Are Leaders Made or Are Leaders Born Free Essays

The age old question. Are leaders made or are they born? My belief on this – I believe that a leader is made, not born. Why do I say that? Before going further, lets be clear on one distinction – when we say a leader is made, it does not mean that someone can be taught to become a leader by attending leadership courses. We will write a custom essay sample on Are Leaders Made or Are Leaders Born or any similar topic only for you Order Now While it helps, it is not enough. Warren Bennis (a leading leadership researcher) believes that one cannot be taught to become a leader but one can learn to become a leader over the years through life and work experiences, through mentors, personal reflection, etc. What is a leader by the way? For the purpose of this discussion, lets define it as someone with formal leadership authority in an organization. There is another form of leadership which is not about the position, but a quality, but we will not delve into that for now. Marcus Buckingham wrote a very interesting and widely informative book called â€Å"The One thing you need to know†¦ about Great Managing, Great Leading and Sustained Individual Success†. It’s a great read – I highly recommend it.In it he proposes that a leader is born, and not made because of two characteristics which are only peculiar to leaders. These 2 characteristics are innate and are part of one’s personality and therefore, one cannot learn to develop such character traits. The first trait is optimism or having an optimistic outlook, always focusing on the possibilities. With this disposition, one believes that challenges can be overcome and they can forge ahead. The second trait is what he calls ego or self-assurance. Another term that comes to mind is self-efficacy.A person with this trait has a strong belief in himself. Self-assurance is not the same as being optimistic, although you can see that being optimistic helps and reinforces one’s sense of self-belief. What is important to note about self-efficacy is the belief that one can control one’s destiny, not whether one actually can or is successful in controlling what happens. Even if he doesn’t have the answers now, he believes that he would be able to overcome the problem, by marshalling whatever resources, creativity and connections available to him. The confidence comes from within and he truly believes that come what may, regardless of what life throws at him, he is able to handle it. Are leaders born or are they made? The question is, are these 2 traits really innate and cannot be developed? Marcus Buckingham believes so but I beg to differ. I believe that we are not only highly adaptable and flexible, but have the potential to do anything if we set our minds to it. Sure, genetics play a part and you can’t change that, but what’s more important and makes the difference in our long-term success accomplishments is our mindset. The research of Dr.Carol Dweck lends strong support to this. People with a growth mindset (versus a person with a fixed mindset) believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities. In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them.They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. Dr Dweck proved that they’re wrong. This is another book (it’s called Mindset) that I highly recommend because it truly has the power to change the way you look at yourself and others! So, what this means is that qualities like optimism and self –efficacy can be developed if one adopts a growth mindset. For example, if I’m aware that I am not optimistic enough and tend to think of the downside more often than the upside, I can learn to become more optimistic because I know doing so helps strengthen that leadership trait in me.As a side point on the topic of optimism, evidence from decades of research by Dr Martin Seligman shows that people can learn to be optimistic. The topic is examined in great depth in his bestseller â€Å"Learned Optimism† – another excellent book I would recommend as well. In summary, I would reiterate that while there are natual born leaders, leaders can indeed be â€Å"made† or developed if one adopts a growth oriented mindset. How to cite Are Leaders Made or Are Leaders Born, Papers

