Leadership and integrity

Leadership and Integrity

Leadership is not about the rank or the majestic crowning deeds it holds; rather, it is an impacting role that provides control and direction to a team in order to keep it centered on a single target. Every boss, regardless of team, should be a source of inspiration for the team to ensure goals are accomplished regardless of the condition that might be faced. Leadership is more of an action-oriented form than a theoretical approach that yields no outcomes. A practical leadership strategy has the potential to turn a vision into a reality by guiding one’s mindset and actions. Abraham Lincoln, the American president was one of the most influential leader examples over the history owing to his excellent leadership which was practical oriented and turned visions into reality. If a close comparison of the former is made to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the latter does not exactly show excellent leadership qualities since he neglects his duties as the leader of the platoon. Other historical and contemporary leaders are as discussed in this paper.

The Importance of Integrity in Leadership

A good leader is made because of integrity. Integrity which is a leadership concept; is an internal system with principles that give guidance to behavior. It is one approach that any leader uses since it is focused on what needs to be achieved in a team to effect behavioral change that may have an impact on production outcome. This approach encourages behavioral change instead of the other approaches that monitor errors and bad behavior then punishes the defaulters. This approach is better since it focuses on inspirational goals and is a relational healing leadership since a person without integrity lacks soundness of moral principles and character. For substantive leadership integrity, any leader should be able to meet the baseline characteristics of identity conferring commitments to values. Due to integrity, a leader is in a position to confer honesty, good delegation skills, proper communication, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, inspiration and creativity, and a good approach, decisiveness, patience and open mindedness in his leadership. Integrity is therefore paramount for any good leader. It is the concept of consistency of actions, values, measures of expectation and outcomes, principles and methods. It advocates for commitment, and gives insight to what is right and wrong.

The Role of a Leader

While undertaking the leadership workshop in the local community, I realized that people know what they need to do to achieve their goals, however, they just needed the leader figure since his presence makes the team whole. A team without a leader therefore is nonfunctional. The first responsibility of a good leader according to integrity call therefore is delegation. A leader should refine the brand of vision that he has in mind for the team then create an organized and efficient sub teams in the team which he can subdivide the tasks depending on the capability of each team member then should then capitalize on them. While delegating the duties, he should also be able to trust the sub teams with the ideas which give the team confidence to focus on higher level task due to a fine balance that yields a productive outcome. A good leader should possess good communication skills (Asante 27). He should know what he wants to achieve and communicate it to his team members. If people are not aware of the leaders’ expectations, then they cannot exactly achieve what they are not aware of. Communication in leadership performs a balancing act in the team since collaboration is made when people exchange their ideas, expectations, experiences and thus gives the ground to solve problems that may arise or incorporate some approaches in the team if they are positive.

Decision Making and Confidence

Integrity gives any good leader is the ability to make a right call for his team ’ decision making. In case of a crisis, the leader should be able to quickly make up his mind and come up with the possible way or idea to solve the problem. Abraham Lincoln during the Civil war shows some great leadership aspects. His only military experience had come in 1832 and here he was, the captain of the militia unit. He made decisions that were influential on his military team based on observing the success and the failure of his enemies; he was a natural strategist owing to his great decision making capability and integrity. As the president of the nation and the leader of his military party, he had the principal responsibility of shaping and defining the national policy which he achieved and preserved through his advocacy as he saw the war not as an autonomous thing but as an instrument of policy. A leader should also be confident. A plan can be scheduled; however, if things don’t necessarily go according to the plan, a good team leader should remain confident and calm and come up with proper ways of re-aligning his team towards the goal instead of being worried about the possible outcome (Michael et al 93). The confidence level of a team leader gives the team an assurance that some occurrences are natural and whatever the course, a team should then remain calm and stay focused on the larger goal. Whatever a leader portrays is what the team picks up and employs. Therefore, for a team to be committed a team leader himself should be committed to work hard and content production since leadership by example is the best way to lead. The team draws motivation from their leaders’ commitment i.e. by taking part in the roles that they delegate to their team members; they create a reputation of working hard and fairness in leadership (Siegel 52). In close relation to decision making, the leader should also be creative i.e. he should be able to think outside the box and utilize all the possible options that he may have to solve problems that may be presented or even come up with good innovative ideas that may yield better results compared to the former ones they had.

Influential Leaders

In leadership some of the influential leaders are like Barack Obama who was the 44th president of the United States who was the first African American president and is globally known for his peace initiation and the 2009 Nobel peace prize that he won. Similarly, Kurt George Kiesinger, was a conservative political leader and is known for his grand collision that brought the social democratic party into his government for the first time since 1930. John F Kennedy, who was the 35th president of the United States, is also portrayed as an excellent leader too. He faced several foreign crises most of them from Cuba and Berlin, however, his stability enabled him secure achievements such as being the Nuclear Test- Ban treaty and the Alliance for progress.

Conclusion

In conclusion, leadership is therefore the ability to translate visions into reality, apply integrity and taking blame and credit as well.

Work cited

Asante, Molefi K. 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopaedia. Amherst, N.Y: Prometheus Books, 2002. Print.
Michael, Biju, and Richard J. Lochrie. Integrity: The Core of Leadership. Mustang, Okla: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, 2009. Print.
Siegel, David. Leaders in the Shadows: The Leadership Qualities of Municipal Chief Administrative Officers. 2015. Print.