Leadership is not something that people are born with. Leadership is a characteristic that must be learned and earned. Many people can be born with a sense of talent, talent to play sports, talent to be an effective photographer, talent to be an amazing hair stylist. Without hard work and fostering your skills, sometimes pure talent never meets its full potential. To ensure that a person is competent, leaders must be able to display their talents and skills to solve solutions. Many times, people may have the best vision and goals around how they plan to lead in life or in each leadership role, but unless they foster the ability to lead, competently they will not accomplish very much in whatever they decide to conquer.
There are many qualities that can make and enhance a leader. One of the important factors is competence. Competent leadership means a leader who is willing to do more than the average. Competent leaders lead by example while making sure to motivate and encourage other people behind them. The most effective leadership traits - include integrity; communication; being a visionary and having the ability to make and execute tough decisions. A leader with integrity is someone who is honest with great morals. A leader who displays great communication skills is someone who can effectively get a message across. A leader who is a visionary is someone who has direction and knows exactly how to take the team there. Lastly, a leader who can execute tough decisions is someone who can make decisions for the betterment of an organization. A decision. The good news is these are all traits that can be gained. Having this part of a leader's life view, allows them to ensure the best work is completed.
We generally think of competence as having talent or skills required to accomplish something acquired through training and or experience. A person can accomplish anything they put their mind to, with proper preparation. While it is important to accomplish what we aim for in leadership, this is also not the only thing needed. Preparation and skillset will also assist with accomplishing these goals. There are plenty of talented people who are not able to perform effectively in their said leadership role. It goes hand in hand with an education from a top institution; this isn’t a prerequisite for being qualified for the real world.
Having effective leadership skills and showcasing competence doesn’t mean that a person will have all the knowledge to be effective in their field. What it will demonstrate is that a person will know the what and how. Nothing is accomplished without partnership. An effective leader knows their strengths and weaknesses and can identify, recruit, and delegate based on what their abilities are or aren’t.
On paper, competence versus real world experience with no competence are two totally different items in the leadership realms. Many people are selected for opportunities based on their on paper and educational competence, without their character and leadership abilities being demonstrated. These are not one in the same. In the leadership realm, we face many obstacles by focusing more on what’s on paper versus what is really in real time.
Perfectionists are usually people with an all-or-nothing personality, highly critical, pushed by results, and extremely defensive. These aren't traits that make for a competent leader. Perfectionism can influence competent leadership. Perfectionism usually is caused due to lack of approval from previous superiors or lack of approval in oneself. Perfectionism is also a source of insecurity in one’s ability to lead. Not only does this have a cause-and-effect on a person’s leadership abilities but it also influences the subordinates under the leader. The leader in turn expects the subordinates to perform at a level that will eventually lead to burn out and eventually divisiveness amongst the team members.
Overall, being a competent and effective leader comes with time, ability, fostering your talent, and patience. Competent and effective leaders create more competent and effective leaders. These are people who will help and grow our organizations. This type of leadership is a skill that is created overtime, but it is needed to ensure a person is being the best leader.
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