Foreign Trade University Faculty of Economics and International Business

Advance Writing II Course Final Research Paper

Important Traits of good leaders of change Student: Tran Ngoc Linh Class : A1 CTTT K48 Stu. ID: 0951040039 Lecturer: Nguyen Hoang Giang

Contents
Contents......................................................................................................... 2 Introduction....................................................................................................3 Theoretical Background..................................................................................4 What is leadership?.....................................................................................4 Leadership Theory.......................................................................................5 I.Characteristics of Leaders............................................................................9 Vision.......................................................................................................... 9 Valuing Human Resources........................................................................10 Leaders are Communicators and Listeners...............................................11 II.Reflection.................................................................................................. 12 Conclusion....................................................................................................14 III.Reference.................................................................................................15

Introduction
Some still argue whether leaders are made or born. However, to the true leader, this argument has no meaning. They are trained, they practice and they act. A true leader often explore themselves motivation to lead without a strong desire to lead, they never can improve their skills as well as become an effective leader. The fact is that the way to become a leader is practicing to have the necessary leadership skills. They can only be a successful leaders when they know how to display their needed qualities. It is believed that a person who has enough skills of leadership can make a change in anywhere they come. There are not many true leaders, but, they hold the future of many people. However, there are a number of leadership skills that people pointed out; you do not have enough ability to receive all of them. So, what are the most important one among concepts? The answer will come up with my research paper, which have an overview of leadership and my own reflection. The paper begins with a brief review of some key leadership concepts. Next, there is a discussion of the characteristics found to be effective leaders. Finally, this synthesis concludes with my reflection in the real situation. The information will be useful to people who want deeper understanding of leadership concept and what effective characteristics of leaders are. The information might also be useful to people who want to evaluate and select a leader of change.

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Theoretical Background
What is leadership?
the state or position of being a leader Oxford Advanced learners Dictionary, 7th Editor, 2005 The above statement from the most reliable source, Oxford Dictionary, is very simple and clear. However, there exists a variety of definitions of leadership, in technical vocabulary as well as scientific approach. In some case, people have not found any specific definition of leadership that they could accept widely. Fiedler, for example, noted: There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are leadership theories and there are almost as many theories of leadership as there are psychologists working in the field (p. 1). Even the numerous of definitions, there has at least one common point, which is identified as an abroad definition of leadership, among different statements. Yukl (2002) shows some of definitions of leadership from 1857 up to 1999 (Table 1). It is presented that the most of leadership definitions clearly assume that leadership is a process whereby intentional influence is exerted by one person over other in order to guide, structure and facilitate organizational activities and relationships (Yukl, 2002, p. 7) Table 1. Definition of leadership (Yuki, 2002, p. 3) Leadership is 1. the behavior of an individual directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal (Hemphill & Coons, 1957, p.7) 2. the influential increment over and above mechanical compliance with the routine directive of the organization (Katz & Kahn, 1978, p.528) (continued table 1)

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3. exercised

when

personmobilizeinstitutional,

political,

psychological, and other resources so as to arouse, engage, and satisfy the motives of followers (Burns, 1978, p.18) 4. The process of influencing the activities of an organized group toward goal achievement (Rauch & Behling, 1984, p.46) 5. A process of giving purpose (meaningful direction) to collective effort, and causing willing effort to be expended to achieve purpose (Jack & Jaques, 1990, p. 281)
6. the ability to step outside the culture to start evolutionary change

processes that are more adaptive (Schein, 1992, p. 2) 7. the process of making sense of what people are doing together so that people will understand and be committed (Drath & Palus, 1994, p. 204 8. about articulating visions embodying values, and creating the environment within which things can be accomplished (Richards & Engle, 1986, p. 206) 9. the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organization (House et al., 1999, p.184

Leadership Theory
Over centuries, people keep searching for the characteristics or traits of leaders. Among with the development of leadership definition, scientists also continue working on the theory of leadership. The research trends have changed over the year to be appropriate with the history stage. Professor Alan Bryman (Leadership in organization, 1992) generally splits leadership research into four decades as following

Table 2. Trends in leadership theory and research (Bryman, 1992, p.1) Period Up to late 1940s Late 1940s to late Approach Trait approach Style approach Core theme Leadership ability is innate Leadership effectiveness is to do Page | 5

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1960s Late 1960s to early 1980s Since early 1980s

Contingency approach

with how the leader behaves It all depends; effective leadership is affected by the situation Leaders need vision

New Leadership approach (includes trans formational and charismatic leadership)

