“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you will help them to become what they are capable of being.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

There are many theories that attempt to account for leadership excellence. The opening quote is, perhaps, the most widely accepted foundation of leadership excellence. If one expands beyond excellence to leadership more generally, a close examination of the various theoretical constructs discloses that they are consistently developed either from the perspective of the leader or from that of those who follow.

If developed from the perspective of the leader, the theory emphasizes the traits and characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of the leader. Leadership excellence is primarily a product of leaders who exhibit more of the desired traits and characteristics and avoid the less desirable traits and characteristics.

If developed from the perspective of those who follow, the theory emphasizes leadership strategies and techniques that encourage and maximize the strengths and individual talents of those who follow. Leadership excellence is primarily a product of leaders who are able to fully actualize the excellence potentials and capacities of those who follow.

Careful attention to these apparently opposing perspectives quickly reveals that they are not separate perspectives. Rather, the second is merely an extension of the first. Excellence leaders are leaders who exhibit traits and characteristics that motivate those who follow to fully participate in and contribute to the shared enterprise.

Leadership behavior then combines with associated thought processes that support and focus the desired perspective. For leaders who believe that leadership excellence primarily depends on personal traits and characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, thinking focuses on how to personally and more specifically manifest those traits and characteristics thought to be associated with leadership excellence.

How do leaders behave in various situations? How do they interact with those who follow? How do they approach and handle problems and challenges? What traits and actions differentiate leaders from non-leaders?

A commitment to leadership excellence is, then, a commitment to thinking about and answering these and similar questions. Excellence leaders ask, successfully answer, and in turn, implement the resulting directives implicit in the answers.

For leaders who believe that leadership excellence primarily depends on strategies and techniques that encourage and maximize the strengths and individual talents of those who follow, thinking focuses on how to encourage those who follow to personally and more specifically manifest the behavior thought to be most clearly associated with the success of the enterprise.

How does a leader motivate those who follow to accept and actively pursue the articulated mission of the enterprise? What needs to happen in order to assure that those who follow commit their full energy and capacity to the success of the enterprise? What techniques and strategies are necessary to maximize the contribution of each follower in relation to his (or her) individual skills and talents? What environmental and situational factors need to be manipulated to minimize avoidable loss of energy, skill, and follower focus and to maximize the actualization of the productive potential of those who follow?

Again, a commitment to leadership excellence is a commitment to thinking about and answering these and similar questions. Excellence leaders ask, successfully answer, and in turn, implement the resulting directives implicit in the answers.

On the one hand, the answers and associated directives are in terms of definable traits and characteristics of the leader. On the other hand, the answers and directives are in terms of factors and conditions related to the performance of the followers and associated strategies and techniques needed to optimize those factors and conditions.

Increasing leadership excellence is, thus, thought to depend either on improving the performance of the leader or on increasing the participation and commitment of the followers. Although both approaches are separately productive, leadership theory has moved to combine the approaches. Current theory posits that leadership excellence is best achieved when the leader concentrates on maximizing personal leadership traits and characteristics while concurrently implementing strategies and techniques to increase the participation and commitment of followers.

Considering this dichotomous understanding of leadership excellence as it applies to decision-making is instructive. How are decisions made and who makes them? At one extreme, decision-making is autocratic. The leader has absolute authority and makes all decisions. He (or she) may ask others for advice, information, and suggestions, giving the impression of participation. Nonetheless, the leader decides. The quality of decisions thus depends exclusively on the judgment of the leader.

The opposite extreme is not consensus or some other type of group decision-making, as one might at first think. Rather, the opposite extreme is chaos. All participants in the enterprise act on their individual judgment and initiative. Even if each participant makes all decisions from the perspective of the perceived best interest of the enterprise, and they likely will not, the resulting chaos is, at a minimum, counterproductive.

