Leadership Article | Discover The Secrets Of Effective LeadershipMore Than Articles

Discover The Secrets Of Effective Leadership

Whether you are the captain of an amateur Sunday league football team or the CEO of a multinational corporation effective leadership and success some hand in hand. Leadership is something that can be developed to a certain extent however many successful leaders will voluntarily tell you that you are born with certain skills. Many leadership training professionals will disagree with that and this article explains why.

Everyone has different leadership qualities within them, although many might not possess certain bullish qualities that stereotypically are associated with leadership. The art of developing these unique qualities through leadership training lies in various stages which can be applied to any team and any process.

Defining the leadership role is an essential initial stage of leadership training and this involves identifying the difference between leadership, management and the rest of the team. Here the role of leader can be defined based on the team objective and strategy. The skill set and attributes of the individual in a role leader need to be evaluated and applied to the strategy using the framework of various leadership models.

Leadership training is not just focussed on any one leader learning about their role, attributes and skills. Understanding the team is equally as important as understanding ones self. Marian Anderson was a singer and civil rights figure, she said 'leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it' and this is applicable to any team structure.

There are various different techniques that can be used for understanding a team and the needs associated with that team. One of the most prevalent is the Belbin Interplace which is an assessment devised from defining personality and productivity within a team focussing on the framework that a successful team will possess nine key roles. This has been at the forefront of management and leadership training since the early 80s.

Understanding what motivates individuals and teams is one of the most important of leadership training and techniques in motivation, spotting talent, promoting, discipline and communication are important parts of mapping out a leadership role in line with the overall business strategy. All of this comes under the umbrella of leadership styles.

Leadership training is a safe environment to explore and identify different leadership styles. These different styles are applicable when faced with certain individual team members or certain situations. Knowing the team means that a leader knows what sort of management style to apply to any given member of that team to achieve the best results bearing the overall objectives in mind.

Creative approaches to develop individuals and the team are essential and come hand in hand with the personal development plan of any leader. As John F Kennedy stated, 'leadership and learning are indispensible to each other'. So the process of realisation of individual styles of any leader and the effects on the team are crucial to successful leadership, communicating as a leader.

Other practical elements such as financial and human resources leadership are also important however they are extensions of the core principles that can developed in leadership training. As the late Peter Druker, a leading figure in management training said, 'Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.'

About the Author

Dominic Donaldson is an expert on leadership training and contributes to trade publications on the subject.

Author Profile: dominicdonaldson

Other Leadership Articles