The Power of Cooperation

 

Source: http://www.strategies.com

What helps a person become a true leader, one that would be respected by his or her team? Nowadays we see many different kinds of leaders, ranging from strict supervisors to relaxed and “chill” business masters. However, the amount of success the person will have as a leader depends not only on the leadership style he or she chooses, but also on the amount of interaction that is formed between the leading person and the rest of the team. 

As the article “4 Simple Things You Can Do To Be A Better Leader” published in Forbes website in 2014 points out, usually the most- respected leaders “have the ability to combine leading from the front and working in the trenches alongside their team.” The Forbes websites serves as a reliable source of information as it has achieved great popularity because of its current articles on vIn other words, if a person expects to become a true and respected leader, he needs to understand that working “above” everyone else won’t help at all, that is, he will have to get his hands “dirty” while trying to figure out how to lead the business successfully. Therefore, in this brief essay, I argue that in order for a person to become a well- respected leader, one needs to communicate with his or her team, listen to their own views and opinions and, most importantly, work together in order to succeed in the future and achieve as many goals as possible.

• To start with, as the article emphasizes, “leading by example involves an element of servant leadership.” In other words, one cannot be a true leader without having all of the respect coming from the members of the team who, as already known, are the main parts of the machine that run the entire company. The author incorporates the example from the Navy SEAL teams, where the philosophy of servant leadership and the need of respect is ingrained in each candidate from day one of training, especially for the officers. As the author points out, “as a SEAL you are taught to lead and be led”,  you “train with your team and fight with your team.” This example shows that good leaders do not simply take their position as a “stronger” one and, on the other hand, work together, hand in hand, with the team members through any kind of obstacles they might encounter. Also, “any good leader will make a point to acquire the best possible talent they can”, the leaders’ talents will thrive only if they give their talents the necessary resources to succeed. The most important thing while being a leader, in my opinion, is to understand that if you work together with all of the team members and understand what they do every day, they will give you the proper respect you deserve. The most rewarding part of earning team’s respect is that the relationship formed on the basis of this value will go a long way for fueling company growth.

• To add, another factor that will determine the level of success one will have as a leader is the ability to learn from one’s team members. It is apparent that sometimes people who receive the leadership positions tend to become arrogant and “fueled” with pride. However, if the leader wants his or her company to move forward and make a lot of progress, he or she should never assume to know everything. This is because, as the article points out, “the minute you do, you’ve already failed.” The author of the article uses the example of Navy Seal Team once more to explain that when “fresh” officers arrive to a Seal Team, the good leaders know when to take charge and when to let the more experienced senior SEAL lead the way. This example emphasizes once again how important it is to not only lead the team, but to also listen to their experiences, as there always are things that one has never heard before and that knowledge might help him or her to finally pave the so-wanted path to successful business career.

• In addition, is it crucial for leaders to understand that they should “always learn as much as they can from others who have paved the way for them.” It is known that professional development for any leader is critical, so why not consider the talent you’ve hired and learn from them? This is quite well illustrated by new companies where weekly “knowledge sharing” sessions and constant collaboration are held across all departments. In other words, if an individual wants to lead the team, he needs to get involved and “soak up as much knowledge as he can.”

• Lastly, when leaders devote more time “working directly with their teams on various projects”, they acquire a better understanding “of what each person’s skill sets are.” In this way, good leaders will be able to identify gaps, ensure people are doing what they are supposed to do and know when there’s a need to adjust “certain systems and processes.” It is difficult to expect to be able to provide a meaningful direction to the reports if one doesn’t fully understand how the entire business machine works and looks like.

All in all, great leaders know that becoming the most important person in the entire machine means much more than just filling in a lot of papers and signing hundreds of different contracts. On the other hand, great leaders are able to realize that the progress and achievements will come only when the entire team functions properly through respect, trust and, most importantly, cooperation.

Questions that I will be trying to answer in the future research:

1. What are the “outside” factors that could influence the person and make him a better leader?
2. Does the country the person lives in influence the level of success he or she can have as a leader?

