Final Paper:

LEADERSHIP

PUAF692

Professors: Dr. Marc Farmer

Daren Tran

UID: 111982905

August 26, 2011

I. Leader was not born, but made

Today we know that people can learn to be leaders. Whether it happens through education, observation, or hands-on experience, leadership is primarily a learned ability. Nowadays, the science and technology have been developed; people have more chances to learn becoming leaders. We can learn from books, from the internet, from our shadowed leader or even draw experiences from ourselves.

According to the “Evolution of leadership theory” written by David A. Van Seters and Richard H.G. Field, “leadership is one of the most complex and multifaceted phenomena to which organizational and psychological research has been applied”. The term of “leadership” was mentioned from the early 1300s; however, until the 20th century, there has been intensive research on this subject, addressing leadership from a variety of perspectives. The theory of leadership has been developed from the personality traits to transformative perspective, or in other words, now the leaders have to learn how to stand on the shoulder of his organization, how to comprehend the adaptive problems in order to make lucid decisions.

Ronald Heifetz, the author of a very famous textbook “Leadership without easy answers” presented a new theory of leadership aimed at clarifying two important distinctions: between technical and "adaptive" problems, and between leadership and authority. He also attempts to redefine leadership as an activity rather than a position of influence or a set of personal characteristics. He indicated that, “We need to abandon the idea that leaders are born and not made". This belief fosters both self-delusion and irresponsibility in those who see themselves as "born leaders", and it can lead to inaction and dangerous forms of dependency in those who do not see themselves as leaders.

My shadowed leader, Mr. Truong Tran, considered that leadership is the process that the leader uses his charisma, mind, knowledge and talent to make influences on his organization in order to conduct a certain target. He was born in a rural family, overcame challenges to get Bachelor of economy. For him, leader is made by hard efforts, not naturally generated. As a leader, he sets up strategic visions, goals to meet the demands of difficulties. For him, a leader should learn some leadership skills including ability to collect and address information, ability to harmonize the distress situation of his organization and public speaking skill to mobilize his subordinates. In fact, those skills could be totally learned by people who want to be a leader.

I myself agree that everyone can be a leader. I can realize leadership through the father’s image in family, the president in a high school, or even a driver on a bus. Besides, leadership is the ability to influence subordinates to implement the targets of

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organization. Not by chance, but due to the hard efforts, those people would be proclaimed leaders without any available traits. Never had I got those traits to be a leader before, but I was still appointed several leadership positions by efforts, including a monitor, a sub-leader or a vice chairperson of English Speaking Club. It one more times demonstrates that the leader was not born, but made. In this writing, I will focus on analyzing the idea of “leader was not born, but made” and forming an effective leader for myself.

II. Own experiences contributed to form theory of a learning leader

Honestly, what I thought is that only some authority figures were born to be leaders. However, when I grew up, what I observed, what I learned from books and what I drew experiences from reality have opened up my perspective of leadership.

From my observations, to be a leader, one has to experience the process of building. In family, the father has to understand the family condition, know the way to share sadness and housework with his wife and the way to encourage his children whenever they feel upset. In a soccer team, the captain should learn to gain the technical and tactics skills to direct his teammates in a match. In a high school, the president has a certain quality to be elected by his officers. In order to maintain his school, he has to understand the economic situation, the quality of teachers and students, and the way to manage his staff. In general, all of these figures who are elected to be leaders have to be carefully considered by his subordinates. Therefore, those positions are not easy to gain but a building process.

From reading books, especially, the book “Evolution of leadership theory” showed an obvious process about the development of leadership. From the Personality Era (about 1300s), Great man theory said that “person was born with the capacity to be a leader”, then the Trait theory stated the people possess certain qualities or traits that make them better leaders. At the end of this era, the researchers revealed to prove that no single trait or personality resulted in a good leader, researchers just confessed there are people who possess the traits and personalities, but they cannot make them good leaders. In the next eras, the evolution of leadership theory has the tendency to emphasize on the way forming effective leaders. Over the development of nine eras, the ninth Era became the overall view of the previous eras. Studies indicated that effective leaders are not depend on the personal capacity, otherwise effective leaders in new period have to attempt to execute the new qualities to perform. They have to be willing take risks and highly adapt to new challenges1.

