Leadership Synthesizing
by Liza P.
What defines a leader?
Several articles that I have read both in Mrs. Kindberg's and Mrs. Haranda's class mentioned specific traits. Empathy, optimism, and confidence were some of them repeated over and over as I read the blogs and articles about leadership. Almost all of the successful leaders I can think of off the top of my head have at least two of the mentioned traits. In many books and movies, a leader is described as witty, smart, and had quick thinking, and those qualities are also very important in leadership. There are also traits such as persuasion, forgiveness, and adaption, making me think that a person who wants to succeed in being a leader has to work extremely hard, which is good, because I don't think anyone would want a lousy and lazy leader!
What type of leader are you?
After reading an article written about the 3 types of leadership, I have tried associating myself as one of those types of leader. First of all, what are the types that I'm talking about?
The types of leaders are authoritarian, delegative, and participative. The authoritarian leader is more of a boss than a leader, and is a clear authority figure. It is the most productive type of leadership. The delegative type of leader leaves the decision-making to the group, and it is the most unproductive type of leadership. The participative leadership is when a leader is involved with the group the most. Where the authoritarian leadership is a dictatorship, the participative leadership is a democracy. I feel like I am the participative leader as I always try to help my group.
How does your personality affect your leadership style?
I took a quiz to find out what my personality type is, and it is ENFJ. The site said that I slightly prefer extroversion more than introversion, am more intuitive, rely on feeling and only slightly prefer judging. Although there wasn't much information about leadership, I would think that I'd make a mediocre if not better leader. The slight preference to extroversion might help and so might the judging, but being more intuitive and feeling might set me back.