Leadership Development. Philosophy Statement

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Leadership Development: Philosophy Statement

Successful leaders are those who hold deep outlooks on their roles as leaders. Studies on leadership development illustrate that a leader’s attitudes and beliefs regarding leadership determines their success as a leader. Accordingly, leaders are required to develop a philosophy statement, which they will employ in their leadership activities and programs. In the field of leadership development, the term, philosophy statement, refers to a personal analysis of crucial assumptions and beliefs regarding leadership. Subsequently, these assumptions are what leaders employ in their respective institution for the success of their operational activities.

This paper presents a personal philosophy statement. The first section of the paper provides the actual philosophy statement of beliefs, whereas the second section presents a justification and explanations of these beliefs.

Philosophy Statement of Beliefs

Not everyone can be a leader, and for that reason, I believe that good leader is a unique individual who believes in stepping up the plate and taking on leadership roles. A good leader believes in instilling a sense of direction in others, so as to show his team members what needs to be done and why (Daft and Lane 1-493). A good leader is one who is confident in what he or she does. He believes that his projects have some significance to his institution and will focus on the best interest of the institution, as well as, his team members. A good leader is also one who believes in organization and order. Good leaders ensure that all their activities and projects, no matter how small they are, are orderly and purposeful. Good leaders are also those individuals who display composure and tolerance in during uncertainty (Daft and Lane 1-493). This is closely related to confidence, and they do not let their emotions get in the way of their work and what they believe in. Good leaders are also focused on the tasks of the organization, as well as, their roles as leaders in the performance of these tasks. They do not lag behind and wait for others to complete their assignments for them and instead they remain focused on the task at hand. Relevantly, good leaders are committed to excellence (Daft and Lane 1-493). They lay emphasis of maintaining high standards in what they do, and they work towards the achievement of excellence at all times. Conclusively, I believe that good leadership is primarily about taking initiative and assuming responsibility for work done in a team setting. Good leaders do not shy away from taking a lead, and is not afraid of being held responsible for work done by others.

Justification and Explanations

Listing personal attitudes and beliefs about good leaders and leadership is not enough to convince individuals on one’s philosophy and statement. For that reason, there is needed to provide a justification or rationale for what is presented in the listing of the philosophy statement. As previously mentioned, I believe that there are several attributes of good leaders and leadership including, confidence, organization and order, composure and tolerance, focus, commitment to excellence, responsibility, and taking initiative. The rationale and justification for these attributes are provided below.

Confidence

The position of leadership requires constant self-assurance, and for that reason, good leaders are inherently confident. If one is to take into consideration the many leaders who exist in society today, then they notice that most of these leaders are highly confident in themselves and their work. Confidence is what draws people to their leaders (Daft and Lane 1-493). This is because a leader’s confidence gives his team members the assurance that they are in good hands with such a leader. In essence, a leaders confidence gives his followers the confidence that what is being done ill yield good results (Daft and Lane 1-493). For a leader to set direction for his team members, he or she needs to appear as confident in his respective leadership role. A leader’s confidence motivates his followers into performing their duties. A confident leader inspires confidence in his followers and draws out the best efforts in these individuals. Such a person also encourages trust between his followers and himself, as well as, among his followers, thus ensuring that the work gets done in time. Leadership demands confidence because a confident leader suggests resilience in proposed objectives, hence, inspiring the greatest team member efforts.

Organization and Order

Good leadership demands organization and order. This is because unlike other positions, the leadership position demands that all activities be organized and systemized at all times (Daft and Lane 1-493). All institutional settings require that particular tasks be carried out for the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. Because of the multifaceted nature of operations, individuals in these institutions take up different roles so as to ensure that the organization meets it goals and objectives. The leaders role, in such a case revolves around the planning and organization of activities and tasks to be taken on by his team members. For that reason, the leader needs to ensure that there is organization and order in his particular institution of the organization is to achieve the desired objective. A good leader needs to function orderly, and purposefully, so as to ensure that his team members are performing their tasks as expected. He needs to organize the teams in accordance with their tasks, as well as, give orders on what should and should not be done with relation to organizational goals and objectives. A leaders success is determined by the way in which he ensures organization and order in the tasks, as well as, team members. Leadership requires organization and order because carrying out tasks is hard and complex, and for that reason demands the best performance of duties and responsibility, which is only attainable through proper planning and organization.

