The Leadership Challenge


 


1) The authors of the book entitled “The Leadership Challenge” are  who are colleagues at the Leavey School of Business in  University, California.  is not only highly regarded as a leadership scholar and experienced executive, but The Wall Street Journal has quoted him as one of the twelve best executive educators in the United States. He is also a famous speaker, who shares lessons learned about leadership from over 20 years of original research, and leaves his audiences encouraged with sensible leadership tools and tips that can be applied at work, at home, and in their communities (2007). On the other hand,  is an international renowned scholar who has published more than 80 researches and practitioner-oriented articles, and is currently on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Business Ethics, Leadership Review, and Leadership and Organization Development Journal (2007). Both of these authors were given the International Management Council’s award in 2001 as the nation’s top management and leadership educators (2007), and were honored the prestigious Wilbur M. McFeely Award in the same year (2007). Recently, they have developed the widely used and highly acclaimed Leadership Practices Inventory, which is a 360 degrees questionnaire that evaluates leadership behavior ( 2007).


 


2) Initially, the first edition of the book was written in 1987, which was described by  as “seminal and totally original, and became a modern classic on leadership practically overnight” (2007). In the book’s latest edition, which is its third edition and written in 2002,  emphasized that it has “new cases, concepts, and action steps that are even riper and more important, goes away beyond their earlier work and have made yet another brilliant contribution to leadership studies” ( 2007). In the latest edition of the book, date is not a factor in its analysis because the participants interviewed in the accomplishment of the book do not include the leading performers of that time, but instead, the common leaders in different public and private organizations worldwide. Date is not a factor because theoretically, the leadership of such individuals, as the book concluded, did not change with the present leadership styles being adopted and implemented today.


 


3) The main ideas of the book include the emphasis on the fundamental aspects of leaderships that are being addressed in the current situation of organizations, such as speed, the changing workforce, and team-oriented work relationships (2006). The book emphasized on considering two sides or aspects of the leadership equation, which includes the leaders and their constituents, and argued that one aspect cannot be successful without the support of the other, such that leadership is a reciprocal process between those who choose to lead and those who chose to follow (2000). Another important point made clear by the authors is that leadership is a set of observable, learnable practices that can be mastered by anyone with the desire to lead effectively (2000), and this is dependent on the traits of a leader, such as having a certain charisma to attract others to follow them openly towards common desires and interests. Being charismatic, leaders value people and give due to credit to those who have done well. They also have this effective ability to establish loyalty among their followers. Last major point emphasized in the book is the adage saying, “Credibility is the foundation of leadership” ( 2002). A leader should be credible for him or her to lead, and must possess traits such as honesty, competence, aspiration, and a forward-looking attitude. Because followers are being asked to undertake a difficult journey, they need to believe that the leader is the sort of individual who consistently delivers on promises (2004), and because of this, a leader must have reliable skills and traits that can be depended upon by his followers.


 


4) I have learned from this book that for one to be able to become a successful leader, one has to follow certain fundamentals in the aspects of leadership. These fundamentals must be based on the procedures suited in the management of an organization. In addition, a successful leader must have to have skills and intelligence to be able to adopt its practices, which are essential in leading his or her followers, and lastly, he or she must be highly credible and reliable to gain the trust and confidence of his or her followers. In a business organization, it is important that the leader or the management must know what style of leadership is to be used. In addition, the hallmark of all successful leaders is to keep going despite set backs. He or she must have a positive attitude, should be optimistic, has ideas, always sees a way out, and will not give up easily. Leaders take every mistake as a learning experience. Strength of character and will are the moral qualities of a leader, the principles that motivate and control his or her functions to make the right choices. Moreover, humility is necessary to define a leader’s ability and limitations especially and in the correct measuring of other people’s worth and value. These can be used immediately to set as a foundation for a leader in his or her service to the company.


 


5)  (2000) points out that this book attempts to clarify the topic of leadership and describe the critical role that it plays in human organizations. The practices and principle described in this book are based on years of extensive research studies conducted by . Its origins were in a research project the authors began in 1983, with an objective of understanding what individuals did when they were at their “personal best” in leading others. Its uniqueness lies on the fact that instead of interviewing star performers in excellent companies to discover best practices, the authors interviewed ordinary people regarding their extraordinary experiences. This approach is useful and practical, as it aims to “strengthen the abilities and uplift the spirits” of the everyday person faced with the daunting challenge of “leading” others, on the job, in the community, and at home (2000).



Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com


0 comments:

Post a Comment

 
Top