A leader in the 21st century must exhibit some characteristics. He should be able to communicate freely with his employees, have a vision of where he sees the company in the next few years, have a passion for his work and have a great character.
A leader should possess good character. He should be honest and have integrity in his work and also personal life because most leaders are always suspected to be corrupt, and one needs to set a good example (Mahoney, 2001). All the three leaders above could not have gotten to their positions of leadership unless they had a good character. A good character also entails working hard and putting in hours into your job. Thomas Holder of Holder Construction puts in a lot of hours in his job. His strategy of employee recognition shows that he understands his employees taking them as individuals and not workers. This shows good character since respect is one of the qualities he has (fortune.com, 2015). A great 21st-century leader should always have the ability to communicate freely to others (Hill, 2011). Be it employees, superiors or investors, a great 21st leader should know what to say and to whom. In situations of anxiety, the leader should calm his workers and convince them that their jobs are safe. He or she should also have persuasion skills to convince the investors in investing in his or her company (McGregor, 2015). Warren Buffet stresses the importance of being a great communicator. He says that a leader cannot be formed without great communication skills. He argues that the outcome of something will be best seen if it is communicated well.
All great twenty-first century leaders have a vision and a purpose in which they get up each morning and go lead. Without setting a clear vision, the leaders might go astray (Prive, 2012). The three leaders have the above similarities of good communication skills, vision, plan and good character. They use these characteristics to form better leaders in future by coaching them.
REFERENCES
Mahoney, J. (2001). Leadership skills for the 21st century. Journal of Nursing Management, 9(5), 269-271.
Hill, A. (2011, February 28). Buffett’s exceptional style of leadership. Financial Times. Retrieved March 25, 2016, from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/73e667a8-436b-11e0-8f0d-00144feabdc0.html
Holder Construction - 25 Best Medium Workplaces 2015 - Fortune. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fortune.com/best-medium-workplaces/holder-construction-13/
Kahler Slater, Inc. - Great Place to Work Reviews. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://reviews.greatplacetowork.com/kahler-slater
McGregor, J. (2015, March 2). The leadership wisdom of Warren Buffett. Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2015/03/02/the-leadership-wisdom-in-warren-buffetts-letter/
Prive, T. (2012, December 19). Top 10 Qualities That Make A Great Leader. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/#d90ff6356485