1 according to “The evolution of leadership theory”, page 13

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Furthermore, the effective leaders must be willing to delegate authority and place emphasis on innovation. The new leaders must exemplify the values, goals and culture of the organization and be highly aware of the environmental factors affecting it. The new leader must adopt a new perspective on power. Whereas the old view of power dealt with dominating subordinates, the new strategy should be to build subordinate skills and confidence. Leaders must lead by empowering others, and place increasing emphasis on statesman-ship. With the development of leadership over each era, we have more points to believe that leaders were not born; Leader must be built based on their hard efforts and the supports of their subordinates.

Ronald Heifetz wrote a very famous textbook “Leadership without Easy Answers” which showed us about the overview of leadership, distinguished between leadership with technical and adaptive problems, leading with or without authority. The title itself said its difficulties of being a leader. In the book, he assumed that the idea of “Leader was born, not made” is very dangerous2. It fosters both self-delusion and irresponsibility. For those who consider themselves "born leaders," free of an orienting philosophy and strategy of leadership, their grandiosity is a set-up for a rude awakening and for blindly doing damage. Conversely, those who consider themselves "not leaders" escape responsibility for taking action, or for learning how to take action, when they see the need. In the face of critical problems, they say, "I'm not a leader, what can I do?” Therefore, the author raised an issue that leadership nowadays is that taking action, more than influence. Whenever there is a crisis of leadership, one who can generate useful outcomes to meet the expectations of his followers could be leader.

From my own experiences, I do agree with the idea “leader was not born, but made”. By my level of education, I was appointed to several positions such as a monitor, a secretary, a vice-chairperson. Whatever position I gained, I learned a great deal of experiences about how to exercise my authority, how to operate a group of members and how to maintain its activities. For the alternatives of each activity, I had to find out the way to meet the expectations of my subordinates as well as my supporters. For instance, once there was a problem with publishing magazine at my English Club. My younger subordinate was too shy to persuade the librarian correct the mistakes. As a vice-chairperson, I identified the competitive situation among officers in the library so that I quickly persuaded the librarian in a quiet way to recopy the magazine for us. I could see the happiness and admiration on the younger subordinate’s eyes when he received the magazines. As a result, our magazines were published in due course. I do not believe that a leader with personal traits could address the problems in such situations like that. Otherwise, it should be originated from learning not only through textbooks but also through others in our society.

2 Leadership without Easy Answers, p 20

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In general, from what I have observed and what I have read from books, a leader is not born naturally, it needs a process of learning and building. We can draw a conclusion that there are three common reasons formed a leader. First, everyone was born with a common trait: potential to be a leader. However, the leader must pay to achieve the worthwhile. In order to be a leader, one have to build a good relationship, keep the influences on people surrounding and adapt to the alternatives of environment. Secondly, if someone were born to be a leader, he might be very immobile. He always depends on his personal traits, not attempt to overcome challenges. As a result, his position could not be maintained and of course, he would soon be eliminated. Finally, nine Eras of leadership theory demonstrated a rule undeniable that becoming a leader is not because of his personality, but his influences and actions adapted to the alternatives of environment.

III. Learning leadership from Experiences of Others

I strongly believe that there is no model leader, who is born to be a leader, leaders must learn and draw experiences from their activities to adapt every small challenge. Therefore, in order to be an effective leader, I plan to study the experiences from others, especially from my shadowed leader.

Learning from my shadowed leader

On June 18, 2011, I have an opportunity to interview Mr. Truong, the chairperson of QuangTrung Ward Administrative Committee who has long experiences about leadership. Being asked about his views on leadership, he asserted that “Leadership is a complex concept that is defined as the ability to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organization of which they are members”. He also considered no one was born to be a leader, but a potential leader. If one attempts to be a leader, develops leadership skills and has some necessary factors, he will be able to be a leader.

First, he shared with me a leader has to build four necessary factors, which he called “CMKT” formula. A leader builds “Charisma” to attract his officers and to be respected staff but by his colleagues. A leader builds strong “Mind” to be enthusiastic and responsible in his business. A leader collects “Knowledge” to analyze national defense, social and economic issues, and oversees the whole general business of his agency. Finally, “Talent” lets leader study, research and improves his administrative skills.

