How Attitudes Affect Leadership - Essay Example

How Attitudes Affect Leadership The practice of leadership requires focusing on our skills, knowledge and attitude. Leadership skills are the competencies that we develop through training, and which we exercise afterwards. Leadership knowledge is what we have learnt either during the training or from practice. Leadership attitude originates from who we are. Most often the attitude determines how successful we are in the leadership position and how well the team performs. Ambler (2006) states that attitude is the most important because it influences how effectively we can use the skills and knowledge acquired. Ambler (2006) affirms that the attitude is that releases our leadership potential. Considerable evidence was accumulated through researches to identify the relation between career success and attitude. Shih et al (2009) during a research conclude that the essential skills for an effective leader are technical skills, interpersonal skills and conceptual skills. We use interpersonal skills when we interact and deal with others. Therefore employers appreciate leaders with excellent interpersonal skills because they can easily communicate with others. From a general point of view our personality is affected by our routine activities which usually take place in our social or organizational surrounding. That is why good attitude at work matters immensely, both for the work efficiency and for the emotional and psychological well-being of the personnel and the team leader. Leadership is of high importance for the organizational development. It is your choice to use your attitude in leadership. Skills and knowledge can not contribute as much as attitude. Ambler (2006) cites Lou Holtz who believes that ability is what you are capable of achieving. Motivation affects what you do, but attitude determines if you are doing it well. And if you make positive attitude a practice, there will be no limit for your dreams. Let us take Walt Disney, for example. Dilts (2001) depicts him as "dreamer". How else can have more positive attitude towards life and people than a person who lives in his fantasies Dilts (2001) characterizes Disney as a genius who used his ability to imagine things and to forget about the physical existence which "directly influences the experiences of others in a positive way (par.1)." Disney was an individual with positive attitude, which established him later as leader and innovator in the animation industry. Attitude is the most natural personal communication. We are all deeply sensitive to people's feelings, thoughts and behaviour towards us, especially if they have authority over us. In a work environment leader's attitude to his fellow workers affect their responses to him. If his approach is positively charged he will create an aura of trust, friendliness and support. "According to perceptual-humanist thinking, people behave at any moment according to what they believe about themselves, the situations they confront, and the purposes they have in mind (Combs et al, 1999, p. 17)." What Combs tries to express with this idea is that what the individual thinks about himself is the most vital factor to determine his behavior. We can give thousands of examples of self-confident leaders who are empathic and understanding and know exactly how to approach his employees or a difficult situation. We also know leaders whose self-concepts are quite low, and in order for them to compensate this they are rude and humiliate their co-workers. Thus, attitude plays a major role in everything the leader does. The way people respond to the challenges and threats and make them real leaders. Walt Disney was the leader in animation. A pioneer and innovator, he possessed one of the most productive imaginations in the world. "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them (Disney cited in Gardner, 1993)." Who else can best describe him, if not Disney himself One of the main reasons why he became the leader in animation entertainment was because he had a positive attitude towards this. He had the courage to pursue what he dreamt of, and to fight for it. He had a strong self-concept of himself and related his self-confidence to his work. Combs et al. (1999) claim that challenge and threat have also important implications for the people's success. Leaders usually aim at far-reaching goals. They feel challenged if they are confronted with the impossible and take their chances." I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn't know how to get along without it (Disney cited in Gardner, 1993)." Disney is an example of how leaders strive to outjump their abilities and are not afraid to face the competition. On the contrary, they become more vigorous and concentrated. We associate threat with its negative aspects. People feel threatened if they engage in conflict and their self-defence mechanisms start to work in fast motion. Most people evade arguments, however good leaders feel at their best, solving dilemmas with their authoritative potential. The leader's attitude towards escalating situations is a sign whether he can apply his leadership power, or leave the battlefield helpless. Furthermore, leadership behavior plays a crucial role in enhancing employee's job satisfaction. Undoubtedly, positive attitude stimulates the employees and their work performance is flourishing. Leader's approach affects also the work motivation of the employees. Combs et al. (1999) identify two types of supervisory behavior. The first includes positive achievement behavior and has an affirmative impact on work motivation and performance. The second one includes authoritarian and arbitrary or punitive behavior and is expected to lead to work dissatisfaction and lower performance. Thus, positive leaders behavior through encouragement, recognition, positive feedback attempts to give more stimuli to the employees than the authoritarian leadership actions. The remarkable thing about attitude is that we can change it. Every day we can make a choice regarding the attitude and embrace the positive path. Shih (2009) in his research claims that 10% is what happens to us and the rest is how we react upon it. When we talk about attitude and leadership, we can not omit mentioning what makes an organization innovative. Ideaction (2009) publishes a report on how to create an innovative organization. They say that the culture that is delivered by the executives gives the employees the permission to innovate and reward their initiation accordingly. To support this point I will cite Walt Disney again and what he reckoned about the innovative organization. "Of all the things I've done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal (Disney cited in Gardner, 1993)." Disney knew how to use the potential of his workers and how to direct their efforts enabling them to be effective. The role of corporate culture and the behavior of the leaders is the factor that influences most the innovation in a company. For the employees to be aware of the organizational goals, they must be kindly guided. The work force of a company is the biggest source of innovation, thus they should be encouraged to use their creativity. The Big Five personality dimensions The great historian Carlyle commented that "the history of the world was the biography of great men (Carlyle cited in Judge et al, 2002, p. 765)." This hypothesis that history is shaped by the extraordinary forces of the "great men" gave