Leadership:

A Personal Reflection
5 Crucial Qualities

5 Crucial Leadership Qualities

Visionary:
Ability to set the direction of the organization

Inspirational:
Ability to Motivate

Communication:
Ability to Express the Message

Empathy:
Ability to make Connections with Constituents

Manage Change
Ability to Move the Organization Forward

Visionary
If leaders are to be admired and respected, they
must have the ability to see across the horizon of
time and imagine what might be. We are not
inclined to follow those who are directionless...

Honest or not, leaders who don't know where they are going
are likely to be joined by the rest of us for only as far as we
ourselves can see

Kouzes, J. & Posner, B.Z. (2003). Credibility : how leaders gain it and lose it, why
people demand it. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.

Visionary
Constituents ask that a leader have a well-defined
orientation toward the future. We want to know what
the organization will look like, feel like, be like when it
arrives at its goal in six months or six years.
We want to have a described to us in rich detail so that we will
know when we have arrived and so that we can select the proper
route for getting there (p. 16).

Kouzes, J. & Posner, B.Z. (2003). Credibility : how leaders gain it and lose it, why
people demand it. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.

Inspiration
Its not enough for a leader to have a dream
about the future...

What ever the circumstances, when leaders

breathe life into our dreams and aspirations,
were much more willing to enlist in the
movement (p. 31).

Kouzes & Posner. (2003). The leadership challenge. Francisco,

CA : Jossey-Bass, edition: 3rd ed.

Inspiration
For

organizations riding the waves of change (and

what organization is not these days?),
traditional management is not enough...

In times of transformation, a charismatic,

inspiring leader is called for (p. 169).

Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional

intelligence. New York : Bantam Books.

Communication
Communications is a

two-way process

that involves both

SPEAKING & LISTENING,
and also checking for UNDERSTANDING.

This is not easy. The ability to communicate is the

leaders most effective tool
Baldoni, John. (2003). Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders.
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Co. Retrieved January 31, 2008, from
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/argosy/Doc?id=10152916&ppg=16.

Communication
The capacity to construct a message, address
it to another, listen for feedback, process that
feedback, and continue to communicate in ways
that are understood is one of the hardest things a
leader will have to do (p. 16).

Baldoni, John. (2003). Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders.

Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Co. Retrieved January 31, 2008, from
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/argosy/Doc?id=10152916&ppg=16.

Empathy
Effective leaders walk in anothers shoes to
create genuine empathy: the ability to

understand experience from the

other persons perspective. Followers
need to know the leader can relate to their
feelings, concerns, and desires

Blank, Warren. (2001). Skills of Natural Born Leaders. Saranac Lake, NY,
USA: AMACOM. Retrieved January 31, 2008, from
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/argosy/Doc?id=10120182&ppg=66.

Empathy
Skillful walking in anothers shoes means showing
people you truly know them at their level and can
relate to the events of their lives. The best leaders
walk in anothers shoes to demonstrate by behavior
and to communicate in words that the others

feelings and beliefs are important and

valid (p. 66).

Blank, Warren. (2001). Skills of Natural Born Leaders. Saranac Lake, NY,
USA: AMACOM. Retrieved January 31, 2008, from
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/argosy/Doc?id=10120182&ppg=66.

Empathy
Studies from the Center for Creative leadership
reveal that successful executives derailed

because of insensitivity and inability to

understand he perspectives of other
people.

Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (1999). Encouraging the heart:

a leader's guide to rewarding and recognizing others.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Empathy
They undervalued the contributions of others,
making them feel inadequate. They listened

poorly, acted dictatorially, played

favorites, and failed to giveor
sometimes even sharecredit with
others

Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (1999). Encouraging the heart:

a leader's guide to rewarding and recognizing others.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Empathy
The net result over time was that these traits
and attitudes caught up with them. When these
managers really needed the help of others
around them, they were left to fend for

themselves, ignored, isolated, and on

occasion purposely sabotaged (p. 79-80).

Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (1999). Encouraging the heart:

a leader's guide to rewarding and recognizing others.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Manage Change
Accept change. Business leaders who

treat change like the enemy

will fail at their jobs. Change is the

one constant, and successful business

leaders must be able to read the everchanging business environment.

Slater, Robert. (2002). 29 Leadership Secrets From Jack Welch.

Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Retrieved February 1, 2008, from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/argosy/Doc?id=10045597&ppg=16.

Manage Change
Let your employees know that change
never ends. Teach your colleagues to
see change as an opportunity; a
challenge that can be met through hard
work and smarts.

Slater, Robert. (2002). 29 Leadership Secrets From Jack Welch.

Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Retrieved February 1, 2008, from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/argosy/Doc?id=10045597&ppg=16.

Manage Change
Be ready to rewrite your agenda. Welch
always encouraged his managers and
employees to be prepared to reexamine their agenda and to make
changes when necessary.

Slater, Robert. (2002). 29 Leadership Secrets From Jack Welch.

Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Retrieved February 1, 2008, from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/argosy/Doc?id=10045597&ppg=16.

5 Crucial Qualities and

the Leadership Cycle?
Manage Change

Vision

ACTION
Inspiration

Empathy

Communication

Questions