The Nature of Leadership
The nature of Leadership by Joseph Rost is a book written to provide a broader view of Leadership’s life and practice. According to Rost, leaders’ development promotes the “Stranger,” idea of the theory of Leadership, that varies on the great Woman/Man, having gained popularity from the late 19th Century. In his view, a leader’s view of the things from a broader perspective regarding its impact on the purpose’s collective understanding. This view of Leadership was to change the perspective through which leaders and followers viewed Leadership’s art. In reading the book by Joseph Rost, it is necessary to understand Leadership’s real nature and function.
According to Rost, the old perspective of Leadership saw the achievement in terms of the extent at which a child was transformed into a manager and not a real leader. In his responses, he said that the training and the development programs should not be based on mere programming to become managers but leaders. Invalidating the claims, Rost explains the essence of being a leader with intentions and motives that can bring up other leaders. In explaining the nature and the function if life, Rost explains the following to the readers.
It is wrong to concentrate on the leader himself/herself. He urges leaders to stop emphasizing on the personality traits, and characteristics. Besides, Rost says that Leadership does not concentrate on the leader’s behavior, inventories, or tests. Leadership in the 21st Century is not all about developing new leaders.
Furthermore, Leadership is an episodically spontaneous affair and not a process. Meaning, it is wrong to think that leaders are all good managers, and everything a manager does is just Leadership. Second, it is not only Leadership that provides results, nor is it always a successful process, nor is it based on the performance of specific tasks. Instead, people should be trained to think about the process that is the accurate description of Leadership. Also, people should put their most significant interest in real change due to mutual agreement and establishment of relationships through proper planning of people.
Rost also defines Leadership in terms of influence. Leaders are not made leaders to acquire results, but their influence should make them leaders. Thus, influence should not be confused with power and authority. Instead, it should be based on the ability to organize others and create a sense of mutual influence that can bring transformation in the long term.
Having Rost’s explanation and descriptions regarding Leadership, I have learned that I have experience with people in my personal experience. Also, I should restructure the dimensions under which people view the world into a view that Leadership is a collaborative orientation to multiple groups of people. Real leaders can bring a symbolic implication that is tremendous. The change can be negative or positive. In bringing change, a good leader will never use coercive means to achieve the objectives, but instead, I opt to apply influence in getting things done.
Reference
Rost, J. C. (1991). Leadership for the twenty-first Century. Greenwood Publishing Group.