If one looks at decision-making with autocracy at one extreme and chaos at the other, leadership excellence falls within a fairly narrow range between the extremes. If the leader moves too far toward autocracy, psychological theory suggests that the followers will become alienated and functionally constricted. Their performance will be less productive than it might otherwise be. Alternatively, if the leader moves too far toward chaos, sociological theory suggests that the enterprise will become fragmented and increasingly dysfunctional.

Defining the excellence limits within the decision-making range is certainly open to debate and disagreement. Even so, the reality of the range is obvious and the importance of leaders thoughtfully functioning within the range is clear. Excellence leaders do not move outside the range toward either extreme.

One could debate the relative benefits of intentionally shifting leadership behavior toward one end of the excellence range or the other. For example, is it better for the leader to be more autocratic or less autocratic? Is it better for the leader to defer more to the judgment of the followers or for him (or her) to defer less to the followers? Should the leader delegate more decision-making responsibility to the followers or less?

The debatable aspects here not withstanding, excellence leaders maintain their leadership behavior within a relatively narrow range of actions and approaches. Exactly where they function within the acceptable range likely depends on the individual leader’s personality, individual strengths and skills, personal preferences, specific circumstances and conditions, and on a mix of other factors. The reality is that the effectiveness of the leader is unrelated to where his (or her) functioning falls on the excellence range so long as the leader does not move outside that narrow range.

Just as there is a fairly narrow excellence range with respect to decision-making, there are acceptable excellence ranges for other aspects of leadership functioning.

For example, strategic planning for the enterprise needs to proceed within fairly narrow limits. At one extreme, planning can be so conservative that there is no real change or growth over time. Alternatively, planning can be so unconstrained that change becomes non-sustainable and chaotic. The success of the enterprise depends on the capacity of the leader to pursue strategic planning within those excellence limits, although that success likely does not depend on the leader’s position within the excellence range.

Competent leaders understand and function within the multiple excellence ranges related to the success of the enterprise. Their competence level is not related to where they function on any specific excellence range. Rather, it is derived from their demonstrated ability to continuously maintain their behavior and functioning within acceptable limits on all of the relevant excellence ranges concurrently.

If leaders are judged in terms of current theoretical constructs, most people in positions of leadership are very successful. The reality is that, for the most part, leaders do stay within the excellence ranges associated with the enterprises they lead. Their styles and approaches vary significantly but nonetheless only vary within fairly narrow ranges. The apparent variety is mostly a product of the multiple excellence ranges, individual variations within and among the ranges, and the personalities and individuality of the leaders.



Thanks to Gary Crow for contributing this article to our Leadership Development blog:

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BE THE FULL JIGSAW! How To Solve the Leadership Puzzle

By Alan Cutler, Leadership Writer, Speaker and Mentor

“There is no such thing as a perfect leader, either in the past or present, in China or elsewhere. If there is one, he is only pretending, like a pig inverting spring onions into his nose in an effort to look like an elephant”. Liu Shao-Chi

It may be true that there is no such thing as the perfect leader - leaders are human, after all. However, that is not to say that people who hold leadership positions should not continually seek to improve their leadership skills.

Some managers hardly set an example for others to follow. They may have a badge on their office door or overall that pronounces them ‘Head of Service’; ‘Area Manager’; or ‘Unit Supervisor’ but do these ‘badge holders’ display all the necessary qualities to inspire others to follow them? It is unlikely that people are promoted to senior positions without any leadership skills, but they may lack one or more essential ones.

In order to measure managers’ leadership capabilities we need to identify what are the essential qualities of an effective leader. In my view they are six in number:

 A Leader is a visionary  A Leader sets an example  A Leader understands what motivates each team member  A Leader builds supportive relationships  A Leader empowers others to reach their potential  A Leader understands the power of communications

These are the six components that each leader must work hard at continually and consistently applying and, most importantly, demonstrating in all he or she does. Think of it as a jigsaw - The Leadership Jigsaw®

Unless all six pieces are in place, the leader will not achieve his or her potential, nor will those looking to following their leader. No one aspiring to lead a high-performing team can do so if they are ‘one piece short of a jigsaw’! Let’s consider each piece in a little more detail.

