Listeners. They take time to listen to the suggestions and concerns of those they endeavor to lead.
Encouragers. They don’t try to do it all themselves. Neither do they motivate by force or guilt. They encourage others and help bring out their best.
Assertive. They say what needs to be said without being unkind. They tell the truth as they see it, openly and frankly.
Decisive. They know what needs to be done and they make timely, even difficult, decisions when necessary. But they can also take charge without running over the people in their lives.

It’s said that the trouble with being a leader today is that you can’t be sure whether, people are following you or, chasing you. But if you develop these four traits, your authority will be valued and respected.

© 2001 Steve Goodier

@ prince rj

"No individual achievement can equal the pleasure of leading a group of people to achieve a worthy goal. When you cross the finish line together, there's a deep satisfaction that it was your leadership that made the difference. There's simply nothing that can compare with that". (George B., 2006) - 100% agree!

From the quotation you have cited, I guess this is one way we can measure how effective you are as a leader. We may have the qualities of a leader and we may have developed skills overtime, but being effective is another thing, we focus on the output. With the current society we live in even with great leaders, we are still left far behind.

@ Mr Liwag

Your post just reminded me of something .. "We can only give what is in excess". This applies not only to leadership but in all facets of life.

I agree with the 4 key elements of a leader. It shows how hard it is being a leader and the choices he has to make in making our world a better place to live in. Everyday leaders are confronted with issues that directly affect lives of others as well as his. Authentic leaders came to be because of the need for self becoming should come first in order to serve purposely,A leader has to know himself first before he tries to understand others.

What, then, is the 21st-century leader all about? It is being authentic, uniquely yourself, the genuine article. Authentic leaders know who they are. They are "good in their skin," so good they don't feel a need to impress or please others. They not only inspire those around them, they bring people together around a shared purpose and a common set of values and motivate them to create value for everyone involved. (Bill George)

To everybody
It is really hard to claim that one is a full-pledged authentic leader, but it is never too late. We can all hope and aim to become one and be the best of what we can be. Becoming an authentic leader can not be done overnight. It will take some time and experience to be able to learn and evolve. But as nurses that we are, I believe that deep inside, within ourselves, authenticity exists just waiting for the right time to ripen and be awakened.

@ kristne

I mutually agree that a single leadership style with a specific personality with well-defined traits is very idealistic. With the current diversified society we live in, flexibility and adaptation is essential in dealing with challenges. Coming up with a unique theory such as authentic leadership, with elements that were drawn from basic theories, combined together is one way to show flexibility in order to adapt to changes which, as we all know, is inevitable.

What kind of a leader are you? Do you have what it takes to be an authentic leader?

An authentic leader is a person who chooses to live a life of integrity. They are not only honest in relationship with others but most importantly they are honest and true to themselves. Authentic leadership makes a difference in organizations by helping people to find meaning at work, build optimism and commitment among followers, encourage transparent relationships that build trust, and promote inclusive and positive ethical climates (Avolio and Gardner, 2005) Through the definition that I've stated, I think at some point of my life, I've become an authentic leader (at some point not always!). I did say at some point because as a typical leader, I don't usually evaluate myself if I was able to make a difference in my organization by building optimism and commitment of my followers and having the traits that Avolio and Gardner (2005) have enumerated. Most of the time my idea of a good leader is a person who is able to delegate and responsibly complete a task. Well I guess people improve as time goes by. After reading the article by Wong and Cumming, I've realized that self-assessment is also vital since what you think of yourself might as well reflect how you handle things and people in your organization.


Reference:

Avolio, B.J., & Gardner, W.L., (2005) Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root ofpositive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16, 315-338

As I have stated in the other discussions..
"Good leaders are not born; they are developed through experience, studying, mentoring, and a basic desire to be the best they can be."

I believe that I have the qualities of a good leader thus I am a potential great leader. For now, it is too early to give my final verdict since I am still learning through life experiences and discovering and improving my old new me. some of the qualities I possess are the ff:
1. honesty
2. sincerity
3. Just
4. Good communication skills
5. responsible
6. professional

Congruently, I agree with Drucker's four key elements of effective leadership. it encompassess the qualties a great leader should possess and it is parallel with the authentic leadership model

A singular leadership style with a specific personality with well-defined traits does not exist. --I strongly believe with this claim. For you to become an effective leader you should adapt different leadership styles depending on the need of the situation. You should respond accordingly to what is needed.

I think I am more of a servant leader. Way back in highschool and in college when I am given the responsible to be a leader and there are group projects and report I tend to do the task than delegate tasks with my members. I would rather sacrifice myself in working on the project. Maybe because I am pressured that because I am the leader and I represent the group that's why I want to be hands on on what I do.

I agree with all the 4 elements mentioned especially the part that:
4. Leaders have responsibility, not rank, privilege, title, or money, which brings meaning to Heifetz and Linsky’s (2002) notion that “it is easy to confuse self with roles assumed” (p. 187). As mentioned in the Spiderman movie, "with great power comes with great responsibility."

Are Leaders Born Or Made? Leadership can be learned. We all have leadership potential, just as we have some ability to sing or run. Some people may be better than others, but each of us has a starting point to build on with training and practice. You do not have to be officially designated as a leader of a group to be an effective leader.