Secondly, a leader should improve leadership skills including knowledgeable in current research, resolving disputes and public speaking, he said. To get information, he should know how to use technology to update information and understand the situation of his

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organization. He believes that if a leader apprehended and announced this important event to his staff, his agents would respect him as a leader who had a wide knowledge in politics. For skill of resolving disputes, a leader understands his citizens about attitudes, behaviors and skills; he can create influences on his agency by harmonizing the conflicts. Public speaking, according to him, is a very important skill. Leaders always have to stand before the public to give speeches. Therefore, if he is skilled in this field, he will gain the respect from his agents. He also supplemented his skills in public speaking by learning from famous speeches on the internet and applying his own creativity.

Last but not least, he shared the way he managed his staff and some experiences on leadership. At first, he said there should be a regulation for the whole officers to obey. Once, an officer broke the rules must be punished and others should get a reward equal to desert. Moreover, he shared three views of leadership, which he drew experiences when he served as a leader. A leader has to hold a work environment in which each member works together responsibly. A leader has to build a strategic vision for the officers to follow. A leader should understand the power of community to operate the whole officers. Behind the job, the chairperson reminds me that although a leader is very busy with his job, he should spend time for his family. He emotionally told me that behind a successful man are the footsteps of his woman.

Leadership is a difficult field, although everyone is a potential leader, a person without learning leadership skills he cannot be an effective leader. He said that no university trained him about the way to address the adaptive problems, but from drawing his own experiences. Take a case of the biggest challenge that my shadowed leader had faced as an example. His challenge was that accepting or not an offer of his land officer to make up land license in order to discount the land tax. The point is that his wife had showed her agreement without his approval to the offer. He reminded me about his working style of leading with all his heart and morality. At first, he had to face the pressure between refusing his wife for the benefit and violating his work principles. In the end, he chose the way to refuse his wife from the benefits. That was an example of an adaptive challenge because the story ended with punishment for the land officer. In this case, if my shadowed leader approved the suggestion of the land officer, it would lead him to violate the rule, and of course, no one in his organization respected him anymore.

Learning from others

A leader has to learn not only from books in university, but also from his friends, his teachers in society. That is the way to be a leader not because of his personality traits (which is born to be a leader). For the time studying and collecting materials, I have drawn some general ideas about issues regard to leadership, as follows:

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-Education and degree on leadership: today mentioning to leadership, government organization required a leader a high education and bachelor degree. Some studies suppose that it is not important to have a degree; they just grade the leader through the effectiveness of assignment. Others suppose that if a leader does not have a degree, he could not lead his organization. In fact, we tend to respect effectiveness than degree. Take Bill Gates as an example, he is a very famous leader of Microsoft Corporation, earning tremendous benefits every year without any degree. After nearly 30 years, he came back Harvard University to take his bachelor degree. He shared that reality is the biggest university lead him to success. By the way, leading is a process of learning. Someone is successful for his education at university, others from society. More importantly, no one was born to be a leader.

-Advantages of leading without authority: In fact, most of us have been very strange with the concept leading with or without authority. Usually, we refer to leader with default point of view that he or she is working for government organization. However, leading in non-government organizations, sometimes, is more comfortable than the other one.First, the absence of authority enables one to deviate from the norms of authoritative decision-making. Instead of providing answers that soothe, one can more readily raise questions that disturb. One has more latitude for creative deviance. Secondly, leading without authority permits leaders to pay attention to a single issue. One does not have to contend so fully with meeting the multiple expectations of multiple constituencies and providing the holding environment for everybody. Third, operating with little or no authority places one closer to the detailed experiences of some of the stakeholders in the situation. One may lose the larger perspective but gain the fine grain of people's hopes, pains, values, habits, and history3.

- Addressing conflicts: One question was raised that whether the leader stopped the distress immediately or not. Studies showed that the leader should not interrupt the distress at that time because it would make the conflicts last long. One suggestion was pointed out that he has to look for the root of the conflicts in each situation. The root of each conflict may be in the behaviors, attitudes or skills of the subordinates. In this case, the leader should slow down to access the reality exactly to adapt to the challenge.

-Being honesty and a good listener: It is no doubt that there is no perfect leader. A leader should build honest characteristic to his subordinates. Sometimes, leaders have to learn to recognize the weaknesses in a situation. If he were honest to himself and to his subordinates, some expertise under him would find the way to support him. Besides, he has to know the way to encourage his subordinates to face the reality and truly listen to them to understand what the real problems are. For instance, a weak student tried to hide

3 Leadership without Easy Answers, page 188

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his weakness in listening skill. In this case, as a leader of that class, the monitor should arouse the honesty of that student and truly listen to his expectation to find out the good way helping him.

