Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Leadership - Essay Example Thirdly, the leader should provide the knowledge and methods needed to realize the vision and influence others to buy into the idea. As passion is contagious, the leader must communicate in a passionate and clear way. Consequently, the leader should coordinate and balance the conflicting interests in stakeholders and be able to think and act creatively in difficult situations. There are traits that a leader should posses. Integrity, honest deals, controlled emotions with a predictable reaction to issues and an absence of harsh outbursts. Dedication is spending more time and energy to realize the vision by inspiring other members by example. Magnanimity is to give credit where it is due and be responsible for failures and humbleness to elevate everyone (Daft & Lane, 2011). A leader should have an open mind to listen to new ideas and suspend judgment while listening to others ideas, check the facts before passing judgment to gain trust and respect. Leaders are to be creative to think d ifferently and lead to new directions. Humor fosters good camaraderie. Humor is vital for a leader to relieve boredom, tensions and defuses hostility. This paper examines my leadership in terms of the participative theory and presents the plan of action to improve my motivation and leadership skills. Leadership theories, styles, and their influence on motivation The skills theory states that knowledge and abilities acquired by learning are significant factors for effective leadership. The argument in this theory is that skills and qualities learned, developed and acquired are keys to leadership performance. Skills are what leaders can accomplish, whereas traits are who leaders are (Northouse, 2009). Technical skills are knowledge, competency and proficiency in a specific work. For instance use of computer application software as MS office. Human skills assist us get along and communicate with people. Conceptual skills help leaders better decide and comprehend the actions and measure s for ideas and concepts. To some extent, the theory disavows a connection between the inherited characteristics and capacity to be an effective leader. However, it brings confusion when someone holds the skills and qualities but do not become a leader. This is one of the difficulties in using skills theory to explain leadership (Northouse, 2009). The situational theory, suggests that one needs to adjust and adapt to the circumstances in different situations to be an effective leader. The choice of action is based on situational variables. Factors to determine how to adapt are the competence and commitment of the stakeholders. Either aggressive decisions are made or there is room for negotiations (Ortimiere & Meese, 2010). In this theory, the leader may involve all members when making a critical decision and be task relevant. To determine the duties to assign, the leader should know the maturity level of followers in relation to a specific task. Therefore, situational leadership inf luences activities of individuals towards goal achievement in a given situation. According to the contingency theory, success depends on the leadership style, the qualities and traits of the followers and the aspect in which the situation is. It advocates for a positive approach towards unforeseen incidents. There should be a match between the leadership style and the unique situation or setting. It is different from the situational theory since, in situational the focus is on adapting to situations while in contingency effective leadership depends on the degree of fitness between a leaders qualities, style and that of a situation (Daft & Lane, 2011). The elements to be looked