Functions of a Leader

• Leadership is a highly regarded quality for success in life.
• Leadership is influencing people to strive willingly and enthusiastically toward group goals.

Functions of a Leader

• Planning involves strategic thinking to move the organization forward. Leaders must look at long-term goals, know how to achieve them and ensure the vision is not lost.
• Organizing means a leader organizes the group to execute a plan by delegating tasks, establishing procedures, and developing performance metrics. The leader must also use resources and processes, and get feedback from the team on what works and what impedes progress.
• Leading means understanding how to get the team to understand how actions help achieve end goals. Leaders must consider team morale when choosing leadership styles and how to motivate the team.
• Controlling means ensuring there are metrics to define success and does not mean micromanaging. Leaders must assess if the plan is succeeding and take corrective action if problems are found, or the strategy might fail.

Types of Leadership

• Persuasive leadership considers individual capabilities of group members. Persuasive leaders lead by example and get results through cheerful cooperation.
• Authoritarian leadership involves exclusive and forceful use of rank or authority. Authoritarian leaders rarely consider human frailties, thus generating animosities and inward hostility.
• Laissez Faire leadership may be the least effective and relies on group leadership rather than individual leadership. Has associations with the phrase "bahala na."

Principles of Leadership

• Taking responsibility for actions means leaders must be responsible for their actions and those of their subordinates, accepting blame, understanding responsibility, and seeking opportunities to help.
• Self-improvement means to know yourself by applying knowledge of human behavior in an honest self-analysis to improve attitude and enhance understanding of others.
• Setting the example means modeling desired behavior, as people learn most effectively from their leader's actions.
• Responsibility involves seeking responsibility and developing a sense of it among subordinates, holding them accountable for results rather than methods.
• Ensuring job understanding includes supervising and accomplishing tasks through specific, positive, and clear instructions.
• Knowing the team and looking for their welfare involves predicting/controlling subordinate behavior, understanding needs, and showing they are understood.
• Keeping the team informed allows a Filipino soldier to work harder and cooperate more effectively if he understands why.
• Employing command in accordance with capabilities involves assigning attainable objectives.
• Training the team means that a team succeeds only if every member contributes; teamwork is essential in military operations.
• Making sound and timely decisions means being able to rapidly estimate the situation and arrive at decisions to take advantage of opportunities.
• Knowing the job involves having knowledge of one's job commands both self-assurance and the respect of subordinates.

Ingredients and indications of a Good Leader

• Prudence: Directing actions towards life goals by knowing the right thing to do and applying it.
• Justice: Giving each one his due with constant will provides stability needed for working without fear.
• Fortitude: Overcoming life's difficulties and pressures in the pursuit of good.
• Temperance: Bringing desires and natural inclinations under control of right reason.
• Industry: Working hard and working under pressure.
• Loyalty: Remaining true to friends, principles, and goals.
• Responsibility: Being accountable for actions, duties, obligations, and consequences.
• Cheerfulness: Being optimistic, positive, and seeing the bright side of things.
• Generosity: Sharing the good one has with others, thinking of their needs and looking for ways to help.
• Magnanimity: Having high ideals and ambitions of doing good, serving others through great deeds.

Traits of a Good Leader

• Integrity is the uprightness of character and soundness of one's moral principles; absolute truthfulness and honesty.
• Knowledge is demonstrated through understanding of a job and the team; builds confidence in oneself as well as in others.
• Courage recognizes fear yet enables a person to meet anger or opposition with calmness and firmness.
• Decisiveness is the ability to reach sound decisions promptly and announce them forcefully and clearly.
• Initiative is seeing what has to be done and doing it even without orders.
• Dependability means being reliable in carrying out the commander's intent actively, intelligently, and willingly.
• Tact is the ability to understand human nature and consider feelings when dealing with others to avoid friction or offense.
• Justice is giving appropriate rewards and penalties.
• Enthusiasm is the display of real interest in one's job and the determination to do it exceptionally well.
• Bearing is one's personal appearance and conduct.
• Endurance enables a leader to withstand pain, fatigue, duress, and hardship without complaining.
• Unselfishness means not taking advantage of the situation to promote personal pleasures, gain, or safety at the expense of the team.