Effective Leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Effective Leadership - Research Paper Example This definition makes leadership accessible to everyone since it does not restrict it to the formally designated leaders in a group. Effective leadership is hard to realize. Although it is possible to give an unending list of leaders, this paper proves that a limited number of these many leaders eventually realize effective leadership. Effective leadership has been the focus of many of the individuals enlisted as leaders. However, John and Joseph (2009) collected data and their statistics shows that less than 30% of the leaders realize this long-term goal. It involves influence, as its principal concern is how the leader affects followers. Influence is the sine qua non of leadership, without which leadership does not exist. Groups are the context through which leadership takes place. Leaders engage themselves in influencing individuals in a group to a particular common purpose (Minja, 2009). The group in question can be a small task group, a community group, a faith based group or a large group encompassing an entire organization. Therefore, defining leadership as a process does not encompass training programmes, which teach people to lead themselves since the group aspect in leadership does not exist. Leadership can be categorized either as good or bad. Of all management concepts, good leadership is the most investigated but least understood by many people. In defining effective leadership, Barbara & John (2005) asserted that it must incorporate dialogue, conviction and delegation rather than issuing orders. In this regard, the two authors argue that genuine leaders recognise and achieve agreement to an exciting and challenging vision. They do not only promote performance of individuals but also of complete groups and obtain commitment within their own working group (Lok & Crawford, 2009). Effective leaders know what they want: they communicate their intentions efficiently, empower others and know when they should keep the way