Being a Successful Team Leader Essay

Introduction

Leadership can be defined as the ability of a person or groups of persons to influence and inspire other members of an organization or society. While many individuals have the ability to lead in their sphere of life, there are certain unique behaviours, characteristics and actions that distinguish successful leaders from the rest of the park (Northouse, 2018). Good leaders have clear visions of the future and know how to convert their ideas into real-life stories of success. One such leader whose actions, behaviour and characteristics motivate me and whom I look up to as a mentor is Martin Luther King Jr. In this presentation, I will assess the qualities that made Dr Martin Luther King Jr a successful leader, make a comparison to my own attributes, and determine how to build on his leadership characteristics for my benefit.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Assessment of Actions, Behaviours and Characteristics of Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King was an American Baptist church minister and activist who later became a leader and a face of the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1960's. He is well known for championing civil rights for the black American community through non-violent means such as civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent activism (McGuire & Hutchings, 2007). For instance, in August 1963, he led a march of over 250,000 people, both Blacks and whites in Washington DC from Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial advocating rights, freedom and dignity for all people regardless of their religious, cultural or racial backgrounds. The following actions, behaviours and characteristics of Martin Luther King Jr not only made him a successful but the face of freedom, equality, and justice worldwide;

Clearly communicating a powerful and concrete vision

Martin Luther King Jr had a dream of the future which he had envisioned and effectively pronounced it to his followers, giving them a vivid call to take action and motivating them to share in his vision and support the course (McGuire & Hutchings, 2007). This was manifested in his now famous "I have a dream" speech he delivered at the Lincoln memorial which earned him enormous following across the country and continues to inspire millions around the world today. Naturally, people want to be lead by an individual who has a clear vision of where he or she is headed and taking his followers. In addition, they want to be led by someone who shares their values, aspirations, hopes and needs.

Courage

Martin Luther King also demonstrated courage in the face of real danger posed by oppression during the civil rights struggles. In the midst of threat and risks that come with such dangers, he manifested courage by pursuing a non-violent call to action. He additionally never showed fear or wavered when the threat was thrown his way, an act of courage and conviction that cost him his life. More impressively, King encouraged his followers telling them the truth of the reality and never at any one moment sugar-coated the existing facts.

Mastered the art of communication

Martin Luther King is perhaps one of the greatest Orators of all time. He had impressive communications skills particularly in the manner in which he delivered his message, moving hearts of thousands through his words. Though not every individual may achieve his level of skill, a good leader will put extra effort to enhance his or her communication skills. It through the ability to communicate clearly that a leader of a team is able to communicate the goals and objectives. In addition, part of effective communication is also learning how to listen to the opinions of those one leads.

Acknowledging and showing faith in his followers

In almost every speech he delivered, Martin Luther King acknowledge and showed unwavering faith in the abilities of his followers. By the very act of showing people you believe in them, good leaders bring out the best in their followers and motivate them to work hard (Northouse, 2018). This is true to become a successful team leader in any organization. In the face of challenges, openly showing that their efforts matters drives people to do their best and give more.]

Willingness to disrupt status quo

While some individuals felt comfortable with the status of various things, Martin Luther King did not settle for anything other than equality for all. He realizes that for change to occur, things must be done differently. Every team leader is willing to go beyond the normal norm to inspire his team's creativity and innovation in the modern organizations.

Self-Assessment of Actions, Behaviors and Characteristics

Goal Oriented

I am a goal oriented individual who sets his priorities clear before any undertaking and does all this necessary to ensure they are met. As a team leader, I articulate the goals to my team members and provide proper guidance to ensure that all the activities are channelled towards the fulfilment of the set goals. This I believe crucial for every leader to ensure performance and achievement of results.

Conformity to Rules and Traditions

I have high respect for rules and traditions of any organization that I work for. As a team leader, I would encourage my team members to follow the established rules and traditions in the course of undertaking their roles. Successful leaders identify with traditions that give their organizations their identity.

Honesty

I strive to communicate openly about the challenges and threats whenever I am a leadership position. Honesty eliminates uncertainty amongst team members and is significant is drawing the support of members in the face of difficulty (Northouse, 2018). Honesty is also crucial in developing trust between the leader and the team members' thus enhancing co-operation that makes a leader successful.

Team Work and Collective Participation

Individually, I embrace teamwork and collective participation. Engaging team members in decision making by listening to various opinions is something I strongly believe in. In essence, I believe a leader must be open the advice and opinions of his or her follow in order to succeed.

Self-Comparison with Martin Luther King

Similarities

In many ways, my actions, behaviours, and characteristics of leadership are similar to those of Martin Luther King. As a goal-oriented person and him being a visionary, we all have a clear understanding of our objectives in the long run. In honesty, we are both realistic about challenges and share the same with our followers. Finally, in embracing collective participation, we both manifest appreciation for efforts of those we lead and believe their contribution is crucial to the collective success.

Differences

While Dr King is keen to shake the status quo, I on the other and has high regard to conformity to traditions and conformity to rules. While many traditions are good, some may be outdated and hinder the ability of a leader to succeed in times of immense change. In this way, the difference is clear.

Approach to Developing Leadership Characteristics

The best approach to develop these leadership characteristics is continuously practised them and make efforts, not to anything less than perfect. Leadership requires the self-discipline showed by Martin Luther King in order to an outstanding leader. Through self-disciple and consistency, a pattern I formed that makes an individual grow and command respect as a leader.

Conclusion

With proper mentorship and a willingness to learn, anyone and develop leadership characteristics that make them outstanding. From the example of Martin Luther King Jr, leadership requires an individual to develop a set of unique characters that are the difference between success and failure.

References

McGuire, D., & Hutchings, K. (2007). Portrait of a transformational leader: the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 28(2), 154-166.

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.