Economics

The leadership based paper focuses on commitment, teamwork, and communication, which have been identified by the Union Pacific Railroad as vital leadership attributes. In this paper, I try to describe how I can use the three leadership attributes to impact on the local community. Leadership is the process of using non-coercive influence by a person over others so as to coordinate and direct the members’ activities towards the realisation of set objectives. For the set goals to be achieved, effective leader with effective leadership attributes are needed (de Ver 2009). Effective leaders have the capability to engage followers towards a common or shared agenda. Some of the attributes that effective leaders have include, but are not limited to, commitment, teamwork, and communication. All these attributes are significant while undertaking community development. As a leader in the community, the three leadership attributes are important in driving the agenda of promoting a healthy community and neighborhood (Fortier 2000). To begin with, communication is key to healthy communities because it ensures effective transmission of information and messages from the leader to the people in the community level. As a leader at the community level, it is vital to listen and pay attention to other people’s views, comments, opinions, and suggestions (DeKlein 2000). This is because listening to others is the key to effective communication. As a leader, effective communication is necessary while communicating the vision to the community members. For example, the need for a healthy community in terms of security, sanitation, and favorable neighborhood could be drive to the people through effective communication. Moreover, a leader who communicates with his/her follows resolves conflicts and ensures that they do not divert from the shared goal or objective (Sadeghi & Pihie 2012). Effective community leaders need to be committed to their work as lack of commitment results to project failure. Therefore, a a committed leader ensures that the agenda for a healthy community is pushed and passed on to the people (Maxwell 1999). Moreover, commitment is a must have for an effective community leader because it sets a good example that could be emulated by the community members. In other words, if a leader is committed to an agenda, the rest of the community shall also be committed. Being a leader at the community level is hard and requires the involvement and commitment of the leader so as to achieve the set goals or agenda (Fortier 2000). As a leader, it is impossible to achieve the community agenda individually. For this reason, it is vital to work as a team with the rest of the community members to create a healthy community. Since a community leader is always in touch with the people in the grassroots, teamwork is necessary. This is because assistance and support from community is required by an effective community leader (DeKlein 2000). In this context, a coalition with collaborators and supporters is important in the realisation of a healthy community. In conclusion, an effective leader should communicate with the people, show commitment to the project being undertaken, and encourage teamwork among the people. All these leadership attributes leads to the realisation of the set agenda and objectives.