VISION. Leadership involves taking people on a journey, but if people are to follow it must not be a journey into the unknown. Such destinations may work for Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise but they will not work for modern-day leaders with their feet placed firmly on terra-firma! A person holding a leadership position without a clear vision, or the ability to communicate one effectively, will be heading into darkness (probably alone!).

Creating a vision must, by its very nature, be one of the foremost roles of a leader - as it sets a positive theme for the future. A leader’s vision - which he or she personally associates themselves with - should appeal to people at an emotional level, as well as a practical one. It should be meaningful, relevant and inspirational: encouraging people to buy into it willingly. When leaders express their vision in a way that touches their followers, they invite strong commitment: a common purpose that focuses people on a shared, mutually beneficial objective.

“A leader shapes and shares a vision which gives point to the work of others” Charles Handy

EXAMPLE. One of the most important and effective qualities leaders can display is consistently and visibly to link the values they stand for with their everyday actions. Indeed, consistency and visibility are the keys. People respect and follow leaders whose behaviour mirrors their words; they have no respect for leaders who say one thing and do another. “Do as I say, not as I do” is simply not good enough.

Leaders should, therefore, look hard into the mirror and consider what they see. They should ask themselves: “Do I lead in such a way that I would willingly follow myself? Do I consistently demonstrate leadership qualities that I would recognise in leaders that I, myself, respect?” You can be sure of one thing: you may not be continually assessing your performance as a leader, but your followers will be! They will be watching your every move and taking a lead from you.

The leaders acts as though everyone is watching, even when no-one is watching” Brian Tracy

MOTIVATION. Having a vision is one thing: selling it in a way that others want to realise it is quite another. The leader’s role is to focus the energies of followers on shared goals and to encourage them to achieve those goals. Yet everybody is different and responds to different stimuli. Truly great leaders understand their followers: they understand their needs, their dreams, their fears, their emotions - what ‘makes them tick’. It is an understanding of the impact of differing needs on different people that is vital for effective leadership.

One of the greatest motivators is to believe that you are contributing to your team’s success and, hence, to the success of the overall vision. People need to believe that they are playing their part and successful leaders ensure that they receive the recognition their efforts deserve. In my experience of working with junior managers across the country, a belief that they are not valued for their efforts is one of the most commonly found demotivators.

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it” Dwight D Eisenhower

RELATIONSHIP. It is axiomatic that a leader needs followers - a team of people working together towards a common aim. To be effective, a team working across an organisation requires supportive relationships not only between leader and followers, but between followers themselves. A culture of trust must exist between all members, at all levels, with the leader providing the shining example for all to follow.

Notwithstanding the fundamental changes forced upon organisations in recent years (down-sizing and delegated budgets for example) some departments are still led by ‘badge-holders’ who busy themselves interfering in the work of their subordinates; are unwilling to share information; and insist on sanctioning every decision. Yet if the modern leader’s challenge is to make optimum use of fewer resources (and it is!) this will only happen if people are encouraged to participate in an open, positive environment based upon mutually-supportive relationships. ‘Mushroom management’ must be replaced by a culture where everyone is prepared to give and receive trust.

“All your strength is in your union. All your danger is in discord” Henry Longfellow The Song of Hiawatha

EMPOWERMENT. Enlightened leaders understand that most people naturally want to better themselves and, given the appropriate support and encouragement, will grasp the opportunity to acquire new skills and knowledge. They also realise that the key to getting the best out of people is to give them responsibility for their own actions, rather than creating an environment of control and mistrust.

Such leaders are willing to delegate aspects of their role to their subordinates when the situation allows and, moreover, are prepared to empower them to take decisions themselves, within parameters, without recourse to higher authority.

Empowerment is based upon the belief that, given the opportunity, people are preordained to think for themselves and will generate ideas that benefit their workplace, their organisation and, hence, by extension - themselves. Following orders robotically produces robots; allowing invention and inspiration produces ideas and a pride in individual and team achievements.

