What Is Your Definition of Leadership Discuss and...

In my opinion, leadership is the ability to inspire and motivate people enough for them to be willing to participate and get involved towards the achievement of a common goal. I see leadership as a process which can be improved over time and experience, but only by someone who has some innate leadership competences. In determining what leadership means to me, I decided to analyse two different leadership cases. I will firstly discuss and analyse Nelson Mandela’s leadership style, which appeared to be mainly transformational. I will try to demonstrate how Nelson Mandela proved that leadership was a two-way process between the leader and his followers, and how crucial it is for a leader to be respected and admired by his followers in order†¦show more content†¦This way, he managed to get people to be more engaged and devoted to a particular cause, leading to higher productivity towards their goals’ achievement (Lewin, K., Liippit, R. and White, R.K. 1939). Moreover, by entering the debate and being the last one to speak, he also gains a considerable advantage, as he is the one to close the argument. He also cultivated other leadership skills through his personal experience of being a cattle herder: When you want to get a herd to move in a certain direction, you stand at the back with a stick. Then a few of the more energetic cattle move to the front and the rest of the cattle follow. You are really guiding them from behind. That is how a leader should do his work (Stengel, 1994, Nelson Mandela: The making of a leader, Time Magazine, May 9th 1994). Thus, even before being in any position of leadership, Nelson Mandela revealed himself as a born leader. We can consequently assume that the Traits approach is relevant to efficient leadership. Indeed, Mandela seems to have been â€Å"born† with some essential traits that characterize a leader. Known as the â€Å"main-man† in South Africa, he was charismatic, influential, sociable, intelligent, alert, persistent, responsible, self-confident, and ready to assume the consequences of his decisions, as he did by going to jail . 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