My Ideal Leader

Soon, I will be entering the workforce and begin working for a variety of different leaders. I am sure that I will encounter both good and bad leaders throughout my career ranging from the arrogant boss who only cares about his/her gains to the sensitive boss who is more of a friend than a leader. However, in the world of blogging, I am able to create the "ideal" leader for whom I would like to work for some day. There are many different characteristics, qualities, and skills that make up my "ideal" leader. My leader would balance all four lines of development quadrants (personal, organizational, knowledge, and cultural). Although they would be balanced in all four quadrants, they would have certain strengths that would help define their qualities as leader.

Personal:
In the personal quadrant, my ideal leader would have the ability to listen and understand. I, personally, believe this particular line of development is a characteristic that helps define the quality of a leader. By being able to listen and understand, my ideal leader would be able to gain input from all levels of employees. This not only gives respect to other employees, but also empowers them to perform at their highest potential. Employees would feel comfortable talking to the leader and offering their personal opinion, thus making employees feel as if they are essential to the success of the organization. This quality is particularly important in the financial field. Because there is so much information and data travelling around the organization, the leader must be able to understand and synthesize the information so he/she can make quality decisions. This quality would allow my ideal leader to be able to relate with me on a personal level.

Organizational:
As for the organizational quadrant, my ideal leader would have the strength of creating relevance for all employees. Today, so many working individual despise going to work because they do not like their job. However, I believe this is a result of ineffective leadership. An ideal leader is able to organize his/her employees in such a way that makes them feel empowered. By creating relevance, a leader gives reason why an individual should want to do his/her job. If an employee is going to reach their full potential, they must be able to understand why their job is important.

Knowledge:
In the knowledge quadrant, my ideal leader possesses a strong understanding of finance and the industry. As a result of my ideal leader knowing the industry, I would feel more confident and assured of my leader's decisions. In addition to feeling confident about my leader's abilities, I believe I would be able to learn from his/her knowledge. My ideal leader would have a large amount of experience in the financial industry, which will allow them to make better, more knowledgeable decisions.

Cultural:
Lastly, in the cultural quadrant, I believe an ideal leader should have a strong sense of vision. Personally, I think this is that quality that separates successful leaders from the rest. By having a vision and defining goals and objectives, employees as well as consumers can understand the direction in which the organization is going. My ideal leader would be able to use his/her knowledge of the industry and envision a path for future success. In addition to being able to have vision, I believe my ideal leader would be able to effectively communicate his/her vision and goals with the entire organization. This would help keep the organization together and headed in the same direction.

In conclusion, my ideal leader would be balanced in all four line of development quadrants. Just like any successful leader, my ideal leader would be charismatic, organized, and innovative. However, I believe there are certain lines of development in each quadrant that are particularly important in the financial field. Overall, it is difficult to describe my ideal financial leader because I have had no working experience with any sort of financial CEO. Therefore, many of my ideal leader characteristics are very general and broad. Who knows, maybe after working a few years in the financial field, my ideal leader will be very strict, difficult to please, and impersonal. But until then, I can only describe qualities that I think make up any good leader in any career field.