Leaders must help their employees with reaching their full potential through training and knowledge sharing.
4. Leaders must create a positive leader presence with their followers.
5. Leaders must give rewards and recognition to their followers.
Patterson states, “Being a good leader is about going beyond, being passionate about what you do, and being a navigational tool for everyone around you. Stay mindful of ways to improve working conditions to make for a better workforce and to stay competitively relevant.” (Patterson, 2018) Initially defining leadership by rank and privilege and characterizing it by a top-down or command and control style of leadership, but those days are gone according to James Kouzes and Barry Posner, authors of Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It (2011). Kouzes and Posner suggest that leaders must earn the right to lead daily because each day followers decide whether to follow them. Kouzes and Posner state that we must strive to be a leader every day and never just assume that we are one. (p. 2, 2011)
Personal Changes to be an Effective …show more content…
Often old habits, especially unpleasant habits; are hard to break. I was promoted into a leadership position in the early 1980’s without the benefit of any leadership training. I modeled my leader characteristics after individuals I had worked with or saw in the past and it was not until several years later that I realized that I was an ineffective leader and to be honest I was just plain bad! It was at this point that I decided to change and requested to take part in a leadership course. This was the beginning of my leadership journey. One of the first things I began to improve was my listening skills. I realized that I was “listening” to my followers but not “hearing” what they were saying. This was one of the hardest areas to improve in. Mike Myatt (2012) suggests the key to becoming a better leader is to stop talking and start listening to your followers. Myatt states, “The best leaders are proactive, strategic, and intuitive listeners.” (2012) I agree and now understand that all I need to do is look and listen if I really want to know what the issue is. This has become one of my most valuable tools in my leadership