaders are born with the necessary leadership qualities such as integrity, sociability, intelligence, determination and self-confidence. As one of the believers in the trait theory, my leadership role models are my father and my grandfather, who passed away. Their leadership abilities are evident in their behavior, principles, and success, all of which are great qualities that I believe and should be emulated. Both my father and grandfather are distinguished in such a way that I admire them together with my other family members and friends. Their leadership qualities can be analyzed from different perspectives, theories and approaches.
My father has really tried to be a positive role model, and he demonstrates what good leadership is like to us. He has encountered ups and downs in his life over the years but the ups outweigh the downs, and this makes me have a clear idea of what good leadership entails. The following are the reasons he is my role model:
My father is an honest and trustworthy individual. He earns people's trust through his actions thus, they give their full commitment and passion. He does not get people to follow him by virtue of his power because if he does so they will only do so out of compulsion or fear. He says that trust is essential for an effective leadership in the long term. This has always been his principle in business and family matters. He started a business over 10 years ago where he delivered stationery to retailers. He earned their trust with his timely deliveries, reliability and transparency. His trustworthy nature and the other qualities of leadership have enabled him to grow that business. This is an inspirational journey that demonstrates both leadership and personal principles that make my father someone worth looking up to and learning from each day I interact with him.
He is also a person of integrity: The leadership in my father emanates from who he is a person, his values, beliefs, and attitudes. He gets clear on his values, he adheres to them at all times thus, and the people around him thrive from his inspirational nature. He tells me that all the leadership tips, tricks, and theories do not do any good if a leader is not a person of integrity. My father's integrity is also evident in his leadership style where he adopts the leader-member exchange leadership approach (Daly, Speedy, & Jackson, 2003, p.9). He always believes that his followers are important people and must be included in everything. He applies this concept at home because all of us are involved in family decision-making since he allows us to give our ideas and needs. As a CEO of his business, he extends the same leadership approach to his junior employees, often listening to their input and involving them in every step. This approach has worked well for him especially because family members and junior employees are not afraid to give their input and are willing to work with him to achieve the goals. It is this kind of integrity and leadership style that makes me admire my father as a role model.
 My father is also very dependable and a consistent leader because whatever he says and aims at doing he makes sure he does. He does not make promises that he knows he cannot keep, and he always follows through on his commitments. In addition, he cares about others. My father has very good relationships with others as he takes a genuine interest in them and gets to know them as individuals and not just as teammates. His success in life is dependent on his ability to relate effectively with others regardless that he is smart. He once told me that people would not care how much you know until they know how much you care. My father's leadership qualities are best summarized in Pierce's book, "The leadership process most often succeeds when leaders express their leadership qualities and allow the people around them to feed off those qualities. This creates a synergy between leaders and their subjects such that the leadership style becomes a part of the organizational culture and so result in greater success (Pierce & Newstrom, 2011, p. 23)."
I still remember my grandfather who passed away, not because of the great stories he would share with us but because he was a great leader and was my role model to date. This is because he showed us the following lessons about a good leader. He was very courageous; he used to tell me that failure is part of the learning process when one wants to be a good leader. He was not shameful in putting forth his best efforts and coming up short. He would take what he learnt from the experiences and would use it to do better in next time. At the age of 76, he was still willing to venture into a new business sector, real estate. With a struggling economy, the real estate sector was not doing well yet he did not fear failure. He was confident and did a lot of research before rolling out the plan. His courage and determination to succeed where other investors were not willing to try epitomized his leadership qualities. Through his courage, he could inspire those who look up to him for guidance and inspiration. I have learnt to emulate his character because courage and self-confidence are key attributes that any leader must show in order to make the tough decisions when called upon.
My grandfather was a flexible and sociable person. He would easily adjust his leadership style depending on the situation at hand. He was not one trick pony in his leadership as he would flex his leadership style to the situation. He had direction and support thus the capability to perform tasks due to his flexibility. For example, he could be very strict when deadlines were supposed to be met and would make decisions without consulting whenever he felt something had to be done the right way. However, he was also willing to consult and interact actively with his juniors whenever it was time to brainstorm and come up with new strategies to achieve specific goals (Daft, 2014. P. 78). He kept a sense of humor when there was need to. He would take work seriously and at the same time took himself lightly. He would laugh and have fun with us and his humor built strong relationships that until now I remember. He would say that a good laugh could make a hard work to be easier.
He developed other leaders through his incredible ability to identify talent and nurture it. My grandfather would give other opportunities to people for them to shine.  He helped us be able to develop leadership potential for us who were under him; an example is seen with my father. My grandfather's success is reflected in the success of my father as he gave him the autonomy over whatever he would do and gave him credit for his success. He would identify people with potential and give them the opportunity to grow and become better leaders. My grandfather's approach in nurturing leadership talent is supported in Posner and Kouzes idea, "A good leader is also identified from their ability to identify talent and nurture future leaders. This is important because such leaders are those that are keen on ensuring continuity and are not afraid to nurture new leaders to take their places,” (Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p. 56).
References
Daly, J., Speedy, S., & Jackson, D. (2004). Nursing Leadership. London: Elsevier Health Sciences APAC.
Pierce, J. L., & Newstrom, J. W. (2011). Leaders & the leadership process: Readings, self-assessments & applications. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2006). A leader's legacy.
Daft, R. (2014). The Leadership Experience. London: Cengage Learning
Understanding
There are various leadership topics that can be portrayed in different situations in the world. These topics are very important in the understanding leadership in various nations and organizations. In this case, I have decided to look into the topic trust deeply. Every organization needs trust to operate and achieve its main objectives. Trust a major requirement in leadership....