Learning
Leadership, the Language
There are a lot of [KA2] definitions
of leadership, and most of them sound something like “the act of leading
others.” Well
I think that’s way too simple [KA3] a
definition for something as difficult to master as leadership. In my opinion
Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, said
it best when he said, “leadership is the art of getting someone else to do
something you want done because he wants to do it.” Now the question is how I
go about making someone else do what I want. The answer is to learn the
language of leadership. Like learning any other language, learning leadership
takes hard work and commitment. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying [KA4] that
the language of leadership is a couple of phrases that convince people to do
what you want. The language of leadership is much more complex than that. It
involves the use rhetorical techniques likes, Pathos, Logos, and Ethos. There
is also a hidden pattern to speaking the language of leadership that involves
different steps and enablers. I think that everyone has had moments where they
really needed to convince someone to do something and just couldn’t them to buy [KA5] in
to what you were saying even if it was for their own good. If you learn the language of leadership
hopefully you won’t have to experience that again. [KA6] There
are some people who believe that leaders are born and I definitely know why
they would think that because I used to think the same thing. There are several
traits that people believe to be required in order to be a great leader that
people have to be born with. Some of those include intelligence, some
psychological traits, and even physical attractiveness. I have done a lot of
research on the topic of leadership and I now believe that leadership isn’t some innate gift that
can’t be learned. I now believe that leadership is a language that can learned
through hard work and determination. [KA7]
Most of my experiences in life [KA8] when
it comes to leadership have something to do with sports. I have played sports
throughout my entire life and have had many different coaches who all had
different approaches to leadership, and for the most part I have been blessed
with pretty good coaches and leaders. I’m pretty sure that they weren’t as good
at leading people when they first started as they were when I was being coached
by them. I also believe that it’s a little easier to lead in their situation
because they are not talking to peers they’re talking to children. I have also
had my fair share of opportunities to lead during my life. Early on in my life
it seemed that I was always thrown into the leadership position when I played
with my friends even though I was usually younger than the people that I played
with. The fact that I was always in the leadership position at such a young age
was the main why I believed that leadership is an innate trait. My senior year
of high school I was once again expected to be a leader. I was no longer new to
the team and learning my way, I was now expected to help guide the younger
players so that they could contribute to the team. This time around it wasn’t
as easy to get people to do what I wanted them to. When you are speaking to peers it’s not as
easy as being in a higher position than they are[KA9] .
There are things you can do to become a good leader, and
these things can all be learned in time. According to Stephen Denning’s book The Secret Language of Leadership there
is a hidden pattern in using the language of leadership. That hidden pattern includes three steps;
get attention, stimulate desire, and reinforce with reasons. [KA10] The most important step out of the
three is getting your audience’s attentionbecause if you are unable to do it
you might as well not even try to do the other two because it will just be a
waste of breath. The way to go about all of this is to have a conversation with
them. It’s important that you don’t talk down to your audience, communication
between both sides is very important in order for them to feel like you can
connect with them. It’s also important to listen to their story in order to
find out what it is that makes the tick. Body language is another key component
to the language of leadership. You need to look inviting and receptive; if you
look too aggressive, it will intimidate your audience. The next thing to do is
to stimulate desire, and to do that the idea must be “worthwhile for its own
sake” meaning that it has to be rewarding just by doing it. The goal can’t only
have extrinsic benefits because those will only last for so long, and you will
eventually run out of things to reward people with. After you stimulate a
desire to change you reinforce it with reason. It’s time to let them know why
whatever it is that you want done will work. You can turn arguments into
“common memory” stories or use images to support your stories[KA11] .
You
can also learn how to properly use rhetorical techniques to become good
leaders. Ethos, logos, and pathos are very important rhetorical techniques
involved in effective leadership. Ethos is an important part of any leadership
role, but it’s not as important as you think. Just because you have a certain
position doesn’t mean anything, because the most important part in leadership
is getting the person’s attention[KA12] . These days someone are just as
likely to tone out their boss as they are to tone out the bum on the side of
the street. Still it’s a lot easier to get someone’s attention if you are
someone of high stature. Logos is important because it’s always good to be able
to use facts and logic to support what you are saying. This is especially important
when you are trying to convince someone who is in a higher position than you
are. For example if someone is trying to convince the CEO of their company to
raise the advertising expense, the CEO is going to want you to get straight to
the point and provide facts or they won’t even acknowledge you. The last of the
rhetorical techniques is pathos which I believe is the most important of the
three when it comes to leadership. A lot of people believe that you shouldn’t
ever involve emotions in leadership, but I believe that’s the wrong way to
approach things. If you take the emotions out of your leadership style you seem
like a dictator and the only thing that will accomplish is causing people to
resent you. An emotional appeal is the easiest way to get your audience’s attention[KA13] . If you appeal to someone’s
emotions you make them feel like you are their peers, which in turn will make
them more likely to follow your lead.
