Responses

Cortney Discussion:

Hello class!

The top five leadership characteristics that come to mind after watching the Sinek video are:

· Persistence

· Honesty

· Empathy (the ability to understand and share feelings of another)

· Confidence

· Humility

As Sinek mentions repeatedly, people do not follow what you believe but why you believe what you believe. All the leadership characteristics that I have listed above play a role in why a person could believe in something. Persistence is the continuance of action despite the difficulty or opposition of the course. This gives followers an understanding of the determination of the leader whether they have those who are opposed or not, they still will fight for wat they believe no matter what obstacles are in the way. It shows followers that the leader is willing in some cases to die for what they believe in, showing grit that is unmatched. Honesty is the ability to be honest in one’s approach, and a leader who is honest shows his/her followers the truth and gives those potential followers something to believe in that is sincere and, in most cases, factual. Again, going back to Sinek’s saying of people do not follow what you believe but why you believe what you believe, empath is the ability to understand and share feelings of others. I believe that it is natural human nature to want to follow someone who can understand you as a person and be relatable in the sense of a common feeling about something. A great example of this would be political parties and how some people follow a specific party based on the dominant relatable aspects of which ever party they follow. More times than not, followers of a specific political party have some or many of the same ideals, morals, and values. Confidence is the state of feeling very certain about something. When it comes to leadership qualities, confidence is key to a leader’s success and a leader must be confident in whatever he or she is trying to get across. Followers will likely have a hard time acting with, accepting information from, or even agreeing with a leader who is not confident in themselves, let alone the message that s being sent. Lastly, humility. Humility is the humbleness of a leader. A leader that possesses humility is a leader that is often confident in themselves but also carries a sense of humbleness that attracts followers. Followers see that a leader who possesses humility is down to earth and not self-absorbed giving a vibe that the leader is in it for the right reasons and not just self. Simon Sinek carries many of these qualities, being the reason why he has inspired so many. Not only is he confident in what he lectures, but he also backs up what he lectures with facts of science and history as well.

Michael Discussion:

Hello everyone,

In Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk and the accompanying readings this week we were asked to think about leadership and some of the top traits of good leadership.  Sinek makes the distinction in his talk that “there are leaders, and there are people who lead” (Tedx Puget Sound, 2009).  This is stated to infer that some leaders are that by title and some leaders are that by their actions.  Five characteristics that I believe make up good leaders are: sincerity, empathy, good communication skills, decisiveness, and charisma.

Sincerity is what Sinek gets to in the center circle of “why”.  If your intentions are sincere, then others recognize that and begin to build trust in you as a leader.  With trust, a team supports the leader and follows wherever the path may lead.

Empathy is the ability to understand and to reflect emotion.  A business can be the most solid or most substantial, but if it is not lead with empathy, people will tire of it and there will be no one left to lead.  Empathy also provides you with a thermostat by which to judge if the people you are leading are reacting positively to your leadership (Gourguechon, 2017).

Good communication skills are paramount to relaying your message.  As a leader you need to reach multiple audiences (sometimes all at once) and you need to be clear in your messaging.  Strong communication skills allows the leader to make sure that the message is also tailored correctly to each stakeholder in the group.  Without it, a leader risks engaging some, and missing others.

Decisiveness is also a key skill for leadership.  It provides the ability to not only make a decision, but to make a decision that is the best one available.  With the resources at their disposal, a good leader needs to make a decision that results in the perceived possible outcome.  Often times, that decisiveness must be made in a context that needs to be defensible later.

Finally, charisma is an important skill for a leader.  Author Kimberly Fries states it as simply as “people are more likely to follow the lead of those they like” (Fries, 2018).  Charisma is the ability to take all of the above leadership abilities and package and present them in a way that is seen as approachable by all.  People find it easy to relate to them and more willingly follow what they assign to the group.

 

References

Fries, K. (2018, February 8). 8 essential qualities that define great leadership. Forbes.com. Retrieved from:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlyfries/2018/02/08/8-essential-qualities-that-define-great-leadership/?sh=1bda72db3b63

Gourguechon, P. (2017, December 26). Empathy is an essential skill – And there’s nothing soft about it. Forbes.com. Retrieved from:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/prudygourguechon/2017/12/26/empathy-is-an-essential-leadership-skill-and-theres-nothing-soft-about-it/?sh=1a538f6d2b9d

Tedx Puget Sound. (2009, September). Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action. [Video]. TED.com. Retrieved from:  https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action