Inventory Activities Analysis - Essay Example

Even so, the use of power to influence remains a crucial aspect of leadership. The modern context, nonetheless, opposes the form of influence that entails coercion. Instead, effective leaders seek to build relationships with their followers. Just like Blake with his TOMS idea for providing shoes to the children in Argentina, modern-day leaders need to put the interest of their followers before theirs. They then forge a win-win situation for both parties. Despite all leadership not being equal, such successful leaders exude unique leadership styles that identify them and seek to lead by example, having developed their inner selves first before instilling the same in their followers.

This activity has been useful in appreciating my leadership style. I am democratic and would always seek to have the will of the people prevail. Perhaps, this style is supported by the activity’s acknowledgement of the need for selflessness for success as a leader. In most cases, I seek to lead by example, always doing what I would expect my followers to do. This has made me cause people to take up tasks they never imagined they would undertake. I am not coercive. This could be a failure on my part because as learnt from the activity, some coercion could help a leader realize the set objectives. However, care should be taken to ensure that a balance between coercion and free will by followers is reached.

By being democratic, I have had the undesirable will of the people carry the day. There was this one day when I was charged with the finances for our sports cheering team that accompanied players to a tournament. I proposed that we share the allowances at the end of the tournament. The cheerers wanted it before and I did as they wished. By the time the games started, they had spent all the money and some were even hungry already. They failed to cheer our team well, perhaps the reason we were beaten. Thus, I do not support the postulate from this activity that a successful leader should be defined by a specific style. Instead, a leader should exude different styles depending on the context. Had I been coercive, perhaps the results would have been different for our team. This means that effective leaders have in their reserve a wealth of leadership styles, each applied when need be to attain the desired goals.

I look forward to improving my leadership following the lessons learnt from this activity. Importantly, I need to be sensitive to the surrounding environment just as Blake of TOMS who identified the need for shoes for Argentinean children. From such situations would my leadership be put to the test to determine its effectiveness. Of immediate importance would be to learn how to use power to influence followers. This would be critical to supplement my democratic trait to realize the desired goals as a leader. With different situations presenting different challenges, I seek to continuously learn from different contexts to continuously improve my leadership skills.