Makerere
University Business School
Set
Africa Uganda 2015
Study
materials prepared by Prof Waswa Balunywa, Regis Namuddu and Maureen Basuuta
LEADERS, WHO THEY ARE,
WHAT THEY DO, ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS
What is leadership?
Legendary Peter Drucker, the management guru, said we have
been training leaders for the last 2000 years but the world is short of
leaders! Drucker wanted to say that the world has few leaders that go round and
that while leaders are not necessarily born and indeed can be trained even with
training they were not enough leaders in the world. When you see things happen,
change, success, you know there’s a leader behind that occurrence. To be able
to make the world better, we need more leaders around. And for the major
developments in the world like end of apartheid, mass massacres (unfortunately),
phenomenon growth of an economy, commencement and end of wars, all this is
attributed to some leader of some sort. Leaders are people who are capable of
inspiring others; they motivate them, influence them and make them do things
willingly. For every great occurrence, there is a leader who has not only taken
a decision but took the attendant risk in doing so.
What leaders do?
· They inspire
· They motivate
· They shape vision
· They influence
· They guide
· They educate
· They mentor
SUMMARY: LEADERSHIP
ROLES
a) Get things done
b) Maintain the group; these are
behavarioural roles
Leaders are in different walks of life, in politics,
organizations, religion and among different communities. It is these leaders in
these communities that cause the action that changes the world. Leaders are
therefore people who inspire others, influence them and spark off action that
creates change. The world has seen several iconic leaders, those individuals
that are remembered by society for initiating major changes in the world,
Nelson Mandela. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa are some
of the iconic leaders who the world remembers not for their personal glory but
for their vision and service to mankind.
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Nelson Mandela
spent 27 years in jail because of his beliefs that apartheid was wrong and
society needed to get rid of it. Martin Luther King Jr who was assassinated for
his beliefs he too believed that he could not exist in a society which
discriminate people because of colour of their skin. Mahatma Gandhi could not
believe, having studied in England, could be thrown off a train for sitting in
a wagon that was intended for whites. Mother Theresa dedicated her life for
transforming the poor in India. What is unique about these people is that they
had a vision in their different social areas and life experience. This vision
gave them a mission, something that distinguished them from other people and
this vision was something that was responding to a challenge faced by society.
While these leaders have this vision and mission, they also had abilities and
values that made them different from other people.
Attributes of a leader
It’s difficult to define who a successful leader is or even
explain who an effective one is but when we see them we know them. You cannot
judge an effective leader by the way he speaks, some speak well others cannot
speak well, or how by how they look, some are short, others are tall. Many look
to be welcoming, there are many others who you may not be able to say anything about
them. Some have a sense of humor, others don’t. In fact, academicians do not
even believe that you can describe the traits of a leader. However the
following are some characteristics that many leaders have.
Personality
Leaders are usually people who are able to work the crowd,
they get on well with others. This is said to be charisma which is the ability
to gain respect and attention of other people. Warmth is part of an
individual’s personality that defines successful leaders. Leaders tend to be
tender towards others and do this through having a smile on their faces in
their interaction with other people. Individuals who also remember other people
especially their names tend to have that personality that defines them as successful
leaders
Optimistic
People who are optimistic expect good things to happen and also
expect the best out of situations. They are therefore motivating in dealing
with others. They see opportunities all around them. Usually what you believe
is what you get. If you are pessimistic, you are likely to fail. Leaders are
always expectant about the future being better and this is what they said to
their followers
Honest
Honesty is being open about all things especially
difficulties. Honesty creates trust, it’s the ability to state even the bad
things about yourself and for that matter even be remorseful about them.
Honesty builds somebody’s reputation and trust among people especially followers.