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you will help them to become what they are capable of being” Goethe

COMMUNICATION. Whilst all those holding the badge of leadership, without exception, would preach the importance of effective communications, not all practice what they preach. But, yet again, it is the leader who should lead the way by his or her example.

Productive communications are built upon understanding between all parties. A leader who is prepared to get out and ‘walk the talk’ will be in a far better position to both reinforce the vision, and hear how it is being received, than one who remains desk-bound. There are few more potent motivating actions a leader can take than to make the effort to speak to front-line workers and to ask “how are things going?”, and mean it!

We live in the ‘communication age’. Yet with the previously unimaginable powers now at our fingertips come inherent dangers. Communications is not only about the ‘what’ - just as important is the ‘how’. Wise leaders balance the efficiency of technology with the impact of the human touch. They are well aware that they cannot shake a hand, pat a back, or even smile via email!

“A leader is someone who knows what she wants to achieve and how to communicate it” Margaret Thatcher

THE MESSAGE? The message is that true leaders need to be proficient in a wide range of essential skills that can be represented by The Leadership Jigsaw. Those holding leadership positions should measure themselves against this model of excellence to ensure that they are not ‘one piece short of a jigsaw’.

The Leadership Jigsaw is a model of leadership best practice created by Alan Cutler, a leadership writer, motivational speaker and mentor. For more details of how Alan can develop the leadership skills of your managers see www.leadershiptalks.com, or contact him on alan@leadershiptalks.com. Full details of The Leadership Jigsaw are contained in his book, ‘One Piece Short of a Jigsaw’, obtainable from www.leadershiptalks.com



Thanks to Alan Cutler for contributing this article to our Leadership Development blog:

Business Leadership Training

An organisation’s basic philosophy is more important to its result than technological and/ or economic resources, organisational structure, innovation and choice of time. Thomas Watson Jr.

This article contains no information about technological trends, economical predictions or market analyses. It lays out five principle insights into how and why any enterprise in the world today should practise Strategic Leadership internally in the organisation.

Both strategy and leadership are today a matter of course. How comes, then, that so very few enterprises do actually practise Strategic Leadership? The reasons are many. Top managers want to keep all ways open, not being bound to follow previously decided paths. They want to keep flexibility. Sometimes they have hidden agendas that would surface if strategy was overtly formulated. In some cases middle management hides from strategy and leadership because they want to have the liberty to side with the top one day, the bottom the other - even on the same topic. Leadership is dangerous, many managers seem to feel. One sticks one’s neck out, and it might be cut off. Strategic decisions might be unpopular. Ore one’s incompetence as strategic leader might become evident. Sometimes processes as those presented here are avoided simply because they take time. There are so many good reasons - and many of them are respectable and sensible.

No-strategy and no-leadership may be OK on a dreamy pacific island. However, in an environment with ever faster changing technology, markets and international politics, and with an ever stronger competition long term survival depends on strategy and leadership. The competitively able enterprises of today and tomorrow are lean, delayered, decentralised, delegated and flexible. Such enterprises have strategy, it is known, owned and practised by more than a CEO and leadership is practised at all management levels.

Strategic Leadership is based on five insights into the essence of organisations. These insights are here formulated as principles:

Within the ecosystem, all components are dependant on other components for their very existence. Individuals and groups within an organisation are mutually dependant on each other and have superior common interests.

Whenever destructive conflicts appear on the scene, the main reason is that the ‘parties’ involved are not aware that they are parts of a system on which they all depend. Usually there is a lack of common goals is such situations. Strategy contains the common goals, identity and ethics. Without strategy, the organisation is fragmented into departments, professional groups and working groups without co-operation or synergy.

Individuals and/ or groups of people defend their territory against intruders, and hierarchical positions against rivals.

There is no doubt that man is territorial. Without strategy, no common territory is defined. Then individuals and groups define their own territory, which is defended and given superiority, even over the interests of the company. Motivation to perform for the company diminishes, motivation to fight for one’s own or one’s own group’s interests (against other’s in the company) increase.

