Leadership is defined as the relationship between the person who aspires to lead and those who choose to follow, and it can be one-to-one or one-to-many. The leaders must learn to mobilize others and strive for the shared aspirations. Some leaders perform at their personal best and five practices can be associated with them. The said practices are what are termed as the five practices of exemplary leadership, and they include the one discussed below.
Model the way
People look for personal credibility and admire it a lot in a leader that they wish to choose. This virtue is a foundation for good leadership. People tend to believe in the message if they believe in the messenger. It is believed that titles are granted, but leadership is earned. Leaders, therefore, model their way by finding their voices and setting an example. They must stand up for their beliefs and should be clear on their guiding principles (Forrest, 2011). Exemplary leaders understand that their good behavior earns them respect and always doing what they say. They lead by example and build commitment through simple daily chores. More importantly, they require relentless efforts, competence, steadfastness as well as detailed attention.
Inspire a shared vision
Leaders focus on the clear image of possibility and what a firm could become. They inspire a shared vision by looking forward to the future and bringing the others into a shared vision. Most leaders are passionate and hopeful that they can bring changes in an organization. They have a desire to make something better tomorrow than it is today. A leader creates an organized movement or some significant changes in products and has constituents that allow people to follow the vision.
Challenge the process
Leaders venture out and lead others to a better situation, and also accept challenges. They come up with organizational cultures with some radical new ideas that enable them to change their organizations. Every remarkable leadership results from handling and overcoming a challenge (Noure Elahi, n.d.). They contest the process by looking for opportunities and take risks by experimenting and learn from mistakes. They are willing to move from the status quo by stepping into the unknown by searching for opportunities, do innovation, improvement, and growth.
Enable other to act
Exemplary leaders know that they cannot work alone. They require a team effort by encouraging other to work by enabling collaboration and strengthening others. Collaboration is the key that allows partners, groups, or other alliances to function effectively (Forrest, 2011). Therefore, leaders engage all the stakeholders that make the projects work and allow them to do extraordinary tasks possible. When everyone understands that leadership is a relationship that is founded on trust, they feel free to take a risk and make changes as well as keeping organizations alive.
Encourage the heart
In the effort to meet the objectives, people may become exhausted and frustrated. They often get tempted to give up and therefore, the leaders need to encourage their hearts by recognizing their contributions and also celebrating the efforts and victories. Exemplary leadership is about setting high standards and high expectations for the organizations and encouraging the people or workers. Part of the leaders' job is an appreciation of people's contribution, individual recognition, and group celebration.
If I were a leader in Google Inc., I would apply all the values of exemplary leadership to ensure better performance and growth in the company. However, the company has many employees that make it difficult to reach each and everyone. Nevertheless, it is possible to apply all the virtues of exemplary leadership with the use of the modern technology. The company has very many employees, but if I became a leader in the business, I would handle not more than fifty thousand employees. Motivation, encouragement of heart, and appraisal would easily be done using one platform on the internet. I can challenge the process the by looking for more innovative ways that satisfy the needs of the users (Wood, 2005, p.49). For example, whenever the users search for something on the internet, Google can give many other alternatives of searches. This can be done with also considering a reduction in the charges to get a greater market share.
The leadership theories that best work together with exemplary leadership are situational and participative theories. The situational theory holds that leaders choose the best course of action based on the varying situations. Various styles of leadership can be applied to suit certain types of decision-making (Khumalo, 2015). The theory applies to an exemplary leadership because it is flexible and friendly to a relationship that is there between the leader and the workers. Leaders can use it to suit their decisions to motivate the employees and challenge the process in an organization. Participative theory, on the other hand, asserts that an ideal leader is the one that takes the input of others into account. The theory is significant to exemplary leadership because it engages the employees in the leadership process and appreciates their efforts in an organization (Al-Omari, 2013). This approach encourages participation and contribution by other members and makes them feel more relevant and commit themselves to the decision-making of a company. The theory is consistent in inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart.
In modeling the way, good leaders always lead by example. They establish a good relationship with other people, colleagues, or subordinates. When these people build trust in their leader, it makes it easier to follow what he or she tells them to do. Since they set a good example by doing what is right, the rest of the people would wish to do just like them and in the process, they achieve their aim. Leaders share a vision by letting the others know and inspiring them. Every leader has an image of how an organization would be in future. Making that vision to come true is not an easy task but involves a lot of challenges. A good leader, therefore, has to share it with other stakeholders so that they can work collectively towards its achievement (Notar, Uline & Eady, 2008). Challenging the process is another important virtue of exemplary leadership. Leaders look for opportunities and take risks by doing the corporate operations in a unique way.
Good leaders should be free and enable others to act, especially on matters that can be handled by them to reduce bureaucracy in an organization. This flexibility allows efficiency and builds trust among the member within the firm. Lastly but not least, leaders should be individuals who know how to encourage the heart. Achievement of corporate objectives can be arduous, and the employees may tend to give up. Exemplary leaders, therefore, should always encourage these employees by recognizing their efforts and celebrating their victories. They set high standards and encourage the employees to work harder to attain them.
References
Al-Omari, A. A. (2013). The Relationship between Decision Making Styles and Leadership Styles among Public School Principals. International Education Studies, 6(7). doi:10.5539/ies.v6n7p100
Forrest, L. (2011). Out of bounds: developing a library outreach program using the ‘Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership’ model. Mid-Career Library and Information Professionals, 151-163. doi:10.1016/b978-1-84334-609-8.50012-0
Khumalo, S. S. (2015). The Implications of System 4 Approach on School Leadership. International Education Studies, 8(7). doi:10.5539/ies.v8n7p38
Notar, C. E., Uline, C. S., & Eady, C. K. (2008). What Makes an “Effective” Leader: The Application of Leadership. International Education Studies, 1(3). doi:10.5539/ies.v1n3p25
Noure Elahi, M. H. (n.d.). Elaborating the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2659768
Wood, L. (2005). Google, Inc., Mountain View, Calif. Sci Am, 293(6), 49-49. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1205-49
