Leadership Exposed: 5 Astonishing Facts About Being a Leader

Leadership is complex – no person can expect to have all the answers. However, many might not realize that there are essential qualities and aspects of effective leadership that transcend title, rank, or status – yet may remain unseen by even the most seasoned executive.

This article explores some revelations about leadership we were not expecting: going beyond surface-level understanding with practical advice to help today’s creative entrepreneurs confidently lead their organizations.

So if we are looking for tips on fine-tuning our approach to managing people and fostering growth, look no further!

Leaders come in different flavors.

We elect formal leaders into positions or offices, such as senators, Congress members, and local club presidents.

Informal leaders are those we look up to for their wisdom and experience. Such as in the case of the elders of a tribe or our grandparents. Their expertise and contribution to a given field, such as Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts.

Both formal and informal leaders practice a combination of management styles.

• Lewin’s three basic leadership styles are authoritative, participative, and delegation.
• Likert’s four leadership styles exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, and participative.
• Goleman’s six emotional leadership styles – visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding.

Leadership is a process of becoming

Although certain people are born with innate leadership qualities, they may only develop their full potential with the right environment and exposure.

So like learning how to ride a bicycle, we can also learn how to become influencers and hone our leadership abilities.

Enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences provides the opportunity to gain knowledge of leadership theories and skills.

Daily interactions with people provide the opportunity to observe and practice leadership theories.

Together, formal and informal learning will help us gain leadership attitudes and insights, thus furthering the cycle of learning.

We only become leaders in one day and continue. Life-long learning is vital in becoming a good leader, for each day brings new experiences that test our knowledge, skills, and attitude.

Leadership starts with us

The best way to develop leadership traits is to apply them to our lives. As an adage goes, action speaks louder than words. Leaders are always front and center.

Keep in mind that our quality as a leader depends much on our actions:

• Our interaction with our family, friends, and co-workers
• Our way of managing our personal and organizational responsibilities
• Moreover, even how we talk with the newspaper vendor across the street.

Repeated actions become habits. Habits, in turn, form a person’s character. Steven Covey’s book, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” provides good insights into how we can achieve personal leadership.

We share influence

Influence is not the sole responsibility of one person but rather a shared responsibility among members of a new team. A leader belongs to a group. Each member has duties to fulfill.

Formal management positions are merely added responsibilities aside from their duties as team members.

Effective leadership requires members to do their share of the work. Starting as a group of individuals, members and leaders work towards forming an effective team.

In this light, social interaction plays a significant role in leadership. Learning to work together requires trust between and among leaders and members of an emerging team. Trust is in actions and not merely in words. Mutual respect fosters trust and builds confidence.

Leadership styles depend on the situation

How come dictatorship works for Singapore but not in the United States of America?

Aside from culture, beliefs, value system, and form of government, the current situation of a nation also affects the leadership styles used by its formal leaders.

There is no rule to use only one style. Most of the time, leaders employ a combination of leadership styles depending on the situation. In emergencies such as war and calamity, decision-making is a matter of life and death.

Thus, the leader of a nation can only afford to consult with some departments to arrive at crucial decisions. The case is, of course, different in times of peace and order—different sectors and other branches of government can freely interact and participate in governance.

Another case in point is leading organizations. A combination of high delegation and moderate participative leadership styles is most appropriate when the staff is highly motivated and competent.

However, if the staff has low competence and low commitment, a combination of high coaching, high support, and high directing behavior from organizational leaders is required.

Now that we are encouraged to remember these things, keep in mind that there are always ideas that we think we already know, concepts we take for granted but are the most valuable insights on leadership.