Executive Leadership Fundamentals

A simple definition is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act toward achieving a common goal.

In a business setting, this can mean directing workers and colleagues with a strategy to meet the company’s needs. This leadership definition captures the essentials of being able and prepared to inspire others.

Effective leadership is based upon ideas (whether original or borrowed), but won’t happen unless those ideas can be communicated to others in a way that engages them enough to act as the leader wants them to act. Put even more simply, the leader is the inspiration for and director of the action. They are the person in the group that possesses the combination of personality and leadership skills to make others want to follow their direction.

In business, leadership is linked to performance, and any leadership definition has to take that into account. While it’s not solely about profit, those who are viewed as effective leaders are the ones who increase their company’s bottom lines. If an individual in a leadership role does not meet profit expectations set by boards, higher management, or shareholders, they may be terminated.

The terms “leadership” and “management” tend to be used interchangeably. Management refers to a company’s management structure as its leadership, or to individuals who are actually managers as the “leaders” of various management teams.

Leadership, however, requires traits that extend beyond management duties. To be effective, a leader certainly has to manage the resources at their disposal. But leadership also involves communicating, inspiring and supervising—just to name three more of the primary skills a leader has to have to be successful.  Good leaders develop through a never-ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience.

This course will help you through the journey. To inspire your workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do. These do not often come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are NOT resting on their past laurels.

Upon Completion of this course, learners will be able to:

• Identify the characteristics of an effective leader.
• Recognize a person’s personal and leadership style.
• Describe the importance of switching styles to accommodate individual differences.
• Describe the relationship between leading and following.
• Explain the importance of empowerment in the community effort.
• Describe how a shared vision is important to organizational development.
• And many more.