Good Example Of Leader Story By Angela Barron McBride Essay

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The article entitled ‘Leader Story’ written by a distinguished professor named Angela Barron McBride highlighted the essential competencies and characteristic of a leader regardless if applied within service or academic setting. According to her, the primary competency that a leader must embody is self-knowledge. This self-knowledge, according to the author, comes from life experience gained by oneself, from other people as well as the community that surrounds the person. This self-knowledge will direct an individual to a strategic vision that assists him to create change and apply it the assigned tasks. It is also important that a leader has a good risk taking capability and element of creativity in order to develop continuous progress. Furthermore, the article highlighted that a leader must have an effective interpersonal communication skill in order clearly articulate and share necessary goals and understanding. Lastly, McBride cited that it is imperative that a leader leads the change and inspire the people that surround him .
The leadership style demonstrated in the story is appropriate and effective. Primarily, the author believed in the principle of learning organization as her philosophy. Aside from self-knowledge as part of the competency of a leader, the story highlighted the importance that members of her subordinates are knowledgeable and have their expertise. Furthermore, the incident between her and her administrator who believed that leadership is all about commanding and passing orders demonstrated the author’s competency as inspirational and leader of change. She exhibited leadership by example and this is an effective way of leading people.
Based on the described core competencies of a leader, the article highlighted the characteristics and capability of a transformational leadership. Transformation Leaders are generally passionate, enthusiastic and known for inspiring and facilitating growth among its subordinates. Such kind of leadership style is appropriate in this story the author her self-knowledge, creativity and experiences are essential foundation to continuously inspire and facilitate growth and learning among the individuals that surround her . Furthermore, it is through this leadership approach that the author intends to change the perceptions and expectations of her subordinates and work towards common vision and goals. I believe that this kind of approach when leading people can have good and positive effect on the behavior and participation of a group. Inspiring, motivating people and continuously encouraging them to deliver well will lead to higher stage of satisfaction and performance, thus, encourages them to discover their potential an exceed their limits.
Aside from exhibiting a transformation approach of leadership, this leader story is also best bundled with servant leadership style. While a transformation leader uses his knowledge and experience and continuously motivate and inspire people, this leader can also adopt the characteristics and approach of a servant leader. A servant leadership style relies heavily on listening and empathy, both verbal and non-verbal, in order to understand the thoughts and ideas of the people. Furthermore, an individual will feel that his or her leader is naturally with him if he does not rejects them, especially when it comes to work concerns. Based on experience, a transformational leader can apply the conceptualization and foresight skills of a servant leader to approach challenges and problems on a bigger perspective. Using his experience from the past, a transformational leader can look into the realities of the present situation, foresee the potential consequence in the future and based his decisions from this information.
On the other hand, the approach of this leader story can also consider applying the qualities and competencies of a visionary leadership approach. Group works do not depend on one person, but with the contribution of each individual to achieve a common goal. The visionary leadership style goes beyond the individual beliefs and capabilities. With this approach, there is an acceptance of the difference between each individual, respect each belief and contributes his best to come up with quality work. At the end of the day, the visionary leadership embodies a work that is not selfish but impacts the lives of the members of each group .

Works Cited

Kirkpatrick, S. "Visionary Leadership Theory." Publications. 2011. Web Doc.
Sahgal, P. "Transformational Leaders: Their Socialization, Self-Concept and Shaping Experiences." International Journal of Leadership Studies (2007): 263-279. Web Doc.
Wise, P. "Beyond Leading and Managing: Nursing Administration for the Future." Mcbride, A. Leader Story. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby Elsevier, 2006. 2101-212. eBook.