Charles Dickens hard times Essay Example For Students

Charles Dickens hard times Essay Charles dickens was very caring person he was a man who felt very strongly about such tings as utilitarianism and industrialisation as he lived in the time period were Britain was industrialised. He lived in London Britain from 1812 to 1870. He wrote hard times to show his views on these matters in 1854. Due to the circumstances in his life he wrote the book to show his personal experiences and help them know more about the thing he had seen. Dickens was man who cared, he was a philosopher who cared about humans and was interested in their relationships and how people were treated. Chapter 1Â  In chapter 1 of hard times we can see that Gradgrind is like the parent who is too strict, he wants to teach the children facts and nothing else. He wants to drain out the childrens imagination and replace it with hard cold facts rather like himself. Gradgrind seed the children as machines that he can program to do as he wishes, because of the kind of person he is he feels that they need nothing else in life but facts. Dickens does this to show what it was like at this time. In the novel Dickens uses the words in a linguistic way by repeating the word facts repetition of this word show that Gradgrind was only set to facts. Dickens really wants to get this point across a lot as he was trying to inform us as the readers about reality throughout his novel. He also uses literary terms to make the novel have more feeling and better descriptions such as when he says the emphasis was helped by the speakers hair which bristled on the skirts of his bald head, a plantation of firs to keep the wind from shining on its surface all covered in knobs, like the crust of a plum pie. Chapter 2Â  In chapter 2 the text starts to really show what it is about, we start to see what Gradgrind is like and what he is like at his model school around the students, we also see how Gradgrind views his students. Firstly we are introduced that Gradgrind is a man of reality! This relates to our previous knowledge of the characters as a man of fact. This is shown in an example of Gradgrind being like a cannon loaded to the muzzle with facts, and prepared to blow them clean out of the regions of childhood at one discharge. We can also see how Gradgrind detests fiction by the way he exclaims that sissy should not have flowers on a carpet which would be walked on, as she would not walk on them in reality. We then go on to see Gradgrinds modal pupil Bitzer. Bitzer is the model pupil of Gradgrinds model school. He is in the story to show how Gradgrind alters the minds of the children, in many ways Bitzer is like Gradgrind but not in physical appearance. For instance Bitzer has light colour hair and blue eyes. Another feature in chapter two is the interrogation of sissy dupe by Gradgrind, in this interrogation Gradgrind is asking sissy dupe lots of questions about horses and other things which he calls facts but are really just his opinions on the matters. Gradgrind tries to pressure, his students into having the same opinions as him. In the novel it describes Gradgrind as a bomb full of facts about to explode, this shows that he is trying to force facts into his pupils brains just like a bomb, also it shows that he is so full of facts that he cant keep them all in and he is about to explode because of all the building up of facts. Dickens shows that he is naturally interested in illustrating that fiction cannot be excluded by doing all he can in the novel to prove Gradgrind is wrong he feels that we all need facts and fiction in our life, Dickens feels that it is not normal for the equilibrium to be distorted like this. .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f , .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f .postImageUrl , .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f , .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f:hover , .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f:visited , .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f:active { border:0!important; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f:active , .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u1b0be81c208c887695c1a583fb2ed96f:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Advanced Theory of Poetry EssayDickens uses mono-syllabic language to help emphasise certain things one example of this is when Gradgrind says what I want is facts. Dickens uses this kind of linguistic terms to create a sense of urgency in his tone. We see that Gradgrind wants disparity to force facts into his pupils. At the point sissy dupe were interrogated Gradgrind uses certain language as to help describe Dickens opinion, such as when he says girl number 20, give me your definition of a horse this shows that Gradgrind tries to pressure sissy and this shows that Gradgrind is a fact filled strict old man. Chapter 3Â  In chapter three we learn more about Gradgrind by seeing were Gradgrind lives and about his child hood, we also learn more about his children tom and Louisa and the experiences they have and how dickens describes these things. Firstly we see that Gradgrinds home stony lodge is very much like Gradgrind it is cold, boring and emotion less in the text it also says that the windows were similar to his eye brows, like big dark caves hanging over his eye. In chapter 3 we also learn more about Gradgrinds children tom and Louisa, Gradgrind educated his children only on facts just like he does with his pupils at his model school, they were not allowed to go out and play like normal children, instead they were confined to their studies were they were told to find fascination in books and facts as playing and fun was not factual enough for Gradgrind and had no real point to it.

