Introduction Leader or Manager? Laissez-faire or Democratic? Born or made? What makes the best leader?

For decades researchers and authors have been writing about leaders, managers, hierarchy and leadership styles. Millions of books and articles try to lead us down the road to a better way. Google the word Born Leader and it brings up over 4,250,000 different results in less than 0.16 seconds. The online dictionary Wikipedia describes leadership as the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Google the phase Leaders are made and it brings up approximately, 206,000,000 results in 0.13 seconds. Is there a difference between a term and label such as leaders are born or leaders are made? No matter which one you prefer to use, there are bold characterize supporting the argument that a person can not inherent the innate ability to be a natural born leader. A Review of Literature Discussion after discussion accrues about how effective leaders successfully integrate the ability to maximize their available resources to obtain and share an organizations vision. Leaders multiple roles to maintain efficiency can be manageable if you start in the right places. According to Collins (2001) and Abrashoff (2002), there are particular attributes to increase the abilities you posse. Both, Collins and Abrashoff jointly narrow down three important qualities and they are reinforced by Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State (2005). 1. First who , then what? (Collins)

2. Look at the ship through your crews eyes (Abrashoff) 3. Communication and communicate often (Collins, Abrashoff)

First who, then what? Collins presents that First get the right people on the bus and get the wrong people off the bus, and get the right people in the right seats then driving the bus in the right direction becomes easy because the right people will know what to do. Abrashoff confirms this by explaining that people are not the most important asset, but getting the right people is. Reintroducing the wrong people to market place and allowing them to be successful somewhere else is in both of your best interest. Everyone deserves a chance to be successful, they just need to be successful somewhere else. The right person might be right under your nose and flying under the radar waiting for the opportunity to blossom like a flower in spring. As Abrashoff presents, the right person has more to with character than capabilities, because skills can be taught and people can be educated, but character goes beyond knowledge and experience. Look at the ship through your crews eyes A culture of trust and honesty creates a tremendous opportunity for the people you lead to flourish. Good leaders display a mentality of leading by example. They have more of plow horse than show horse (Collins) point of view. Some roll up their sleeves and get a little under their fingernails alone side their junior. Many times you will only see leaders come in contact with the community they create when necessary. Collins future explains that you must lead with questions instead of just giving answers. And engaging in open dialogue and heavy debate builds cohesion and allows the troops to rally around and support the end decision. Furthermore, he expresses his theory of putting your best people on your biggest problems which allows them a time to shine and provide an opportunity to grow. Research time and time

reports that top reasons for people leaving their current employment is not being treated with respect and dignity. Not being listened to and not being rewarded with more responsibilities. Therefore, Abrashoff decided to take a different approach and allow his shipmates to find a better way of doing things. He encouraged them to not only find better ways of performing the task, but have fun doing so. Abrashoff believed that although leaders perform with insecurities, scared and full or doubt that take calculated risk and allow your crew the authority to make their own decisions and even if the decisions were wrong he would stand behind them. He states that the more responsibilities you give someone, the more they learned. Creating a climate that allows people to unleash their potential is creating an environment where they have multiple opportunities to achieve. Communicate and communicate often One of the fundamental components of communication is to listen and listen effectively. Collins believes that a good open and honest debate that will increase productivity or increase the quality of the product will sometimes make bystanders feel uncomfortable. Creating the climate that enables people to unleash their potential is accomplished by communicating the message. Communication allows you to inform personnel about the organizations vision and new goals. Employees leaving their passion in the cars in the company parking garage can be decreased by opening up the clogged channels versus leaving them in the dark. Leaders need collective authority which requires collective knowledge. When Abrashoff s crew witnessed him opening himself up for criticism, they also open themselves up for ideas that would dramatic improvement their performance. With high-quality leadership, freedom of expression doesn t deteriorate discipline it reinforces it. Even with tradition Navy structures, Captain Abrashoff

promoted risk takers even if they fail once in a while. The talk among the ranks was known as This captain doesn t want parrots he wants people who think for themselves (Abrashoff). Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of state, told a Business School student audience that successful leaders know how to define their mission and convey it to their subordinates. Additionally, Abrashoff believes this translates into performance.

Methodological In a survey conducted by the Saratoga Institute, it revealed that 88% of employees leave for reasons other than money while 89% of managers believe that money is reason for leaving employers. Three of the top ten most mentioned issues that employee say their company has poor management, poor communication and poor senior leadership. Therefore using the methods of Collins and Abrashoff leaders can increase productivity and performance of while maintaining the quality of life within the culture they create. In both Collins and Abrashoff books, they refer to leaders with passion for what they and confronting brutal facts of your current reality. Being able to share the leaders passion drives the vigorous hunt of a clear and gripping vision, stimulating elevated performance standards. Another reason for selecting Abrashoffs book, Its Your Ship, is I have a personal connection with the concepts he displays in his material. Serving nine years as a submarine sailor, I dealt with most of the worn out traditions of dictator leadership. The old saying that Shit rolls down hill was common everyday practice. Having a superior with minimum leadership training and forgetting that he to was once in my shoes, I was told that If you dont have any motivation, he would give me some. Making the next two days a living hell because of the workload he gave me.

Observation

Uncaring higher-ups with poor communication skills providing superficial training is disaster waiting to happen. The functional approach of leadership focuses on what a leader does rather than on who a leader is. Which raises another question of, Is Leadership a job or a person? Great leaders will emerge within a group and leading by example amplify the likelihood that others will follow. If a person has a why they can overcome the how, even if the why belongs to someone else. Human nature and the inmate desire of belonging compels our soul to be motivated for a common goal. The word motivate comes from a French word, motif, and motivation derives from the root word motor which is more attuned to how you feel than what you think. If the concept of motivation was conceived in the mid 1800s, why cant we figure out how to correctly implement the strategies of a good leader?

Conclusion

In closing, I am reminded of the saying that he/she is a natural born leader. While Tiger Wood may have been born with a God given talent of playing golf, it is not conceivable to accept it as true that a person can inherent the traits needed from birth to be a great leader without a tremendous amount of practice. Without that talent, no amount of gold will make you as good as he is. Why would the art of leading be any different? The good thing is, leadership is a quality that can be learned. To achieve success as a leader, one learns from trail and error, and from experience. Success is a horrible teaching validating that leaders learn from experience and when something doesnt work they put it behind them and move on, allowing themselves to grow.

References Abrashoff, Captain D. Michael (2002) Its Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn ship in The Navy.

Collins, Jim (2001). Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap And Others Dont

http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/vftt_powell.shtml http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html http://iaap-hq.org/ResearchTrends/Real_Reasons_Why_Employees_Leave.htm http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/motivate

The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How To Recognize The Subtle Signs and Act Before Its Too Late, by Leigh Branham, 2005, AMACOM publishers.