What Allows for Leaders To Be Successful?

         

http://www.halogensoftware.com

           The recipe of the magic formula that would allow an individual to become a successful leader contains many distinct “ingredients”, each of which is very important if a person expects to develop his or her leadership skills and make progress in the future career. After considering all of the research that was done, it is clear that qualities such as honesty, communication, confidence, positivity, creativity and intuition are essential for an individual to develop and become a true and respectful leader. However, it is as much important that the future leaders not forget that the most successful “power masters” we see nowadays did not receive every single piece of fame while “doing nothing”, in fact they had to go through a lot of obstacles and work really hard to be where they are today. Moreover, the age of the person might affect the amount of success and respect he will receive as a leader as well. This is because whenever groups encounter problems that require some knowledge about norms, values and old ways of doing things, they would most likely endorse an older leader. Young leaders come into play when old knowledge no longer applies, and people are confronted with new challenges and have to rely on new information. Finally, in order for a person to become a well- respected leader, one needs to communicate with his or her team, listen to their own views and opinions and, most importantly, work together in order to succeed in the future and achieve as many goals as possible.

 

           Talking about the most important qualities of the leaders, as the article “Top 10 Qualities of Great Leadership - Do You Have What it Takes?” published in Profiles International website points out, “people want to work for a leader they can trust−a leader that has morals, values, and integrity”, meaning that in order for a person to become a successful and influential leader, he or she needs to be honest with all of the members of the team, as without proper cooperation, the business or company will not be able to move forward and achieve an appropriate amount of progress. Even though the concept of communication might seem “self- evident”, many people easily forget how important it is to explain the common goals that the team should be looking up to. Otherwise, “ the employees won’t understand the leader’s mission, goals, and vision”, leading to a possible failure not only in the communication, but in the overall business as well. The other quality- confidence- comes into play if, for example, the concept of communication does not work out as well as expected earlier. To add, if an individual is seeking to become a productive and successful leader, he or she must retain the quality of positivity. It is well known that in any kind of business life there always are situations that cannot be seen a year, a week or even a day before they strike the entire business community. In times like this, however, it’s up to the true leader “to think outside the box to find a solution” and use other two qualities such as creativity and intuition.

            What is more, as the article “23 Incredibly Successful People Who Failed At First” published in Business Insider website emphasizes, “rejection can feel devastating, but you shouldn't let it crush you.” In other words, an individual should always reflect on the stories of the most successful leaders we have nowadays and remind himself that, for example, J.K. Rowling was a “single mom living off welfare when she began writing the first "Harry Potter" novel.” While many young women give up at this point and don’t seek anything better, Rowling, on the other hand, managed to cope with all the difficulties and move forward. As a result, she is now “internationally renowned for her seven-book Harry Potter series and, in U.S. currency, became the first billionaire author in 2004.” Therefore, it is crucial that an individual who strives to become a better leader understands that even when others might try to discourage you from doing what you really want to do, there has to be an urge to not pay attention to these claims and simply  move forward.

            Another and also important factor that might influence the level of success an individual will have as a leader is his or her age. This is because, as the article “Age and Leadership: The Wisdom of Elders and Elephants” published in Psychology Today website points out, “the older the person is or looks like, the more other individuals tend to trust him or her.” This can be illustrated by the example shown in the article, which points out that the U.S. society has been choosing presidents that come from the older generations. One simply needs to look at examples such as President Bush who took his office when he was 64 years old, President Clinton who was 46 years old, President Bush who was in his 54th year and, finally, President Obama who was 47 years old when he captured the opportunity to work in the Oval Office. On the other hand, it is known as well that people tend to choose younger individuals when there is a situation that needs change, such as a government overthrow, instead of dealing with an older leader who might not have the same fresh ideas and enthusiasm as the younger candidate. In fact, one only needs to consider the famous revolutionary leaders such as Fidel Castro, Napoleon and Emiliano Zapata who all started to rule when they were in their 30-ies. As the research studies indicate, “whereas the majority of CEOs of the 500 Fortune companies are between 50 and 59 years old, entrepreneurial leaders tend to be considerably younger, with more than half of them being younger than 35”.

