In the article, the authors contend that for leaders to lead effectively, they must also inspire those that they lead. Leaders must build a strong fellowship that is anchored in loyalty and common direction in order for company goals to be accomplished. Despite a vast amount of literature out there about leadership, there still exist gaps that expound on inspirational leadership and how it can be achieved in an organization. The authors, in interviewing and discussing with leaders from major global companies ranging from insurance, marketing, to pharmaceutical companies, they conclude that inspirational leadership is necessary and it is the reason why those companies that they lead have been for most part successful. While carefully perusing the article, I agree that leadership is about winning and capturing people’s hearts, minds, and souls and not just delivering superb financial results for the companies (Goffee and Jones 54). The authors offer a glimpse of various leadership theories and how they may correlate with what constitutes effective leadership and they are in agreement that all of these theories attempt to define what effective leadership should look like. However, from their research and interviews, the authors believe that there is more to leadership than merely leading people towards a common cause.
The hypothesis put forward by the authors is that leaders require extraordinary qualities other than just vision and energy to inspire those that they lead. Followers need to have the feeling of commitment rather than feeling obligated to do so. Suffice to say, most organizations have organizational structure and information flow which by default creates multiple layers of leadership positions and it’s an employee’s prerogative to follow whomever leader they want as long as his or her responsibilities are being fulfilled. Thus the authors acknowledge this aspect that true leaders will not go around chasing followers rather it is people who choose leaders to follow. Another hypothesis though subtle in the article is that inspiring leadership is more often lacking in high positions which is surprising. The authors contend that for leaders to be inspirational, they will need to possess four qualities namely; be able to selectively reveal their weaknesses, heavily rely on instincts in making decisions, possess tough empath, and lastly be unique or different.
The study was necessary due to inadequacy or lack of leadership. Again, do theories of the past and present reflect the reality in today’s empowered world? The consensus is that there are a myriad of deficiencies that plague both old and modern leaders regardless of how the organizations they lead are performing. The research study found that most leaders misunderstand what inspirational leadership is all about. An analogy that can describe the above scenario is that, some ‘A’ quality leaders may produce ‘B’ quality results and vice versa. Goffee and Jones also elaborate this lack of understanding that may be due to myths such as leaders are self-knowledgeable, leaders are supposed to show good results, that leaders are always at the top of the organizational chart, and that good leaders are always good coaches (55). The fact is that many leaderships lack the self-knowledge or authenticity to be leaders and good results may not be necessarily a character trait of a good leader. Additionally, anyone at any level of the organization can be a good leader and motivate others as well.
How can today’s leaders lead followers in an environment that is challenging? According to Goffee and Jones (51), there are key traits that will endear followers to a leader in a manner that comes out naturally as well as maintaining that mutual bond. This work is a result of 25 years of research which delved into various issues tackled from both an academic and consultancy angle. The authors dissected past theories on leadership and then tested these theories against how real life executives globally translate those theories in practice. They interviewed leaders and collected data from their clients as well. Therefore, both the qualitative and quantitative data collected was used to develop a model for effective leadership. They also used the data to demystify some common myths about leadership.
Among the key attributes of inspirational leadership that were born out of the research was that effective leaders have to carefully reveal their weaknesses. The essence is to let their followers know that they are not perfect and that they have flaws like everyone else. Thus that kind of relationship will likely build trust and solidarity for the common good of the organization by having to resonate with followers that to ‘human is to err’. The authors stress that the sharing of the weakness has to be genuine for it to be authentic and resonate with followers. Secondly, effective leaders should have a better than average sense of instinctual prowess so as to respond effectively to different situations or scenarios. Therefore, they have to be good observers of the environment around them without necessarily going out to look for data. They should be able to study and know if a relationship is working or not as well as be able to identify peoples inner feelings that are unexpressed but also those skills should not be overused because of uncertainty. Thirdly, leaders should possess tough empathy in that they should care for their employees. They should care for the work they do as well as respect them as people. They should be able to know when to push buttons and when to hold back while keeping the employees motivated and focused on the task. Above all, leaders must make tough decisions especially in challenging business environments and the key is to passionately show commitment to their employees. Last but not least, inspirational leaders must identify and make good use of their unique traits. The uniqueness could be mental or physical but either is critical in defining those differences with employees. There are also other differences that are covert and a leader may not be aware that he or she possesses them and can be used as powerful tools to inspire and motivate employees to increase performance. The authors however, note that gender as a difference can be contentious partly due to the small number of women in leadership positions as well as the stereotyping that may be prevalent in the society (KPMG). Suffice to say, it should be used in a positive manner so as to focus on key organizational goals.
