Prime Leadership: What Makes A Good Leader?

Superior Essays
Whether or not something makes a person a better leader is a controversial topic, but when people start out at “rock bottom,” they develop the proper values and understandings of being a prime leader. Many characteristics can be attributed to leaders, so a clear way of defining the term of prime leadership can be difficult. Starting out at or hitting rock bottom is often referred as a “bad” outcome or start, and people try to avoid it as much as possible; however, it only builds the leader’s experiences and knowledge to prepare for what could happen. Experiencing rock bottom only makes leaders better understanding, and society has completely manipulated the thought to be a dreadful situation to be in, but it results in beneficial feedback. …show more content…
As said by Wesley Wagner, prime leadership needs to have a well-developed foundation, consistency, and the process of building new leaders (Wagner 23). Having a strong foundation can mean multiple concepts, but it is essential for the followers to have loyalty and take pride in what they are doing (Wagner 23). Creating a foundation has to have a clear and specific vision (Williamson). Having a vision is what inspires others to follow the leader towards the ultimate goal desired. This separates true leaders from just people that give orders for others to obey. In addition, loyalty is critical for success, because leaders need to have people that passionately follow them with respect and belief that they are doing what is right. They must be dedicated to the cause, just like the leader is. Taking pride in what the followers are doing themselves is crucial for establishing a foundation, too. The leaders need to be passionate for what they are demonstrating, and they need to spread it to their followers and create a ripple effect from them, so that the followers can help spread the vision further and further. This helps provide the consistency needed for continued success. If the vision cannot be consistent, the followers will often lose interest, because they cannot depend on the vision for successful outcomes. Followers need to have some type of …show more content…
As Wagner says, “…[leaders] must be able to wear many hats.” Meaning that they must have the ability to be “role models, teachers, counselors, supervisors, and communicators” that fit the specific situation at hand (Wagner 23). This exhibits prime leadership in a way that fits all types of problems. They must have good morals and want to build success into new leaders with motivation and encouragement. Followers will look up to the leaders in awe and inspire to be like them if leaders motivate and believe in their followers’ success, too. Leaders need to have a vision with an ultimate goal, along with the courage to pursue that vision to make it a reality and spark change. Without a vision, people will not want to follow in the leaders path, and without a goal, there is nothing to lead people towards. There needs to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Although vision is essential for a leader, seeing it in the long-term future is vital for its success (Barkhurst 66). This helps establish the foundational values of loyalty and pridefulness that is needed to build followers into leaders. Leaders need to want to impact their team and inspire them to achieve bigger things and have their own vision and goals for themselves. These are the leadership values that separate prime leaders from just normal leaders. To become a prime leader, it is necessary for the leader to go

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Contemplating of the components of what leadership is, society has a variety of definitions on what defines a leader. For one individual, a leader could be a person that has wonderful interpersonal skills, can communicate flawlessly, and can plan activates accordingly. For another person, leadership can entail being an emotional person, being humble and asking for help when needed and can independent while being dependent on others. However, the concept of leadership is much more complex than society realizes. Leadership is much more than just qualities or an individual’s actions, leadership has a conglomerate of dimensions and structure that can be complex. One significant theory of leadership is the path-goal theory.…

    • 1417 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Leaders must represent the values that the followers should be learning and mirroring back to others. If the leader gives respect and encourages others to be better, those influenced will then go to others and repeat the positive behavior, passing on the leadership qualities for other followers to learn and one day teach (Harris, 2011). This will earn the leader more respect and appreciation from the followers, putting them at a higher level of encouragement and importance. The substance of genuine, skillful, and effective leadership is the promotion of consistent vision, mission, and a set of values to the members. Their vision is so captivating that they know what they want from every collaborative effort. Leaders should guide followers by providing them with a sense of meaning and challenge. They work willingly and confidently to foster the spirit of teamwork and…

    • 1648 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Individuals involved within leadership roles can “make or break” a company. Without key qualities of leadership, an individual cannot fully provide their customers or its employees with the experiences they deserve. Without proper skills and reinforcement, leaders cannot foster a positive workforce or support their employees. Without certain key factors a leader or manager becomes just another employee, and not the leader they are required to be. Having leaders with the skills such as honesty, accountability, the ability to inspire and to delegate, and basic communication skills are all necessary parts to becoming proven and respectable leaders within a business.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leadership is a complex phenomenon. One thing is clear: leaders are not born into leadership, and you cannot make a leader. Leaders rise to existence by circumstances. Those who show up to the occasion are leaders (Sweet, 2004).…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    No one theory of leadership has ever been accepted by all, but the common thought of leadership is that it is an influence process, occurs within a group, involves goals, and attainment. Some people think leaders are born with a trait that innately makes them leaders, while others theorize that it is a characteristic of an individual, but we have learned that leaders are a product of their development and life experiences. Leaders are concerned with understanding people’s beliefs and gaining their commitment. They function without focusing on the opinions of others, which allows them to think of new ideas and motivate others to develop these…