It is important, then, for a leader to know his/her own abilities, knowledge and values and how others perceive them. For example, if "trust" is a quality which is highly valued by your group, then it is important for you to be viewed as a trustworthy person. By knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, you can also develop a plan to work on those areas you may wish to improve.

I think my weakness as a leader is the lack of skill or ability to communicate. I tend to think of a good communicator as a good speaker. This is only partly true. Good communicators can express themselves clearly and with confidence. However, I often forget the most important component of effective communication is LISTENING. A good listener hears not only facts but also feelings.

When I lead, I ask for other people’s ideas and opinions. I offer suggestions but let the majority decide. I encourage others to participate and foster independence in thinking among others. If the majority cannot decide, make the last decision. I sometimes think this is weak because it takes more time to decide when everybody gets the chance to argue his side. This derails the accomplishment of goals. It is surely hard to lead when you think of the elements of authentic leadership. But, I guess in every situation, there’s always some leadership skill that one can use to resolve an issue or solve a problem.

I agree that leaders must have followers. I think this is the essence of leadership, to be able to motivate and enlist the participation of people to achieve a common goal. Leadership is nothing without followers.
Love and admiration may come in many forms. Love may mean a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, as the dictionary would define it. Leadership can exist without love. But if admiration means respect for a person, having high regard for someone and behaving in ways that give due consideration to that person (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), it should definitely be included as one of the qualities of being a leader because followers should respect their leaders.

I definitely agree that leaders set by example. Leaders should practice what they preach. This assumes that they should be the first to act and model how they expect others to behave.

And yes, leadership is a responsibility. A person can lead without a title, rank, privilege or money. But he cannot certainly be an effective leader having title, rank, privilege or money without responsibility.

All these qualities make a good leader. But, I believe it is more than these things that make a great leader. And others have come up with different leadership theories, to show us that it is all of the above elements and much, much more. . .

Being of the same opinion with Wong and Cummings’ study on authentic leadership where in they have concluded that authentic leadership is both a new theoretical perspective and a return to timeless, genuine, and basic leadership attributes and processes core to several leadership theories

This statement of yours made my understanding about authentic leadership very clear. This emerging theory is both old and new. It is new as a group. It is old because every part of it had been the main proposition of many old theories. To sum up Druckers' proposition, this emerging theory that will respond to the call for strong, positive nursing leadership needs only one requirement. BE AUTHENTIC. A new word but has a very basic and simple meaning. It can be simply achieve if the leader CARES.

Response to your questions:
I honestly admit that I don't have the characteristics to be an authentic leader. It is same as honestly saying that I don't have the things that it takes to be an authentic nurse. Sometimes we are blinded by our own ideals. We have our reasons and excuses. But the truth is we are not passionate and committed to what we do. Being a leader means accepting responsibility. It also means offering yourself. If you can do it, there is no doubt that you can be an authentic leader and a NURSE.

When it's all said and done, you just simply have to CARE..

I think I’m just the typical/ordinary kind of leader who delegates work to my followers. But as time passes by, I learned to be a person who is open-minded, know how to respect the opinions of others and worthy of their trust. For me, it’s others perspective whether I can be an authentic leader or not. Through practice, maybe I can be an authentic leader in the near future. But when talking about my own standards of authenticity, definitely I’m an authentic leader!.

My strengths as a leader is being able to strive hard in order to attain goal for the common good. I can take risk even if I may get hurt in the process through others criticisms. My weakness is being too soft hearted that sometimes may affect my relationship with others (favoritism/biases).

I totally agree on Drucker’s four key elements of effective leadership. These things are needed to be able to have a good leader- followers relationship. In order to be a leader, you must definitely have your followers. Being a leader is acting like you’re a change agent that will bring about a sense of purpose to your followers. You should be a role model to them. It’s always a responsibility not just a privilege or rank that you can be proud of.

I maybe just an ordinary leader and be an authentic leader at the same time because being just a leader as defined by the dictionary is someone who has the commanding authority or influence. So in my younger years, I was assigned to be a leader wherein it gives me the authority to direct certain works to the group. The group now tends to follow the instructions since I was in the position to give the assigned task. So as I grew, being a “leader” also begun to grow or evolve into becoming an authentic leader knowing now it’s meaning. That during the secondary and tertiary levels of my education, I wasn’t already focused on the fact that I was a leader, but being the leader I was able to attend and know the needs that concerns my members. I make sure that everyone would be able to speak their own voice in the group. I ask their opinion on what to do and respected for what they have to say. I tell the group that even if I’m the leader I don’t know everything and that they could help me in some ways. And if there conflicts within the group, I make sure to resolve it before doing the task so that we are able to perform productively to in producing an outcome.

But sometimes I may not be an effective one because I still need to improve is the emotional management because if I’m pissed off, I am really pissed off and the whole project and activity is ruined because I expressed too much emotion within the group. I cannot function well if I mood is not good. Another is to be empathetic because whenever a person doesn’t do his/her part in the group I get irritated easily without even knowing the reason for doing so. Generally speaking, I may have been an effective leader but still there areas that need to be improve.

I agree with the elements you have mentioned because for me this is patterned in accordance with the seven characteristics of authentic leadership. As Robertson (2009) mentioned the seven characteristics of authentic leadership namely: Awareness and development of personal strength. Awareness and acknowledgement of personal weakness. Values-based decision making. Integrity. Empathy and respect with others. Courage. And emotional management.