Introduction
Leadership is developed through integration of peoples’ experiences through different forums and relationships. Life consists of different circumstances which demand that people are guided towards the right directions and things that are beneficial (Wall, 2007). The thin line that exists between right and wrong sometimes brings confusion on whether fate should left to take its course or people purpose to modify events to their advantage. Interactions that people have in their relationships provide the right platform for expression of talent and leadership particularly in solving problems and conflict resolution. Synergy is required in integration of leaders and followers towards a workable relationship. This paper investigates conditions, relationships and qualities that are important in leadership.
Synthesis and synergy
The task of leadership is a mystery. Leaders’ actions and words can change the life of another person either positively or negatively. Leaders are not omnipotent and their actions may appear inconsequential on the surface but end up having an impact on a person’s life directly or indirectly. The journey of life is a mystery that incorporates different intersections that synergistically influences change (Malloch& Porter-O’Grady, 2007). The intersections of life consist of relationships and realities which are either tangible or not but whose consequences impact on every aspects of life. The task of leadership therefore entails the search for hidden forces that determine important intersections in life for the purpose of deciding on defining elements that differentiate chaos from change that propels life in the right course.
Leaders should identify linkages and connections that integrate different aspects of life into a functional unit. This calls for a sober appreciation of the different parts that make up life whole in leadership taking into account interactions between mysteries in life. The task of a leader is not limited to the task of unraveling the mysteries of life but to understand the different parts in the journey of life that demystify it. A proper understanding of these ingredients requires that a leader appreciates how the different aspects of life interact and intersect life experiences (Leicester& Field, 2000). Leaders should therefore embrace different mysteries of life in order to harness their own experiences and those from other people synergistically into a meaningful and functional unit. Leaders should be rich in knowledge on different life issues especially those that may have an impact on the organizations they are in charge of.
Different experiences in life transform a person into a leader. A leader should appreciate experiences of other people and the mysteries of life in order to make an impact in society. Different portions of a leader’s experience in life aggregate into a functional unit that develops the leader’s capacity to spearhead change. A leader spends much of the time at his disposal taking care of other people and the structures that support their wellbeing. This demands that leaders obtain spiritual inspiration in this calling. Integrity, self discipline, insight and focus are the other important values which leaders should embrace in order to have an impact on their followers (Wall, 2007). The leader should possess a sense of direction in life so as to guide others on the right path of life. This requires that the leader evaluates his or her personal resources with the goal of understanding their innate capacity to impact on others. This calls for personal reflection and self-examination by the leader.
The process of nourishing their spirit is critical in developing leaders’ skills, potentialities and talents towards a position of influence. Further more, typical leaders should be motivated from within in their call to develop other people’s lives. The leader is therefore a person at peace with him/her self and exhibiting an excitement to transform the lives of their followers positively. Great leaders derive their inspiration from an internal spiritual force that propels their lives towards meaningful things (Bass, 2008). Every person is born with gifts and talents that when fully exploited promote the individual to greatness. Opportunities emerge that demand that leaders are ready to take meaningful risks in life in order to discover their identity and purpose in life. The mysterious force within the leader provides inspiration and direction if properly appreciated.
Commitment is thus the most salient attribute of an effective leader since it is an expression of their determination to respond appropriately to the spiritual force within their lives. The virtue of commitment demonstrates the leader’s conviction to personal growth through the cycle of interactions in the journey of life. The call to leadership also demands that continuous reflection of the unfolding events is sustained by the leader. The journey of life may present chaotic and challenging situations to leaders that call for a sober reflection which is necessary in listening to the inner voice from within for counsel. Absence of moments of reflection and self-examination in a leader’s life could result in loss of certainty causing a nosedive backlash because of the changes that accompany the journey of life (Rigolosi, 2005).
