BUSI 345 Week 2 Discussion Board Forum 1 Replies Example

Discussion Board Forum 1 Replies: Defining Leadership

BUSI 345 Leadership Theory and Practices, Discussion Board Forum 1 Replies

Thread by [Student Name]

The two classmates and their threads are composites; the textbooks, research and Scripture cited are real.

Reply to Rachel

Rachel, your thread argued that leadership is a set of skills anyone can learn, and your example of the shift supervisor who became a confident leader after a year of coaching made the point concrete. This module/week's reading supports you directly. Northouse (2016) presents the skills approach as a shift away from asking who leaders are and toward asking what leaders can do, and he describes those capabilities as developable.

The research behind that chapter is substantial. Mumford et al. (2000) summarized a large research program on officers at several career levels in the U.S. Army and proposed a model in which effective leadership rests on skill in solving problems, judging social situations and applying knowledge, shaped by individual attributes and by career experiences. Officers at higher levels showed more developed skills, which the authors interpreted as evidence that experience and development build leadership capability over time. The model does not deny that some attributes, such as general intelligence, help; it places them as raw material that experience shapes.

That fits your supervisor's story. Coaching gave practice in social judgment, reading what others need and adjusting, which is exactly the kind of skill the model says grows with experience. The coach also gave feedback after each difficult shift, turning ordinary work into a structured lesson, and that may be the most transferable part of the story.

Scripture describes growth in character as a process too. Peter urges believers to supplement faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control and so on, and warns that a person lacking these qualities is shortsighted (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, 2 Peter 1:5-9). Leadership grows the same way, one capability added to another through effort.

One question: the skills model was built on military officers, who receive structured training and rotate through many roles. Do you think civilian employees, who often get little formal development, grow leadership skills in the same way, or does someone need to deliberately create those experiences for them?

Reply to Dante

Dante, your thread made a strong case that some people are simply born with charisma, and you are right that a few leaders seem to draw followers effortlessly. Northouse (2016) agrees that the trait approach has intuitive appeal and a century of research behind it. I want to suggest, though, that the research gives a more complicated picture than born leaders and everyone else.

Zaccaro (2007) reviewed trait-based perspectives and argued that earlier researchers dismissed traits too quickly, but also that single traits predict leadership poorly. Traits matter most as integrated patterns, such as intelligence combined with social skill and motivation, and they interact with the situation, so the same pattern may help in one setting and not another. Charisma, on this view, is not one inborn quality but a combination of attributes and learned behaviors that fit a particular group at a particular time.

Scripture contains a famous warning against judging leaders by appearance. When Samuel came to anoint a king from Jesse's sons, he assumed the tall, impressive Eliab was the Lord's choice. God told Samuel not to look on his appearance or height, because man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, 1 Samuel 16:6-7). The chosen leader was David, the youngest, who was out tending sheep.

The lesson for organizations is that charisma can mislead those choosing leaders as easily as it attracts followers. A candidate who impresses in an interview may lack the judgment or character the role needs, while a quieter candidate with a long record of keeping teams together may be overlooked. Structured interviews, work samples and references from former team members can reveal the patterns Zaccaro describes better than a first impression can.

Do you think organizations rely too heavily on first impressions of confidence when choosing leaders? What could they look for instead?

References

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Mumford, M. D., Zaccaro, S. J., Harding, F. D., Jacobs, T. O., & Fleishman, E. A. (2000). Leadership skills for a changing world: Solving complex social problems. The Leadership Quarterly, 11(1), 11-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(99)00041-7

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Zaccaro, S. J. (2007). Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American Psychologist, 62(1), 6-16. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.6