The
only thing that will always keep you from truly being a great leader is not
being honest[KA14] . Telling the truth might be the
single most important part of the entire language of learning. If you continuously
tell people things and they turn out they weren’t true it will ruin your
credibility, and they won’t ever be able trust you. Once trust is lost it’s
impossible to lead people. It’s hard to always tell the truth and really easy
to make a mistake when telling somebody something. If you do make a mistake and
say something that isn’t true it’s vital that you come out tell them that you
made a mistake instead of waiting and letting it be discovered. Once that
happens it looks like you told a lie and was trying to keep it hidden. If you
can do your best to be honest as much as possible it will make using the other
things I’ve talked about to become an effective leader.
I
completely understand why some people believe that leadership is innate. I
definitely agree that you have to be born with certain traits in order to be an
effective leader like intelligence; nobody wants to follow someone who they
believe to be stupid. I also don’t believe that everyone has the ability to
become leaders, but I do believe that people who aren’t necessarily good
leaders, but possess some of the traits required of good leaders can learn how
to become effective leaders over time. I think that it’s pretty hard to believe
that people can learn how to be good leaders, and that if they aren’t leaders
now they won’t ever be able to become leaders.
In
order to become a great leader I believe that you must first follow the pattern
of the language of leadership which is get attention, stimulate desire, and
then reinforce with reason. Be aware of what kind of vibe you are giving off
with your body language. You must also learn how to effectively use pathos,
logos, and ethos when you are speaking. Most
importantly you must speak the truth and establish trust. It’s important to know that leadership
isn’t something that innate and only a few people are born with. It’s good to
know that you don’t know have to be some elite specimen to be a good leader,
and that if you have the will to become a good leader [KA15] and some of the traits that are important
you can do it with hard work. Everyone will end up in a situation where they
need to motivate someone to act and this information will help hopefully help
you when the time comes. A that leadership isn’t some innate gift that certain
people are blessed with and I truly believe people can learn it through the
language of leadership.
George,
I really enjoyed
reading your essay and I think that you are making some great points about what
it takes to be a good leader. I think that you need to work on the actual
wording and tone of the piece. Right now, it is reading as too conversational
and narrative for a research-based paper. You need to try to rewrite it from a
more objective perspective without the authorial narration (Please see some of
the phrases that I have struck out in the conclusion). I think that you could
also strengthen the argument if you bring back the thesis statement after each
main point and show how it connects to your overall argument. Overall, I think
that you have a good start and great ideas. I look forward to seeing what you
do in the final draft.
KA
Soder,
Roger. The Language of Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass: A Wiley Company,
2001. Print
Denning,
Stephen. The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Others Through
Narrative. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass: A Wiley Company, 2007. Print
Conger,
Jay A. “Inspiring Others: The Language of Leadership” The Executive 5.1 (1991):
31-45. Print
Bock,
Wally. “Are Leaders Born or Made.” Three Star Leadership. 29 Nov. 2012. Web.
2006
Vargheese,
Sangeeth. “Are Leaders Really Born?” Forbes.
29 Nov. 2012. Web. 29. Nov. 2007.
[KA2]You
may want to avoid opening up with such vague language. Is there another way
that you could phrase it that gives it a little more strength?
[KA7]I
think that this should function as your thesis statement, but you need to take
“I believe” out because it’s your paper and your argument, so the reader knows
that you believe it.
[KA8]George—this
essay is a bit too narrative for a research-based paper. I like the ideas that
you have and I think that you do a good job working into the essay, but I think
that it would be better if you rephrased it from the third person perspective.
You can use personal examples as supporting evidence, but you should not be
writing the entire essay from a personal perspective. Try to avoid using “I” or
“my” unless you are using a personal experience as supporting evidence and
don’t use “you” to address the reader. As you are rephrasing your perspective,
please make sure to address the conversational tone as well.
[KA10]Even
if you’re paraphrasing, you need to cite the page where this information came
from in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
[KA11]You
should come back to your thesis statement or main argument here and show how
the previous point fits into it before moving onto your next point.
[KA12]You
don’t think that who you are affects what people think about you? Wouldn’t a
famous coach command more respect or get people’s attention better than an
unknown one?
[KA15]I
like the point that you are making here and that you are coming back to your
main argument in the conclusion.
[KA16]Second
line of the entries are indented. You need to italicize book titles. All
entries should be in alphabetical order.
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