It is when people can trust you that they give you responsibilities, you are
dependable consistent and therefore trustworthy. Honest people are admired and
leaders must be honest more so they are in the public eye serving others
Communication
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Successful
leaders are those who are able to communicate effectively, may be written or
spoken messages. It’s not about oratory skills but the ability to pass on a
message to others successfully. Successful leadership involves understanding
your audience and fitting your message to the different levels that you
address. Communication requires one to be articulate, usage of simple
languages, to be imaginative and to have the interest of the audience as one
communicates.
Perceptive
Leaders usually have concern for other people. In most cases
they serve other people, this means they must have interest in other people and
be sensitive to their needs. This means they must be good listeners to know what
people want, they must do what it requires to understand the needs of people.
Perceptiveness is the ability to be discerning of people’s needs and have
insights on what people want or may even want.
Ability to adapt quickly to change
Leaders
have capacity to see things even before others see them. This is a vision that
they have which makes them stand out from other people. This ability to change
involves willingness to give up existing benefits in exchange for what they
don’t know but believe will be better. It’s natural for people to resist change
because they enjoy certain degree of comfort. However, it’s only the ability to
adapt to changing conditions that makes an individual able to achieve better
things, spot and exploit opportunities. Leaders and indeed organizations that
do not adopt to change quickly become obsolete as they lose relevance. This is
driven by their optimism
Persistence
While leaders must be open to change and have the ability to
adapt to change, there are times when there is need for persistence to be able
to reach a goal. This is the ability not to quit or be distracted or get tired
by distractions that always crop up. You cannot win a marathon unless if you
put your mind to it and be willing to stick to what it takes to win it. An
effective leader is able to go through unpleasant conditions, work long hours,
take risks, work hard to be able to achieve a goal. An effective leader is able
to persevere difficult conditions.
Empathy
Leaders are servants of the people, they must therefore put
themselves in the shoes of the people they lead, must understand the needs of
the people. They must be able to talk freely with people and get on well along
with them. Show kindness and warmth, they must recognize people’s needs likes
and dislikes and they must respond to peoples needs with sincerity. This will
endear others to follow. If they have to criticize followers, it must be done
privately but must be willing to praise in public and most important they must
be able to take blame even in the faults of those they lead
Inspirational
Leadership Quote
“It
is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you
celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is
danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership”
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Leadership skills
Skills are abilities or competences of people to do
something. Leaders must have these skills that enable them think and get things
done. Not all leaders will have all the skills.
·
Communication
The ability to pass on a message to people is one of the key
skills of leaders. This involves speaking, listening writing and most important
preparing to do so
Preparation in communication is key. A leader must know why
he wants to communicate that is a purpose and select the correct median of communication
before making the correct communication
A key skill is listening. This is one of the most difficult things
for people to do. People always think they know and don’t listen to others,
they miss the opportunity not only to learn but also to influence others
·
Delegating
Leaders sell their vision, set goals and they involve others
through delegation. At times the goals are set together with others. However, the
leader still assigns roles to individuals and is responsible for empowering the
individuals to execute the tasks. The leader normally assigns routine works and
retains the strategic ones
·
Managing conflict
As people perform their jobs, they are likely to disagree
either due to sharing of resources or differences in objectives, personal or
organizational. Leaders must look up for
these disagreements and address them. This requires the skills of listening,
decision making and indeed understanding people’s emotions. While conflict is
inherently a negative situation, it’s not always the case. Conflict reduces
productivity and organizational performance. However there are cases when it is
necessary to stimulate thinking by creating some degree of competition among
the organization members. Leaders should aim at win win situations when there is
conflict
·
Empowerment
Once leaders
delegate tasks and responsibilities to followers, they must ensure that they
are able to perform these responsibilities. This is a role of empowerment. This
is giving authority, trainings and motivating the people to perform their
tasks. Empowering is enabling people to perform their tasks
·
Team building
Now and
again, it requires teams to perform certain tasks. These are tasks where there
is interdependence and mutual accountability. In such situations, people must
work together. It is indeed the role of the leader to ensure that the team has
the knowledge, skills and rules to work together, some groups may not necessarily
be teams, teams need special attention to enable them succeed
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Being the change you want to see in the world
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This famous
statement is a quotation from the legendary world leader Mahatma Gandhi who
indeed changed the world. Mahatma Gandhi was born in a relatively wealthy
family in India and graduated with a law degree from England. Gandhi received a
wakeup call when visiting South Africa he was thrown off a train because not
white. Gandhi realized the imperfections in the world and he decided to change
his life and work towards freeing India from British colonialism.
