Leadership Skills:570401

Question:

Learning Outcome/s

Demonstrate an understanding of intrapersonal and interpersonal skills that have been associated with success in leading and managing individuals and groups in the workplace
Explain and apply key principles and theoretical underpinnings of skills for self-awareness, working with others and managing and leading teams Develop effective and meaningful reflective practices.

Answers:

Introduction

The leadership capability is innate and the modern leaders are crossing barriers to display effective leadership skills (Laguador, Velasquez & Forendo, 2013). The emergence of the ability of thinking strategically is one of the distinguishing factor of the effective leaders. The leaders possess the capability of managing the relationships, dealing with conflict, networking with stakeholders and maintaining an awareness regarding the external environment. Research has shown that leadership is one of the most crucial components of the effective organizations (Laguador, Velasquez & Forendo, 2013). There is difference between the leaders of different industries and different organizations, however, the basic constituents of effective leaders are the same. Effective leaders should have positive influence on the group members so that they get the acceptance and the respect of the group members (Tschannen-Moran, 2014). One cannot expect that being a leader would automatically give them respect and good will. The leaders should display qualities of an effective leader in order to gain the trust of the group members. A good leadership in the firm not only enhances the internal organizational culture, but is also responsible for increasing the organizational productivity (Laguador, Velasquez & Forendo, 2013). It is helpful for creating brand reputation and goodwill in the market.

This essay would analyze the different attributes of the personal leadership abilities which identifies my preferred leadership style as well as leadership skills. The shortcomings in my personal leadership style would be demonstrated along with the measures that I would undertake to improve these loopholes. The concept of self-awareness of leadership would be performed. A critical reflection of my own leadership skills would be performed which would help me to become an effective leader in modern organizations. An action plan would be proposed for improving the backlogs in the leadership skills.

Discussion

The leadership abilities are one of the core determinants which make successful leaders. The person may have limited capability to innovate new things, however, he should be expert at executing the ideas in practice. One of the most important skills of the leaders is the ability to delegate different tasks within the team (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). The leaders are successful in the creation of successful brand image and sharing their vision with the team. The leader should trust their team and know the basic skills that are possessed by them. The delegation of the work needs to be done by evaluating the skills of the employees (Laguador, Velasquez & Forendo, 2013). The delegation of the tasks should not only be done according to their skills alone but also by the psychological component of the team members. The second most important attribute of a leader is the level of honesty he possesses. The employees as well as the business would be a reflection of the honest behaviour of the leaders (Daft, 2014). If the leaders follow ethical behaviour, then the team would also be likely to follow the suit. I always try to follow the paths of honesty no matter what comes my way. I have not resorted to any unfair means of reaching my goals. The third attribute of a good leader is the responsiveness to the needs of the team members. The leaders should be perceptive enough so that they are aware of needs of the team members (Banerjee, Ceri & Leonardi, 2016). This can be done by having knowledge of the goals and the values of the team members and responding to their requirements when required. The leaders should also possess adequate communication skills which would help him to express his ideas to both the management and his followers. The communication skills are important for the leaders to train the new team members by interacting with them at a personal level. It also helps in the creation of a productive work culture.

My preferred personal leadership style is the transformational style of leadership, in which the leaders initiate a change process in the organizations or groups. These kinds of leaders possess greater motivation levels and they possess good communication levels (Avolio & Yammarino, 2013). They set out different challenging expectations and like to gain higher performances in the team. Research shows that transformational form of leadership does have committed as well as satisfied followers (Roueche et al., 2014). I am personally influenced by transformational leadership since it is concerned with change in the organizations, which is important in modern day organizations. I would like to be transformational leader since they create a vision so that the followers are guided by the same. The transformational leaders engage in the improvement of the morale, motivation and the performance of the individuals (Tourish, 2013). This ensures the sense of identity of the followers and the collective identity of the organization. I am attracted to this form of leadership since these kinds of leaders act as role model to the followers and inspire the followers so that they can deliver excellent performance in the organization. I also like the fact that the leaders challenge the followers for taking more ownership of their individual work. This also makes sure that they are responsible for their own work. This gives the leaders an opportunity to know the strengths as well as weakness of the followers. This makes them more confident regarding the tasks that they are assigning to the team members as per their individual capability.

