Leadership Leadership has been defined in terms of traits, behaviors, influence, interaction patterns, role relationships and occupation of an administrative position.
Most definitions of leadership reflect the
assumption that it involves a process whereby intentional influence is exerted over other people to guide, structure, and facilitate Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives. Leadership in Entrepreneurship can be defined as "process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task,one who undertakes innovation, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This refers to not only the act of entrepreneurship as managing or starting a business, but how one manages to do so by these social processes, or leadership skills. An entrepreneur typically has a mind-set that seeks out potential opportunities during uncertain times.This leads us to see that an entrepreneur must have leadership skills or qualities in order to see potential opportunities and act upon them. An entrepreneur, at the core, is a decision maker. Such decisions often affect an organization as a whole, which is representative of their leadership amongst the organization. So what are the traits the 21st century leader needs to succeed?
Today's successful business leader is
decisive, insightful and constantly challenging company conventions to keep ideas flowing. Some of the factors that make a great leader haven't really changed. The abilities to innovate, execute and be a strong role model for your staff will always be essential. But in addition to these qualities, a new leadership style is emerging, with skills uniquely tailored for success in today's environment. A modern leader identifies opportunities before the competition, taking in information from all sides to spot possible new directions. A passion for achieving a goal and also a willingness to go on the attack--against the competition, and against weaknesses in yourself and the organization. "You need to wage constructive war continuously" "It's not just firing people who aren't doing the job, but also saying, 'What are we not doing right?' and then acting on it. It's a war on complacency." Key traits that are crucial in our changing workplace
Adaptability - The whole idea that change is the
norm rather than the exception is not a tweak, but a profound change in your job as a CEO. "Your job now is to help the organization develop the capacity to adapt, rather than stake out a vision and drive toward that. oAdaptability is a very complicated process. You're making hard choices, including sometimes giving up values or beliefs, or ways of doing business that may even have been crucial to earlier success. oLeaders need to design their whole company for adaptability, not just possess the trait themselves. Build an environment where employees are encouraged to express their points of view and to raise tough issues before they become crises. oHave an organization-wide emphasis on learning from mistakes. oPutting flexibility first helps leaders break out of established problem-solving patterns to explore new options Self-Awareness:Before leaders can tackle the challenges at their organizations, they have to look in the mirror. The journey of leadership is first taking a look at yourself. Then you're ready to deal one-on-one, then you can take over a team, and then an organization. Among the traits younger workers want from leadership are authenticity, accessibility and respect for their individuality. Purposefulness:- "Leadership is about going somewhere, you need a clear vision that's about who you are, your picture of the future, where you're going." What's better these days is for leaders to have a strong sense of purpose they can express to their workers--a compelling reason for everyone at the company to come to work. It's about building the world's best automobiles or enabling people to be safe in their homes. It's a Decisiveness:The days of holding endless meetings to discuss possibilities are over. At the current pace of change, fast action is what matters. The desire to reach consensus or get buy-in from all parties has to be curtailed at some point, and the leader has to make a decision. The ideal management style for the 21st century blends both intuition and a focus on the bottom line, both people skills and analytical strength. Collaborative Skills:The problems today's companies face can't be solved if leaders stay in their own silos. Managers who can work across boundaries--with vendors, external partners, across business units are more in demand.