            Coming back to one of the most important qualities that the future leaders should have, the ability to communicate with his or her team members, it is very important for an individual to understand that he cannot be a true leader without having all of the respect coming from the members of the team who, as already known, are the main parts of the machine that run the entire company. As the article “4 Simple Things You Can Do To Be A Better Leader” published in Forbes website in 2014 points out, “good leaders do not simply take their position as a “stronger” one but, on the other hand, work together, hand in hand, with the team members through any kind of obstacles they might encounter.” To add, another factor that can determine the level of success one will have as a leader is the ability to learn from one’s team members. It is apparent that sometimes people who receive the leadership positions tend to become arrogant and “fueled” with pride. However, if the leader wants his or her company to move forward and make a lot of progress, he or she should never assume to know everything. In addition, it is crucial for leaders to understand that they should “always learn as much as they can from others who have paved the way for them”, meaning if an individual wants to lead the team, he needs to get involved and “soak up as much knowledge as he can.” Lastly, it is important that an individual works directly with his or hear team on various projects, as only good leaders will be able to identify gaps, ensure people are doing what they are supposed to do and know when there’s a need to adjust “certain systems and processes”, making the path to future success much easier than it has ever been.

The Battle of Old and “Green” Leaders

Source: http://meanspirited.net

Are older “masters” always a better choice than the younger “greenies”? In today’s society, leaders are being perceived differently according to their age and, therefore, skills and experiences.

As the article “Age and Leadership: The Wisdom of Elders and Elephants” published in Psychology Today website emphasizes, whereas most political leaders around the world “achieve their position in office when they are well in their forties”, many of the world’s best known revolutionary leaders “were considerably younger when they came to prominence”. Psychology Today is a reliable source as it has gathered renowned psychologists, academics, psychiatrists and authors in their field (over 750 of them) to contribute their thoughts and ideas on the lives of people.The magazine was first launched in 1967 and continues to be successful, which makes it clear that the website serves as a reliable source of information. In this brief essay, I argue that whenever groups encounter problems that require some knowledge about norms, values and old ways of doing things, they would most likely endorse an older leader. Young leaders come into play when old knowledge no longer applies, and people are confronted with new challenges and have to rely on new information.

• To start with, it is well known that the older the person is or looks like, the more other individuals tend to trust him or her. This can be illustrated by the example shown in the article which points out that the U.S. society has been choosing presidents that come from the older generations. One simply needs to look at examples such as President Bush who took his office when he was 64 years old, President Clinton who was 46 years old, President Bush who was in his 54th year and, finally, President Obama who was 47 years old when he captured the opportunity to work in the Oval Office. As I have seen happen quite often, older leaders are chosen when particular skills and experiences are needed, or, as the article points out, “age can be seen as a cue for wisdom” and “whenever groups encounter problems that require some knowledge about norms, values and old ways of doing things”, people will be more likely to choose an older individual.

• The concept of choosing older people as leaders can be related to the wildlife situation as in elephants’ world “the oldest individual in the herd, the matriarch, leads the herd across the desert to a waterhole that no one knows about except her”. This is quite logical, as the herd needs to follow that member who knows what he is doing if they want to survive. More importantly,the reflection of this situation can be seen quite easily in the "real life" of humans- everyone tries to follow that person who looks the most mature and ready to lead the crowd. 

• On the other hand, one needs to consider the famous revolutionary leaders as well, such as Fidel Castro, Napoleon and Emiliano Zapata who all started to rule when they were in their 30-ies. In fact, as the research studies indicate, “whereas the majority of CEOs of the 500 Fortune companies are between 50 and 59 years old, entrepreneurial leaders tend to be considerably younger, with more than half of them being younger than 35”. These results, however, are not surprising, as it is known that people tend to choose younger individuals when there is a situation that needs change, such as a government overthrow, instead of dealing with an older leader who might not have the same fresh ideas and enthusiasm as the younger candidate.

