Numi, I think you have fantastic posts and you carry yourself as a leader. Not only do you assist those who reach out, but you encourage them in the same light. Sweep the Leg Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That was something I hated about going through the > MBA program. The whole “building tomorrow’s > leaders today” is complete BS. You’re either a > leader or you aren’t. By simply asking how to be > a leader you are demonstrating your lack of > leadership. That’s not directed at you QuantJock, > I’m just waxing philosophical. > > It’s like the movie Trading Places; the Nature vs. > Nuture arguement. I fall into the Nature camp. > You can train management, not leadership. > > And sell frozen concentrated orange juice futures. I agree with this to a point. Personally, I’m more introverted than others. I find it hard to be a leader. But, I do very well with assisting others. My previous job(s) have all had me taking orders in some form. I did very well with this. I don’t know how well I would do giving orders and leading the direction of projects. This MBA has helped me, but it’s very hard to do a 180. All that said, I do lead by a good example and pave my own way with my goals. I don’t follow the herd.
There are different styles of leadership. The fact that some are more of a mentor and others are more of a drill sergeant and others are more of a visionary/prophet doesn’t mean that one is better than the other, although different parts of an organization may require different leadership skills, and organizations also need different skills as they change and mature. Leaders generally have vision, are able to motivate, contain conflicts, focus the energy of a team, and deliver quality work on time and within budgets. Very few leaders have all of this, but good ones have most of them. How to demonstrate leadership? Typically it means you have to organize activity that requires team effort and coordination. Some people are natural leaders, but a lot can be learned by practice and experience if you are willing to drop what doesn’t work for you and the team and go with what does.
leadership is doing the right thing and the right time, and people will follow. (therefore you actually need to be somewhat GOOD at the area to be a good leader). Think the captain of your soccer team. Manager is about motivating and pointing your team into the right direction. Placing and removing resources at situations. You need not to be competent but good experience (or knowledge). Think of the coach!
eureka Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You either lead, follow or get out of the way. > Which are you doing? That should depend on circumstances. A leader should be able to support and follow others when it’s appropriate.
bchadwick Wrote: > How to demonstrate leadership? Typically it means > you have to organize activity that requires team > effort and coordination. Some people are natural > leaders, but a lot can be learned by practice and > experience if you are willing to drop what doesn’t > work for you and the team and go with what does. I agree. The key to leadership is understanding yourself (your strengths/weaknesses, biases, style, etc), understanding others (personality types, conflict styles, motivation, etc) and developing an effective process that identifies the optimal direction and takes there.
Let’s be honest, we’re all probably anomalies here. Not everyone visits a financial forum to discuss career paths, a deluge of book recommendations on various subjects, and leadership skills. I’d wager a bet that many of us forum members would be well-suited to be lead organizations–if we actually take the time to reflect upon we’ve accomplished. Agree with numi wholeheartedly on the issue.