Leadership, power, influence, director- it can defined in many ways, but most commonly Leader is a person who influences the thoughts and behaviors of others; a leader is one who establishes the direction for others to willingly follow. One person can serve as a leader or several persons might share leadership. A person may be appointed as leader or may be elected by people within his circle. Leaders play vital role in standardizing performance. Leaders can influence other to perform beyond the expectations. Managers plan, organize, lead and control so that “leading” and “managing” are inseparable, they are both integral part of each other. If one do not able to influence and inspire others to work willingly towards aims then all planning and organizing will be ineffective. Similarly setting direction is usually not enough, no matter how inspiring one can be, management skills are crucial.
Leaders will simultaneously fill many roles interacting, motivating group members, solving conflicts as they arise. Leaders set vision, strategies, goals, and values in order to guide for desired action and behavior. Leaders are characterized by certain traits which distinguish leaders from non-leaders includes Drive, desire to lead, honesty, cognitive ability, self-confidence and knowledge. Effective leaders must have two major qualities: knowledge and communication competence. Leader needs knowledge of issue and the ways of effectively leading a team. This knowledge will enable leader to identify alternatives available. He also needs to be an effective communicator as equally listener and speaker. Leaders should acquire qualities of flexible, openness, empathetic, courage, interactive, and positive attitude.
An effective leader generally values people, listen actively, gives credit to others, have consistent behaviors, admits mistakes, have a sense of humor and above all they set a good example for their followers. I have been working in refractory company called Magnezit in Russia. Magnezit LTD Company is one of the biggest Company in Europe which mine the product called magnezit. There I have developed three major departments of Production, Finance and Marketing. I have developed a seven-member team, which is headed by me. We usually came across discussing major issue related to finance, production and marketing. We made plans, had discussions, and generate ideas. My job out there was to design the agenda, set priorities, follow-up the discussions, and made our session meaningful. At the same time I performed simultaneously role of interacting, motivating group members, solving conflicts as they arise. During our sessions we set vision, developed strategies, and evaluated our past performance in order to guide ourselves for desired action and behavior.
Being a leader of the firm I had dual responsibilities to organize and develop a culture of selflessness. A failure of my team member was the failure of me. I had to do my work selflessly and biggest challenge for me was to get my team members also work selflessly for our firm. Each of our team members felt as he/she was the owner of the firm and we did our work for firm success, we should not to stick it for earning livelihood. That was the most admiring change, which I strove to bring about. The hardest job for me was to set myself as an example for my all fellows.
I am not a leader based on how well I work with others or how admired I am. I am a leader based on my actions and how I affect the world around me. I try to never stray from this design because being a positive role model and doing the right thing is the best way to live your life. Being a leader is much more than just being the guy or girl with the ideas or plans. Being a leader is something much more than being the person with their act together and knowing what to do at a moment’s notice. “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” By doing the right things I live my life as truthfully as I can. I keep my mind on the things that matter most to me: university, family, sport, my future and all the things that make me who I am as an individual.
ConclusionAll such exercises have made me able to actively contribute towards Master of Science in Management program. MSM program will provide me an opportunity to further develop a broader understanding of management/leadership and enhancing my analytical skills. This program will also provide me with the hands-on study and learn from varied backgrounds. My prior leadership experience will provide me a feedback while attending MSM program. This will provide me an opportunity to share my experiences with others. Also this program will enhance my leadership traits and enable me to learn and develop my capabilities as becoming successful leader. Moreover, it will improve my communication skills and gain more knowledge through the experiences of group members. These learning will help me to improve my attitude and behavior that would be helpful in my leadership career. I am fully confident that MSM program has the potential to make me able to achieve my challenge to bring an organizational culture of selflessness.