I am aware of the fact that the leaders should be self-aware about their skills, capabilities and competencies so that they can identify the loopholes or areas of improvement. I have understood the fact that it is important to audit my own leadership skills so that I can improve further. My personal reflections would be exploring different opportunities for going towards my career paths as well as personal development. It would also give me a foundation for developing an Action Plan for my future. This assignment would help me to critically evaluate own needs of development and work towards them. The evaluation of my personal skills is important since these would pass directly to my professional life.

The act of critical reflection of own leadership skills would help me to understand the strengths as well as weakness of my leadership capability. I am honest in my endeavors. In my personal as well as professional life, I always choose the honest path. I know that the path of dishonest means is very attractive and people tend to follow these paths as the maximum return can be gained from unfair means. However, I believe that success is not fully realized until it is achieved through honest means. It is easy to achieve higher organizational success or personal life objectives if it is achieved through unfair means. I have seen many examples in my personal life who have ascended the path of corporate ladder by favoritism. I believe that there is no substitute for hard work and dedication, which are the two components of honesty.

There are instances when I feel that I do not possess the capability of motivating and inspiring others, which is one of the core attributes of the transformational leadership. As commented by Kaur (2013), Maslow’s need hierarchy focuses on the five basic needs of human beings such as physiological, social, safety, self-actualization and self-esteem. I, myself, have the capability of motivating myself and I am motivated in my life. However, when it comes to inspiring others, I am not able to do so successfully. It is not that I do not try to motivate others, however, I always fail to do so. I am not able to enhance the motivation level of others. This may be due to the fact that my approach may not be right or I lack the technique of motivating others. This caused frustration in me as I was unable to influence others, which was a key leadership attribute. I realized that I need to develop these attributes so that I can become an effective leader.

I have patience and I am able to keep my cool even in stressful situations. This is one of the most important attribute of a good leader. There have been many instances during my academic life when I am successful in showing that I am patient. I do not get perturbed or tensed about how to do particular thing. Also, there are situations I have arrived at a point from where there are no visible solutions. In such situations, everyone’s mind becomes tensed and they are clueless about the activities that needs to be done next. In these situations, I am able to keep my cool and I am able to decide the future courses of action.

One of the drawbacks possessed by me is I am not consistent in my efforts towards my goals. According to Antonakis & House (2014), the path goal theory of leadership is concerned with the specification about a leader which best fits his team and the work culture. This theory specifies the determination of the employee as well as environmental characteristics, which is helpful in choosing the correct leadership style. It also focuses on the motivational factors in order to be successful. Hence, it is imperative that the leaders should have consistent approach in determining the employee and the external environment features. I have passion for being successful at my goals, however, I lack the drive of continuously doing efforts towards achieving my goal. There are times when I perform good and there are times when I don’t have the urge to work towards my goal. I do not get the drive to push me towards doing something better and bigger. I also feel that due to this inconsistent nature, I am often unable to achieve my objectives.

I also lack from confidence level at times. In order to be an effective leader, it is important to be confident always. According to Carter & Greer (2013), the strategic leadership style is the one in which leader is able to bridge the gap between prescriptive habits and the need for any new possibility. The leaders must be confident about the best suitable things for the team and the organization as a whole. However, I feel that I do possess the ability of critical thinking, but I am not able to take strategic decisions. This is because of the fact that I become confused regarding choosing the appropriate options. This would make me difficult to take strategic decisions for my organization in the near future.

I have learnt in my course about the Traits theory of leadership. Chemers (2014) mentions that traits theory is concerned about the measurement of traits in individuals that can be defined as patterns of behavior, thoughts or emotions. There are certain observed personality traits in individuals such as openness to experience, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, self-esteem, novelty seeking and others. I am afraid that I have prone to neuroticism as I am easily affected by the words or actions of others. This is not good in my leadership exposure since there would be actions of the followers which would not be as per my wish. This may hamper my ability to take decisions since I would be emotional and would not be able to think properly. I also display the attributes of harm avoidance in which I have a tendency to worry and shy in front of others. I am able to communicate with others; however, I do feel that I am not being able to express myself properly.

