Leadership Essay

If you read a leadership essay, you will find it describing people in leadership roles as those individuals possessing six vital attributes: trust, coherence, competence, cooperation, vision, and contribution. Further, a leadership essay will argue that the mastery of these elements requires training. In other words, according to a leadership essay, leaders are developed, people who over the course of time have learned that leadership is not about knowing it all, but knowing how to develop the energy of a group.

People depend on their leaders, and will ideally look to them for guidance and support. It is the leader’s responsibility to establish this trust so that each and every member of the team will feel confident coming to you. This is achieved just as much through self-confidence as it is in boosting the confidence of others.

Ralph Waldo Emerson penned, “Who you are is screaming so loudly in my ears that I cannot hear what you are saying.” What he means was that deeds speak volumes more than words. For a leader this means their dictates and their actions must align. A leader whose words and actions are incoherent will inevitably lose not only team coherence, but team trust.


 

Read any leadership essay and you will find that a commonly held belief is that competence is less about knowing what to do than knowing how to provide yourself and your team with the resources to do them. This means probing others for suggestions and opportunities; encouraging them to use their talents and skills. Competence is as much about listening to subordinates as it is advising them what to do. Competence is the foundation of cooperation.

The more individual accomplishment within a team, the more accomplished is the team itself. Cooperation is vital to the mutual development of skills, including the skills of leaders and their subordinates, and especially the skill of leadership itself. It is through cooperation that we learn from one another. Leaders who try to do it all not only rob their team of growth and opportunity, but they rob themselves of the benefits of a highly skilled and developed team.

Encourage the members of your team toward a vision, whether that is a team goal, an individual goal, or both. Celebrate success and especially the success of individual team members upon realizing a vision or achieving a particular goal. Remaining vision oriented as a team fosters trust, cooperation, and growth.

If the leader has done well, and nurtured the first five elements of leadership, they should be rewarded by the enhanced contribution of the team. Good leadership will bring out the best in all the members of a group. It is what makes a collection of individuals a team in the truest sense.

Leadership Development