Blog Post 13: 21st Century Leadership

I really enjoyed reading “Redefining Leadership in the Next Century” because it was applicable to my generation’s future endeavors to become leaders; it is worth noting that in a corporate organization, leading now is much different than 30 years ago, and the definition of leading “successfully” is constantly changing. The Jepson School of Leadership Studies mission statement aims to educate students to “look at leadership as it was, as it is, and as it should be”– this article emphasizes the “should be” for the future of leadership. McFarland, Senn, and Childress address the changes happening in different leadership contexts and the world, and how we must adjust our mindsets to meet these differences. I was most intrigued by the leader’s growing need to embrace all different types of qualities and differences; this reminded me of the growing controversy over Trait Theory. Many scholars say trait theory is ineffectual and unrealistic for studying the effectiveness of leaders due to its failure to take into account situational and environmental factors. I was impressed by the authors’ inclusion of becoming a holistic leader because it helps break down the idea that there is one type of successful leader: “the successful leaders of the 21st Century will in fact have to approach their lives and their organizations from a much more holistic standpoint, embracing within themselves a broad range of qualities, skills, and behaviors,” (McFarland, Senn, and Childress, 462). In applying this holistic view to themselves, leaders and figures of authority in corporate organizations can better accept differences in their followers and employees.

Anna Marston