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Leadership Philosophy

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Upon reflecting on the word leadership, the most predominant description, which sticks out to me is the role a leader has to invite us to follow and to never give up. The keys to demonstrating and teaching others to follow is being an example to others can look up to—it is showing them how to be a leader. A leader is not one who is domineering, compulsive, demeaning towards others, or manipulative. A true leader is dependable, honorable, inclusive, patient, resilient, and multiple other relatable traits. A leader never gives up on the dream—the goal. Adversity will always be prominent along the way through the trials. A leader diligently provides a way through the speed bumps and obstacles. As a leader the persistence and determination to never give up is magnified because of the responsibility you have as a leader to others. In addition, it is the responsibility you hold yourself up to as you become an example for future leaders.…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fearlessness. True leaders are not afraid to take risks or make mistakes. They will take responsibility when things go wrong without blaming themselves or others.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leadership is defined as the action of leading a group of people or an organization, but a larger question becomes, is leadership a simple action? When one thinks about popular leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Rosa Parks, and even unpopular leaders, Napoleon and Hitler. These leaders did not simply lead a group of people, there was more to their action. Each of these of these leaders have left a legacy for us to study, the actions they took to accomplish the goals they reached are the road map that we look at to see what makes a good leader behind good leadership. The mark of a good…

    • 1640 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Interestingly, these four concepts have a lot of overlap between one another. You cannot be composed without having a lot of confidence in your abilities. You cannot have a healthy commitment to your goal without having good character to guide you. Lastly, you cannot be a good leader by example without a significant amount of commitment, composure, confidence, and character. Leaders are needed in so much more than only sports as they are vital for any group to successfully proceed. Leaders are needed in churches, in communities, businesses, and even families. The hardest thing is that many people don’t have the tools or vision of what an effective leader would look and operate like. Because of this, it is important to digest the four characteristics that effective leaders possess and apply them when the opportunities…

    • 1520 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leadership is another quality that I possess. To me, being a leader means carving your own path in life and not necessarily following others. It means understanding the difference between right and wrong and knowing actions have consequence. Leadership means having to make tough decisions at times and influencing others to make good choices as well. Sometimes it is very easy for someone to get caught up in a moment and to follow the crowd, and it takes a strong leader to resist those temptations and influence others to do the same.…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Historical Leaders

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Different leaders have different qualities, attributes, values, passions, goals, and priorities. Though all leaders have these things. A good leader knows what he is striving to do in life. An even better leader knows how to get it done. A good leader knows what he is good at and what he is bad at. An even better leader knows how to enhance his strengths and eliminate his weaknesses. A good leader knows his priorities. An even better leader knows to stick to these. So, my question to you is, which are you? Are you the person that knows none of these things, the one that knows them but will not act upon them, or the leader that will do whatever they can to get better and lead with respect? Each one of these will lead you down a different path…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As leaders, must be able to communicate the importance of the work each individual person is doing and how it fits into the overall mission of the organization. “A good leader will be able to find key qualities of each person in their organization that will help move the organization forward. Great leaders know how to produce and sustain good followership. They are watchful, responsive, and proactively engaged in maintaining good followership” (Cruz, 2014, p.48).…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Being a leader is comprised of three main characteristics: ambition, flexibility, and dedication. Ambition lays the foundation for a successful leader since there aren’t any leaders who can effectively lead without being passionate. Authoritative figures must be able to be flexible in how they instruct to affect the most people,…

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leaders are individuals who leads or commands a group of people. To be an effective leader an individual must have characteristics of leadership that inspire their followers. There can be many types of leaders. Some leaders are strong leaders that want nothing but to rule and have war. Other leaders want peace, and they will only offer help if needed. Some leaders are in the middle and may lean either way. Leaders express their leadership in different ways. Many great leaders have succeeded in the past; however, should leaders follow the ideas of the past or is it time to try something new?…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A great leader is a greater follower. Leaders communicate company goals and let their words fruition into something great. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “A good leader can’t get too far ahead of his/her followers.” Followers play an active, vital role in the success of any group, organization, or society (Hackman, 2013, p. 22). A leader must first lead and communicate to his group and follow closely afterwards.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays