Follow the Leader, Social Issues and All

What is leadership without effective social change? According to sciencedirect.com, "Leadership has traditionally been seen as a distinctly interpersonal phenomenon demonstrated in the interactions between leaders and subordinates. Effective leadership behavior fundamentally depends upon the leader's ability to solve the kinds of complex social problems that arise in organizations. The differential characteristics and career experiences likely to influence the development of these skills also are considered along with the implications of these observations for leadership theory and for the career development of organizational leaders."

In order to be an impactful leader, it becomes extremely important to learn how to solve the social issues prevalent in today's world. Conflict resolution, specifically pertaining to social disagreements, can make any organized group of people far more content with their situation. Forbes.com states, "Problem solving is the essence of what leaders exist to do. As leaders, the goal is to minimize the occurrence of problems – which means we must be courageous enough to tackle them head-on before circumstances force our hand. We must be resilient in our quest to create and sustain momentum for the organization and people we serve."

In order to solve contemporary social issues, one must first be very aware of them. Problem-solving is a key part of leadership, and learning how to solve social issues can teach others how to avoid them in the future. "What makes problem solving so important to leadership? Well, the short answer is that without problem solving skills, a leader will not be able to solve the many problems they will face in their lifetime, from the mundane to the critical. For the people that look up to that leader, their calmness under pressure, their ability to assess any situation, to know what will happen, and how their decision will affect the situation, is the key" says universalclass.com.

Practicing leadership is far from easy, and when it comes to journalism, being able to understand, recognize, and resolve current social issues will allow people to convey them better when writing about them. How can you write an article about an event occurring with the public without understanding how to defuse it? Writing about it with no potential solution to the problem has another word: complaining. Journalism, however, requires an in-depth knowledge of these issues, and leadership will help solve them or come up with solutions. In the end, as different as they appear to be, these topics are all connected in that way.