Leaderrship

A leader is someone who helps others achieve more than they ever thought was possible. There are many types of leaders in the world that help others daily. The issue that matters to many followers is whether or not their leader is a good or bad leader. When it comes to leading there are different styles that one may choose to be effective. The qualities of a good leader may include having self-knowledge, committing to others, the willingness to look out for support of others, being open to change, and the desire to go the extra mile. Fulfilling these qualities leaders achieve results without sacrificing long-term organizational viability or employee commitment. They create an environment of collaboration that produces timely, high quality decisions, while motivating others to stay the course during difficult times--a situation sure to continue in the future. A good leader recognizes that employees have choices and encourages them to look at other opportunities. A bad leader will not encourage employees to look at other opportunities because they will feel as if they are working against themselves. A bad leader however, will not have any of the characteristics that a good leader will have. Basically a bad leader is the opposite of what a good leader would be. The most effective way of developing a leadership style is to learn from others. As well as helping you gain competencies faster, an appropriate mentor can broaden self-awareness and understanding of how you might be more influential. Think carefully about who has the skills you wish to develop and would be willing to share their expertise, because picking up the wrong skills will immediately give you the title of a bad leader.

There are several types of leadership styles. These styles include: directive, supportive, participative and achievement oriented. A good directive leader clarifies behaviors that provide a psychological structure for subordinates. The leader makes the performance goals clear, tells the group how they plan to achieve these goals and lets the group as a whole know how they will be judged based on their performance. A bad directive leader will not tell the group what they have planned, the group will just have to perform based on the information they are told from others, and they also have to guess at what they will be evaluated on when being judged on performance. Supportive leadership provides psychological support for subordinates. The leader tends to be more concerned about the needs and well-beings of their employees. A bad leader is not very supportive and only concerned about his needs and well-beings. A participative leaders takes the time to consult with their employees and take into consideration their suggestions and ideas. A non participative leader does not care what the suggestions and ideas of the employees are and performs on what he or she thinks is the best choice. Achievement-oriented is where good leaders often tend to set challenging goals and wait for employees to perform at their highest level. A bad leader does not set challenging goals, in fact he does not set any goals, usually the employees come up with a way to get the job done.

A leader's self-knowledge is a quality that must be retained when faced with many challenges or ethical choices, communicating with those that have different ideas, making decisions, and identifying sources of satisfaction. To better understand yourself there are several ways to assess one's self closely. One can do so by participating in self-assessment techniques to learn their behavior and effects on others. A common assessment taken called the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator allows one to access the knowledge of themselves. These assessments identify how one perceives or takes in information, identifies judge or make decisions, pertains to energy consciousness and how they manage life's orientation. Once a leader finds out their results of the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator they should look to se were there is room for improvement. A good leader would be willing to take this assessment, where as a not so good leader would just go with their own judgments and make decisions based on their interest only.

Ethical choices are a main concern for leadership. In all ethical choices the leader's thought pattern will influence what action he or she takes. People's patterns of thinking will be influenced by their values, what they say to themselves and what they imagine will happen in to their actions. Ethical leadership discerns right from wrong and acting in alignment with such judgment. A good leader has strong values and is more likely to act ethically than a bad leader with weak or non-existent value system. When faced with challenging decisions, bad leaders who have not internalized a value system will probably respond with more variability than will one who has such a strong value system.

When good leaders have a difficult problem, most of them react by reducing the problem to simple terms. They search for a solution that is both satisfactory and sufficient. A bad leader is often not able to process all of the information needed to reach an optimal decision. Instead, they tend to make slow decision that are not understandable and do not show any related support of their decisions. Bad leaders often come to a solution that in unsatisfactory and insufficient. This process is called, "satisficing," which defines solution that are less than optimal or even ethically deficient.

Great leaders are often scholars in their field and are intelligent. Good leaders are not know-it-alls, they always feel that there is more to learn and have a willingness to admit mistakes. Outstanding leaders make decisions based on facts, and apply common sense and simplicity to complex tasks. Unlike a bad leader, good leaders select the right strategy for the right situation, even when the pressure is overwhelming. Bad leaders have a low energy level and are not good motivators. They are also not smart enough to know that many times they will have to alter what they originally planned.

Leaders must understand the individuality of employees and the dynamics of group interaction to get the most out of a particular group. It is essential to be able to asses groups strengths and weaknesses and use them to the best of their ability. A bad leader does not wish to asses a groups strengths neither weaknesses, they just act off of what they think is sufficient for the group as a whole. A good leader will also be able to put the right people together in order to form a more productive group. He will know whether the group needs to be homogenous for a quick solution or more heterogeneous to solve those problem, which need more creativity and diversity.

Commitment is another quality that must be possessed in a good leader. A good leader is