Finally, it is clear that people prefer the younger looking leaders for change and the older looking leaders for stability. Even though these situations might look very different, in the real world every single business or company needs to establish a certain balance that would allow it to be more successful in the future. That is, the enthusiasm of young and “fresh” leaders should not overwhelm the wisdom of the old “wolves” that are, in fact, essential to the overall business life as well.

Questions that I will be trying to answer in the future research:

1. What are the factors that could influence the person and make him a better leader?
2. What methods do leaders use in order to be more productive, reach better results and, therefore, be more successful?
3. Does the country the person lives in influence the level of success he or she can have as a leader?

Rejection Slips Are Not Always Bad

 

Source: http://static4.businessinsider.com

How do you feel when you or your work is rejected? Crushed? Devastated? Even though it might seem surprising, many of the most successful leaders we see nowadays had to endure the harsh consequences of failure in order to become what they are today. 

            As the article “23 Incredibly Successful People Who Failed At First” published in Business Insider website emphasizes, “rejection can feel devastating, but you shouldn't let it crush you. Some of the world's most successful people have failed — sometimes more than once.” Business Insider is a reliable source of an American business and technology news website launched in February 2009 and based in New York City. Also, Business Insider hosts industry conferences including IGNITION, which explores the emerging business models of digital media. In this brief essay, I argue that even though the majority of the people think that the most successful leaders received every single piece of fame without “doing anything”, in fact they had to go though a lot of obstacles and work really hard to be where they are today.

• To start with, looking back at the most famous historical figures, Thomas Edison's teachers told him he was "too stupid to learn anything." However, Edison did not give up and ended up holding more than 1,000 patents and “invented some world- changing device like the phonograph, practical electrical lamp, and a movie camera.” This example shows that even though someone is being treated unfairly, it does not mean that person will necessarily have an unsuccessful life or path of success. I strongly believe that whenever an individual feels like he or she is not being understood good enough and that the “figures” that are supposed to help him or her are not able to see the real talent, that individual should never give up and continue to move forward.

• Another example is the well- known television queen Oprah Winfrey who was fired from her first television job as an anchor in Baltimore, where she said she faced sexism and harassment. Nevertheless, Winfrey “rebounded and became the undisputed queen of television talk shows before amassing a media empire.” Her “worth” today is estimated to be around $2.9 billion, according to Forbes. The example of Oprah Winfrey shows that all of the fortune she has nowadays did not come “out of nowhere”. On the other hand, she was forced to endure very tough challenges that made her more equipped for all of the obstacles that she would meet in her future life. In my opinion, it is very important that all of the people, especially girls, should know their worth and try to show others that the person’s gender does not indicate what kind of success she will have as a leader. Nowadays, thousands of young girls and women are subject to sexual harrassments in their work places and it is quite obvious that all of those assaults should be eliminated in order to produce an environment for women to grow not only as individuals, but as leaders as well.

• To add, Soichiro Honda's unique vision “got him ostracized by the Japanese business community”. Earlier in his life, Honda was a mechanical genius who “idolized Edison and rebelled against the norm.” As he had a passion for aggressive individualism that was more suitable for the United States, later on he was alienated him from Japanese businessmen, who valued teamwork above all else. Even though he was rejected, Honda did not simply give up and instead “challenged the American automotive industry in the 1970s and led a Japanese automotive revolution.” I think the example of Soichiro Honda strongly shows that even when one is rejected because of his “heretic” ideas, there always needs to be an urge to move forward as no one knows what kind of fortune and success might be waiting just around the corner. As often happens in high school life, many students can be thought of as “stupid” or “too nerdy” when they present ideas that might seem to be contrary to the recognized standards. However, those ideas might turn out to be not so “idiotic” if the owner receives a lot of success as a consequence of being “weird”.