Man is also hierarchical. Without obvious leadership, a lasting struggle to establish the missing hierarchy starts off. This is wrongly often understood as expressions of a power need. This struggle is most often superfluous. A clear-cut hierarchy based on Strategic Leadership is the necessary first step to prevent ‘power struggles’.

For all systems and organisations there is a theoretical optimum degree of openness:

- Closed systems and monocultures degenerate and/ or die out

- Totally exposed systems lose integrity, identity and focus

Free flow of information, and free discussion between organisational levels and lines is a necessity. No single person can be the informed specialist of everything in today’s complex world. Strategic Leadership ensures that this exchange of knowledge and opinion happens. The organisation should be a truly open system internally - and of course externally.

A system that is very open runs the risk of losing integrity, identity and focus. That is exactly another contribution from Strategic Leadership: a strategy that is owned by all hands implies integrity, identity and focus.

The effect of influences to the ecosystem and upon organisations is dependant on:

- The content of the influence

- The context

- The order in which the influences come

- The stage of development of the system

The fruitful ongoing process of Strategic Leadership should be strictly led and follow certain patterns. Unless this is taken seriously, the situation could turn to the worse. Power struggles, bureaucracy, de-motivation and wasted time could result. Content, context, syntax and the developmental stage of the system must be regarded.

Ecosystems and organisations are governed by feedback.

The strategically led company depends, as we said, on free flows of information and opinion. The company is a complex, self-organising and self-correcting system. Any breach in feedback loops is a threat to the company. Feedback should be encouraged, and it should be seen as a matter of course, and an obvious duty of any employee. Feedback is encouraged and put to system in Strategic Leadership.

We see then, that Strategic Leadership has a theoretical basis. This will be further detailed throughout this booklet. Empirical knowledge also strongly supports the necessity of Strategic Leadership. The studies of successful enterprises in the eighties and nineties show that values and strategic goals are deeply rooted in the corporate culture of those enterprises, and that their managers practise more active leadership than mere administrative management.

Excerpt of eBook - Organisational Ecology and Strategic Leadership

By Per A Christensen w/Jon Lund Hansen

Christensen eBooks



Thanks to Per Christensen for contributing this article to our Leadership Development blog:

Performance Management

How many 18 year old young adults out there are truly leaders today? Not many and this is a fact! Why do I say this? Well, first of all, I am the product of this education system and from the experience I had in the army, all I met was mostly failed leadership. How many 18 year old young adults out there are truly leaders today? Not many and this is a fact! Why do I say this? Well, first of all, I am the product of this education system and from the experience I had in the army, all I met was mostly failed leadership. Luckily, the government has taken steps and actions to remedy the situation through new integrated programs to foster leadership in schools and away from rote-learning. With time, perhaps we will be learning such skills more effectively. However, it’s because of my negative experiences with bad leaders that make me wonder:” How can an 18 year old young adult really learn about leadership?” and “What are some of the fundamentals of good leadership an 18 year old must have?”

The purpose of my title as well as the opening statement serves to capture your attention and to get you to read on since a typical 18 year old young adult do get turn off with such topics. I hope that you continue to read this article and take at least one idea to implement in your life.

What is meant by leadership? American Management Consultant, Peter F. Drucker has this to say,” Leadership is not magnetic personality-that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not making friends and influencing people-that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher

sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.” This is the true picture of leadership and now let’s takes a look at some of the details.

A leader has to have a team. Not any team with members he randomly picks. This only happens in school where the teacher assigns you your team members. A true leader learns to make his own decisions in choosing the members he required in his team. By learning to do so, he forms a

mastermind team, a team whose vision and values aligned with the leader. It requires courage, skill, experience, good EQ as well as intelligence to assemble and maintain such a team. From selecting the right members to planning to execution of the plans, it requires hard work and effort. In this team …

A leader is foremost a servant. He has to first give then receive. The notion of giving solely is so foreign to many of us that we are constantly into the W.I.T.F.M (What’s in it for me ) and R.O.I ( Return of Investment ) that we fail to give a little at all. Why are we so afraid to give that little bit?

