Leadership in the Office #2

Hi again,

continuing on the series - this time we will jot down the various leadership style.

Leadership style

Study of great leaders, past and present, shows that in one way or another they had the gift of getting people to give their best. We are all born with an individual set of talents. We can acquire some more; but others are more difficult to develop. Most people can improve their communication skills but find it difficult to acquire a sense of humour.

The first thing to do in developing your own leadership style is to make the best use of what you have and not to worry too much about what you haven't. A sense of humour is certainly a great help on many occasions, but there have been many successful leaders who have gotten by without one.

To develop and build on each talent you need to match your own character and personality to the range of leadership tools and qualities. There is no mould or blueprint, but do not hesitate to follow the example of others whose leadership you admire, provided there is some match to your own personality. For instance there is no use aping Winston Churchill if you can't match his linguistic skills.

So you must be yourself and not pretend to be what you are not. You must also be ready to adapt your leadership style to varying situations. Being firts on the scene at a road traffic accident calls for a very different style of leadership to chairing a meeting.

Commanding a war ship is very much different from being a manager in a civilian office environment. Indeed some of my friends find the adjustment very difficult. Command is not automatically adhered to and respect has to be earned and does not rest on how broad or how many stripes there is on your shoulder board.

There is nothing dishonest about adapting your style to suit the situation: indeed it is good leadership to do so.

Till the next time - have a happy weekend and do seek out a leader that you most admire and try to copy him, a word of advise though - no one can copy Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed. Be warned.

de 9W2SBS