Composed and Tolerant of Ambiguity

As mentioned earlier, good leaders are those individuals who are highly tolerant of uncertainty in their respective workplaces (Daft and Lane 1-493). The nature of work is that it experiences constant change at almost all time. Various unexpected events can occur during the course of work, most of which catch the people involved by surprise. Because no one can predict the things that can happen during the performance of work, there is need for the assurance of composure in the face of changes in the institutional setting. Evidently, most of the unexpected changes in an organization are negative and they end up affecting the organization in one way or another. For that reason, good leaders are those individuals who display the best sense of tolerance and composure when facing difficulties (Daft and Lane 1-493). They do not believe in panicking because panic disrupts organization and order in the institutions. Leadership demands that leaders remain steadfast to organizational goals and objectives irrespective of the challenges that they might face during the process. Successful leadership can only be achieved when the leader remains unshaken by both good and bad events that disrupt the organizational task. Good leaders should have the ability to recover themselves from such situations and successfully direct their teammates towards the achievement of organizational goals.

Focus 

Related to the need for composure and tolerance, a good leader is also one who is focused and remains focused on his duties, as well as, the attainment of organizational goals and objectives (Daft and Lane 1-493). Good leaders are able to think analytically and for that reason are focused at all times. A good leader is focused because focus allows the leader to examine their situation as a whole, as well as, in subsystems so as to understand how operational activities can be best conducted for the best results. By doing this, the leader is able to have a clear view of the goals and objectives of the organizations and can subsequently break them down to manageable steps for organizational progress.

Commitment to Excellence 

Good leaders are those who are committed to excellence because it is only through this commitment that they can lead their team members into the achievement of organizational goals and objectives (Daft and Lane 1-493). Commitment to excellence gives the “good” in good leadership. Otherwise, if a leader is not committed to excelling, then he or she cannot be termed as a good leader. Instead, such a leader is a failure, and for that reason, cannot be deemed as a leader. Leaders lead people and organizations to success and not failure. Failure to commit to excellence beat the logic of good leadership, which in turn leads to the failure of most organizations (Daft and Lane 1-493). Good leadership requires that leaders maintain high performance standards through raising the bar for their teammates for the achievement of excellence in all areas of the organization.

Responsibility

There is no such thing as an irresponsible leader. Leadership demands first hand responsibility as leaders commit themselves to leadership positions. Responsibility refers to a leader’s dependability in relation to successful execution of tasks (Daft and Lane 1-493). Responsibility is the key to influencing people, which is the reason why most political leaders today have successfully managed to gain followers. Those who do not exercise responsibility end up failing and losing their team members as they cannot be trusted to perform their leadership roles and tasks as expected. Irresponsible leadership results in organizational disaster: for that reason, leadership demands that all leaders take up responsibility for the organization and their team members for organizational success.

Taking Initiative

Conclusively, good leaders are those who take up the initiative so as to get to the leadership position. Taking initiative is in the crux of being a good leader and successful leadership, and it involves stepping up one’s plate and taking on the role as a leader (Daft and Lane 1-493). It is by far the most inherent quality of leaders as it is the first step of determining whether an individual gains the leadership role that he desires. Taking initiative is the first step of leadership, as the leader gains the confidence to set himself apart from the rest of the people as a leader. Leadership requires that spirited leaders take initiative for the leadership position so as to elicit themselves to their team members as the leaders of the group.

Work Cited

Daft, Richard L. and Lane, Patricia, G. The Leadership Experience. United Kingdom: Cengage

Learning, 2007. Print.