Don’t we realize that there is a universal law - “The Law of Compensation” like the law of gravity which governs us 24/7? This law states that you will always be compensated for your efforts and for your contributions, whatever it is, however much or however little. Don’t always ask for

something in return. Have faith in the law and do give more than you receive.

So what does the leader actually give? He gives encouragement; he is motivated by the wish to empower his members, to bring out the best of his mastermind team. He is supportive to every team member and never ridicules, condemns or ignores ideas contributed. How else can he

encourage, he does so by delegating, and this empowers them for the role of the leader is to nurture his followers into leaders. Why is this consider empowerment? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe explains, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become

what they are capable of being.” The greatest ability of the leader is recognizing the ability in others and encourages it.”

To lead is also to show the way by going in advance. A leader has to lead by example. He has to take the first step. This inspires great confidence, courage and strength in the team. A team performs best with such a leader. So where does the leader lead his followers to? To places where they wish to go, but wouldn’t go alone. This is what a true leader does, to inspire his team not only with words but with action, meaningful action that requires courage.

There are many qualities of a good leader which I cannot write about in such a short article. If you truly desire to be a good leader, take action to become one, start by reading a book on leadership, any small step helps. To conclude, heed the timeless principle of leadership by American business philosopher Jim Rohn, “The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”



Thanks to Joel Chue for contributing this article to our Leadership Development blog:

Corporate Team Building Training

Women and Leadership

Recent years more and more women have appeared on the international arena as successful political leaders. This tendency shows that women have the same leadership abilities as men and can successfully perform as Presidents and Prime Ministers. This trend is a good sign for leadership in the world which can be interpreted as a great step towards equal opportunities and the ability of public to overcome prejudices against women abilities to lead and rule.

Women leadership abilities are formed under the influence of individual characteristics, internal and external environment. It is concerned with why they choose a particular course of action in preference to others, and why they continue with a chosen action, often over a long period, and in the face of difficulties and problems. This type of communication provides additional channels of communication and provides a means of motivation, for example, through status, social inter¬action, variety in routine jobs, and informal methods of work. It is admitted that women leaders are “more likely to be transformational leaders, defined as those who serve as role models, mentor and empower workers and encourage innovation even when the organization they lead is generally successful” (Evanston, 2005).

Without the direct participation and support of an institution’s leadership, this power cannot be pushed to its full potential. Leadership requires many of the characteristics common to all leaders, but also requires special abilities to manage any organization in today’s rapidly changing environment. One model for thinking about strategic change sees the exis¬tence of leadership as a social system built on ‘influence paths’ or ‘loops’.

Most women leaders posses greater ability to motivate and inspire followers In order to achieve optimal goals three basics would be taken into account: motivation, reward and commitment. Motivating other people is about getting them to move in the direction they want them to go in order to achieve a result.

Motivation can be described as goal-directed behaviour and ability to contribute to a solution. Followers are motivated when they expect that a course of action is likely to lead to the attainment of a goal and a valued reward - one that satisfies their needs. It is reasonable to believe that strong commitment to work is likely to result in consci¬entious and self-directed application to do the job, regular attendance, nominal supervision and a high level of effort.

Referring to Eagly’s study Evanston (2005) states that: “Women also scored higher than men on one measure of transactional leadership — rewarding employees for good performance” (Evanston 2005). This explains why some countries prefer to elect female Presidents and Prime Ministers.

“Women presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state have commanded powerful nations throughout history. Great historical leaders include Cleopatra VII of Egypt, Queen Isabel I of Spain, Queen Elizabeth I of Great Britain, Catherine the Great of Russia, Empress Dowager Tz’u-his of China, and others” (Boyd, 2002). Probably, the most famous women of all times is Margaret Thatcher who proved the image of an “iron lady” able to compete with men on the political arena. Being an excellent example of an ideal female leader Margaret Thatcher possesses such features as vision of the future and personal charisma (Margaret Thatcher, 2005). The other famous female leaders include: Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark and Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel. “The world record amount of female world leaders was 13, in July of 2002, when Lativa, Finland, New Zealand, Ireland, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, Indonesia, Panama, Bangladesh, Sengal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and South Korea all had female leaders (Current Female World Leader Count 9, 2005).

