Rande W. Matteson, CFE, CHN, Ph.D.

Saint Leo University

Abstract

The most important task for a manager in the public, private and non-for-profit sectors today is to develop an effective and committed leadership style. Organizations and governments succeed or decline based largely on the vision and capability of their leaders. The challenge of developing leaders is not a new issue nor is it unique to modern day organizations. Ancient Chinese Rulers spent a great deal of time studying and thinking about leadership, particularly leadership under conditions of great difficulty. Most managers are not natural leaders; leadership is an acquired skill. For a manager to also be a good leader, he or she needs to have developed a diverse inventory of personal and professional skill sets that will allow for a visionary’s mindset to organize and integrate business-related concepts that are clear and understandable so that employees can succeed in today’s competitive business environment (Krause, 1997).