A leader is responsible for guiding a group.
Leader , from the English leader , is a person who acts as a guide or leader of a group. For your leadership to be effective, the rest of the members must recognize your capabilities.
For example: “I need a leader within this team,” “We all did our part to win, but we have to recognize that we would not have achieved it without our leader.”
Leader characteristics
The leader has the power to influence other subjects. Their behavior or their words manage to encourage the members of a group to work together for a common goal .
According to his way of leading the team, the leader can be considered authoritarian (he makes decisions without giving explanations), democratic (he allows everyone to give their opinion and decides by consensus) or laissez faire (he is the liberal leader, he with passive behavior that delegates power to others).
Leadership according to the type of influence
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 providing the resources he considers valid for the group.
According to the form of election, it is possible to distinguish between a formal or informal leader.
It is worth mentioning that a group of human beings cannot be born and flourish in which no one assumes the role of leader, no matter how subtle their performance may be. All people need a certain degree of organization in their lives, 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 meaning of union. From a small group of friends to an entire country, they are all based on a hierarchical system and, although at first glance they may seem like disparate examples, in both cases the role of leader is more difficult to maintain than to achieve.
Traits of a successful leader
Some of the most important characteristics of every successful leader are: that they know how to listen to the other members of their group ; who approaches each one of them and takes the time to get to know them well, paying special attention to their needs ; who 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; who knows how to learn from his mistakes and who is not afraid of change, since this is where the secret of his continuity in the role lies.
The methodology for choosing the guide can give rise to formal leaders (who are chosen by an organization ) or informal leaders (they emerge from the group itself). An example of a formal leader is the captain of a soccer team chosen after a vote in which all his teammates participate. An informal leader, on the other hand, could be that student who, in a study group, spontaneously promotes actions.
The concept in computing
In the field of software development there is a job title called Lead Programmer , which means Leading Programmer and is used in English even in Spanish-speaking countries.
Whoever assumes this role must be in charge of one or more teams of programmers, and among their possible obligations is supervising the work carried out by others, giving advice and offering help to solve any problem that may arise throughout the project. life of each project. It is worth mentioning that he does not always fulfill the role of programmer per se, but often uses his knowledge and experience to successfully achieve the objectives proposed by his superiors.