In fact, the leadership is a science with a broad category, so that we cannot cover all its fields. However, we can learn from textbook and take the reality to perfect our knowledge about leadership little by little.

IV. Team Leadership from Simulation

On the class of leadership, we have a chance to take part in a challenge of simulation to climb the Mount Everest. Our class was divided to 6 teams including leaders, physicians, environmentalists, marathoners, photographers and observers. We have 2 hours and 16 minutes to finish six rounds. However, just in half an hour one team reach the peak, while others were rescued or had to come back the base camp. Through the challenge, we draw some experiences about leadership skills as follows:

-Communication skill: we are actually lack of communication skill. We have a chat system, but no team used it effectively. The information among each team was not exchanged as it could be. Therefore, the leader team cannot access the exact point to move up to the next camp. All of the process was conducted separately by each team. The leader team has no chance to motivate, as well as consider whether the climbing group should go on or stop for rest. That is the reason make the climbing impossible to occur in a way as hoped. In short, communication skill of teamwork leading shows its importance.

-Preparation: each team has not understood its own mission when climbing the mountain. The mission of each team was listed in the team profile; however, no team read it to understand what they should do in different situation. The leader cannot set the goal for each team during the climbing.

-Work environment among the team members: the role of each member in each team was not assigned reasonably. We sit together but cannot bring into play the strengths of each member. Besides, we spend much time reading the mission during climbing so that we cannot focus on the climbing mission.

One more time, I can say no one was born a leader; leadership must be built by hard efforts. Although we failed in the climbing mission, cannot reach the peak of the Mount Everest, but we have to learn from our failure. In whatever situation, no matter what it is a clear or not path; we have to spend time preparing and improvising with adaptive challenge. That is a good way leads to a success.

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V. Conclusion

According to me, an effective leader should build some characteristics, not just wait to be a leader. I myself form some characteristics, which I assume it is suitable with me to be a leader in the near future, as follows:

Communication-- Leaders express themselves effectively. Certainly, this ability includes good oral and written communication skills but goes far beyond that. It is a different kind of communication that says you have a presence, an air of confidence, and outward display of knowledge, charisma, all enthusiasm that clearly demonstrate that you are a real leader. It is a different kind of communication, often referred to as the body language was silent communication. It has to do with deportment, how one carries one self. It means that you know who you are, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and how to use them to their full advantage. You also know what you want and why you want it and how to get it. You set goals and achieve those goals by communicating to others. You obtained the support of and cooperation of others by making sure they are aware of your goals.

Good decision-making- as a decision-maker you are able to gather facts, organize information and apply good judgment in your choice of action. Your willingness to make a choice after considering all possible alternatives is essential. Depending upon the complexity of the decision to be made, you may use decision-making models.

Taking Risks- effective leaders often take responsible risks and are willing to try everything that may bring desired results. The willingness to take risks tends to set them apart from the crowd. Being a risk taker, you do not fear failure; you view it as a temporary setback and feel that failure today does not rule out success tomorrow. Some US companies are deliberately making risk taking a part of their corporate culture. Risk-takers tend to be achievement oriented, Gold directed, and self-confident. The willingness to try new ideas often reaps great rewards for the individual and the organization.

Motivation- to be an effective leader, you must be able to influence others to produce good results. In the climate of the 21st century workplace, motivation of employees will lean away from the autocratic methods of the past towards a new style of inspiring and empowering people. John P. Kotter4 says that leadership is the process of moving people and some direction mostly non-coercive means.

4 Author of “The Leadership Factor”

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Delegation- means assigning tasks to subordinates and in following up to ensure that they are completed properly and on time. As an effective leader, you would delegate tasks to others to develop their skills and build a stronger team.

Through Strengthsfinder software, I took part in a survey and found out five strengths for

myself to form an effective leader, including harmony, analytical, context, responsibility

and consistency. Based on the outcome and my experience, I draw a conclusion to what I

have to improve to be a leader, as follows:

- Harmony: Armed with this information, I can treat people, groups, programs, or budgets

equally. Driven by my talents, you tend to be more practical than creative. You usually

think through problems or situations step by step. You identify the facts to make the

unknown known. You fill in missing information. You clarify ideas, proposals, or rules.

