Seven Traits Associated With Leadership

Maureen Cutajar started her writing career in 2009. An information-technology project manager, she shares her knowledge in computing and business management. Cutajar holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Malta, as well as an advanced diploma in computer studies from NCC Education. By Maureen Cutajar, eHow Contributor
updated April 15, 2011

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An effective leader leads by example.

Recent leadership theories advance the notion that leaders are made and not born, stressing the fact that people aren't born with innate leadership skills, but they learn to become leaders and rise to the occasion. Nevertheless, a good leader needs to have a set of traits that inspire trust and respect in his followers. People will only follow a person who's earned their respect, and who motivates them to achieve a common goal and shared vision. An effective leader possesses good character traits that incite others to follow his guidance.

1. Honesty
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A good leader is the exponent of an honorable character, someone who fosters trust among his followers. People want to follow a leader they respect and one they can trust. A leader is ultimately made by his followers, and if you're unable to inspire trust and confidence in your followers, you won't be able to motivate them.

Competence
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An effective and respective leader knows his job well and is familiar with all the tasks assigned to his followers. A subordinate who's aware that his leader doesn't know the mechanics of his job can never respect his leader. Likewise, leaders can't provide useful guidance to their followers if they're not familiar with their respective tasks.

Commitment
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A leader is committed to a common objective and shared vision. Leaders must be able to remind their followers of how important their roles are when demotivation strikes. A committed leader is able to foster a sense of responsibility and commitment in his followers and help them always perform their duties in a responsible manner.

Motivating
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An effective leader motivates his followers to work toward a common goal. A leader aims to develop a team spirit among his followers that yields a result that's greater than its parts. Good communications skills and understanding individual needs and concerns are both motivating factors that establish a positive rapport among team members.

Integrity
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Integrity and consistency are essential traits for every leader. An inconsistent leader will lose his credibility and bring about distrust among his followers. A leader should lead by example and remain true to his words; otherwise, he'll be considered unreliable and someone without great integrity.

Courage
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An effective leader isn't afraid of change and the challenges it brings about. A leader seeks to guide his team to greater achievements, and when trouble strikes, he takes responsibility for his actions and adopts corrective measures rather than shifting blame to his subordinates.

Visionary
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A leader is optimistic and has a clearly laid out plan for how his team will achieve its common goals. A strong vision of the future motivates team members to collaborate for a shared purpose, and it's up to leaders to provide the vision of what could be to keep everyone focused and energized.

Difference Between Informal & Formal Leadership

Todd Anderson started writing in 2002 with Edward Elgar Publishing and is now working with Nelson Thornes, Gloucestershire. While at Elgar Publishing, he published "Hatchbacks of

2009." Anderson holds a Master of mass communications from London Metropolitan University.
By Todd Anderson, eHow Contributor updated March 18, 2011

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A leader must have the ability to make group members rally around him as a team. A leader is a person who leads others, whether it is in a team, in a working situation, in school or in any situation where there are certain goals to be achieved. A leader is a person who directs a group, and is capable of inspiring others to achieve a common goal. Leaders can broadly be classified into two kinds: formal leaders and informal leaders.

1. Formal Leadership
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Formal leadership is where a person is officially designated as the leader of a group. Examples of this kind of leadership are CEO of a company, a teacher at a school, the captain of a sporting team and the elected head of a country. It is the formal leader's job to organize the available resources, work out the logistics and motivate the members of the team to carry out their tasks to the best of their abilities.

Informal Leadership
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An informal leader is a person who is not officially appointed as the head of a group; however, the other members look to him for motivation and inspiration. Though the CEO is the formal leader of a company, the employees may look up to a colleague who, they believe, shares their goals and visions and has some knowledge or experience that will help them realize their goals. These leaders are not in a formal position of leadership, but are recognized as leaders by their peer groups.

The Differences

Formal leaders have authority and certain rights and privileges that informal leaders lack. Consider the case of a company where the CEO is the formal leader of the company, and an employee is the informal leader. The formal leader wields a certain power over the group, and has the authority to discipline and punish errant members. Her authority gives her an added power: to give rewards to the group. The informal leader, on the other hand, does not have the ability to take action against any members of the group, nor is he able to reward his teammates. He has to rely on open communication, a shared vision, guidance and charisma. The informal leader has to lead through example, through his individual behavior and personal practices.

Conflicts
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A group which has both formal and informal leaders is likely to see conflicts between the two, if they do not share the same vision. The group has different loyalties to the two leaders -group members are expected to be loyal to the formal leader because he has authority and power, and are likely to be loyal to the informal leader because he is one of them. The informal leader has a greater commitment to the group, while the formal leader's commitment lies with the organization. In any situation, it is important for the formal and informal leaders to work together to make sure that the group achieves optimum results.

