There are many qualities that are needed to be a good leader or Essay - 1

There are many qualities that are needed to be a good leader or manager. To what extent can these be learnt through study and tr - Essay Example It, therefore, follows that a good leader must be able to impart inspiration, optimism, integrity, confidence and unity among those they lead. Of equal importance is the fact that these qualities may be inborn (although this must only be viewed as the partiality to develop competencies better than the rest) among some individuals, but must be acquired via study and training among others (Doh 2003, 243). This paper will research the extent to which such qualities can be learnt through study and training and give supporting examples. It is an agreeable argument that leadership can, and has been learnt. However, it is equally agreeable that book knowledge, or taught knowledge in the field of leadership, is very limited in terms of its effectiveness. In this sense, leadership must be viewed as a â€Å"performance activity†. The focus then needs to move away from whether leaders are made or born to what they have made of their learning. The extent of what is taught to leaders as be st practice is only applicable to the two extremes of either specific or generalized audiences, and the possibility of the learner never encountering either of them cannot be understated (Kickul & Neuman 2000, 33). To be useful, what is taught must further be learned in more intuitive, applicable and personal circumstances and environments. This serves to emphasize the significance of flexibility. For example, a leader can be taught the art of being persuasive and inspirational in the way they present their ideas and communicate. On the other hand, when some attributes are perceived as dispositions, they cannot be learned. This can best be viewed in the sense that a leader cannot be taught to readily accept risk-taking or be ambitious because these are the possible products of genes, family or life. It is only through immersion into their fields that leaders can learn their way around strategic thinking and develop a capacity of conceptual thinking. Once learning leadership starts, the process never really stops, and no single study or training module can produce a leader who will effectively exhibit the same qualities under all circumstances (Kickul & Neuman 2000, 29). Therefore, leadership cannot be studied or trained as an enduring individual feature. This is made more complex because most leadership strategies require that a leader unlearns default responses, assumptions and old habits related to human nature and implement new behaviors and choices. Further, most lessons in leadership education are inclined towards conveying technique and style. Therefore, much of what is taught ends up being more of management and not leadership. In such situations, it is possible for effective learning to take place and even for the taught notions to be put into practice, but one will still fail at being an effective leader. While inspiration, intelligence, optimism, integrity and vision still remain constant as some of leadership’s essential principles and can be studies over, the ability to amalgamate principles and practice does not imply that one has learned leadership (Kickul & Neuman 2000, 32). The limiting factor is that what studies teach does not necessarily make aspiring leaders learn the prerequisites; knowing and practicing are distinguished. Contemporary leaders confuse their