The Importance of Leadership

Open Journal of Leadership , 2018

The crisis of leadership, like other crises in most critical human endeavours, is not occasioned by lack of definitive theories or knowledge, it is elicited by failure to put the existing theories and knowledge into practice. Besides, the assumption advanced by most of the proponents of leadership theories, that by revealing to leaders what leadership is and what leaders should do, then inevitably the leaders will utilize the acquired knowledge and skills to impact their followers and the society, does not stand the test of scrutiny. There is a gap between leadership knowledge and practice, meaning that there are missing elements which translate leadership theories, knowledge and skills into impact. This paper (beyond leadership) seeks to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice. Beyond leadership answers the question, why are some people (leaders) more ethical and effective than other? The paper proposes and discusses 7 elements (purpose, conviction, moral authority, passion, commitment, courage and learning) which distinguish impactful leaders from the rest. Many more elements may be needed on the leadership journey but without the 7 elements of beyond leadership, any other additional element may not matter much.

Management Outlook, 2022

Whether in the arena of politics or the context of organizational management, we see certain individuals who were admired and followed by many. Such influential personalities are said to have good leadership skills. In the field of politics, we know leaders like Nelson Mandela, George Washington, and Mikhail Gorbachev who had an immense influence over the people and were able to bring about enormous changes in society. Moreover, in the corporate world, we know highly admired leaders like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Jack Ma, who transformed their organizations into immensely successful business entities. Other than planning, organizing, and controlling, leading is considered as one of the four foundation pillars of management. Due to its charismatic nature, this pillar of management has not only fascinated organizational managers at all levels but also political personalities who wanted to rule some piece of land as a king, prime minister, or president. This article discusses the meaning and purpose of the leadership phenomenon.

2020

Human resource management and its connection to the company's performance is a topic that has always been of interest to organizations but increasingly since the 1980s. This article highlights the factors that should be taken into account in personnel management and leadership in order to achieve good performance and results. Articles written by foreign Junior Colleagues, i.e. exchange students from France, Spain, Nepal and Korea, complete the Part I. The first two articles deal with diversity management, which is vital for organizations` success in a globalized and heterogeneous working life. Diversity has many dimensions like ethnicity, gender, age, race and religious beliefs. Organizations face, undoubtedly, many challenges in managing diversity but learning from best practices help tackle those. Diversity-induced conflicts, when thoroughly addressed and lessons learned, can turn out to benefit teams of which French medical teams offer a practical example. A work society has succeeded well in diversity management when its members truly appreciate the uniqueness of people and value their differences. The next article brings up one of the strongest currents of development that reshapes work and leadership: the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics in workplace. The article reveals that despite the increasing importance of technology in our lives, the emotional side of human beings has begun gaining significance. For a leader, this means learning and applying Soft Skills, such as communication, innovation, empathy and solidarity. As long as AI and robots are not capable to those, machines cannot replace humans. Everybody in working life has most likely encountered an incompetent leader, which the next article handles. It presents what makes a leader incompetent and what reasons might cause incompetency. The article also describes an absentee leadership that is the most destructive for any company. To the other extreme of leadership, from bad to excellent, takes us the article on a historic Korean leader, King Sejong the Great. Not only was he the creator of Korean alphabet system Hunminjeongeum, but he also excelled in politics, science, music, economics and martial arts. His teachings on cultivating human resources, humanistic communication culture and future forecasting offer still a lot to learn from. A calming end to the Part I offers an article on mindfulness. In today`s disruptive working life, people often feel stressed, anxious, and having to struggle in maintaining focus on priorities at work. The article draws a picture of a mindful leader and presents benefits of mindfulness. It also teaches some easy exercises for practicing mindfulness meditation. PART II consists of articles from Senior Colleagues: working life experts and Laurea`s teaching and educational professionals. First, the voice is given to experienced professionals from business life. In the first article, Daria Lewandowska presents her insights on leadership using a lighthouse metaphor. This leadership analogy is a helpful tool to design better strategies when leading in challenging times, and describes leadership principles as they relate to a lighthouse that provides light, hope and safety to the people we lead. The writer has an in-depth view into leadership for she employs herself as Business Trainer, ICF Coach

Journal of Nursing Management, 2004

Leader To Leader, 2005

The Leadership Quarterly, 1990