Management Essay Example: Leadership Communication Style and Culture

Emotional intelligence can be defined as ones ability to acknowledge their own and other peoples emotions and to use these emotions to guide them on how they think and behave so as to adapt to their environments (Bowkett). Nelson Mandela is known to the world as one of the most iconic leaders. This might be as a result of his high emotional intelligence. He had very great self and social awareness. He was able to know his strengths and weaknesses. These helped him to socialize himself well with different classes of people and made him easily approved. Social intelligence is an integral key to every great leader (Gandhi and Maniyammai 44). He was able to get the best out of people and this played a major role to his great leadership.

Mandela was able to conduct himself well and by doing so he was able to influence his people to doing the same. He believed that one should not undermine his/her standards so as to accommodate others. Self-control is a very integral part to becoming a great leader; he understood this and executed it perfectly. This made him a very great leader. Culture had a positive impact on his ability to be emotionally intelligent. He was a person of the people. Cultural dimensions such as collectivism worked perfectly under his leadership. Nelson Mandela once said that the moment a man has accomplished his obligations to his country and his countrymen then and only then can he lie in tranquility (Mandela and Mandela). The high emotional intelligence of Nelson Mandela separated him from very many leaders worldwide and made him one of a kind. His leadership was a success and was admired by everyone in the continent.

Narrative intelligence is very important since it enables one to communicate well with other people and also to assist them in selecting suitable steps in life (Mateas and Sengers). Ronald Reagan was well known for his story-telling, commitment and focus. He used to merge both the politics and the leadership perfectly and this made him a great leader to his people. He used to use stories to communicate his points, this helped lighten them. The stories worked perfectly on his part since he was able to ease his audience during times of difficulty. His word was important to everyone. Being able to mean what you say is very important (Reagan and Brady). He knew how he wanted to influence his people with his stories Story telling was like a talent to him it made him a comedian. This played a crucial role to the greatness of his leadership. Many leaders require this so as to improve their communication skills, no one loves listening to boring stuff.

Ronald was very good at convincing and charming his audience, by doing this the American people so it fit to grant him two terms as their leader. His persuasiveness is seen perfectly in April 1988 when he was able to end the war in Afghanistan by coming to an understanding with the Soviet Union ("Soviet Union" 39). He being able to convince the Red Army to withdraw from a fight voluntarily was very commendable. One of his weaknesses is that he caved in to terrorists demands; he failed to handle people like Saddam Hussein. He compromised his principles and those of his country; this was considered unacceptable to a great nation such as America. Ronald Reagan needed to improve in intellectual depth, he was criticized a number of times by many leaders on this. He used to overshadow this with his great leadership; nonetheless there was still room for improvement on his part.

King Solomon, son of David and Bathsheba was a very great and wealthy man. He was well known for his wisdom and knowledge, the two things he asked God for. He became king at a very young age. All this attributes made him a very good leader. He was a very good listener; this enabled him to make very good judgments. His active listening enabled him to read peoples characters and separate the good from the bad. Being a good listener is a great attribute to all great leaders (Raducan and Raducan 814). This is seen when he settled a dispute between two mothers. He was able to know who the rightful mother of the live baby was by judging the reactions of both mothers to splitting of the baby in halves (Mathers). As a king, he was able to get positive outcomes both from good and bad situations, as a result of his great wisdom.

Solomons communication skills were one of a kind and one that made him a success story in the Bible. Being an active listener enabled him to comprehend what others said to him easily. He himself was an example on how he required his people to live; he did not speak one thing then do another. A person who matches his actions with his words is commendable (Baldoni). People respected what he had to say and never doubted any of it a single time since he was right every time. His great wisdom and knowledge was admired and loved, people came from nations far away so as to meet him. Solomon was very good at getting his message across to his audience, people listened to him and did as he requested after all they had never seen or even heard of a man like him their whole life. He knew when to say what he said and how to say it, his messages were always meaningful.

Leaders are people who drive and encourage other people to pursue their goals in life. They lead them so as to achieve a common goal and also to pursue something bigger. Good leaders normally want greater things for their followers. They direct other individuals on how to succeed together and to also show them the direction they are supposed to follow. There are many qualities of a great leader like commitment, honesty, positive attitude, confidence, creativity and wonderful communication skills. A leader who is in control of what he/she is doing makes him/her a great leader (Vestal 6). Managing skills are an integral part to every leader; this helps them to be efficient in their leadership

Leadership is the act by which a leader leads his/her followers. Transformational leadership as shown by James Macgregor emphasizes on change that aims at building on the performance of leaders (Burns 266). There are many theories involved with leadership, how the leaders communicate/connect, their creativity, conduct, judgment and ethics among others. All these are important for any leader; they are what separate great leaders from average ones.

Social media enables people to post their services and resolutions; its a very great plus to every leader (Fenton 205630511557813). This web-based technology includes YouTube, Whatsapp, WelChat, Viber, Instagram, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter among others. Social media plays a crucial role to leaders; it enhances the communication of their goals and visions to their people. Leaders who show great leadership know how to communicate with other individuals. Social media gets their message far and wide and by doing this they are able to succeed in their goals and visions together at a faster rate. Leaders/leadership and social media always go hand in hand, lack of one will greatly handicap the other.

References

Bowkett, Stephen. Emotional Intelligence. 1st ed. London: Network Continuum Education, 2007. Print.

GANDHI.A, SONIA, and MANIYAMMAI.N MANIYAMMAI.N. "Emotional Intelligence - An Ingredient Of Social Intelligence". Indian Journal of Applied Research 4.4 (2011): 44-45. Web.

Mandela, Nelson, and Nelson Mandela. Mandela. 1st ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1996. Print.

Mateas, Michael, and Phoebe Sengers. Narrative Intelligence. 1st ed. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub., 2003. Print.

Reagan, Ronald, and James S Brady. Ronald Reagan, A Man True To His Word. 1st ed. [Place of publication not identified]: National Federation of Republican Women, 1985. Print.

"Soviet Union". Nursing Standard 2.16 (1988): 39-39. Web.

Raducan, Radu, and Ramona Raducan. "Communication Styles Of Leadership Tools". Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 149 (2014): 813-818. Web.

Mathers, S. L. The Key Of Solomon The King. 1st ed. Red Wheel Weiser, 2016. Print.

Baldoni, John. Great Communication Secrets Of Great Leaders. 1st ed. Print.

Vestal, Katherine. "Control Is A Good Thing". Nurse Leader 7.5 (2009): 6-7. Web.

Burns, James MacGregor. "Wellsprings Of Political Leadership". The American Political Science Review 71.1 (1977): 266. Web.

Fenton, Natalie. "Social Media Is". Social Media + Society 1.1 (2015): 205630511557813.