Using your intelligence or common sense, you diplomatically show people what is true

and what is false. Generally you are the unifying force between individuals who are

upset, mad, irritated, or in direct conflict with one another. It is very likely that you

sometimes seek out and listen to the opinions of others before you express your own

views. Instinctively, you yearn to avoid conflicts and disagreements. This explains why

you study and examine plans before you leap into action. Your need to do things properly

and correctly indicates your cautious nature. The clarity you bring to projects and tasks

makes you and/or others feel informed and safe. Because you check so many things

beforehand, the number of misunderstandings and miscommunications between people is

likely to decrease dramatically. Chances are good that you are viewed as a practical

thinker. You frequently seek out specialists who have the best information on a particular

topic. You trust their answers and insights are correct.

- Consistency

Chances are good that you are quite content when you have performed to the best of your

ability. You probably waste little, if any, time wishing you had put more time or effort

into a task. You trust yourself to evaluate the quality and the quantity of your work. By

nature, you attempt to deal evenhandedly with all individuals. Possibly, you aim to be

consistent over time in how you apply certain rules, regulations, or policies. You might

be careful not to play favorites. Perhaps you guard against giving one person advantages

or opportunities that are denied to everyone else. Driven by your talents, you sometimes

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are sensitive to the fluctuating moods of certain individuals. This might be why you strive

to show no one favoritism. You might want each person to have the same opportunities,

access to information, or resources. Perhaps dealing with people impartially is one of

your core values. Because of your strengths, you may establish standard operating

procedures for performing particular kinds of tasks that occur on a regular basis. Rather

than inventing a new way to do things every single time, perhaps you favor pinpointing a

series of steps that enables people to handle the chore more efficiently. Investigating how

something works, then streamlining its function might be your forte — that is, your

strong point. Once you have laid out a series of steps and a timeline, you might be eager

to see your new and improved system implemented across the board — that is, used

equally by everyone. Instinctively, you sometimes exhibit particular patterns of behavior

over and over. Perhaps you appreciate certain individuals because they help you follow

your daily regimen. To some degree, these people contribute to your productivity or

success.

- Analytical

It’s very likely that you may ponder options rather than react without thinking through

things. Sometimes you weigh the ramifications, consequences, outcomes, or effects.

Sometimes you aim to understand the basic “whys” and “hows” of a situation, problem,

or opportunity. Individuals might trust you to be cautious. They might expect you to raise

important issues that require further consideration. Driven by your talents, you

consistently weigh the pros and cons before you make a decision. As a result, you avoid

rushing headlong into action without giving adequate forethought to the consequences

and benefits of what you plan to do or say. Your need to perform ethically, accurately,

and properly forces you to consider all aspects of a project, idea, or activity before you do

anything. Chances are good that you periodically investigate the “hows” and “whys” of a

given situation. You might find relationships between the final result and the events

preceding it. Perhaps these links enable you to understand how things came into being.

You may draw logical conclusions that can broaden your knowledge base. Instinctively,

you commonly are sought out for advice by individuals who appreciate your methodical

thinking style. Your approach often prevents people from being distracted by their own or

someone else’s emotions. You probably help them concentrate on the facts more than on

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their feelings. By nature, you may mull over ideas or plans before making important

choices in life. Perhaps you appreciate people who grant you ample time to arrive at your

own conclusions.

- Responsibility

It’s very likely that you may strive to do tasks correctly the first time. It makes no sense

to you to quickly do an assignment just so you can announce, “I finished first.” Quality

probably is one of your top priorities. Chances are good that you occasionally choose to

take your time so you can do things right. Perhaps you are annoyed by people who rush

through their work or attack it in fits and starts — that is, bursts of activity followed by

periods of inactivity. You may have concluded that these behaviors lead to mistakes and

produce shoddy outcomes. This partially explains why you choose to work with

individuals who make steady progress toward their goals. Because of your strengths, you

might shoulder your obligations and duties with relative ease. You might be motivated to

behave in ways that cause individuals to say you are dependable. Instinctively, you may

be attracted to individuals whose honesty and integrity are above reproach. Perhaps you

seek to penalize people who betray trust by taking things without permission. Driven by

your talents, you may want people to regard you as trustworthy, dependable, or reliable.

Perhaps this yearning motivates you to do whatever you said you would do.

Context

Driven by your talents, you are quite intrigued by history’s significant events and people.

Information about global conflicts fascinates you.

(could be 2 pages)

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