Situational
- The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
- The place in which something is situated; a location.
- Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
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The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs. See Synonyms at .
- A critical, problematic, or striking set of circumstances.
- A position of employment; a post.
Proactive
adj 1: descriptive of any event or stimulus or process that has an effect on events or stimuli or processes that occur subsequently; "proactive inhibition"; "proactive interference" [ant: ] 2: (of a policy or person or action) controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than waiting to respond to it after it happens
Reactive
- Tending to be responsive or to react to a stimulus.
- Characterized by reaction.
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Chemistry & Physics. Tending to participate readily in reactions.
What do you think is a good quality of a leader?
Ask any motivational guru and they'll promptly tell you the bald facts of leadership: leadership is not for wimps. It takes strength of character, diplomatic skills and a set of steadfast principles to amount to good leadership.
Anyone who is a leader - a team leader, a business leader, a political leader - will inevitably face the same task, that of exercising leadership in the face of adversity with a cool, calm smile.
The hallmarks of a great leader lie in the ability of the person in charge to bring certain key factors across to his workforce or team-mates. In other words, a leader has got to be charismatic enough to infect his workforce with the will and motivation to get the task done. The primary key in achieving this revolves around the notion of "vision".
It is axiomatic that every winning team must have a vision. Without it a team will never succeed simply because without vision, a team can't even know what success is and certainly won't know how to get there. Sort of like a headless chicken running around.
A leader's vision is his definition of what success is to him as a team. He is the man who knows what is to be done and it's his job to ensure that he conveys this picture to the rest of the team correctly, so that they in turn can get the job done. Hence, a leader's vision is what pulls the whole thing along.
It is what the team struggles for, competes for, fights for and sacrifices for and under the correct leadership, will successfully attain.
Vision thus gives a team a mission, a sense of purpose to get excited about and a reason for being charged up, enthused and motivated. Hence, great leaders and great teams are driven by a vision -
a true sense of mission and purpose.
Of course a leader with a vision but without the ability to convey this vision to his workforce is akin to a hot air balloon without someone to work the controls.
Everything's set, up and running but there's no one to actually get the thing off the ground. Hence, a key factor in good leadership is the simple ability to communicate with the team.
No amount of vision will help if the great leader fails to get it across. And the key to getting it
across is articulation.
Not just the run-of-the-mill stuff but in a manner where you sell the vision as the team's vision of success. Otherwise, it might just as well be a dictatoriate, with the leader dictating affairs and the populace less than happy to comply.
The leader must not only be able to sell his vision to the team, make them make it their own, but he also has to make sure that the team knows what he is saying.
Communication is a two-way road: talking and getting the message across, then listening to hear whether it was the correct message that actually got across.
This highlights the "clear and present danger" that the articulate leader might just be a tad too chatty to the point that he stops listening to his workforce.
That's one of most common dangers that beset leaders: that they do not listen and that they don't have the patience to listen. Leaders tend to get so gung-ho about things that they are not aware of being carried away by their own enthusiasm.
The fact remains that the best leaders are the ones who listen, who understand that listening is
a source of unrecognised information and are able to use this understanding to their advantage.
A lot of leaders don't really listen to what the team has to say. Instead, they allow all forms of interruptions and often think that they know what the speaker is trying to say, when in truth they stopped listening a long time ago.
By listening, you show the speaker that they have your attention. Good listeners give focused
and undivided attention as they are interested in finding the best way or solution and not having
their own way.
That's what makes the difference between a leader and a dynamic leadership. A leader is someone who can organise the work to be done and see it through to its completion.
Dynamic leadership will not only see the project to the end but in the process it will bring out the best talent in each individual team member and as a result, the end work will be of a phenomenal calibre.
The leader who can generate good leadership is essentially someone who ensures that his team understands and can themselves articulate the team vision and goals.
Remember that communication is not just a matter of what you say but of what they hear you say.
Therefore, good and effective communication is the key here. A good leader will be able to talk
to the team, infect them with the optimism to succeed and when they are sold on the idea, gently guide them to a resounding victory.