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Gandhi chose non violence as his method of changing the
world. Indeed Gandhi used non violence as a tool for creating the change that
he wanted to see in the world. Gandhi had been a prominent Indian leader in South
Africa and an opponent of racial discrimination and ill treatment of labourers
by the whites in South Africa. Gandhi initiated civil disobedience as a way of
challenging establishment for what he called animal statutory enactments.
Gandhi was able to inspire millions of Indians to join him to disobey the British
colonial government and after years of sacrifice and prison, Gandhi finally won
independence for India.
How do you become the change you want to see in the world?
To be able to change the world, you must see that change, Gandhi
saw a free India, Martin Luther king saw end of racial discrimination in the United
States and they change d their lives to be able to do so. To be this change you
must do the following:
Have a vision of the future
Vision is about possibilities, what can happen sometime in
the years to come for that matter even tomorrow. If you want change to happen
you must see it first. Look ahead into the future see your desires, see that
which you want to see happen and work backwards to the present. Gandhi saw a
free India, Bill Gates saw a computer in every home. Steve Jobs saw the
computer and the internet as a centre of people’s lives. These people went out
to be that which they wanted to see. After seeing this big picture, you need to
create an environment for it to thrive. This involves visualizing the
occurrence of what you dream about. You need to act that this is real and
happening. This change will come true only if you believe that this can happen
and that everything necessary for its happening is in place
SOME OF THE LEADERS WHO
CHANGED THE WORLD
Personal Leadership
development
Leadership is inspiring others to achieve goals, to be able
to do so, a person must have the knowledge and skills that define who a leader
is. There was a belief that leaders were born. This belief was demystified over
time as leaders have evolved over time through coaching, mentoring and formal
training. It is possible that leaders can be developed. This involves
understanding the personality of an individual, the strengths and weaknesses of
the individual and exposing that individual to knowledge that will align the
individual to the features of a leader. To be able to do so, an individual must
understand his or her personal mission in life and through a clear statement of
the individual goals and objectives. The individual must be able to decide
their career plans and develop those values and skills that make them a leader.
Among the key things involved in developing a person into a leader are the
following:
a) Identifying the top leadership traits,
attributes that have defined leaders in
various aspects of life
b) Understand and differentiate,
influence, persuasion and manipulation
c) Develop communication skills
especially through questioning and listening
d) Be able to develop thinking, decision
making, team building and conflict management skills
e) Explain personal goals and objectives
and their importance
f) Define ones values especially ethics
and integrity and how they can contribute to their success as leaders
Developing
a Personal Leadership Vision and Plan
Identify
Your Leadership Vision
To
identify your personal vision, think of the following questions:
What are the unmet needs
in society that I want to address?
What are my unique
strengths that can be used to tackle unmet needs?
What activities do I
need to undertake to achieve my desires?
What legacy would I like
to leave after I have done my job?
What technologies can
support my activities?
Develop
Your Personal Leadership Plan
Once you have identified
your personal leadership vision, the next step is to develop your personal
leadership plan.
Steps
Identify personal leadership goals.
Identify what motivates you
What you want to accomplish.
What role will I play in
the future?
What are the steps I
need to take to reach this goal?
What are my skills, what
needs to be improved?
An
effective plan should:
a)
Specify strategies to meeting your leadership
objectives.
b)
Determine any training needed to meet your
goals.
c)
Include a timeline for completion.
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