Leadership Characteristics - Research Paper Example

Leadership Characteristics School Leadership Characteristics Question Self-confidence and trustworthiness are two of the most importantpersonality traits of effective leaders. In fact, self-confidence of a leader gives birth to trustworthiness because a leader can only come upon others’ expectations when he/she is confident about his/her own abilities. Followers judge a leader by his/her self-confidence. If the leader seems self-confident, the followers tend to trust the leader and think that the leader knows what he/she is doing and thus cooperate with the leader to help him/her achieve the goals that are also of interest to the followers.

“Student leaders who possess high self concept often strive for self-development” (Ahmad, Ghazali, and Hassan, 2011, p. 24). Trustworthiness of a leader plays an integral role in his/her success in the contemporary age of competition (Caldwell, Hayes, and Long, 2010, p. 497). Hence, both self-confidence and trustworthiness of an individual are equally important in making him/her effective as a leader. Question#2 A leader has several motives. Drive means a leader’s motivation to achieve the goal.

Tenacity means the leader’s strength or cohesiveness with the followers. Resilience means the power of a leader to take pressure and yet deliver the work. I believe that there are both positive and negative motives for leadership. “[Positive Leadership] motives that have received most attention are those of power, affiliation and achievement” (Marti, Gil, and Barrasa, 2009, p. 268). The negative motives for leadership include aggression, and authoritarian style. For example, tenacity helps a leader overcome obstacles.

“[A]long with basic leadership essentials such as honesty and integrity, tenaciously seeking the truth is one of the most important characteristics a leader can have” (Harms, 2006, p. 49). Likewise, resilience helps a leader make informed decisions in the times of extreme pressure. Question#3Once, I was made the leader of a project in school. I had four members in my group excluding me. We had to make a group presentation. As the leader, factors that were within my control were roles of individual group members that I could assign as per my wish, the schedule for making the presentation, and the professional standards to be followed in the presentation.

Factors that were beyond my control in that group project included occasional dissatisfaction of the group members with their roles, grudges between the group members leading them to interpersonal conflicts, and limitation of the resources for the project since we had to complete it within a certain budget declared to us in the start. I have an internal locus of control. Rather than letting the circumstances take control of me, I feel confident that I can control the circumstances if I make the right use of resources and make informed decisions as a leader.

Whenever things seem slipping out of my hands, I tend to analyze where the mistake is and I implement new policies to eradicate those problems, so that I can achieve a better control over things. A preliminary action plan that can help an individual move toward a more internal locus of control includes the following steps:Development of self-confidence and a “can-do” attitudeSelf-assessmentIdentification of problemsSelection of practicable solutionImplementation of the changed strategySupervision of policy implementationReview and modification of policyReferencesAhmad, J.

, Ghazali, M., and Hassan, A. (2011). The Relationship Between Self Concept And Response Towards Student’s Academic Achievement Among Students Leaders In University Putra Malaysia. International Journal of Instruction. 4(2): 23-38. Caldwell, C., Hayes, L. A., and Long, D. T. (2010). Leadership, Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship. Journal of Business Ethics. 96(4): 497-512. Harms, K. A. (2006). Tenacious Leadership. Journal of Dental Education. 70(11): 49-51. Marti, M., Gil, F., and Barrasa, A. (2009). Organizational Leadership: Motives and Behaviors of Leaders in Current Organizations.

The Spanish Journal of Psychology. 12(1): 267-274.