Leadership and Interpersonal Skills

Leadership and Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills and leadership complement each other. Leadership is more about

relating to people. The best leaders are those that develop good relationship with other people. By interacting with them, others develop trust and respect for them and the leaders in turn understand need of those people through their interpersonal skills. Politicians today that are able to go and meet their constituents and interact with them on a personal level enable those people to express what the problems on a grassroots level are truly. Those politicians in turn are better able to address the needs of the people.

Leadership is defined as a process whereby an individual influences others to achieve a

common goal (2008, Kreitner p. 467). We have all been in positions of leadership. This position

could have been as an individual or perhaps in a group. In a leadership position you have to be

able to influence, motivate, and inspire those around you. Since a leader will often times have

followers, you also become a mentor.

Leadership is an important factor in many aspects of our lives. The leadership of parents helps their children to mature and grow to become productive members of society. It is a quality we look for in the politicians we vote to lead our nation through difficult times. Effective leadership allows a business to be successful. Leadership is a crucial part in a business being able to implement timely and effective decisions. Leadership helps to create vision and excitement within a business along with providing direction and motivating those around you. It will also help to build stronger working relationships. Leaders are shaped by the world around them and how they deal with these things depends on their level of maturity.

When we are young and immature we tend to think that everything should just about us. Our views about the world are self centered. During this self centered phase, we only like to associate with those that are similar to us. As we begin to mature physically, but most importantly mentally, our views begin to change. We associate with a more diverse group of individuals and learn how this diversity works within the world around us. We are able to put others needs above our own. Our worldview changes due to our inner maturity. This inner maturity allows us to be aware of how we perceive events that are happening around and to us. The way we make decisions also changes.

Our worldview is a collection of our values, beliefs, and life experiences. When we mature and the world around us changes, so does our view of the world. Mental maturity leads to higher levels of thinking. With higher levels of thinking, we begin to look at our surroundings differently. Leaders that possess inner maturity are able to have consideration for others. Being able to put others ahead of you so that the business is able to progress, takes a leader that it willing to serve others.

Servant leadership focuses on increased service to others rather than to oneself (Kreitner, 493). As a servant leader, you have to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses. According to Merriam-Webster, self-awareness is defined as an awareness of one's own personality or individuality. Self-awareness allows us to look the values and beliefs we hold. Self awareness is important because when we have a better understanding of ourselves, we are empowered to make changes and to build on our areas of strength as well as identify areas where we would like to make improvements (http://www.canyons.edu/committees/leap/team1/15tips/tip13.asp). The self assessment that was taken in the beginning of the term helps me to better aware of my own personality traits as well as my strengths and weaknesses.

The information that I gained from the self assessment gave me insight into my leadership qualities. I learned that I was a good listener, which is an important quality to have as a leader. You want