“Why would you study leadership?”
“You can’t do anything with that degree!”
“Oh, so you weren’t smart enough to pick a real major?”
If you are and Organizational Leadership major like myself, you may have also been met with similar quips over the years. More often than not, the perception of others has led me to question my degree choice. Am I sabotaging my career because I chose to study something that I felt was crucial to the future of our workforce? A lot of people I meet seem to think so.
If I have learned anything about leadership though, is that it does not need to be talked about to be relevant. And you certainly can not define it as a one-size-fits-all method. I think that this is where the confusion lies that leads so many to think that the concept of leadership is a feeble one. Take a look at the variety of concepts that we have discussed up to this point in the semester, they barely skim the surface of what goes into effective leadership. Yet, those who do not know better might suggest that good leadership is solely reliant on one’s ability to influence others. We know that they would not necessarily be “wrong,” as Stogdill recognized this very trait as being associated with leadership (Northouse, 2016), but also that they are not totally right either.
What if that great influencer is on the cusp of a promotion to a supervisory position and lacks technical skills? Or perhaps this person struggles to work with individuals of lower competencies. Should these attributes be looked past just because they meet one person’s idea of leadership? I would guess that you immediately thought back to Katz’s necessary skills for differing management levels. And you probably knew that a supervisor position requires a great amount of technical knowledge in order to be effective (Northouse, 2016). You also may have recognized a connection to situational leadership and the SLII model that displays the importance of high-direction to those will low competency (Northouse, 2016). While this does not immediately make the person unqualified, it allows us to take a step back and consider a variety of reasons why this person should or should not be promoted.
This, my friends, is why what we are doing is so critical. As we prepare to continue our work beyond this education, we are developing the ability to incite change by opening the mind’s of those around us to consider this area as far more broad than any one of us can yet imagine. Many have portrayed leadership as an inherent trait that one is gifted with at birth, or even a skill that can be developed from a two-day conference. But you and I know that leadership is far more complex than this, and being able to recognize that is crucial to an organization’s success. More than that, it is crucial to the success of all employees within an organization. We see the importance of not only personality traits like confidence and integrity, but also the ability to adapt styles and alter behaviors based on varying circumstances. We see leadership as this exchange, or process as Northouse describes it (Northouse, 2016), that is constantly taking place between a leader and their followers.
Perhaps the most profound aspect of studying leadership, is that through this experience, my sense of self-awareness has grown immensely; something so many educational programs may not reinforce. In looking at the traits and behaviors of other leaders, I can turn around and recognize not only my strengths, but my weaknesses. I have learned that my emotional intelligence makes me strong, and my sociability could use some work (Northouse, 2016). Not only am I learning about these theories and their applications, but I am simultaneously working on myself as a human being and becoming a better leader AND follower in every facet of my life. I know that I can recognize important factors pertaining to leadership, but also that there is still much growth to be had. When I finish my education, I will only be just beginning to comprehend the lessons I have learned and this foundation I have built will carry through into everything I do from here. My only question is, why would I want to study anything else?
Reference
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.