Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership - Essay Example This is contested by Andersen (2006) who wrote that traits alone are not enough for effective leadership and they are only prerequisite. Traits only provide people with the potential for leadership. Goleman (2008) hypothesized that great leaders are naturally inclined to show interest in others and bring about positive feelings from these people. This then allows a strong show of support. He further mentioned that learning and practice on desirable leadership style can lead to enhanced performance of a potential leader. Thus, the Great Man Theory only explains a part of a successful leader. There are various factors that influence the development of a good leader (Goleman 2008). Cawthon (1996) stated that most important leadership capabilities and proficiencies can be learned and people can be educated along these as long as there is desire to learn and there are no apparent obstacles to learning such as a learning disorder. When studying the several circumstances that play an import ant role in the lives of the great leaders, it seems hard to believe that only inherent traits contributed to their success. There are too many variables that are considered to make effective leaders. The possession of certain inherent traits does not guarantee the success of leadership. Additionally, any leadership style can be successful as long as it recognizes the path to success. Strong leadership capability goes further than genetic inheritance. House and Mitchell (1974) proposed that successful leaders have the capacity to persuade and motivate others to willingly increase their efforts to contribute to the organisation. They further stated that this can be achieved through a leader’s inimitable focus toward fulfilling the needs of their associates by providing the needed training, supervision and support. These motivate followers toward higher levels of performance. Researchers often take on the assumption that leadership comes inherently with individuals, that some o f them .possess a set of inherent traits that enable them to be recognized as great leaders. For many years, this assumption led social scientists to focus only on these traits. However, because of inconsistency in the results research, the trait theory was discarded in favor of the theory that leadership development does not espouse inherent leadership traits but only leadership styles or behaviors that may be developed and changed completely from one setting to another. There is also the notion that a person who is a leader in one setting may be a follower in another in the same way that traits which are practical in one situation may not be helpful in others. Thus, leaders are not born with any specific traits that determine effective leadership (Howard & Wilson, 1982). Even without inherent traits, a person can be an effective leader as long as he can adapt to the unique demands of ever changing organisations. According to Howard and Wilson (1982), leaders must have the aspirati on to lead. In order to be effective, a person must want to lead. However, even if a person has the ability and education to lead but has no enthusiasm, success will most likely not be achieved. History has presented the crucial roles that leaders and leadership play in the success of an organisation – these can be in the context of business ventures, educational settings and

A Comparison between Gandhi and Albert Camus Research Paper

A Comparison between Gandhi and Albert Camus - Research Paper Example A valid way to understand them would be to consider the effect of their environment upon their thinking and actions. Their respective philosophies are also studied in this essay. Two of their works, â€Å"My experiments with Truth† by Gandhi and â€Å"The Stranger† by Albert Camus are also compared to understand these aspects. These highly attractive figures also had many similarities in their life. Both belonged to the same class of thinkers, the existentialists, Gandhi being accorded the status on being a religious man whose truths are subjective than objective. Both accidentally suffered the violent ends. Their life and significance and present day relevance are only being more understood in the in the recent years. Name Instructor Course Name 9th May 2011 A Comparison between Gandhi and Albert Camus Youth and Upbringing Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known in his country as â€Å"Mahatma† or great soul was the most popular and charismatic leader of the nation in modern times and the most powerful leader responsible for gaining independence for India from the British Empire. He was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, a small town on the western coast of India, which was then one of the many tiny states in Kathiawar where his grandfather and father were prime minister of that small royal state. He was sent to Britain to study law an occasion, which served to broaden his mind greatly. [Gandhi bio source 1] Affectionately called the father of the nation he was a man who led a spotless and model life so correct he was able to say, â€Å"My life is My Message† [Sarvodaya]. He acted as a moral leader who taught that freedom was directly related to a moral life and led by example. He inspired so much awe among the great men of the world that Einstein wrote "Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe, that such a one as this, ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." [Gandhi Research].In short he was a thinker â €Å"who practiced what he preached†. All his simplicity and social involvement was the result of profound thought and religious idealism. Philosophy As a theoretical philosopher, he may fit in more as a religious person who has attained enlightenment than as an originator of totally new line of philosophical thought. â€Å"This is because Gandhi was not a philosopher trying to make sense of the world around him in abstraction. He was essentially a political actor.† [Dasgupta] Most of Gandhi’s potent ideas, like Ahimsa and Non-violence were not exactly originated by him but were of religious origin. In short, for comparative purposes, he was a man who was able to find meaning in life, which for him was God, which he also called the truth. [SOURCE].One of Gandhi’s motivators was also his feeling of religious guilt being a very morally reflective boy from his childhood. Born in a very traditional family environment he felt sorely from the instance of having been engaged in sexual intercourse with his own wife while his father was on his deathbed .Unfortunately while Gandhi was away his father happened to die. He felt very guilty about this, he constantly tried to become a purer man, and his grace spread to the society about him. [Gandhi Autobiography] He was also highly moved by the beauty of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’[New Testament]. Albert Camus [1913- 1960] was born 7 November 1913 in Mondovi, Algeria, into a working-class family and grew up in poverty. His mother Catherine Helene Sintes was an illiterate cleaning woman of Spanish origin. Lucien Auguste Camus, his father, was an itinerant agricultural laborer He died when Camus was as a one year old of his war wounds in 1914 after the Battle of the