Angie David UNIV 391 Reflection C March 10, 2012 Research is a collaborative effort. It involves teamwork and cooperation.

However, in order to drive this process, there must be a leader who can provide a clear vision, goals, and a procedure to get there. This person can range from the primary investigator to a lab worker who has an idea and a way to succeed. It can be one single person or a group of people sharing leadership. It can be one person who stands out on his/her own or an elected leader. As a leader can be anyone, leadership can be defined in many ways. Most commonly, a leader is a person who has a vision and pursuit in order to create change in their organization. Through inspiration, influence, knowledge, and energy, leaders have the ability to inspire, influence, educate, and energize their followers. In Organizational Leadership and Management, the difference between leaders and managers are discussed. While they both involve a process of social influence with a leader and follower, managers sustain and control while leaders try to change their environment. However, both are not mutually exclusive. Leadership involves management and management involves leadership. Inspiration and influence are important for managers to be able to work with others. At the same time, management skills are important for leaders because vision is not enough to move a group of followers toward action. This article also discussed characteristics of leaders that were consistent among different research findings, called trait theories. Leaders are often intelligent, dominant, self-confident, energetic, knowledgeable, and honest. Behavioral theories

found leaders as having task and people oriented behavior. Many other theories are discussed in order to add to the growing definition of leadership. In Transformational Leadership, the author focuses on a type of charismatic leadership which places a strong emphasis on intrinsic motivation and follower development. Instead of transactional leadership, which is a simple pathway between leaders and followers, transformational leadership seeks to interact and motivate followers to reach their full potential. Leaders still are composed of the same traits as aforementioned and use these traits to be a social architect and shape their followers to exceed expectations. As it turns out, there are both positive and negative aspects to transformational leadership as the definition of leadership. On the one hand, it is widely researched, has intuitive appeal, and is interplay between leaders and followers. On the other hand, it lacks conceptual clarity, accurate measurability, and has the ability to be abused. Transformational leadership as defined through various theories can be applied to any leadership situation, including the area of research. When working in a lab, scientists are working with each other, authority figures, subordinates, and the general public. In order to even begin a project and gather supporters, one must exhibit leadership skills. In Dr. Castignettis lab, although I am only an undergraduate researcher, I can still use leadership skills in my position. As I have my own investigative project with a fellow undergraduate student helping me, I interact, motivate, and influence her. According to Bennis and Nanus, a leader should have a clear vision, create trust, and have positive self-regard. As I progress through my project, I must always have a vision and goals to pursue. Through positive self-regard, I will be able to know my abilities and push myself to work towards my vision even if results are

lacking or other conflicts become overwhelming. With this, I will be a trustworthy person to my fellow researchers. According to Kouzes and Posner, I must model the way, inspire a shared vision, and be willing to innovate, and enable others to act through promoting collaboration. These characteristics will allow me to set a good example for others. With a good leader, the group will be able to make plans, discuss, and create ideas in order to reach the common vision. In the future, as a professional researcher, I will be most likely be leading a larger group and one that will be looking towards me for guidance and direction. In a time where people need motivation in order to work satisfactorily, transformational leadership is incredibly important. The best kind of work and the happiest followers come from the guidance of a leader who understands the social system of the organization and knows how to foster an environment that promotes the followers developments. Through interacting with my fellow scientists, listening to what they have to say, and motivating them, I can guide their behaviors. With a passion and drive to our vision, honesty, intelligence, and self confidence, I can be a successful leader and successful researcher. Leadership skills are incredibly important in leading a team of researchers who all have one common goal. If problems arise, I will need to be able to solve it quickly and identify alternative solutions at the same time. If I do not do this, my team will be distraught which will result in a decrease in motivation to work. Research works only when people are motivated to work and overcome obstacles together. Otherwise, research will remain stagnant. Also, by investing in the followers, the leader becomes more invested into the project him/herself. When the leader works to encourage the followers, the leader is also encouraged and continues to work hard so as to set an example for the followers. This

kind of reciprocal encouragement and motivation is what I expect from using leadership in research. From interacting, motivating, and educating group members, leaders are strongly involved in shaping how research will progress. Instead of just setting a vision and a mode of pursuit, leaders can motivate themselves to be better scientists. Through desire to lead, drive, honesty, ability, and confidence, leaders can lead a team to success and at the same time, be successful themselves.