What makes a leader?

leadership The word "leadership" can bring to mind a variety of images. For example: A political leader, pursuing a passionate, personal cause. An explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his group to follow. An executive, developing her company's strategy to beat the competition. Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. While leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to guide their people to the right destination, in a smooth and efficient way.

What is a leader?

Foundations For Effective Leadership Leadership is one of the four functions of management. It is true that leadership is one of the 4 functions of management but that does not mean that all managers are effective leaders.

Characteristics of effective leaders description Understanding Dependability Judgement Honesty Respecting the feelings and needs of the people they work with. Following through on commitments Making decisions carefully. Being honest and sincere in decision-making and treatment of others

What makes an effective leader? An effective leader is generally someone that leads by example and other people just tend to follow because they believe what they do is the right thing. Think of anyone you have looked up to in the past, were they an honest individual that put others before themselves? That is a quality of effective leadership.

Are you a leader ?

George Washington Ben Franklin Martin Luther King Theodore Roosevelt American Leaders George Washington Ben Franklin Martin Luther King Theodore Roosevelt Steve Jobs

Research a leader of your choice With a partner, choose a leader that you both want to learn more about. As you research, consider the following: What elements of leadership are natural to your leader? How do you know ? What elements of leadership did your leader learn during his/her life? What events show this learning? What examples from your leader’s life demonstrate each trait? How did each leadership trait affect the leader’s ability to have an impact? What leadership traits do you share with your leader?

Research a leader of your choice (Con’t) Do leaders have to demonstrate all leadership traits to be effective? Why or why not? Which character trait do you think was most helpful for your leader and why? Which of the leadership traits do you possess? How might you use these leadership traits in your future career? Each team member explain what you have learned from doing this project.

Group Leader Research project Use the information from your group’s research project create a PowerPoint presentation. Click on this link for the directions of this project.

Leader RESEACH PROJECT Click on this image to view this document