The best thing that a mentor can do is to train his or her protégé to become independent from the mentor and lead themselves. Robbins (2009) describe this a self-leadership. According …show more content…
P. and Judge, T. A. (2009) defined “leadership as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals” (p. 385). There are two theories that can be used to differentiate and categorize people are leaders and non-leaders trait theories of leadership and behavior theories of leadership. Robbins (2009) claimed that trait theories are theories that “consider personal qualities and characteristics that differentiate leaders from nonleaders” (p. 387). These theories look for characteristics such as the “big five” to predict leadership effectiveness.
The behavioral Theories are defined by Robbins (2009) as “Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from nonleaders” (p.389). According to Robbins (2009) the difference between the two is that trait theories is under the philosophy that leaders are born and behavior theories are under the philosophy that leaders can be trained because leadership is defined by behavior instead of trait.
Power
If leadership is the ability to influence than a way to measure the effectiveness of a leader is by how much power they possess. Power is defined as the “capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B act in accordance with A’s wishes” (Robbins 2009 p. 451). There are several types of power coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent. According the Robbins (2009) the following are defined …show more content…
Ent, M. R., Baumeister, R.F. and Vonasch, A. J. (2012) concluded that
Power appears to make people goal-focused and more willing to approach goals. Goals that are consistent with the leadership role, such as high effort and effective performance may therefore be facilitated – but less useful and admirable goals including self-indulgence and pleasure-seeking, may also be facilitated.
When power is misused it can create a lot of problems and cause mistrust among co-workers and employees. Fischer (2009) claimed that it is important that we not use our power outside of our authority granted by God and the Law.
Conclusion
The more effective the leader the more power that leader has. To determine if a leader is good or bad we must observe the way that leader uses his or her power. The way we can ensure that we use our power within the given authority from God and to continue encourage the idea of covenant in the work place is to follow the wisdom written in Proverbs 3:5-7 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.” By doing this we will humble ourselves before the power and authority of God and follow his