Read more: Difference Between Informal & Formal Leadership | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8078116_difference-between-informal-formalleadership.html#ixzz1WTrbaAD6

Organizational Leadership Styles

Based in Dallas, Texas, Marcia Moore has been writing business-related materials since 1974. Her articles have appeared in the "Journal of Clinical Social Work" and various corporate newsletters. She holds a Master of Science in social work from the University of Texas in Arlington. By Marcia Moore, M.S.S.W., eHow Contributor

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Good Leaders are in Demand

In order to be competitive in business, companies may need to hire effective leaders. Leadership styles are influential in how employees view their roles in the organization and may affect their productivity. Since all companies are not the same, leaders may be hired according to the particular organizational culture (values, beliefs, behaviors), and whether the main focus is on productivity or employee relationship building. In any case, hiring the right leaders that are a match for the organization may be critical to the success of the business.

2. The Autocratic Leader

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The autocratic (also referred to as authoritarian) leader has complete authority to make decisions and tell subordinates what to do. Employees may have little opportunity to offer ideas or suggestions with this style. This style can motivate by fear such as threats of job loss or motivate by employees' loyalty to a particular leader. This style is very dominating and discourages independent creativity. It may work best in a situation where productivity is of the highest concern (see Reference 1).

The Democratic Leader

Employees Making Decisions Together

The democratic leader (also referred to as participative leader) seeks advice and assistance in making decisions from subordinates. Democratic leaders may recognize the talents and skills of the employees and utilize them for the good of the company. This style may be more popular with employees who want to be recognized for their ideas and specific skills. The democratic leader may, however, make the ultimate decision. This style may work best where people relationships are of primary concern (see Reference 2).

The Laizzez- Faire Leader

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Laizzez-faire is a French term for "allow to do." This leadership style provides free rein for employees to do the job their way with little monitoring or control. One major concern with this leadership style is the lack of direction or guidance could lead to poor performance if the employees lack confidence and are not self-motivated. This style may work best with highly trained employee teams (see Reference 3).

Read more: Organizational Leadership Styles | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6107072_organizational-leadership-styles.html#ixzz1WUV5IIMD

How to Be a Good Leader

By eHow Contributor, eHow User

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It's not always an easy task to be a good leader. People's personality traits like anger, desire to be like Napolean, or other issues get in the way. Following these steps should be easy, but I know, it's likely hard to keep those feelings of frustration in check.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions
Things You'll Need

a desire to work with others instead of against them understanding that things can't go 100% perfect at all times or likely most times realization that one who does the task is better than one with a silver tongue desire to actually lead and not spend half your time whining about how hard it is ability to organize and delegate duties appopriately ability to motivate positively and make people want to do stuff ability to think things through before doing them

1.
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1
First off, realize that you are in charge of people and it is your job to be a leader. You must work with people, not against them for a successful leadership role.

2
All people have faults and abilities and should be allowed to work or use their skills in appropriate ways. A good and winning team of workers or whatever activity you are leader of works with people's abilities and does not try to make everyone do things not in their skill set. People are unique individuals, work with them or experience disgruntled, unhappy, and disappointed people who come and go frequently.

3
Offer rewards or incentives to get the task or activity done. Don't be afraid to lavish compliments or rewards on someone who does an excellent job. This gives others a person to look up to and be like.

4
Treat people fairly, but always remember there will be someone who stands out in the crowd as a good person to uplift, promote, or can provide excellent leadership skills in your absence.

5
Listen to people. Don't accuse them of talking back and yell at them when they are only explaining what they did. Listen to people's ideas and apply plausible ones. Care about people's desires and concerns and do what you can to help make things better.

6
People are not children. They will react badly when they feel they are treated unfairly or are doing the best they can and you keep demanding more. They will be angry and frustrated. The best thing to do at this point is apologize or accept the person for who they are.

7
Do not yell at people in public and refrain from yelling at them at all. Most people do not deserve this treatment and it is highly unprofessional and wrong. If someone does something wrong, point it out to them and do not be overly pushy with what you want.

8
Rules are there for a general guideline, not to pick out people for breaking them and punishing them. People will do something wrong that violates maybe a safety issue or rule of conduct. If this person is a hard worker or is compliant most of the time and does not do it all the time, this is not a reason to be on their case or handing out strict punishment. Explain to them what they have done wrong and caution them not to repeat it often. There is no sense in losing a good person over silly mistakes that are easily forgivable.

9
People are not always going to behave seriously, but that is no reason to be curt and consider them a goof off. Humor relieves tension and can help people to feel better about completing a task. Just don't let it get out of hand.

10
Be concerned about your people. Care about issues that bother them and help them be able to get past them.

11
Provide good explanations of items or issues. Don't just expect people to automatically understand or read your mind.

12
Most of all, put yourself in other people's shoes. If you wouldn't like anything done to you, don't do it to anyone else.

Read more: How to Be a Good Leader | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4499620_begood-leader.html#ixzz1WUZGBTMg