The study’s assumption there is no theory that will cover what true leadership means and the authors expressly use the theories in the article to outline leadership traits in historical perspective and in no means do they exhaust on what constitutes inspirational leadership. This research may not reflect on the whole industry due to the small sampling size of executives that were interviewed- what of small businesses such as sole proprietors who manage less than 10 people? We also assume that the sample may have been non-random because it is not mentioned. Non-random samples tend to skew data away from a normal distribution and increase error (Scheuren 21). There is a room for further research through analyzing qualitative data which is readily available. This study was robust because the researchers extracted ideal leadership qualities from different theories- from bureaucratic to charismatic to contingency. Another limitation is that the study did not study any interactions based on gender and or other factors as well as need for a bigger nonrandom sample from women leaders. It is not unreasonable to presuppose that female leaders could present another viewpoint due to the society’s perception that there are nurturers (Goffee and Jones 56).
In conclusion, traits that constitute inspirational leadership will vary but they have to be authentic to be meaningful. Secondly, results are not a reflection of good leadership according to the authors. There is a clear difference between competency and good leadership- the former will only work in the short-term. Thirdly, people who are top of organizational chart may not be necessarily being true leaders. What matters is if they have followers who are ready to succeed together or fail together. Last but not least, good leaders may not be necessarily good coaches (Goffee and Jones 54). Leaders are supposed to share their vision which will motivate their followers to work towards getting there and opening new realms of achievement (Mautz 9). Ingredients of true and inspirational leadership will continue to surface as businesses continue to exist. Also as new leaders are born and nurtured, they will possess new and unique leadership traits that exhibit the above theories and which are necessary as we move through the 21st century.
Based on multiple sources of literature on leadership for many years, the relationship between effective leadership and the best theories or traits or style that best illustrates the concept will vary widely depending on who you ask- to some either autocratic or democratic leadership is inspiring as long as they have a leader (Renando 1). We can deduce that there is a difference between leadership and effective leadership in that the latter is regarded as the one that make people or employees work at ease in a challenging environment. I agree that there are characteristics that are essential in inspiring workers and these traits sometimes are intangible or unnoticeable. However, during training, managers or leaders are equipped with tools and a strategy to succeed in leading people- success in this sense is better results vis-a-vis bigger profits. The modern business environment dictates that leaders do both to inspire and produce results (Tucker 1). I tend to strongly believe that most leaders will hope that in the quest of producing results, they will inspire their followers which is a wrong approach. The opposite is true. These followers- employees may be inspired through being part of a well performing organization or career progression that is a result of their direct input. I partially agree with the notion that effective leaders must have tough empathy and that they should be caring towards employees because in the eyes of the employee, the only way they will recognize that a company cares is through better remuneration, better healthcare, and other indirect perks. The authors have expounded in detail on how effective leaders must carefully reveal their weaknesses. This is important as Cohen (2) states in his criticism of leadership, that there are risks involved because those weaknesses may be magnified to the detriment of the whole organization. I couldn’t agree more with the example that the authors used in emphasizing weakness and using it as a plus- Richard Branson and the Virgin group where a vulnerability as fumbling and feeling unease in public was shown to be a powerful communication tool of enhancing approachability. I also concur that, a leader being different and using unique traits to the betterment of the followers has its benefits but only when it manifests itself in a more humble manner. This is because a leader may come out as proud and demeaning to his or her followers especially when you factor in that vast majority of leaders have inherent bias due to various factors such as history and previous leadership positions. For example, from my experience in the workplace, there have been leaders who use the power of humor to lighten up employees especially when there is a lot of pressure to meet deadlines. The humor may end up sounding in a more awkward manner to some employees especially in a more diversified environment. That is where the power of sensory or intuition go hand in hand with another unique trait as described above. Therefore, in the above scenario, an effective leader will carefully measure his or her words depending on the composition of the followers he or she is addressing.
Works cited
Cohen, Hsin-Yi. “Criticisms of leadership. 19 February 2016. Web. <http://www.leadershipexpert.co.uk/criticisms-leadership.html>
Goffee Robert, Jones Gareth. “Why should anyone be led by you?” Harvard Business Review 2000. Print
KPMG. “Women’s leadership study”. KPMG 2015. 18 February 2016. Web. < https://www.kpmg.com/US/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/womens-leadership-study.pdf>
Mautz, Scott. “Make it matter: How managers can motivate by creating meaning”.Amacon, 2015. New York. Print.
Renando, Chad. “Autocratic versus Democratic leadership: Are you the right tool for the right job?” Sideways thoughts blog. 19 February 2016. Web.<http://www.sidewaysthoughts.com/blog/2013/04/autocratic-versus-democratic-leadership-are-you-the-right-tool-for-the-right-job/>
Scheuren, Fritz. “What is a survey?” American Statistical Association, 2014. 17 February 2016. Web. < http://www.amstat.org/sections/srms/pamphlet.pdf>
Tucker, Christine. “What is management leadership’s role in motivating employees?” Small Business Chronicles 2015. 17 February 2016. Web. < http://smallbusiness.chron.com/management-leaderships-role-motivating-employees-21896.html>
