Leadership

A simple definition of leadership is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Or we can say that Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.

Effective characteristic of leadership

1. Great communicator Good communication is one of the most important characteristic of leadership. A good leader is able to communicate well not only with the people he is leading, but with external parties as well. So what does it mean to be a good communicator? For starters it means saying what is required, not what is desired. Good leaders tell the truth like it is, without sugarcoating or fearing of hurting others feelings.

2. Decision maker Part of a leader's role is to make decisions and provide direction to those under him. Being a good decision maker means:Be timely - Being able to make decisions within the required time. Not spending too much time analyzing and considering each decision. Resolute - This means having the firmness and willpower to stick to each decision long enough to see it bear fruit. Flexible - To have the flexibility to change directions and decisions when it is discovered that the initial judgment may not be the right one. Sometimes it is not possible to have all the information to make a decision. Thus, often times instinctive judgment is needed. A good leader trusts his judgment and has the courage to use it.

3. Clear vision Another characteristic of leadership is to have a clear vision, on what the group needs. A good leader is clear on what he wants. This clarity of vision is imperative to ensure that the whole team is continually moving in the right direction. A ship needs a captain who knows exactly where it is suppose to go. There's nothing worse than having the destination constantly changed and the maps regularly replaced.

4. Trust others and be flexible Trusting other people is another characteristic of leadership. A good leader knows how to trust others, especially his followers. For everyone there is always this natural urge to try to take everything on board, to review all work etc.

5. Lead by example This is a common saying but it is still very important. A leader has to lead by example. He has to set the standards. The leader must be the one putting in the most effort. He has to be the one putting in the most heart and passion into the cause. Only then will the followers be inspired to do the same. This is how the great leaders in the history of the world have inspired millions.

6. Be congruent For a leader to inspire and influence his followers, he first needs to gain their trust. Nothing helps gain trust more than showing congruency.

7. Be part of the team A good leader does not consider him to be the boss. Rather he views himself as part of the team, equal to all other team members. Leaders who consider themselves as part of the team quickly gain the respect of the team members. Followers will be more willing to help and give their best as they have a sense that the team is 'one' and everyone is in this together.

Leadership behavior Leadership behavior comes from leadership quality. Some of those qualities are:

Integrity - the most important requirement; without it everything else is for nothing. Having an effective appreciation and approach towards corporate responsibility, so that the need to make profit is balanced with wider social and environmental responsibilities. Being very grown-up - never getting emotionally negative with people - no shouting or ranting, even if you feel very upset or angry. Leading by example - always be seen to be working harder and more determinedly than anyone else. Helping alongside your people when they need it. Fairness - treating everyone equally and on merit. Being firm and clear in dealing with bad or unethical behavior. Listening to and really understanding people, and show them that you understand (this doesn't mean you have to agree with everyone - understanding is different to agreeing). Always taking the responsibility and blame for your people's mistakes. Always giving your people the credit for your successes. Never self-promoting. Backing-up and supporting your people. Being decisive - even if the decision is to delegate or do nothing if appropriate - but be seen to be making fair and balanced decisions. Asking for people's views, but remain neutral and objective. Being honest but sensitive in the way that you give bad news or criticism. Always doing what you say you will do - keeping your promises. Working hard to become expert at what you do technically, and at understanding your people's technical abilities and challenges. Encouraging your people to grow, to learn and to take on as much as they want to, at a pace they can handle. Smiling and encouraging others to be happy and enjoy themselves. Relaxing - breaking down the barriers and the leadership awe - and giving your people and yourself time to get to know and respect each other. Planning and prioritizing. Managing your time well and helping others to do so too. Involving your people in your thinking and especially in managing change. Achieve the company tasks and objectives, while maintaining your integrity, the trust of your people, are a balancing the corporate aims with the needs of the world beyond.

My Personal Best Leadership Experience

My personal best leadership experience resulted from managing and leading my college basketball team as a Captain. I was fully devoted to my basketball games I used to daily practice I must I was crazy for this game. We have the team which contains 10 people, all were good in game. We always played game like a team. We all were having a good coordination and team feeling and on this we won our college cup for 2 year continuously. However we play our best, but as starting we dont have good coordination, tuning. We decided to eradicate this negativity from our entire teams. So my sports teacher decided to make a captain, as per vote I became captain. I felt a large responsibility; I started learning how to tackle, to solve, and to coordinate my entire member in a team. I decided to first remove all misunderstanding, misperception, and disrespect towards each other in our team. I started talking to them I always count a good quality of every one and tell to each other among my team, this was done for a month after that I felt a change in everyones behavior then. We started practicing there I saw a lots of lack of coordination among my entire team now I decided to play regularly for 4 hour in these four hour we always do our hard, I have to polish everyones skill, I make a strategy they give their opinion then we divide equal team we play well match then we discuss our weakness then I use to correct them sometimes I became referee, my sports teacher always praise us for our this hard worker and he also support me on particular issue. I decided to have a college team uniform we discuss all gives their opinion, we need to have a good kit so I decided to buy I asked for contribution, so I basically controlled everything. Challenging them was the first step. Creating an environment that was positive, motivating, and challenging made them become very invested in what we were doing. Every day we did some sort of challenge that everyone had to succeed at before practice could end. For every misconduct in game or lack in game was just my responsibility I was scolded for this I felt very bad my sports teacher make me understood about my responsibility, my position so I started doing more hard work on my team. I also discuss to my sports teacher about game plan, he use to tell me my negative and positive points, and same I do to my team member, like this we were continuously practice. I always provoke to win during out game practice I always backup them, never de-motivate them, sometimes I get angry but they make feel me that. I always concert to my senior for my game my management in team. Many matches was held in last year sessions Annual function, there we didnt won a single match not even reached in quarterfinal, but we have decided to win our present sessions annual function sports meet keeping this our target we practice every day and always make a new strategy. Finally after 3months we were on time to show our results. We got our first match that was intra-college, we were all excited many were having hope with us, before starting our

match we all held together and promise to play like team and with full effort, and support to each I was out for half, from outside keep them managing and provoking to win them at last our hard work gives its color and we won first match, like this we won 3 matches and reached to semifinal but at last we lose there. No doubt there would be some lack in me. However, there is also match in our college between us and our senior there we done our best and won the match by 42-64 baskets. I was very happy I was holded by team members, I have done maximum shoots in match. Although when I started with the team our immediate goal was to win. I wanted the boys to realize that with hard work, they could do anything and giving 100% was the only option. We all had our roles and we were accountable to each other. That is why we won.