Promoting Leadership Professional Development Essay

SAMPLE EXCERPT . . .
An important part of being an effective leader, though, is knowing when to delegate responsibilities and allow others to find their own solutions. In this regard, Adamek notes that this leadership element means "giving power to others" because "secure leaders find good people to work with, build them up, and give them resources, information, and responsibility" (p. 122).

Process. In the penultimate element reviewed by Adamek (2007), the point is made that Maxwell conceptualized leadership as being a four-phase process that, like influence, takes times and hard work. According to Adamek, "Leaders are learners who build on the knowledge they learn from one day to the next and apply that new level of knowledge to the issues at hand" (2007, p. 123). Over time, in an incremental fashion, leaders acquire the skill set they need to be more effective (Adamek, 2007).

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paper NOW! Inner circle. The final element of leadership propounded by Maxwell (1998) examined by Adamek (2007) concerns the so-called "inner circle" that is comprised of the key actors that can get things done. According to Adamek, "A leader's potential and impact relies heavily on those who are working closely with him or her. Every organization has an inner circle. This is the group that works closely with the leader to identify goals, implement strategies, and be the fiduciary agents of the organization" (p. 123). To facilitate leadership development Maxwell (1998) recommends selecting membership in the inner circle from a cadre of self-motivated individuals who are capable of raising up all of the company's employees rather than a select few (Adamek, 2007).

Summary of Journal Article No. 2: Roof, J. & Presswood, K. (2004, Spring). Is it leadership or management? College and University, 79(4), 3-9.

In an earlier work, Developing the Leader Within You, Maxwell (1993) describes five levels of leadership that illustrate different types of leadership roles and the growth that takes place along the way. The following is a summary of the leadership stages propounded by Maxwell (1993):

1. Position - a leader by title and people follow because they have to;

Essay on Promoting Leadership Professional Development One Assignment

2. Permission - people follow because they want to;

3. Production - people follow because of what you have done for the organization;

4. People Development-people follow because of what you have done for them; and,

5. Personhood - people follow because of who you are and what you represent (cited in Roof & Presswood, 2004, p. 4).

Clearly, anyone can be a position leader but only a few manage to achieve true personhood. In this regard, Roof and Presswood emphasize that, "Personhood is the level we should all strive to achieve. This is reserved for leaders who have spent years growing people and organizations. Examples of personhood leaders could be Martin Luther King, Jr. Or John F. Kennedy" (p. 4).

Reflection and Conclusion

The leadership elements conceptualized by Maxwell (1998) and described by Adamek (2007) as well as Maxwell's (1995) leadership stages reported by Roof and Presswood (2004) made it clear that anyone can be a bad leader and that it takes time and hard work to become a good leader. Assuming sufficient effort is expended in the enterprise, it is reasonable to conclude that almost anyone can become a more effective leader by following the guidelines and steps to personhood and developing an inner circle, process, empowerment and influence that are characteristic of great leaders.

References

Adamek, M.S. (2007, July 1). Elements of leadership development: What contributes to effective… [END OF PREVIEW] . . . READ MORE