February 2012 Archives

Last Week's Definition

Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around him or her to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to match their personal vision to their actions (Lee & King, 2001) and utilize different leadership styles in different situations. Effective leaders are ethical people and understand that there isn't always a single right answer and are able to make decisions based on their personal values.

This Week's Definition

Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around him or her to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to match their personal vision to their actions (Lee & King, 2001) and utilize different leadership styles in different situations. Effective leaders are ethical people and understand that there isn't always a single right answer and are able to make decisions based on their personal values.

Differences

I haven't made any changes to my definition of leadership from last week. I haven't experienced or learned anything that has significantly changed my view since last week.

Lee, R. J., & King, S. N. (2001). "Ground your leadership vision in a personal vision." Discovering the Leader in You: A guide to realizing your personal leadership potential (pp. 31 - 54). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Kidder, R. M. (2003). "Overview: The ethics of right vs. right." How Good People Make Tough Choices (pp. 13 - 29). New York: Simon & Schuster.

Last Week's Definition

Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around him or her to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to match their personal vision to their actions (Lee & King, 2001) and utilize different leadership styles in different situations.

This Week's Definition

Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around him or her to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to match their personal vision to their actions (Lee & King, 2001) and utilize different leadership styles in different situations. Effective leaders are ethical people and understand that there isn't always a single right answer and are able to make decisions based on their personal values.

Difference between last week and this week
This week I added a portion to emphasize the importance of ethical leadership. There isn't always only one right answer and it is important for leaders to be able to recognize that. Being able to make difficult decisions when neither is wrong is an important quality of leaders.

Lee, R. J., & King, S. N. (2001). "Ground your leadership vision in a personal vision." Discovering the Leader in You: A guide to realizing your personal leadership potential (pp. 31 - 54). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Kidder, R. M. (2003). "Overview: The ethics of right vs. right." How Good People Make Tough Choices (pp. 13 - 29). New York: Simon & Schuster.

Last week's definition
Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around them to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to utilize different leadership styles in different situations.

This week's definition
Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around him or her to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to match their personal vision to their actions (Lee & King, 2001) and utilize different leadership styles in different situations.

Differences between this week and last week
The main difference between this week's definition and last week's definition is that this week I learned that leaders should outline their personal values and vision. Having a clear and defined path can help solidify how a leader should approach various situations.

Lee, R. J., & King, S. N. (2001). "Ground your leadership vision in a personal vision." San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Last week's definition:
Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around them. There are limitless ways or styles in which a person can lead.

This week's definition:
Leadership is the way in which an individual acts to influence others around them to produce results. Effective leaders should be able to utilize different leadership styles in different situations.

Analysis of the differences:
Two things changed about my definition. First I added an emphasis on producing results because being a good leader means influencing the outputs of a group in a positive way. A person isn't a very effective leader if they are not able to influence people to produce results. Second, I more specifically stated the importance of knowing when to use certain leadership styles based on the Goleman and Daniel (2000) article, "Leadership that Gets Results."

Goleman, Daniel (2000). "Leadership that Gets Results." Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78-90.