The book entitled Successful Leadership by, Carol O’ Conner discusses seven areas that are essential for successful leadership. Developing Awareness, understanding people, power and authority, communication, decision making, creating a vision, and taking charge are important leadership requirements and skills. Seven chapters in this book are based on the seven concepts just mentioned. Chapter 1 Developing Awareness covers four aspects of the development of self-awareness: leadership basics, self – assessment, following the leader, and personal development. Three common beliefs about leadership are leaders are born to their role, certain qualities make a leader, and situations create leaders who emerge to meet the needs of a specific group, time, or place. When the task is complete, these leaders retire from their roles. Leaders need to assess their own performance first. This offers a baseline against which colleagues’ comments, considered carefully, may be set. A leader can judge whether or not their coworkers comments are helpful, appropriate or signal a need for a change in behavior by using their own strong, self-image, personal goals, and high performance standards. Effective leaders are able to practice self-assessment by being honest with themselves and not trying to create a fantasy image. People are more willing to follow someone who exhibits positive leadership behaviors rather than negative ones. A positive leader shows fairness, listens well, exhibits integrity, motivates team members, and knows project thoroughly. On the other hand, a negative leader is impatient with slow thinkers, shows favoritism, gives unclear directions, does not share information/knowledge and chooses friends regardless of their skills. Assessment of both positive and negative leadership behaviors provides a basis for improved performance. Positive and negative items can be organized into three areas for development, w...
