Description
Benchmark Assignment – Analysis of a Theoretical Framework for Leadership
Dr. John C. Maxwell is a renowned life coach who has been a minister for 25 years. Maxwell works towards ensuring availability of leadership tools for business leaders. He has done this by writing more than 30 books mainly on leadership. In the past the main style of leadership was the soviet style of leadership. Currently, this leadership style does not exist because current leaders are partners with the people they work with and they are no longer bosses. Today leaders must bring out the best in other people by bringing out the best in themselves. John Maxwell helps leaders by point out the principles that can help them bring out the best in them in the book Developing the Leader Within You (Maxwell, 1993).
One of the major things pointed out in the book is that a leader’s disposition is far more important than their position. The reason for this is because a leader who thinks positively, listens to people who have positive thoughts, makes positive affirmations and has a positive attitude is successful(Schermerhorn, 2010).
Another major point from the book is that the difference between managers and leaders is that leaders do the right thing while managers do things right. A leader should always set the pace, inspire and influence other people to success. Leaders must also act and mean what they say.
According to john Maxwell there are ten leadership principles that must be understood and excised by people who want to change from managers to leaders. The first leadership principle presented in the book is creating positive influence. There are five stages of influence which are determined and move along with the leadership levels(Maxwell & Dornan, 2013). At the first level of leadership which is position a leader influences other people by using their position. At this level leaders rule by intimidating others. In the second level which is permission, leaders depend on the people’sinterrelationship (Maxwell & Dornan, 2013). At the third level which is production, leaders influence people by making them understand that they have an objective to be accomplished. At the fourth level which is people development, people become loyal to the leader because of the leaders effort to assist them to grow. At the fifth level, since the leader has spent much time developing the people, people follow due to the leader’s representation of themselves.
The second principle is the principle of priority. According to the author a leader should be able to see the future and set the right priorities. A leader should know what they want and learn to overlook the things that are not important in order to avoid wasting time dealing with them.The third principle is modeling integrity. An individual interested in becoming a leader must be responsible and be the role model. Integrity involves having strong moral principles.
The fourth principle is creating positive changes. A leader must be able to embrace changes and new ideas. The leader must also be able to make the team ready for a change by understanding the reason why people resist change and thereby come up with a plan to make people embrace change.
The fifth principle is problem solving. One of the determinants of a good leader is the ability to identify and solve problems (Maxwell, 1993). A leader should be able to identify a problem and solve it.The sixth principle is positive attitude. According to the author many successful leaders would not have been able to reach their full potential without positive attitude. The author also states that negative attitude leads to low self-esteem and therefore a leader should have a positive attitude in order to be successful.
The seventh principle is people development. Successful leaders understand the importance of developing people who can help realize the leader’s vision and dreams(Lawson, 2011).The eighth principle is charting the vision. A successful leader must have a clear vision and also make the groupthey work with understand that vision. Leaders who lack vision or the ability to successfully pass it on are limited leaders(Leatherman, 2008).
The ninth principle is practicing self-discipline. The tenth principle is developing staff. A leader should ensure the growth and developing of the staff.
John Maxwell stepped down as a pastor in 1995 to work for INJOY. Maxwell started the INJOY Company to train and develop leaders across the globe. He started this company in order to inspire leaders and train people to be great leaders because he believed that the world is in need of great leaders.
One of the qualities of John Maxwell that leaders should emulate in order to inspire followership is being the role model. Leaders should work towards becoming the person that everyone will want to follow. In order to be role models, leaders should practice what they communicate to their followers.
Another quality is being passionate about personal growth. Leaders must be passionate about personal growth because it determines how they can lead other people.
One of the shortcoming in developing as a leader is learning to create positive change. As a leader it is challenging to create positive change in an environment where people are not ready for the change and do not want to change. A leader cannot change people who are not willing to change. In order overcome this challenge a leader must communicate the change to the group and make them understand the reason for the change and the benefits that that change will bring.
References
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Maxwell, J. C. (1993). Developing the leader within you. Nashville: T. Nelson.
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Leatherman, D. (2008). Quality leadership skills: Standards of leadership behavior. Amherst, Mass: HRD Press.
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Lawson, K. (2011). The Trainer’s Handbook of Leadership Development: Tools, Techniques, and Activities. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
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Maxwell, J. C., & Dornan, J. (2013).How to influence people: Make a difference in your world. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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Schermerhorn, J. R. (2010). Management. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.
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