• The last, but as interesting as the others is the story of J.K. Rowling who was a “single mom living off welfare when she began writing the first "Harry Potter" novel.” As everyone knows, living off of welfare is particularly difficult, especially if the individual is a single mom. Many young women give up at this point and don’t seek anything better. Rowling, on the other hand, managed to cope with all the difficulties and move forward. As a result, she is now “internationally renowned for her seven-book Harry Potter series and, in U.S. currency, became the first billionaire author in 2004.” In my opinion, this situation perfectly shows that the billionaires we see today did not receive all the money with “doing nothing”. In fact, as can be clearly seen now, they started from zero and challenged themselves to become more creative and, ultimately, more successful.

All in all, the real life situations of a few of the world- known leaders prove the claim that the most successful leaders are those people that had to go through a lot to be able to move forward. They also emphasize that if any progress is to be achieved in the future, the people that want to become successful should never give up and, most importantly, think creatively and uniquely.

Questions that I will be trying to answer in the future research:

1. What are the factors that could influence the person and make him a better leader?
2. What methods do leaders use in order to be more productive, reach better results and, therefore, be more successful?
3. Does the country the person lives in influence the level of success he or she can have as a leader?
4. Does the age of the person influence the amount of success he or she will have as a leader?

The Magic of the Leaders

 

Source: http://blogs.terrapinn.com

What is the “magic” that the successful leaders we see nowadays use to pave a path to the long- term success? While some people might think that the leaders possess some unconditional “superpowers” that allow them to achieve things that others can only dream of, the article “Top 10 Qualities of Great Leadership - Do You Have What it Takes?” from the Profiles International website points out that successful leaders have innermost qualities, not “superpowers”, that indicate the level of success the person will have as a leader. In this essay, I argue that the qualities of honesty, communication, confidence, positivity, creativity and intuition are necessary for a person to become a successful leader and have a “smooth” path to a fortunate career. The Profile International company website serves as a reliable source as it has served more than 40,000 clients over the past 20 years, providing assessment solutions that help organizations select the right people for the right job and develop them to their full potential. To add, the company has been assisting clients throughout all phases of the employee life cycle to enhance the productivity and performance of individuals, teams, and organizations.

1. One of the most important qualities that a future-to-be leader needs to have is honesty. This is because, as the article emphasizes, “people want to work for a leader they can trust−a leader that has morals, values, and integrity.” Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest Presidents to lead the United States of America, also known as “Honest Abe”, didn’t achieve his success or earn that nickname by being dishonest. I strongly agree with this statement, as it is important for a leader to have certain values, such as honesty, and lead his company or business accordingly to those values if any progress is to be achieved in the future.

2. Other equally important qualities that successful leaders need to have is communication and confidence. Even though the concept of communication might seem “self- evident”, many people easily forget how important it is to explain the common goals that the team should be looking up to. Otherwise, “ the employees won’t understand the leader’s mission, goals, and vision”, leading to a possible failure not only in the communication, but in the overall business as well. In other words, the employees need to understand clearly what they are working for, why they have to do a certain task and not the other, as well as what is the ultimate goal they are trying to achieve. Another quality- confidence- comes into play if, for example, the concept of communication does not work out as well as expected earlier. I support the claim that great leaders should always try to remain calm and clear- minded even when the situation seems to be slipping out of their hands; good leaders don’t run around, shout or have stress outbreaks once an unexpected obstacles comes in front of them. Instead, as the writing explains, if the leader is not “confident with the organization in a situation”, then he needs to be “confident in his own leadership skills.” The main task, in other words, is to maintain a happy and healthy environment no matter what difficulties the business or company needs to go through.