Life is always in motion whose destination remains unpredictable. The process by which events unfold in life requires that the leader engages in continuous reflection with the objective of discovering underlying truths behind different mysteries. Truth is an important element that enables leaders to conquer scenes of uncertainty in the journey of life. Chaos and turbulence in life which emerge in life create uncertain circumstances in the life of a leader. Through reflection, the leader is capable of discerning false uncertainties in life which should be avoided based on the underlying truths about the course of the journey.
Another important element in understanding leadership lies in absolutism. Since leaders derive inspiration and focus to lead from an internal spiritual force, they should submit to the external absolute for efficiency (Rigolosi, 2005). Surrender means that the leader subjects him/her under control of the external absolute power in charge of the realities and existence of life. The element of surrender lifts the guilt of pain and suffering attached to the challenges of life off a leader’s shoulder that could interfere with his/her output. The effective leader derives inspiration from the innate spiritual force that empowers him/her to face challenges in the journey of life appropriately.
Experiential leadership
Leaders obtain important qualities and skills through their own experiences and the experiences of other people. The ability to interact with colleagues in any organization is a useful tool for a leader to develop necessary people skills such networking and communication. This is particularly necessary for team building in leadership and management. As such, leader does dictate to followers on the right things to do but participates in carrying out relevant activities in the organization with subordinates. Experiences that confront people in life, at workplace and even in their families develop their character and attitudes towards being successful and great. The ability to control emotions such as anger is therefore important in mastering one’s personality. This calls for self-discipline in character development for the purpose of understanding behavior differences among persons.
Through reflection, meditation and soul searching, a leader is capable of examining him/her self with respect to the application of ethics and values in their style of leadership. Meditation involves sober and reflective thinking on previous experiences in one’s life aiming at rating performance (Malloch& Porter-O’Grady, 2007). During this process, the leader evaluates their actions and words in the course of leading other people with the objective of identifying their strengths or weaknesses. Each person possesses strengths and weaknesses in their character profile which contribute towards their career and personal development. These attributes become manifested in the process of working on different tasks and when interacting with other people.
Through a developed personality, a leader is capable of influencing the lives of other people whether under their control or not. The process of developing one’s personality entails overcoming personal weaknesses and sideshows that could derail a leader from being focused on the right paths of life. This also requires inspiration from the spiritual force in a leader to ignore the temptations of life in pursuit of the right things. Reflective thinking and meditation enables a leader to digest difficult issues in life characterized by chaotic events with the goal of choosing on those that enrich their character and leadership style.
Managing Change
Leaders should possess the ability to make people believe in them through effective communication and interpersonal skills. This requires that a leader understands the various psychological stages that people go through during change. Change is inevitable in life. A leader should therefore be psychologically prepared to confront various changes simultaneously in the journey of life (Leicester& Field, 2000). Several changes appear to occur at the same confusing many a people. The unfolding of different changes within the span of time makes it difficult for leaders and their followers to understand the right course of action. Since change is dynamic and progresses with life, an effective leader should be wise enough to adapt useful changes purposefully.
Change is also endless and occurs simultaneously during transition from one stage of life to another. Forces converge at the points of intersections in life making the whole situation a mystery. It is apparent that leaders may not find enough time to comprehend the mix of the underlying forces behind numerous changes that accompany life. As companies are confronted with dynamic changes in business, it is important that their talented leaders think outside the box in order to effectively associate character, ethics and standards to their business models.
Leaders should therefore manage change by playing the role model to their followers in the midst of the myriad changes (Wall, 2007). They are capable of doing this by creating a level playing field in their organizations. This entails eradicating unnecessary bureaucratic barriers between management and employees. Leaders get connected with workers by building relevant synergy in the workforce with the organization’s objective being the lowest common denominator.
Another important element for effective leadership in managing change lies in being genuine and honest to the right things and people. This calls for an outgoing leader to interact freely with followers in order to build requisite support and mutual trust in their day to day activities. It is a tiring task that extracts a leader’s energy reserves and time. Change management calls for the application of passion during interactions with people of conflicting views and when encountered with transition challenges. Change management can be effectively applied through collaborative leadership in a pharmaceutical marketing.
