Leadership philosophy refers to a set of beliefs and principles that define how an individual should be and act as a leader when evaluating information or responding to people and situations. Effective leadership is not a subject of a single formula; in contrary, it is a complex, multifaceted concept which is why many effective leaders differ in terms of behaviors. The difference lies in the personal leadership philosophy a person adopts, which serves as a guiding principle to their behaviors (Simpson, 2012). The critical role leadership philosophies play to the attainment of effective leadership makes it extremely vital to examine and assess some of the common philosophies and their influence on leadership.
Developing one’s personal leadership philosophy requires an in-depth review of what effective leadership entails. Marshall and Broome’s (2017) perspective on transformational leadership makes it exceedingly necessary to understand the concept before developing and applying an effective leadership philosophy. According to the authors, regardless of what beliefs and principles a person subscribes to, being transformational is imperative (Marshall & Broome, 2017). A transformational leader is capable of moving an entity from a paradigm to an improved version. Paradigm, in this case, refers to the way people think, how they carry themselves, organizational processes, and the likes. In other words, one builds their leadership philosophy on the foundation of the knowledge of transformational leadership.
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Value-based leadership is a crucial philosophy. According to Sarah Simpson (2012), value-based leadership is based on the idea that members of an organization are motivated by values and strive to live by a set of established values. As such, a value-based leader must incorporate certain beliefs, values, and principles in their decision-making processes and how they approach issues (Simpson, 2012). Leaders who subscribe to this philosophy display integrity, authenticity, transparency, humility, excellence, empathy, and service, among other values in their behaviors (Simpson, 2012). A value-based leader does not only motivate his subordinates but also successfully transforms the corporate culture of a company.
Other than the above, autocratic leadership philosophy, which appears to be the exact opposite of the former, is based on the notion that results are only achieved in an intensely controlled system. A leader who upholds autocratic philosophy exercises excessive control over all decisions with little or no inputs from his/her followers (Stone, Conley, & Luo, 2014). Common behavioral practices of an autocratic leader include making all the decisions, dictating all methods and processes, rarely trusting followers, establishing rigid and highly structured work schedules, and formulating strict rules that must be followed by members of a group or organization. In his mind, an autocratic leader believes he has all it takes to steer an organization to its future individually.
After a comparative assessment of the two, value-based leadership emerges as a better philosophy. The philosophy incorporates foundational components for creating a healthy work environment. Value-based leadership equips a person with three core components of character, consistency, and collaboration, necessary to successfully initiate and promote desirable change in the workplace. In my opinion, the values, beliefs, and principles that value-based leadership philosophy instill in a person are what it takes to be a great leader. The core values are as discussed above; transparency, excellence, service, integrity, humility, and empathy, among other values considered positive. As pointed out earlier, a good leader is one with a mission to bring improvement and commits to this mission.
In an attempt to determine my leadership profile, I took an assessment on CliftonStrengths site, and the results are interesting. According to the outcome of the assessment, I am a relationship builder and a strategic thinker. That means as a leader, my behavioral practices are influenced by talents such as ideation, connectedness, strategic, futuristic, and included. With these elements, ingrained in components such as consistency, character, and collaboration, I believe my philosophical conception of effective leadership is one that strives to create and sustain a healthy work environment that involves cohesion, inclusivity, creativity, and teamwork. Simply put, I strongly believe that I am a transformational leader.
Many claim good leaders are born; others argue good leaders are made. Some experts on the subject have gone as far as claiming that effective leadership is a product of a combination of both. In my view, because good leadership requires certain talents, there are also skills that must be acquired such as confidence, communication, listening, and the likes for a person to be an effective leader, that said, in as much as leaders are born, they must still be sharpened before they exercise leadership skills. My leadership profile is a product of great talents and my personal trait, humility, easygoing, and compassion. In spite of these qualities, however, I do not deserve to be classified as a great leader, at least not in the same category as some of the most exemplary practicing leaders. There are areas of weaknesses and key behaviors that I must address and strengthen.
One such area I wish to improve on is my communication skills. Communication skills are essential in effective leadership; communication is the core leadership function (Luthra & Dahiya, 2015). Listening, complementing, delegating tasks, managing meetings, and positive verbal and non-verbal communication are skills that I have to acquire. To do so, I have some strategies in place designed to ensure I successfully acquire these skills. One, I have invested emotional, financial, and time in learning the new skills. Second, I have planned on getting myself a mentor or a coach, an individual who is not only reliable at guiding but also possesses skills that I plan to learn (Duggan, Aisaka, Tabak, Smith, Erwin, & Brownson, 2015). Third, conducting extensive research on both online and offline platforms on communication skills would be instrumental in making sure I get to identify key communication skills and learn how to adopt them and use them in my everyday leadership practice.
Effective leadership, as the discussion asserts, is not reliant on specific leadership philosophy but depends on a system of values and beliefs that govern a person’s behavior. Because of numerous personal leadership philosophies produced by a variety of philosophers and theoreticians, it would be incorrect to state that there are the right and the wrong way around good leadership. This is because while some may find autocratic leadership philosophy unfavorable, others perceive value-based leadership philosophy incompatible with their expectations. Another important fact to pick from the analysis is that good leadership spans from consideration of personal traits, nature of an organization, expectations, and characteristics of subjects (Luthra & Dahiya, 2015). It is through these factors that a leader must base their system of beliefs and values in their behaviors and actions.
References
Duggan, K., Aisaka, K., Tabak, R. G., Smith, C., Erwin, P., & Brownson, R. C. (2015). Implementing administrative evidence-based practices: lessons from the field in six local health departments across the United States. BMC health services research , 15 (1), 221.
Luthra, A., & Dahiya, R. (2015). Effective leadership is all about communicating effectively: connecting leadership and communication. International Journal of Management & Business Studies (IJMBS) , 5 (3), 43-48.
Marshall, E., & Broome, M. (2017). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer
Simpson, S. (2012). The Styles, Models & Philosophy of Leadership. Denmark: Ventus Publishing Aps .
Stone, G., Conley, C., & Luo, Y. (2014). Alternative perspectives on leadership: Integrating transformational leadership with Confucian philosophy. Open Journal of Leadership , 3 (02), 30.