General leadership skills are not sufficient in enriched environments. It must directly relate to the tools, medium, strategies, and competencies found within this culture. The recent tendency shows that female leader possess the competencies to use and evaluate new tools, but she must also have the insight into the impact these tools will have on the future of their countries. The ability to develop a shared vision for future political and economic changes within a country and in the world is an essential part of leadership.

Female leaders bring to politics a new vision of the problems and new strategies to problems solving. For instance, the example of African female leader depicts that women “bring motherly sensitivity and emotion to their presidency” (Female presidents show how the U.S. lags, 2005). Female political leaders show that leading others is not simply a matter of style, or following some how-to guides or recipes. Ineffectiveness of leaders seldom results from a lack of know-how or how-to, nor it is typically due to inadequate skills. Leadership is even not about creating a great vision. It is about creating conditions under which all followers can perform independently and effectively toward a common objective.

To overcome limitations of male leadership Liberian President” her presidential campaign on her experience and wisdom — and on bringing a woman’s touch to the civic reconciliation necessary for Liberia” (Female presidents show how the U.S. lags, 2005).

Female leaders help each of their followers to develop into an effective self-leader by providing them with the behavioral and cognitive skills necessary to exercise self-leadership. An important measure of a leader’s own success is he success of her followers. The strength of a leader is measured by the ability to facilitate the self-leadership of others first critical step towards this goal is to master self-leadership. If leaders want to lead somebody, they must first lead themselves.

The list of female Presidents includes: Mary McAleese, Ireland (1997) and Ruth Dreifuss, Switzerland (1999-2000), Mireya Elisa Moscoso de Arias, Panama (1999-prersent ) and Tarja Kaarina Halonen, Finland (2000- present), etc. The Prime Ministers are Helen Clark, New Zealand (1999- present), Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Bangladesh (1996- present), Janet Jagan, Guyana (1997, President 1997-1999) so on. (Women Leaders. 2005).

In spite of this list and world’s political practive it is supposed that women cannot be cussessful leaders because of conviction. In the article “Why Can’t Women Be Leaders Too?”

Robin Gerber explains his vision of women leadership stating that: “women’ conviction is not just having a belief, but holding strongly to it. It’s one thing to talk about change; it’s another thing to actually do something” (Graham, 2005). It would be possible to agree with Robin Gerber if not a numerous examples of successful female leaders.

The other leadership quality which appeals to many people is that female leaders are more trustworthy than men. Women leaders are able to implement new style faster than men. For instance, female leader in Peru is characterized as: “She’s a good woman, the woman who is going to move us forward, because the men can’t be trusted,” said Magda Acuna, who sells shirts and slacks. ”They rob. They’re corrupt. Women are more honest.” (Vecchio, 2001). In pursuing and achieving objectives, Women leaders are more open to new ideas, insights, and revelations that can lead to better ways to accomplishing goals. This continuous learning process can be exercised.

To conclude it is possible to say that female leadership proves the fact that the world is needed in new vision and novelty brought by women. Recent years, global population are looking for leaders who are willing to give it all they have and they will follow, and female leaders are able to join strong leadership skills with female nature. Women leadership is the best process currently available for improving political effectiveness . The design retains needed principles from the traditional system; incorporates political principles, and builds a new system that works to accomplish overall objectives. The importance is that the process of effective leadership will be of extreme importance in the next 10 years and continues to advance rapidly and change becomes imperative. With a female leaders and transformational leadership any country will be “equipped” with the necessary and proper tools to successfully perform on the international arena and succeed on the national basis.

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Thanks to Andrew Sandon for contributing this article to our Leadership Development blog:

Performance Management