Florence,Italy Essays - Renaissance Painters, Giftedness

Florence,Italy Florence is located in central Italy. Florence was built on both sides of the Arno River, which causes flooding from time to time. Florence has many hills there hills which cause a very changeable type of climate with the help of the Arno River. Summers are hot and humid, and winters cool and wet. There are many advantages to having the city where it is at. The city was about 145 miles northwest of Rome, which is an important city to trade with. The Arno river gives Italy easy access to water and trade from the river to the Meditarian sea. The hills of the city offered some protection from outside invasions. Florence started out in 59 B.C. as a colony for soldiers for the Roman armies . In the 3rd century Florence became a provincial capital of the Roman Empire and a prosperous commercial center. In the medieval centuries, Florence was occupied by outsiders, first by Ostrogoths in the 5th century, then by Byzantines in the 6th century, and then by the Langobards. From the late 10th century onward Florence prospered, and, under the rule of Countess Matilda of Tuscany (1069-1115) In 1293 Florence adopted a constitution that required frequent changes of office to make sure that no group or individual could take over it(once every two months) During the 12th and 13th century the political as well as economic powers grew. Florentine woolen cloth industry and of banking grew. Since there was a balance between the leading merchant families, Florence was ruled by its guilds, which were divided into seven major guilds and a number of minor ones. The city's podesta, or chief magistrate and police chief, could be selected only from the major guilds. Right before the middle of the 14th century, Florence had become a metropolis of about 90,000 people, which made it one of the great cities in Europe (with Paris, Venice, Milan, and Naples). But, in 1348 the Black Death struck, killing half the people. And also the bankruptcies of the Bardi and the Peruzzi a couple of years before the Black Death had also brought down the city, and it never fully recovered from these disasters. Successful merchants and bankers, such as Cosimo de' Medici and Giovanni Rucellai in the 15th century, were able to reshape politics and culture in Florence. The French Medicis, which was an Italian family that ruled Florence from 1434 to 1737, (except from 1494 till 1512 and from 1527 till 1530). they had four popes (Leo X, Clement VII, Pius IV, and Leon XI) and married the royal families of Europe. There are many great universities and academies in Florence, such as The Crusca Academy, which is an Italian literary academy founded in Florence in 1582 to study Tuscan, which was the literary language of the Italian Renaissance. The Platonic Academy, started out as a group of scholars in mid-15th-century Florence who met under the leadership of Platonic philosophy Marsilio Ficino to study and discuss philosophy and the classics. And also the University of Florence dates founded around 1859. There were also many great people (artists, inventors, scientists....) that came out of Florence. One of them was Leonardo da Vinci, he was a great artist, yet was so more then just an artist, he was a painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, inventor, designer, and engineer. Among Leonardo's most famous paintings were The Mona Lisa, and The Last Supper. He made many accurate drawings and sketches of human organs. Another famous person from Florence was Michelangelo who is considered to be the greatest living artist in his lifetime and now he is one of the greatest artists of all times. A lot of his paintings, sculptures, and architecture are among the most famous in existence. He thought of himself primarily as a sculptor. He is famous for painting the Sistine Chapel and doing David. Florence was at this time regarded as the leading center of art, producing the best painters and sculptors in Europe, and there was great competition among artists The city was, however, less able than before to offer large commissions, and Florentine artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Leonardo's teacher, Verrocchio, had moved away for better opportunities in different cities.

Billie Holiday Quotes

Billie Holiday Quotes Billie Holiday, a popular and tragic figure in jazz, was a gifted singer with an amazing voice and talent whose personal life was chaotic and troubled. Selected Billie Holiday Quotations I never hurt nobody but myself and thats nobodys business but my own. Im always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where Ive been. Youve got to have something to eat and a little love in your life before you can hold still for any damn bodys sermon on how to behave. Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know whats more than enough. If I dont have friends, then I aint got nothin. Dont threaten me with love, baby. Lets just go walking in the rain. Love is like a faucet, it turns off and on. You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation. Sometimes its worse to win a fight than to lose. Singing songs like The Man I Love or Porgy is no more work than sitting down and eating Chinese roast duck, and I love roast duck. People dont understand the kind of fight it takes to record what you want to record the way you want to record it. I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. Thats all I know. If Im going to sing like someone else, then I dont need to sing at all. You cant copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means youre working without any real feeling. No two people on earth are alike, and its got to be that way in music or it isnt music. No two people on earth are alike, and its got to be that way in music or it isnt music. I never had a chance to play with dolls like other kids. I started working when I was six years old. In this country, dont forget, a habit is no damn private hell. Theres no solitary confinement outside of jail. A habit is hell for those you love. And in this country its the worst kind of hell for those who love you. All dope can do for you is kill you... the long hard way. And it can kill the people you love right along with you. About These Quotes Quote collection assembled by Jone Johnson Lewis. Each quotation page in this collection and the entire collection  © Jone Johnson Lewis. This is an informal collection assembled over many years. I regret that I am not be able to provide the original source if it is not listed with the quote.