Mangers should build necessary networks with employees that can be exploited to motivate workers to accommodate change (Bass, 2008). A pharmaceutical leader therefore needs to convince workers as well as the board of directors about the short-term and long-term consequences of the changes being proposed. This could be implemented through a proper understanding of the pharmaceutical products for a specified company and their corresponding marketing lines in different territories. A leader is also liable to update various teams, departments and directors on the different aspects of changes proposed at different levels. This could be done through weekly and monthly reports related to the product lines and their performance in the market.
An elaborate communication structure needs to be in place at the organization with respect to the manner in which reports are designed and feedback given. Change management skills are therefore useful in implementing transitions from one product or territory to another (Rigolosi, 2005). A pharmaceutical company distributing drugs in a particular region could face challenges such as its competitors and duration in the local markets. An effective leader should therefore organize seminars and conferences where different stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry are informed about all the relevant information on the pharmaceutical’s product line with the objective of promoting them.
Knowledge utility and lifelong learning
There is a huge amount and type of information available today that it is confusing what is relevant and useful to be adopted. The task of the leader is to find out relevant information for his/her organization. The right information should also be in the right form and should be available when needed. The task of making wise decisions takes into account that data should be selected from the general whole with respect to the underlying objectives. The 21st century represents the information age. The content and manner in which integrated activities are synthesized requires a proper understanding of available data (Malloch& Porter-O’Grady, 2007). Decision making entails selective application of relevant information.
Knowledge is also being regarded as an important utility in decision and policy making at individual and organizational level. According to the quantum perspective, there is single person who can accumulate the entire knowledge base within his/her mental faculties. Consequently, an effective leader should develop relevant skills for knowledge management through proper access to the right information at the right time. In the twenty first century, the information age has shifted focus on accumulation of knowledge to the aspect of access in knowledge management. An effective leader should therefore extract important information when needed in the right manner after which irrelevant data is disposed appropriately (Leicester& Field, 2000). Information which is not appropriate in the modern age is discarded in order to pave way for useful data that can propel individuals and organizations ahead.
Leaders should therefore develop new perceptions, self awareness and insight into the dynamic realities in the universe. Effective leadership demands for commitment to life long learning and the dynamic characteristic of change. Life long learning requires that leaders are emotionally stable to withstand the pain of assimilating new forms of information as part of their lifestyle. They also need to develop their analytical skills meant to manage change, negotiation skills to interact with like-minded persons and motivation to adapt to new challenges that unfold with life (Wall, 2007).
The universe undergoes continuous creation which demands leaders are able to explore, experiment and adapt to a wide range of circumstances that unfold with life. Leaders should instill in others the ability to explore new grounds in pursuit of greatness and success. They are also capable of discerning between their specific actions and their consequences. Since the universe keeps being modified, leaders are co-creators that transform change by sorting out different intersections and actors behind this evolution. People adapt to change, they do not create it.
A good leader identifies the relationship between all the factors that are linked to change in order to understand its impact and the manner in which it manifests itself. In essence, a leader cooperates with change for the purpose of understanding its meaning and impact in the universe. In essence, leaders understand that order is created from chaos that accompanies change (Bass, 2008). As a leader, one should accept change as well as chaotic experiences for the purpose of creating order in the journey of life. A leadership contract therefore entails the process of applying the innate ability into the realities of change by operating within its implications.
Emotional intelligence
The world economy is dynamic which demands that leaders shift the focus from the old fashioned hierarchies into networks which are effective for adapting changes at the rate at which they take place. Leaders need to guide their organizations through alternative options, incentives and networks that integrate their own experiences and those from other people into a single functional unit. The transitions that take place in the business world require that emotional intelligence in part of the ingredients for excellence (Rigolosi, 2005). Emotional intelligence is an internal attribute that drives people with initiative to engage the intrigues of life creatively. The leader motivates self to undertake on difficult tasks with the hope of improving their lives as well as impacting the lives of the people around them.