3. Living in a super- busy society nowadays requires leaders to maintain not only a healthy environment in their workforce, but also an equally stable environment in their own “mind”. That is, if an individual is seeking to become a productive and successful leader, he or she must retain the quality of positivity. I believe that it is crucial, especially during difficult and nerve- wracking situations, to stay positive and be able to look at the bright side of the events, even when everything seems to be depressingly dark and unfortunate. This is because the leader, nobody else, is the main figure in the on-going “chaos”, as he or she is “setting the tone for the work day” and the attitude that the leader uses “directly affects those under the leadership”.

4. The last, but not least, are the “powers” that the most successful leaders we see nowadays use to be able to go forward and achieve as many great things as possible. The “magic” of the qualities of creativity and intuition, therefore, need to be understood as well as the other aforementioned qualities if any kind of progress is to be achieved in the leader’s path to success. It is well known that in any kind of business life there always are situations that cannot be seen a year, a week or even a day before they strike the entire business community. In times like this, however,  it’s up to the true leader “to think outside the box to find a solution”. The well- known leader Henry Ford faced a situation like this when demand for his vehicles was so high he couldn’t possibly keep up. Instead of making the obvious decision to hire more people, he thought with creativity and developed the assembly line. I agree that the concept of intuition is also closely related to the quality of positivity, as the most successful leaders in today’s society needed to “learn” it in order to be able to stand where they are today. This is because today individuals are often faced with situations that cannot be found  in the textbooks, and for which they might not be prepared as leaders. In these cases, however, the leaders “have to draw upon their instincts, past experiences, and mentors for help in these complicated situations”.

        All in all, some of the people in the global society might speculate that the most successful leaders we see nowadays received some special “magic” or “powers” in order to be able to receive the success that most individuals can only dream of. In fact, however, one needs to look deeper and think about other factors, such as the qualities of the leaders, that made it possible for them to get where they are today and understand that being a successful leader means developing one’s personality and trying to come up with solutions that were never heard of before.

Questions that I will be trying to answer in the future research:

1. What are the situations that helped some of the most popular leaders to start off their path to success?
2. What are the factors that could influence the person and make him a better leader?
3. What methods do leaders use in order to be more productive, reach better results and, therefore, be more successful?
4. Does the country the person lives in influence the level of success he or she can have as a leader?
5. Does the age of the person influence the amount of success he or she will have as a leader?

Leaders? What About Them?

Source: http://crosswalkchurch.net

• Briefly explain why you are interested in studying your topic:
•  This topic interests me as many leaders that we see nowadays managed to achieve what they have today by making various decisions that sometimes seemed to be “weird” or inappropriate for that time period. However, those decisions helped them become what they are today and, therefore, receive a lot of success. It is very important to “investigate” what those people did and still do that helped them achieve what others can only dream of. The researching of qualities, factors and influences that matter the most will eventually lead to an answer to the initial question and, therefore, provide a “light” that will make it clear why some personas are able to receive more than others and what those people that stand “below” should do to become more successful in their future-to-be leadership careers.

• The overall question I plan on answering by the end of the project:
• What allows for leaders to be successful?

• Sub questions I will need to answer in order to answer the overall question:

1. What are the qualities of the most successful leaders we have nowadays?
2. What are the situations that helped some of the most popular leaders to start off their path to success?
3. What are the factors that could influence the person and make him a better leader?
4. What methods do leaders use in order to be more productive, reach better results and, therefore, be more successful?
5. Does the country the person lives in influence the level of success he or she can have as a leader?
6. Does the age of the person influence the amount of success he or she will have as a leader?

• My plan of research (what specific Library Databases, specific websites, names of authors, people, etc. will I pursue to find the answers to the questions above):

1. Global Issues In Context: leaders success
2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/successful-people-obstacles_n_3964459.html
3. http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/The-Four-Factors-of-Motivation.aspx
4. http://www.brighthub.com/office/home/articles/76450.aspx or http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2012/09/06/7-sure-fire-ways-great-leaders-inspire-people-to-follow-them/
5. http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2015/mar/06/best-worst-countries-female-public-leaders
6. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/naturally-selected/201408/age-and-leadership-the-wisdom-elders-and-elephants or http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/02/age_and_leadership

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