If Leaders are Learners… Traits

…then what are they EXPECTED to LEARN?  This is the second post in the series, if leaders are learners... In this series I will explore the art of leadership and what exactly leaders need to know to be effective. I will examine common practices of leaders, a few traits of leaders and what happens when a leader stops learning. In this post, I will be defining leadership from a Christian perspective, feel free to join the conversation and post your experiences in leadership in the comments section. Before we begin with traits of a leader, we must define what we call, traits. There are three broad types of traits, Biological, Cultural and Physical. Biological traits, involve genes and characteristics of an organism. Cultural traits encompass the characteristics of a culture group. And Physical traits are specific to an object and its characteristics. There are many other types of traits, however we will look at Physical traits. So, if physical traits pertain to ones characteristics, then what characteristics are needed to be an effective leader? When talking about leadership, the question that always arises is when is one a leader? To put it a different way; Does one learn to become a leader? ...

If Leaders are Learners… Common Practices

…then what are they EXPECTED to LEARN? If you are reading this, I assume you are a leader, in a leadership position or thinking about leadership in general. There are many books and articles on leadership and I will not try to copy and paste all of it here. I am trying to explore the art of leadership and what exactly leaders need to know to be effective. I will examine common practices of leaders, a few traits of leaders and what happens when a leader stops learning. In this post, I will be defining leadership from a Christian perspective, feel free to join the conversation and post your experiences in leadership in the comments section. These are not exhaustive lists of leadership practices and traits. To begin the task of understanding leadership, I think the best place to start is a definition. Let’s look at a few: "Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less." John C. Maxwell "The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers." Peter Drucker “Pointing others to the source of one’s conviction” Ryan Marcum So, when thinking about leadership we can assume three things. First, a leader has influence. Second a leader has followers. And lastly, ...