Although the thought might change during each decade, there always exists the core theories, which are developed years by years. Series School of thought started from Great Man and Trait theories to Transformational. The earliest theories tend to focus on the characteristics and behaviors of successful leader, the later the more consideration on the role of followers and the contextual nature of leadership. This theories table below is summarized from Review of Leadership theory and competency frameworks, 2003 of University of Exeter. Table 3. From Great Man to Transformation Leadership (University of Exeter, 2003) Theories Great Man Theories Summary Based on the belief that leaders are exceptional people, born with innate qualities, destined to lead. The use of the term man was intentional since until the latter part of the twentieth century leadership was thought of as a concept which is primarily male, military and Western. This led to Trait Theories the nex schook of Trait Theories The lists of traits or qualities associated with leadership exist in abundance and continue to be produced. They draw on virtually all the adjectives in the dictionary which describe some positive or virtuous human attribute, from Behaviourist Theories ambition to zest for life. These concentrate on what leaders actually do rather than on their qualities. Different patterns of behavior are Page | 6

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observed and categorized as styles of leadership. This area has probably attracted most attention from practicing Situational Leadership managers. This approach sees leadership as specific to the situation in which it is being exercised. For example, whilst some situations may required an autocratic style, others may need a more participative approach. It also proposes that there may be differences in required leadership styles at Contingency Theory different levels in the same organization. This is a refinement of the situational viewpoint and focuses on identifying the situational variables which best predict the most appropriate or effective leadership style to Transactional Theory fit the particular circumstances. This approach emphasizes the importance of the

relationship between leader and followers, focusing on the mutual benefits derived from a form of contract through which the leader delivers such things a rewards or recognition in return for the commitment or loyalty of the followers The central concept here is change and the role of leadership in envisioning and implementing the transformation of organizational performance

Transformational Theory

By the flow of history, the newest theory Transformational Theory represents the ideology of the modern life. It arose with the surge in interest concerning the re-engineering of organizations and is centered around the promotion of change and developments in individuals, groups and organizations. In summary, leadership is always an important aspect of organization. Through centuries, leadership behaviors and characteristics are still studied by scientists and philosophers. They always consider about what important traits of effective leadership: vision, collaboration, or integrity, etc. So, the question raised nowadays is how leaders can lead their organizations to change. There is a clear Writing Research: Leadership Skill Page | 7

progression in the research literature from static to dynamic considerations. The evolution leads to the next section: Characteristics of leaders

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I.

Characteristics of Leaders

Although there are many concept of leadership above, no one can have all of these traits; every leader performs a frequency of leadership behaviors, as well as non-leadership behaviors. In fact, there are still a number of assumptions about leadership. One assumption is that leaders should be both leaders and managers. Another assumption about leaders of change is that only administrators will be leader. However this assumption, that change comes only from individuals in top positions, "ignores the invisible leadership of lower-level staff members" (Murphy, 1988, p. 655). Even these assumptions, recently, the leaders began with having a vision, developed a shared vision with their co- workers, and valued the organization's personnel.

Vision
Vision is the most important requirement of leadership. It is a force that provides meaning and purpose to the work of an organization. In the work of leaders of change, vision is the basic and they must be visionary leaders. "To actively change an organization, leaders must make decisions about the nature of the desired state" (Manasse, 1986, p. 151). First, vision comes to leaders personally, then form into shared vision with their coworkers. Their communication of the vision is such that it empowers people to act. According to Westley and Mintzberg (1989) visionary leadership is dynamic and involves a three stage process:

an image of the desired future for the organization (vision) is communicated (shared) which serves to "empower those followers so that they can enact the vision" (p. 18).

The difference among true leaders and mere managers is the sharing of a leaders vision. Leaders invite and encourage others to participate in determining and developing a shared vision. The process of developing a shared vision promotes collegial bonding.

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Vision, a critical leadership characteristic, is also a trait of successful executive businessman (New Ideas from Dead CEOs: Lasting Lessons from the Corner Office, Todd Buchholtz). Ten businessmen in this book, like other visionaries, understand their mission and desired vision for their work. Here mentions some examples. Fred Smith, a businessman, had an idea to deliver important documents over night. He imagined airplanes from all over the country flying in to a central hub city after midnight, sorting their cargoes and flying off. He named his business Federal Express, Fed-Ex for short. His vision statement: "A vision of truly reliable mail service." For Steve Jobs, of Apple Computer it was to "start a revolution in the way the average person processes information." With the successful Nordstrom family it was to "create an experience with our stores." "It is the business visionary who, having focused his passion on the mission of his business and created a mission statement, then seeks to formulate and implement his desired future with a clearly stated vision statement. This is followed by effective communication, clarity and commitment, to both his management team and employees," said Midgett. It is very important for leaders to have a vision and promotes others with a shared-vision. This will be the first thing to define the organizations desired future.

Valuing Human Resources

Leaders should recognize that the people in the organization are its greatest resource. "To lead change the leader must believe without question that people are the most important asset of an organization" (Joiner, 1987 p. 2). This characteristic has three dimensions.
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The leaders' valuing the professional contributions of the staff the leaders' ability to relate to people fostering collaborative relationship.

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Valuing people's contributions to an organization differs from relating to people and building collaboration. The initial relates to individuals' skills and expertise, while the latter two acknowledge interpersonal skills. Leaders not only include the contributions of employees in determining and realizing the vision but also have the interpersonal skills that help them relate with others and develop collaborative relationships, foster environments and work processes to facilitate the organizations' collective efforts, and address the needs of individuals as well as groups (Joiner, 1987; Barnes & Kriger, 1986). Leaders trust the strength of others and value their efforts and contributions in the realization of the organization's vision.

