Jackalyn Rainosek Identifies and Teaches the Behaviors of a Leader

Leadership can evoke different images, such as the CEO of a company setting direction and pace, or the heroic sergeant leading troops into battle. Because there are so many different visions of leadership, it is better to define it by the principles a leader lives by, or the visions of success they inspire. True leaders define direction, inspire creativity, and focus individuals or groups into the right directions. Leaders in a business environment instill the desire to win into employees; leaders on a sports team inspire the desire to excel athletically into the team. Jackalyn Rainosek has devoted her career to understanding the traits of the leader.

Even while creating excitement and desire to succeed, leaders must bring forth a set of skills in people management. For a leader, managing people is setting the direction of efforts, focusing endeavor to accomplish purpose, and sometimes, when the leader is able to transform thinking processes, change people and the future. Leadership can evoke change whether in the arena of community endeavor, religious and spiritual groups or government laws and statutes. Innovative visions of an alternate future and the ability to create buy-in for that future is an indicator of a leader. The use of people management skills to focus followers, and keep them moving forward with enthusiasm and excitement, is another hallmark of a leader, skills which Jackalyn Rainosek believes can be learned.

Leaders are able to incorporate a view of where their organization is in the now, and analyze what is needed to move that organization into a successful and well thought out future. Leaders use statistical and psychological tools like market analysis and skill testing to evaluate both the company as a whole, and the individual members who are its strength. Getting an accurate picture of the current reality and the reality one wishes to build involves the ability to project and extrapolate complex interrelationships and possible outcomes. Jackalyn Rainosek is vitally concerned with the powerful influence of leadership on organization dynamics, and works with system changes in human relationships.

An ability to communicate a desired vision, so that those who will build it can own it and take it as their own, involves persuasion. A group must have confidence in a leader, believe in his design, and enthusiastically accept its validity and possibilities. The group must come to see the vision as their own, while they look to the leader to help them see, feel and understand the reasons behind their efforts. The true leader can invoke powerful images of the future, the end result of work and belief from those following the vision, which is why the systems growth and transformational work of Jackalyn Rainosek can have such a powerful change capability for an organization.