the beginning of the trait theory of leadership. Judge (2002) summarizes that that trait theory suggests that the leadership depends to a large degree to the personal qualities of the individual. Judge (2002) continues that there is a growing consensus on the five-factor model of personality which is used to present the most obvious aspects of personality. Often the model is called as the "Big Five". The five-factor structure comprises of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Judge (2002) defines neuroticism as "the tendency to exhibit poor emotional adjustment and experience negative affects, such as anxiety, insecurity, and hostility (p.767)." To explain that there is possible connection between this trait personality and leadership, Judge (2002) reveals data taken from several studies and analyses by Lord in 1986 and Bass in 1990, showing that there is a correlation between self-confidence and leader's success. Leaders indicate low neuroticism. We can relate this idea to the above mentioned tendency for leaders with positive attitude to have relatively high self-confidence. How can we find out whether Walt Disney had low neuroticism We can investigate his self-confident through one of his quotes: "The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique (Disney cited in Gardner, 1993)." Disney had a great self-assurance, which resulted in soaring evaluation for his personal abilities. "Extraversion represents the tendency to be sociable, assertive, active, and to experience positive affects, such as energy and zeal (Judge, 2002, p. 767)." Judge (2002) refers to Bass's studies to show that extraverts are more likely to appear as leaders, because they possess strong social skills. Dominance and sociability are related to leader emergence. Considering this we can see how Disney reacted on the extravert trait. He is one of the most influential personalities of the 20th century. The fact that he popularized the animation and made people laugh is evidence enough for his zest to entertain. By no means to was an active person too. "It's kind of fun to do the impossible (Disney cited in Gardner, 1993)" says Disney. Only an extravert can dedicate his life to accomplish new horizons and outgrow himself. "Openness to experience is the disposition to be imaginative, nonconforming, unconventional, and autonomous (Judge, 2002, p. 767)." Judge (2002) describes that openness is closely related to diverse thinking. We also connect openness with experiments and innovative ideas. Creativity is also linked to the important skills of effective leaders, it reflects how you can put into practice your imagination. Walt Disney (cited in Gardner, 1993) remarks "I believe in being an innovator". And he is indeed. His ability to connect inventive ideas with successful business strategy, qualities him as one of the most imaginative entertainers of our time. "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths (Disney cited in Gardner, 1993)." Openness correlates to originality and this personality trait directly suggests leadership skills. How can we associate openness with the innovative organization Openness is synonymous to innovation. Ideaction (2009) reports that innovative thinking occurs when new and old knowledge is combined. They add that if you have more diversity in the organization, the bigger are the changes for you to reach innovative ideas. Ideaction (2009) continues that the executives and managers have to be open to ideas that employees suggest. In this way in the open culture, everyone will be welcome to share their thoughts. This is how an organization is constructed to be an advanced one. Judge (2002) explains that "agreeableness is the tendency to be trusting, compliant, caring, and gentle (p.767). He remarks that on the bases of the studies conducted by Bass in 1990, altruism, and sensitivity are all indications of the agreeable personality. However, agreeable individuals are rarely modest, so this trait might be negatively related to the leadership. In my opinion the leader should be caring person in general - to care both for his co-workers and family. Even though Disney was dedicated to his work, he also was a caring father to his two daughters and wife. "A man should never neglect his family for business (Disney cited in Gardner, 1993)." Judge (1999) suggests that conscientiousness is the trait which relates to job performance most consistently. It is manifested in three facets - achievement, from which stem persistence and hardworking, dependability, which means responsible and careful, and the last one is orderliness - planning and organizational skills. "Conscientiousness is linked to extrinsic career and life success most strongly through the achievement orientation (Judge, 1999, p. 627)." The studies carried out by Judge (1999) support the idea that conscientious people obtain promotion easier and occupy complex and prestigious jobs. The personality of the individual can be studied to predict whether he might be predisposed to leader's actions and how he applies his abilities in the leadership realm. The paper investigated that positive attitude attributes to the interpersonal communication of a good leader and that the five personality traits are important determiner for the leader's recognition. An analysis was made to relate those concepts to the success of Walt Disney. A brief reference was made to how those theories are framed within the context of the innovative organization. Attitude skills and the personality trait factors can be learnt just like any other abilities - accounting, computer literacy or managing. The skills of the individual are not innate, but acquired and developed. Leaders are shaped by their zest to reach the unreachable and Walt Disney is a remarkable example of both leader and innovator. References: Ambler, G., (2006), The importance of a leader's attitude, Retrieved from http://www.thepracticeofleadership.net/2006/08/09/the-importance-of-a-leaders-attitude/# Combs, A., Miser, A., & Whitaker, K., (1999), On Becoming A School Leader:A Person-Centered Challenge, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Deve Dilts, R., (2001). "Walt Disney: Strategies of Genius." The Article of the Month. Retrieved on 6 October 2009 from http://www.nlpu.com/Articles/article7.htm Gabler, N., (2007), Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination, Vintage. Gardner, H., (1993) Creating Minds. New York, NY: Basic Books, "Walt Disney, Biography." Retrieved on 4 October 2009 from http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/biography/long_bio.html Judge, T., Higging, C., Thoresen, C., and Barrick, M., (1999),The Big Five Personality Traits, General Mental Ability, and Career Success Across the Life Span, Personnel Psychology, No.52 Judge, T., Bono, J., Ilies, R., and Gerhart, M., (2002), Personality and Leadership: A Qualitative and Quantitative Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.87, No.4, pp. 765 - 780. Ideaction (2009), Creating an innovative organization, Ideaction, retrieved on 7 October 2009 from http://www.ideaction.net/index.phpoption=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=8&showall=1 Shih, M., Lin, S., Hsiao,S., Huang,L., Chiu,C., Chen, K., (2009), The Study of the Correlation among Personality Traits, Leadership Competence and Organizational Performance, Issue 1, Volume 6, retrieved on 5 October 2009 from http://www.wseas.us/e-library/transactions/economics/2009/28-156.pdf Read More