Personal Leadership Philosophy
Leadership and Motivation
Personal Leadership Philosophy 1
Overview
I have had a number of both good and bad leaders in my professional life. Honestly, I have learned more about what I don’t want to be than I have learned what I do want to be as a leader. I believe that it is clear about how to fail as a leader because being a good to great leader can be done in so many ways. Being wrong is fairly simple to identify. Even though I have many examples of what I don’t want to be I prefer to focus on the handful of good traits that I believe are important for me to be a great leader some day.
A good leader pulls rather than pushes his people. He doesn’t direct unless a specific task requires it. It is a leader’s responsibility to try to stretch the imagination and facilitate increasing the capabilities of his subordinates by showing them what they are good at, by determining what they believe in and are motivated by, and then guiding them to reach those marks. I want to be the type of leader that asks the right questions and then help my followers to provide their own solutions to problems.
I think that a good leader is ultimately a kind and friendly person. I believe that you have to be approachable in all situations and that subordinates must feel comfortable in working with you. I believe that people will respect you as a leader if you show that same respect to them. There is no reason why a leader needs to be authoritative or dictatorial to get respect. To be a true leader people need to trust you and I believe that is best achieved through care, understanding and a humanistic approach. Those leaders who live and work by this principle have always stood out to me.
A good leader encourages his people to learn new skills and contribute innovative ideas. He works to provide and environment so that, where possible, people work on what they like and enjoy. As part of this a good leader needs to be able to coach...