Leadership - Power Over People?

Is leadership about power over the people or power with the people? A recent article on the Chartered Management Institute website states ‘new research revealed that a third of workers across the globe think their bosses are ineffective in the workplace. Over a third of respondents said they are only sometimes or never motivated by their manager to give their all.’ Poor leadership can cripple a project, a team or a business. More money and effort is then to deliver on your outputs, thus reducing your overall profit margins.

Effective leadership isn't hard, nor do you really have to study a pile of academic books to understand it (I would ask you, are most academics proven leaders?). Try this for a simple leadership model:

Be aware – know and understand your team.

Be guided – by your moral compass (Do the right thing!).

Be a listener – involve the experience and knowledge of your team.

Be adaptable – learn to improvise and adapt as situations change.

Be confident – communicate plans frequently and clearly to build trust.

Be-lieve – in your plan, and know it inside out, (but never forget the other "Be’s".)

And to inspire your further here are some great leadership quotes:

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

John Quincy Adams

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.

John Maxwell

Leadership is founded on three qualities: trust, compassion and moral courage – it is the framework upon which lie all traits, techniques and skills of successful leadership.

Lt Col (Retd) Stewart Hill

A leader leads by example not by force.

Sun Tzu

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.

Peter Drucker

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.

Sir Winston Churchill

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.

Bill Gates

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