The interaction between leaders and clients at workplace becomes even more effective through the element of emotional intelligence in building bonds and collaborations. The best leader is understood to possess outstanding emotional intelligence and competencies beyond excellent cognitive capacities. The outstanding leader expresses strong emotional competencies which include persuasion skills, team leadership, self-confidence, knowledge of current affairs and determination to succeed (Malloch& Porter-O’Grady, 2007). There is also the virtue of empathy which involves the ability of leaders to understand and associate with the feelings and circumstances that other people around them experience in their lives. It is currently normal to find workers disillusioned by consistent job insecurities and chronic unemployment occasioned by the universal treacherous economy.
Workers are continuously being confronted with the problem of retrenchment in their workplace due to a depreciating economy and a subsequent financial crisis. Persistent cases of employee lay offs are reported in different parts of the world as companies resort to leaner financial budgets in their operations. The problem lies in balancing organizational challenges with the welfare of its workers in different economic situations. The approach taken in dismissing loyal workers from gainful employment should therefore be guided by values related to emotional intelligence such as empathy in order to bolster employee contributions in improving the business environment (Leicester& Field, 2000).
Employees are motivated to work in organizations that are loyal to their personal wellbeing. Satisfied workers extend emotional allegiance to their employers because they are assured of proper compensation and job security. Leaders should therefore seek to counsel their workforce on the business dynamics and trends in order to prevent development of apathy and confusion during difficult times in the labor market. Interactions between managers and their subordinates are meant to support their relationships by way of sharing feelings and life experiences. It is important that leaders are consciously aware of their subordinates’ experiences in life in order to understand the issues which could lead to poor performance at workplace and means to solve them (Wall, 2007).
People learn from each other’s experiences by exploiting areas of strength in order to overcome underlying weaknesses. There exists a “vertical couple” between managers and the respective subordinates. The vertical couple is defined by the relationship that exists between the superior manager and the junior employee especially when evaluating their performance and response to feedback. It is common in conventional workplace setting for managers to become disinclined from their subordinates through hierarchies that exist in management. The development of a working relationship between employees and their executive authorities is therefore important in fostering a functional “vertical couple” that ensures both parties benefit.
The “vertical couple” strengthens the bond between leaders and followers in their organizational life if properly sustained through emotional intelligence and empathy (Bass, 2008). Proper application of empathy by leaders ensures that leaders listen to their followers. The relationship that exists between managers and their subordinates is a blessing if both parties appreciate that they are interdependent with a contribution to make in each other’s lives. Emotional intelligence spices the relationship in the “vertical couple” through mutual trust, rapport, understanding in dissemination of duties and performance evaluation. The relationship in the vertical couple worsens when emotions of both parties are not congruent due to existence of mistrust and lack of empathy. The relationship between leaders and their followers is therefore guided by the emotional component at individual and organizational level.
The work place should therefore provide the right environment for building collaborative and fruitful relationships between leaders and their followers. This is possible through practical and genuine application of emotional intelligence in meaningful relationships between leaders and subordinates (Rigolosi, 2005). Leaders focus their efforts on encouraging followers to work towards achieving rewards contingent to organizational objectives as well as directing paths for performance. The leader provides rules and regulations meant to guide subordinates towards achieving goals and better performance at workplace. Leaders express person concern for the subordinates’ needs and welfare.
Emphasis is placed on accomplishment of difficult tasks where leaders entrust their subordinates with organizational goals. Decision making is done through consultations between leaders and subordinates on work-related duties and mechanisms for sharing important information. Leader’s effectiveness is evaluated based on the relevance of the leadership style to the work situation. The relationship between leaders and followers plays a big role in the success of organization. Personalities of both leaders and their subordinates are important in their work relationships (Malloch& Porter-O’Grady, 2007). Subordinates apply their creativity in the tasks assigned to them while the leaders utilize their positions of authority directing followers towards meeting organizational objectives.
Conflict resolution is part and parcel of leadership. Different intersections of life present difficult situations to leaders which require that contentious issues be resolved wisely. The task making decision entails incorporating different parts at stake in order to develop the whole substance in a situation. Different intersections need to be harnessed into a working formula that can unlock a difficult situation amicably.
