What Does Leader Mean
Leader , from the English leader , is a person who acts as a guide or head of a group. For their leadership to be effective, the rest of the members must recognize their abilities. For example: “I need a leader within this team” , “We all did our part to win, but we have to admit that we would not have achieved it without our leader” .
The leader has the power to influence other subjects. Their behavior or their words are able to motivate the members of a group to work together for a common goal . According to their way of leading the team, the leader can be considered authoritarian (makes decisions without giving explanations about it), democratic (allows everyone to have an opinion and decides by consensus) or laissez faire (is the liberal leader, the former with passive behavior that delegates power to others).
Another classification of leaders is made according to the influence they have on their subordinates: the charismatic leader manages to modify the values, beliefs and attitudes of his followers (historical figures such as Adolf Hitler or Juan Domingo Perón are considered within this group) ; the transactional leader , on the other hand, limits himself to contributing the resources that he considers valid for the group.
It is worth mentioning that a group of human beings cannot be born and flourish in which nobody assumes the role of leader, no matter how subtle their performance. All people need a certain degree of organization in their life, and for this it is essential that there is a guide, someone who makes or evaluates important decisions and who keeps their colleagues encouraged and focused on a goal, so that they do not get lost. the sense of union. From a small group of friends to an entire country, all are based on a hierarchical system and, although at first glance they may seem disparate examples, in both cases the role of leader is more difficult to maintain than to achieve.
Some of the most important characteristics of every successful leader are: that he knows how to listen to the other members of his group ; that he approaches each one of them and takes the time to get to know them well, paying special attention to their needs ; that he does not show himself as an all-powerful master, but rather tries to give everyone a space, so that everyone feels that they are part of the decisions; that he knows how to learn from his mistakes and that he is not afraid of change, since in it lies the secret of his continuity in the role .
The guide's election methodology can result in formal leaders (who are chosen by an organization ) or informal leaders (emerging from the group itself). An example of a formal leader is the captain of a soccer team chosen after a vote in which all of his teammates participate. An informal leader, on the other hand, could be the student who, in a study group, promotes actions spontaneously.
In the field of software development there is a job position called Lead Programmer , which means leading programmer and even used in English speaking countries. Whoever assumes this role must be in charge of one or more teams of programmers, and among their possible obligations is the supervision of the work carried out by others, giving advice and offering their help to solve any problems that may arise throughout the course. life of each project. It is worth mentioning that he does not always fulfill the function of a programmer itself, but often uses his knowledge and experience to successfully achieve the objectives proposed by his superiors.