Leadership Skills Essay

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“Leadership can be thought of as a capacity to define oneself to others in a way that clarifies and expands a vision of the future.” (Edwin H. Friedman) Leadership is a universal human phenomenon (Bass, 1981) and it can be observed everywhere in everyday life from ancient to modern time. Burns (1979) also indicated that leadership is hard to comprehend, but is considerable in human activities and can be perceived without notice. Leadership may be felt, but is difficult to define. Yukl (2002) claimed that the number of definitions of leadership is equal to the number of people who have ever defined it. Although there are many definitions of leadership made from different aspects, most of them point toward leading followers to reach a specific achievement. Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of a group of people by a leader in efforts towards goal achievement (Nworgu, 1991). It involves a force that initiates actions in people and the leader (Nwadiani,1998). It could be described as the ability to get things done with the assistance and co-operation of other people within the school system (Omolayo, 2000; Aghenta, 2001). In other words, leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organisation in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. In fact, according to R. J. House, “Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the organisation of which they are members.” It’s not having followers that define leadership! Cool-headed, far-seeing, visionary, courageous – whichever adjectives you choose, leadership is a winning combination of personal traits and ability to think and act as a leader, a person who directs the activities of others for the good of all. A school is the most complex

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