Effective Leadership

Concepts on leadership evolved with various models and styles, and are continually evolving but the assumption that leadership emanates from specific characteristics that certain individuals possess and demonstrate has been the underlying theme as research on leadership from earliest times indicates.

Charismatic leadership uses charm to gain the admiration of their followers. But despite their charm and apparent concern, the charismatic leader may be somewhat more concerned with themselves than anyone else. Effective leaders understand that “emotion comes first; then comes reason” – especially when you want to bring in “change”. Influencers who master feelings create better impact than those who only play on feelings. But both types will always outperform those who only focus on facts. To get a message across, it is therefore important to understand how you make people feel.

Individuals can and do emerge as leaders across a variety of situations and tasks. It can be reiterated that many leaders (e.g. Steve Jobs in the corporate organization context), may not have started out as charismatic leaders but later attained not only that status but became cult figures.

We must also remember that great leaders, while focusing on systemic change and building culture, must also develop successors – even who have not been identified as so-called “charismatic” or given any other labels initially.

They are responsible for carrying the legacy forward to sustain the change process. These successors (e.g. Tim Cook after Steve Jobs in Apple and Jeffrey Immelt after Jack Welch in G.E.) continue the “sustenance and growth process” through their own kind of leadership, endeavouring to put their own stamp on the organizations they inherit by reinforcing or innovating the initiatives.