I have realized that I need to work on my short comings as identified in the above identified section. The improvement of the identified weakness in leadership skills is important so that I can gain good future career options. I should take active steps in motivating my friends and close family members. This can be done by active listening to others and solving their problems as and when required. It is important to know the problems of the team members and try to provide a solution to them. I should try to be more interactive with people so that they can share their issues with me. I should also allocate responsibility to people according to skills so that they are motivated to do good work in the future.

I should try to maintain consistency when trying to achieve my goals. I should commit myself to sustained effort that action in the long run. I should try to maintain a diary in which there will be record of the day to day activities. This would be done by keeping in mind the long-term business goals as well as the impact that the daily activities would have on these goals. I should try to develop a habit of doing the same actions over and over again.

It is important that I portray a more confident outlook in my personal as well as professional life. I should give me challenges every other day and celebrate on meeting those challenges. It is important to celebrate achievements since it helps the individuals to realize the self-potential (). I should try to relax at times. I should understand the fact that no one is perfect in this world. I should try to make myself emotionally strong, who would not be affected easily by the words of others. I should make a conscious effort to maintain emotional stability. This can be done by increasing the level of communication in my personal as well as professional life. I should try to eliminate shyness, which would make me more confident while interacting with others. I should try to do this by stopping self-sabotaging, engage more with others, try new things in life, display confident body language and others. I should also try to prepare topics for conversation beforehand so that I do not feel when interacting with others.

Action Plan

Conclusion

            The leadership abilities are one of the most important attributes of success in the modern-day organizations. This essay presented the critical analysis of my personal leadership skills and related them to the theory. I found that I have good amount of patience and I am honest in my activities. However, there were certain areas in which I lacked essential qualities. I do not have the ability of motivating others, lack consistency, have less confidence level and I am emotionally vulnerable. I am also shy when presenting my opinions in front of others. It was important that these shortcomings are achieved for better professional outcomes and hence I decided on the ways to improve my present solution. This reflective practice would broaden my understanding of the different leadership skills and how to improve them in real life.

References

Antonakis, J., & House, R. J. (2014). Instrumental leadership: Measurement and extension of transformational–transactional leadership theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(4), 746-771.

Avolio, B. J., & Yammarino, F. J. (Eds.). (2013). Introduction to, and overview of, transformational and charismatic leadership. In Transformational and Charismatic Leadership: The Road Ahead 10th Anniversary Edition (pp. xxvii-xxxiii). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Banerjee, B., Ceri, S., & Leonardi, C. (2016). Innovation Leadership: A New Kind of Leadership. In Creating Innovation Leaders (pp. 53-80). Springer International Publishing.

Carter, S. M., & Greer, C. R. (2013). Strategic leadership: Values, styles, and organizational performance. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 20(4), 375-393.

Chemers, M. (2014). An integrative theory of leadership. Psychology Press.

Daft, R. L. (2014). The leadership experience. Cengage Learning.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A., 2013. Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.

Kaur, A. (2013). Maslow’s need hierarchy theory: Applications and criticisms. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, 3(10), 1061-1064.

Laguador, J. M., Velasquez, M. E., & Forendo, K. C. (2013). Leadership Capability Assessment of Senior Industrial Engineering Students. International Journal of Basic Applied & Social Sciences, 1(3), 7-12.

Roueche, P. E., Baker III, G. A., & Rose, R. R. (2014). Shared vision: Transformational leadership in American community colleges. Rowman & Littlefield.

Tourish, D. (2013). The dark side of transformational leadership: A critical perspective. Development and Learning in Organizations, 28(1).

Tschannen-Moran, M., 2014. Trust matters: Leadership for successful schools. John Wiley & Sons.