Leadership and Leader Effectiveness
Leadership is the process of influencing, directing, and guiding the behavior of others to accomplish a specific goal in a given situation. It entails making decisions, as well as creating and articulating a clear vision, and providing subordinates with knowledge and skills suitable for achieving the set goals (Northouse, 2021). One would argue that leadership is a process that can be learned through hard work. Although innate traits can be associated with the emergency of leadership, they do not make one an effective leader. Therefore, training, experience, learning, asking questions and observation are critical in making a successful leader (Jaya, & Mukhlasin, 2021). This indicates that leadership is an acquired skill that must be nurtured and improved over time.
One of the people I regard as the most effective leader is Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc. Ash rose from door-to-door book salesperson to founding a cosmetics company that empowered women at a time when men dominated every field in the corporate sector (Adkins-Green, 2019). She was both a transformational and servant leader who inspired her employees, treated them with respect and equally, and motivated them to achieve goals beyond their expectations.
Ash was a visionary who started her company with US$5,000 and grew it to success, an indication of a drive to succeed and learning into action. The company operates in over 30 markets worldwide and has more than 1 million independent beauty consultants. Ash was self-aware and knew how to lead, never compromised her principles, which, combined with discipline, initiative, hard work, and the right skills compounded her success as an entrepreneur and a leader (Adkins-Green, 2019).
Ineffective leaders, on the other hand, do not engage followers, lack direction, lack transparency, and do not listen to others due to their big ego (Jaya, & Mukhlasin, 2021). They lack vision, are poor communicators, unaccountable, and micromanage every little thing they do. One of the ineffective leaders is Ronald Boire, the former chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble. Boire failed as the company leader when it needed him the most. His ineffectiveness stemmed from failure to steer the book seller against competition from online book stores, such as Amazon. He was not visionary and made unsound decisions.
References
Adkins-Green, S. (2019). Mary Kay Ash: Keys to success. In Go-to-Market Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Jaya, S., & Mukhlasin, A. (2021). Realization of managerial competence in effective leadership. EDUTEC: Journal of Education and Technology, 4(4), 659-665.
Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). Sage Publications.
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