Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Traits of leadership

This article starta with the question of whether or not leadership skills can actually be taught or not; or more accurately, can they be learned. A friend recently asked me and another friend if we’ve always been leaders, and if so when we knew it, and why we think it’s the case. We both said yes but we had radically different things that made us so. I’m more of a rallier, and he’s much more of an administrator, but both of us are able to offer different things. Bisoux identifies 10 traits that she considers most important, and as I read them they are listed in priority for her. Due to the length limits I’ll only list these traits and refer you to the article for more detail. Self-awareness, personal conviction, courage, creativity, curiosity, ability to inspire, ability to listen, ability to innovate, eagerness to experience, and willingness to reflect. Of course no list can be completely comprehensive, but it seems like this one misses several significant ones. This list doesn’t take into account, efficiency, consistency, or the simple ability to “get ‘stuff’ done.” Where this article worth the time to read it is the last four paragraphs. It compares a leader to a conductor of an orchestra. Their score has all the parts and the musician’s has only the notes they’re responsible for. The conductor never touches an instrument, but is responsible for the intricacies of each part, the sound of the entire orchestra, and the inspiration that is emoted through music. This is leadership.

1 comment:

  1. Miles I found the author's analogy of an orchestra quite helpful. Leadership is about influencing others to achieve common goals that would not be possible if there was not a group of people working together. And in order for this solidarity to occur, the orchestra must have a leader who is able to provide direction that the entire orchestra trusts and is willing to follow. I think that the author of this article could have defined leadership even further by using the orchestra analogy to also demonstrate what leadership is NOT. The conductor of the orchestra is not the tuba player who is focused on his solo. Instead the conductor is one who is concerned about the chemistry and direction of the entire orchestra. The tuba player is a performer, but the conductor is a trail blazer, facilitator, equipper, and developer -- a servant of the entire orchestra. I believe this analogy is helpful because it demonstrates the qualities we should be looking for within people before placing them in leadership roles. The people we want in leadership positions are people who have the conductor’s mindset and not the tuba player's mind set. By the way, I have nothing against tuba players! :)

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