Leadership and good leadership qualties

The meaning of leadership varies amongst people. Leadership can be defined by many different but similar meanings. Based on reading Chapter One of ‘Leadership in Leisure Services: Making a Difference (2nd Ed)’, by Debra Jordan, Leadership to me is a constant changing process of interactions and situations between members of a group consisting of two or more people. Leadership also consists of a common recognition and understanding of leader-follower roles between all its group members. Since leadership is goal-oriented it also involves the leader and its followers to participate in activities to help move the group further in reaching and obtaining its goal. The relationship between a leader and its followers is very important in a group in order to obtain good leadership. There should be a mutual understanding between the leader and the followers regarding leader-follower roles. Followers should recognize, acknowledge and accept the leader(s).

Followship and Leadership goes hand in hand with each other because they are interrelated consisting of shared acts of influence and counter-influence. The leader should understand and appreciate the work of its followers and vice verse, in order to work cooperatively and to obtain the groups shared goal. Both the leader and followers should always work together towards the goal as a group/team and not separate and fall apart as a whole in order for the group to be successful and progress. I believe a leader should possess certain traits and qualities in order to accomplish good leadership. Some of these traits and/or qualities a leader should own in my opinion are integrity, courage, be creative and should be authentic. A Leader should definitely have integrity because a leader should always be honest and sincere to themselves and its members.

A leader should also be courageous and creative because sometimes in order to reach the groups goals one must be strong, show no fear and not be afraid to tackle a certain task from a different stand point. Sometimes one needs to try a new and sometimes different approach in order to help reach their goal. Lastly the other quality/trait I feel every leader should have is to be authentic. Every leader should be genuine, be real and not fake or phony to themselves and to its group/group members. Two leaders who possessed these qualities were Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Gandhi and Dr. King were both very influential and important people in their time and also in our time. They possessed qualities and traits I feel every leader should have. They were both definitely full of integrity and truly genuine people. They also fought for what they truly believed in and got their message across by being both courageous and creative during their time.

The two were very creative and courageous and each got their messages across to people of the world nonviolently by protesting in their own ways. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were two great, influential and infamous leaders of history and will always be. In conclusion in order to obtain good leadership you need a good leader and good followers respectively. Also the leader and its followers should have a mutual understanding and relationship with one another and the leader-follower roles. Leadership is essential in a group in order for the leader and its followers/group members to move the group further in reaching and obtaining its goal(s).