All entries for Thursday 17 March 2016

The future of tomorrow is in our hands..

Whilst reading into contemporary theories, I found a common element to be that of understanding the people. Reading further into this, I stumbled upon a very interesting article. This article suggested that mature people are the way they are, with particular focus on their behaviours, as a result of their past experience and childhood. The article discussed that the way a child is brought up, from their education and school-life, to the way they are treated at home and by friends (socially), has a great impact on their futures, and further went on to suggest whether or not they will have the potential to be future leaders. This got me really curious - so does this mean that leaders are leaders because of the way they were brought up? How can this be? Why is this the reason?

Further reading into the article showed me that our childhood is the period during which most leadership values are instilled and embedded into our cultures, making us the individuals we are today. Isn’t this theory supportive of the behavioural theory? That anyone can be taught to be a leader by teaching them the most appropriate response for any given situation? Therefore, as leaders of the current world, should we not embed leadership cultures and practices into the daily routines of our young for a brighter future? We should encourage the use of creative mechanisms that create a safe environment where children are able to think outside the box and innovate, building on their intuition and common sense. Embedding this creativity in their mind will enable them to be open to any situation in the future and consequently help them develop good problem solving abilities. Expose the generation of tomorrow to as much as possible, as their experiences will only help them become more effective leaders in the future.

: 17 Mar 2016 23:11 |  Tags: Contemporary Leadership |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

It's too much, there's too many possibilities

So many leadership theories, so many approaches, so many views on what ‘good’ leaders are. One thing that I’ve learnt is that none, or all may work or be applicable, it is all dependent on the situation. Great leaders shape the future, after predicting and accounting for not only the realities of today but all those possibilities of the future.

But for me the majority of leadership theories were developed in the past, or at least it is history from where I am standing - they were developed way before I was even born. So I decided to look further and investigate contemporary theories, and to great surprise, it seemed to me that there is still no one common view on leadership. They only developed into more possibilities on the ways in which leadership should be practiced. So which one should I use when asked to provide a suggestion? Its just too much confusion.. Too little time, too many theories, its blowing my brain apart!!

So I decided to take a different approach. If leaders are to influence people to the achievement of a shared goal, then why not start by understanding the people? Be a better listener and communicator and know the people whom you are trying to lead, whilst also understanding the situation and what the leadership is needed for. This will then help to understand the most suitable type of leadership to apply - does not necessarily need to be one single theory or style, but can be a combination of all the positive attributes that can be obtained from different styles. This is what I found is the most suitable in today’s world, where theories of old are combined with practices in real life to come up with the most effective leadership approach.

: 17 Mar 2016 22:56 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem