Leadership Is ...

"Leadership is not so much about technique and methods as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration—of oneself and of others. Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes. Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine."

--- Lance Secretan, Industry Week

Become a Master Leader

Only you will know what is important in achieving your vision of success. However, we all have common or shared goals and outcomes that will help us to lay a foundation for where we want to be as a leader.

You can dramatically increase your chances for succeeding in business as a leader when you take the time to learn from a coach or mentor. A coach is someone who has “walked in your shoes” at one point in time and developed skills or learned and overcome the obstacles to earn success and happiness. One common thread we can learn from our greatest leaders is that they, and you, can learn and master performance from the “masters” or those who have developed skills and techniques to enhance their leadership abilities. Whatever quality or skill you want to develop can be learned or fine-tuned by learning from others who have the skill you desire.

Decide what skill, technique or process(es) you want or need. Then, seek a coach or a mentor who has these skills that is willing to work with you to share their experiences and to give you some guidance on how to integrate these concepts into your own leadership style.


About The Author: Michele loves reading, learning and sharing with others tips and information that helps us live life to the fullest and with the most happiness possible. She writes books, reports and articles for readers of all ages.

Publishing Rights: You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook or on your website, free of charge, as long as the author's information and web link are included at the bottom of the article and the article is not changed, modified or altered in any way. The web link should be active when the article is reprinted on a web site or in an email. The author would appreciate an email indicating you wish to post this article to a website, and the link to where it is posted.

Copyright 2005, Michele Webb. All Rights Reserved

What is Your Leadership Style?

There are countless numbers and types of leadership styles in organizations today. Unfortunately, many leaders today are ineffective because they are not motivators or because they have a warped idea about their role and purpose. As such, workers in these organizations suffer from inadequate leadership and likely have no energy, motivation or loyalty to the organization.

Leaders who honestly appraise their leadership style can effectively reinvent themselves in order to inspire and motivate those whom they lead, are to be commended. Here are five basic categories of leadership. Identify which category best suits your style and how you can best use your style to motivate and lead those who work with you.

Authoritarian. Leaders using this style are often harsh, demanding, and inflexible in their approach to others. Best stated as “It is my way or the highway!”

Humanistic. This leadership style is characterized by someone who does not follow a precise plan. They allow others to set the agendas. You may hear a humanistic leader say “What do you think we should do today?”

Charismatic. These leaders depend on personality and energy for success. You can hear them say “Wow! I am really excited about this!”

Democratic. Democratic leaders are always seeking a group consensus prior to moving ahead. Have you heard anyone say this lately? “Before we go any further, let’s take a vote.”

Mission-Driven. Leaders who are mission-driven build teams to help bring about the organization’s vision and purpose. They may be overhead to say, “We are all in this together.”

There are some interesting observations to be made about these styles. For the first four styles: authoritarian, humanistic, charismatic and democratic, their style almost always reflects a person who is in charge, or “at the helm” of the business. When a leader is mission-driven, however, several other important factors emerge, most importantly that the entire organization is pulling together in the same direction. This means that there is far less motivating or “nudging” the troops and more forward direction.

So, what is your leadership style? Review the five basic categories above and determine which style you typically present. If, after your review, you decide that you want to change your style, then reinvent yourself! Become a party of one to change and motivate yourself to become an effective leader!

About the Author: Michele loves learning about leadership and management skills and styles and likes to share this with others using Online Learning Tutorials.

Publishing Rights: You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook or on your website, free of charge, as long as the author's information and web link are included at the bottom of the article and the article is not changed, modified or altered in any way. The web link should be active when the article is reprinted on a web site or in an email. The author would appreciate an email indicating you wish to post this article to a website, and the link to where it is posted.

Copyright 2005, Michele Webb. All Rights Reserved.