Case 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case 3 - Assignment Example In several situations such as missing employee motivation; customers’ dissatisfaction or for that matter when a change process needs to be initiated, it becomes imperative to apply EI knowledge for favorable outcomes. EI play an important role in developing remarkable leaders because empathy, assertiveness, and interpersonal relationships are the key factors that any leader must have in order to create organizational development. Specific actions are needed to enhance the use of EI frameworks in the organization; moreover, EI can be taught and promoted within the organization. EI can be a developmental experience for all, no matter what role he or she occupies. All decision makers within the organization need to understand the importance of EI and must be trained for enhancing their effectiveness in the organization. For the reasons mentioned above, EI needs to be linked with leadership competency models because EI provides a complete roadmap so that leaders can reach to their full potential. Critique Only a couple of years back, intelligence quotient (IQ) was considered everything while measuring the leadership ability. As organizations began expanding keeping focus on customers’ needs, it was soon realized that human resource plays a pivotal role in success and failure of the organization because firms now operate in a fiercely competitive arena. Organizations need not be just efficient but effective too. It is the effectiveness that provides competitive edge over competition in the market place; moreover, certain leadership qualities are essential for making the organization effective. And EQ or EI defines how effective the leadership is in managing the organizational workforce to achieve organizational goals. Roger Pearman has rightly pointed towards certain characteristics that a manger or leader needs to demonstrate. Apart from having some of the known qualities such as integrity, a vision to see beyond, and ability to communicate, they also exhibit some of the unique traits and skills that form an integral part of their compelling leadership style. These traits are essential to deal, manage and motivate workforce in the organizational for desired outcomes. These traits are measured in terms of emotional intelligence (EI) that decide leaders' empathy towards workforce; their ability to inspire and motivate employees at all levels for achieving organizational goals; problem solving capacity; resolving intradepartmental conflicts and so on. Self regulation, motivation, social skill, empathy and self regulation are cornerstones of EI. While social skill brings persuasiveness and effectiveness in bringing change, empathy imparts cross-cultural sensitivity. Ability to motivate is an important trait found in leader but self-awareness and self-regulation are extremely important traits that speak about leader’s openness to change. It is not appropriate to define EI in terms of weaknesses and threats. If EI assessment is not a simple exercise than that is only because it is relatively a new branch of estimating human strengths and therefore, it is obvious that limited experts are available to estimate and facilitate EI processes. Similarly, any new branch of knowledge is going to make people scare for the reason of natural inertia that prevents them to explore something new; however, simply because of this reason it cannot be classified as threats. Being a proven science, it provides a sure

About positive message Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

About positive message - Essay Example The grooming of the workforce is a win-win situation. It is a strategy which will not only benefit the organization but it will also help the employees to improve their market worth which can be cashed on later. There are some rules and regulation while taking any course. These rules and regulations must be followed by the employees so that they can get maximum benefits without any hindrance. Employees are entitled to receive scholarship for those courses which are related to their current job. Initially the courses are being offered for the permanent employees however we also believe that our temporary workers will try to work hard to get the status of permanent employee so that they can also make their market worth through these courses. Tuition fee is considered as one of the major chunk of any study. Therefore the organization has already made an arrangement for it and we hope that employees will make the arrangement for other expenses like books and stationary at their own expense. Grade ‘C’ will be considered as a mandatory requirement for the reimbursement of approved applications of the employees. Temporary employees can take some benefits from the scholarship after the completion of their probationary period with the company. Employees interested in under-graduate programs will be better of since the undergraduate programs are not taxed as per the rules of the taxation. There are very few organizations that care about the workforce to such an extent. However we also believe that these facilities are not only benefiting the employees but such a grooming is also enhancing the goodwill of the organization. We believe that employees should consider it as a life time opportunity and try to give maximum time to their courses after the completion of their work. Work experience can not benefit alone. Many HR managers expect that employees should keep themselves up to date with the latest developments related to their field. For example if

Andrea and Overfield, The Human Record, Sources of Global History Vol Essay

Andrea and Overfield, The Human Record, Sources of Global History Vol. II (Cengage) hereafter AO - Essay Example In the year 1789, the assembly passed the declaration of the rights of man and the citizen. This declaration was a result of the direct consequences of what was taking place in France during this period. This declaration was important during that time since it help in annulling the right of the nobles to demand tithes, taxes and labor from peasants who were working on their family land. This was a great step in the liberation of man and the fight for human rights. This declaration was partly inspired the revolution that was taking place in America at that time (Andrea and Overfield 254). Unlike the declaration in America that â€Å"all men are equal†, the declaration made in France stated, â€Å"Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. The distinction in society may be founded only upon the general good†. This declaration left room for racial prejudice to take place. It stated that despite man being free there will always be a social difference. During this time, the blacks were mistreated for social purposes and were not fully given their rights in the society. Even though they were facing mistreatment from the general French public, the black French population had the right to resist the oppressions as this was provided by the declaration. The period of revolution and declaration of the right of man was volatile/ most of the churches were closed and priests were being hunted down. Politics at this time had taken a different twist and idea of persecution of the Catholics as well as the Protestants began. Several churches were closed, and others converted to temples for fear of persecution. The church was not safe no more. In respect to human rights and dignity, there was the abolishment of the water wheel and introduction of the guillotine. It is no coincidence that the universal declarations of the rights of humans, the European Convention for the human rights protection and the first treaty of the communities in Europe have their origins