Leaders are Communicators and Listeners

In addition to being able to communicate and influence others, leaders also need to be able to listen to others and understand their purposes in order to appeal to them in a more effective manner. There are several benefits to the listening skills as followed: Firstly, the listening skill help improve interpersonal relationship between the leader and his/ her follower. Once a good relationship is established, it makes way for better understanding and compassion, which tend to get people to sympathize and agree more with each other. Secondly, an effective listener can appeal better to the needs of his/her follower. This will lead the success in the future. However, a good listener, a good leader does not mean a person who listen everything. The information must be selective, then leaders must choose which the best for their decision.

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II. Reflection
Great Leader are made, not born Im always randomly chosen as a leader or manager since the first step to school, but I am not a good inborn leader. I used to be a bashful monitor that was tired with too many opinions of members in the class and hard to give the last decision. Since there, I have learnt many things after falling over and over. At the age of eighteen, as many other students, who want to make a change, I desired to set up a club, to be a leader and mark some meaningful things during my school life. I was enthusiastic and ambitious, I had motivation, but I forgot, I did not have enough skills. At the early stage of my club a club of environment, everything is like messy. I have to work very hard to complete the work of the club and have conflict with my co-founder. Then, the members in club were not active and passionate. This resulted further in the delay of word and activities I planned. Hence, I and my co-founder together discussed about this situation and we focused on a change! We wondered and figured out thatwe did not have the mind of a leader. We had vision but we did not to anything to our members to a shared-vision. We had near thirty students in the club, but we did not know the strength and weakness of them; did not focus on boding relationships among leaders and member. Right the time we wrote down the problems of us ourselves, we started to plan having a change. The founders have ideas and vision, but they can not develop the idea well just by themselves. We started by some core ideas and shared with other members. We had more unofficial talks as well as official meeting to collect and gather others members ideas. Finally, the result is that our entire members understood what we want to do with the club and we had collected many greats supported ideas. Parallel to the process of sharing vision, we develop the Human Resources Writing Research: Leadership Skill Page | 12

System. Beside the old departments, we have a core team doing HR, who are in charge of motivating the member in the club, understanding members weakness and strength, and planning bonding activities. The work really ran in the way more effectively than I could imagine. As a leader now, I found out that I myself have to be visionary and share my vision with my co-colleagues. I must have an overview to all the work of the club and know well my all members. Listening and keeping good communication with others also help me lead the clubs more effectively and earn respect from others. The above traits must be practiced and is always the compulsory characteristic of leaders.

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Conclusion
Leadership is a topic which has many different research and ideas. There is no absolutely right answer for the question What is the necessary trait of leaders of change? This research just bases on the information from other researchers and my own experiences to provide you another ways of understanding leadership and how to lead successfully. Firstly, my paper mention about leadership definition and theories of leadership for providing an general information on leadership. This summarized a history of researching about leadership. The research trends changes from years over year, however, they still keep the core value of leadership. And, it is important to concentrate on the newest theory of leadership: transformational theory The next part, I focus on the three most important characteristics of leadership: being visionary, valuing human resources, communicating and listening effectively, which are common to successful leaders of change. The section mentions about some points of view of other authors and some example from real life. Then, I wrote about my own experience on leadership, mentions how these characteristics are important and how to be successful. Overall, the purpose of this paper is providing a particular sight of leadership to people, especially youths. At any time and place, leadership skills are important to lead to make a change.

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III. Reference
Bass, B. (1985) Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York: Free Press. Bass, B.M.& Avolio, B.J. (1994) Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Bergmann, H., Hurson, K. and Russ-Eft, D. (1999) Everyone a Leader: A grassroots model for the new workplace. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano, A. and Dennison, P (2003)Review of Leadership theory and competency frameworks of Murphy 1988. University of Exeter. Source: http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/cls/research/abstract.php?id=29 Buchholtz, Tood () New Ideas from Dead CEOs: Lasting Lessons from the Corner Office Burns, J. M. (1978) Leadership. New York: Harper & Row. Bryman, Alan (1992) Charisma and Leadership in Organization. SAGE Publication Ltd. Cabinet Office - Senior Civil Service Competence Framework. Online at: http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/civilservice/scs/competences.htm Companies House (2002) Directors and Secretaries Guide. Source:

http://www.companies-house.gov.uk Joiner Jr., C.W. (1987). Leadership for change. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company. Joiner, 1987; Barnes & Kriger, 1986 Oxford University Press (1995) Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary 7th Edition Manasse, A.L. (1986). Vision and leadership: Paying attention to intention. Peabody Journal of Education Westley, F. & Mintzberg, H. (1989). Visionary leadership and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, Yukl, A., Gary (2002) Leadership in Organization. Prentice House

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