Self-esteem and self confidence
Leaders are people who have developed the art of logic in their life. Self-esteem and self-confidence are inter-related with a common perspective in positive thinking and synthesis. Self-esteem and self confidence are strong attributes of one’s personality. A leader is developed through life long learning and a proper sense of self image (Leicester& Field, 2000). They are in charge of events in their lives through reflective thinking. A leader develops a particular line of thought and pursues it to a constructive conclusion. A leader understands that other people can make a contribution towards development of their character but the task of leading their own lives is dependent on their personality. A strong self esteem enables a leader to apply personal principles in decision making and problem solving.
The basic principle for effective leadership lies in sticking to particular principles in life as well as being responsible enough to face their consequences. People are born with inner strengths that propel them to prosperity if properly utilized (Wall, 2007). The strengths revolve around gifts and talents that empower them to excel in their endeavors. It is possible for anyone to prosper if they are engaged on activities that are of interest to them. Self confidence therefore enables leaders to be consciously aware of their personal development. This enables leaders to take charge of their lives through greater appreciation of their inner strengths and potentialities.
Self esteem also facilitates an individualized growth and development of a person away from the influence of other people. It also motivates one to focus on personal ambitions and goals in life through innovation and application of knowledge. A proper understanding of self enables leaders to distinguish themselves from the crowd as manifested through a developed and outstanding self esteem. Apart from the inborn strengths such as talents and gifts, leadership and self esteem is developed through continuous training. This is a life long exercise which if properly developed propels an ordinary person from the crowd to a leadership position.
According to Maslow’s hierarchies of needs, the need for self esteem and the esteem of other people is an important parameter in shaping leadership. Human beings have a need for self esteem and respect from other people in their relationships (Bass, 2008). When self esteem is achieved and mutual respect exists in people’s relationships, individuals feel appreciated and important in the society. Consequently, individuals with a strong self esteem and self confidence eventually graduate into leaders. When a person is frustrated, despised and less valued, they lose their essential self esteem and may not lead a decent life let alone leading other people.
People are rendered worthless and helpless when the society especially close family members deprive them of dignity, respect and appreciation. It is therefore likely that individuals with diminished self esteem may not emerge as leaders in their society because they feel less important than fellow human beings. Successful leaders are people who are capable of suppressing negative thoughts and imminent discouragement. It is thus the task of a leader to overcome rise above pessimistic ideas in life and corrupt company that could frustrate their resolution to serve people and self effectively.
Conclusion
Leadership is not an inborn talent but a lifelong process. The task of leadership involves continuous life long learning and reflection (Rigolosi, 2005). Prayer is an important element in leadership because it provides leaders with an opportunity to communicate with their maker for greater inspiration and guidance in life. Leaders utilize substantial amount of energy and sacrifice in order to serve other people effectively. A strong self esteem is necessary in developing a person’s confidence in life especially when confronted with criticism and negative thoughts. It is therefore important that leaders are determined to spend their time and resources in learning from their experiences and that of other people. This calls for application of emotional intelligence and empathy established through fruitful relationships and knowledge acquisition. Synthesis of the available information is necessary in decision making and problem solving. Appreciation of different circumstances in life including chaos and opportunities to invest in other people’s lives as a divine calling is crucial in leadership.
References
Bass, B. M. (2008).Leadership, psychology, and organizational behavior Harper international student reprint. California: Harper.
Leicester, M. &Field, J. (2000). Lifelong learning: education across the lifespan. London: Routledge.
Malloch, K. & Porter-O’Grady, T. (2007). Quantum leadership: a resource for health care innovation. London: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Rigolosi, E. L. M. (2005). Management and leadership in nursing and health care: an experiential approach, Springer series on nursing management and leadership. Washington: Springer Publishing Company.
Wall, B. L. (2007).Coaching for emotional intelligence: the secret to developing the star potential in your employees. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.