Leadership Capabilities - Essay Example

?Leadership Essay Every line of work, organization or nation needs good leadership. Effective leadership allows dreams to become realities and long term visions to be achieved. What is it that leadership is made of? And is everyone equally capable of being a great leader? Leadership is defined as the “ability to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members” by Green (as cited in Duncan, Green & Herrera, 2012, p. 74). In other words, leaders are the driving force that motivates people to achieve goals and deliver results. To succeed in today’s workplace and achieve a successful career goal, leadership skill is essential. This exercise has enabled me to understand my capability as a leader and see which areas I need to work on more to become a better, more effective leader. The first step of this exercise was to take a number of tests (questionnaires) that revealed my true leadership skill. Based on these skills, I created a leadership profile for myself, recognizing the styles I am most likely to use when in a leading position. Finally, I have identified key strengths and weak areas, based on which I have created a doable recommendations plan for myself. Results of Leadership Questionnaires 1. Leadership Traits Questionnaire The first questionnaire tested my leadership traits: fourteen important leadership traits have been indentified in this test and I was required to ask others (mostly friends and acquaintances) to rate me on those traits, followed by a self rating. The results compared my self-rating with the average rating that others gave me. Trait Raters   Self Rating 1 2 3 4 5 Average Articulate 2 3 5 4 3 3.4 5 Perceptive 4 3 5 3 4 3.8 2 Self confident 3 3 5 4 3 3.6 5 Self assured 4 3 5 4 4 4 4 Persistent 5 3 5 4 5 4.4 4 Determined 5 3 5 4 4 4.2 4 Trustworthy 5 4 4 5 3 4.2 4 Dependable 4 5 5 4 4 4.4 5 Friendly 3 5 5 5 5 4.6 5 Outgoing 4 5 5 4 5 4.6 5 Conscientious 5 5 4 5 5 4.8 5 Diligent 4 5 5 4 5 4.6 5 Sensitive 4 4 5 5 4 4.4 5 Emphatic 4 5 5 5 3 4.4 5 My self-rating and the average rating by others had a margin of ±0.6 points on eleven of the traits, including outgoing, emphatic, sensitive and dependable. The ratings perfectly matched only once for self-assured. However, there were marked differences in three traits: for articulate and self-confident, my self-rating was 5 (highest possible), whereas the average scores given by others were 3.4 and 3.6, which fall in the average category. On the other hand, my self-rating for perceptive was 2, whereas others gave me an average score of 3.8 on this specific trait, markedly higher than my self-perception. Based on the results, I realize that most of my perceptions about my leadership traits are similar to what others think of me. 2. Skills Inventory The second test was for Skills inventory which measures three important leadership skills in a person, namely technical, human and conceptual skills. Based on my answers, my scores were: Skill Score Technical 19 Human 12 Conceptual 21 My scores for conceptual and technical skills are significantly higher than the score on my human skills. It is important to mention that in lower management, technical and human skills are most important. In middle level management all three are of equal importance. In upper level management, technical skills aren’t as important as human and conceptual skills. Based on the test results and this interpretation, I have a weakness in human skill. Human skill is one key skill that is required at every phase in one’s career as well as personal relationships. This area represents a key weakness that I need to proactively work on. 3. Style Questionnaire The style questionnaire tested which leadership style I predominantly use between task and relationship styles. Style Score Range Task 42 High Relationship 43 High My scores for both styles ranked ‘high’, displaying my tendency to use a combination of the styles with emphasis on both tasks and relationships. I prefer to discuss roles and responsibilities with people and let them know what is expected of them in a particular task. The high score on relationship style shows the importance I place on making people feel comfortable in their setting. I am highly people oriented. Eve though I have a slightly higher score on relationship style, I do have a good understanding of both styles. As a leader, I would prefer to combine both types of behavior for ultimate effectiveness in getting things done. This is also deemed to be the most effective style of leadership. 4. Least Preferred Coworker Measure My score on this test was 83. Anything above 64 on the test means a high LPC, which means that the person is highly relationship motivated. This is complementing the styles questionnaire I took previously. A high LPC is motivated by healthy interpersonal relationships when performing. I thrive in situations that allow fostering healthy interpersonal relationships with people. When answering this questionnaire, I was thinking of a situation with a coworker who was very punctual but required extremely specific instructions in order to carry out any task and was not self motivated or directed. Even though I had a difficult time accomplishing tasks with him in my preferred timeframe, the job did get done; I still remember that I tried to look at the bright side and see his strengths rather than get bogged down by things that I could not control about him. 5. Path Goal Leadership Questionnaire Style Score Range Directive 26 Average Supportive 24 Below Average (Not Low) Participative 22 Average Achievement Oriented 26 High This questionnaire is meant to denote the style of leadership used by a person in motivating subordinates and other people to be productive and to do their job well. This type of style is not independent of the features of subordinates and specifications of the job at hand. My predominant style is achievement oriented which is very effective and useful for challenging tasks, according to Northouse. I scored below average on the supportive style and average on the participative and directive styles. 6. Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) When I took this questionnaire, I found transformational leadership to be most relevant to me. I prefer taking cues from surroundings, especially the responses and considerations of followers, when deciding on things. Women generally score higher on this type of leadership (Duncan, Green, & Herrera, 2012); transformational leaders are change agents with qualities of openness, values, learning and vision (Sabir, Sohail, & Khan, 2011). I have strong belief in the empowerment of people in the group. 7. Authentic Leadership Questionnaire Component Score Self awareness 18 Internalized moral perspective 19 Balanced processing 16 Relational Transparency 15 Overall Authentic Leadership 68 (Very High range) Authentic leadership is an emerging concept in the field of understanding leadership. It is about a style that originates from trustworthy, transparent, honest, values-driven and moral leadership behavior that is extremely open and responds to the needs and reactions of other people. My overall score falls in the very high range. My individual scores, especially internalized moral perspective, are high and contribute to the overall high tendency for authentic leadership. Personal Leadership Profile As a leader, I am very focused on building relationships within the team and taking input from everyone. I strive to make sure that everyone understands what is expected of them. I come across as someone the team members can talk to and share their concerns with. I also make a point to utilize the strengths of everyone on the team and try to make it work even if I do not agree with a certain person on a personal level. Considering all of these, I display a strong relationship focused style as a high LPC, to use specific terms. My second preferred style of leadership has to be authentic leadership because I believe very strongly in conveying the sincerity and dedication that I feel to others, in order to motivate them and excite them to work together with me to achieve mutually beneficial goals. Cultural Implications In a multicultural setting, it is particularly important to ensure that everyone understands their job responsibilities and roles because there can be a language and communication barrier that can lead to confusion and misunderstanding. One of the suggested methods to dealing with potential problems and misunderstandings due to multiple cultures is the synergy approach (Adler, 2008), which involves synergizing approaches to the issue from every pertinent cultural perspective. This means taking input from everyone involved. This approach is particularly useful under a leader who has the capability and the desire to include everyone in the decision making process and take input from everyone. This includes managing all the different points of view and translating the different ideas into one consolidated strategy that is understood by all; only someone with a high LPC can manage such a feat successfully. Key Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths Outgoing, friendly, self-assured person; People and relationship oriented; Strong morals and values-based style (Daft, 2010); I also focus on achievement and results; Weaknesses Based on the second test, I lag behind in the Human Skill area. While I do realize the importance of this skill in my success, I need to work harder in this area; Need to be more perceptive about myself and others; Enhanced self monitoring. Recommendations Understanding that my leadership style is interpersonal relationships based, having strong human relationships is very important. For that I must have strong human skill. This involves better communication with the people involved, being more open to their ideas and thoughts, prioritizing the inclusion of social behavior and networks in everyday business and understanding how my actions and decisions impact the lives of others around me. This needs more self awareness. Being more attuned to the people around me is only possible through open communication. Taking feedback from others and then incorporating the positive suggestions to change myself for the better is very important. This also includes being more perceptive. Observing people and learning from them is another tactic. Self monitoring has been identified as a key characteristic that is needed for the better management of cultural diversity: Ayman and Korabik (2010) directly correlate higher levels of self monitoring with CQ, or Cultural Intelligence, which is necessary to effectively deal with different cultures and subcultures in the workplace and has been linked to leadership. Ayman and Korabik explain that self monitoring is the “extent to which individuals regulate their self-presentation to achieve a desired public appearance”; for higher levels of self monitoring, self awareness and self perception are very important. I must strive for better self awareness. References Adler, N. (2008).International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior. (5th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Ayman, R., & Korabik, K. (2010). “Leadership: Why gender and culture matter”. American Psychologist, 65(3), 157-170. Daft, R. (2010). Organization theory and design. (10th ed ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Duncan, P., Green, M. T., Herrera, R. (2012). “Culture Predicting Leadership”. Business Studies Journal, 4(1). Sabir, M., Sohail, A., & Khan, M. (2011). “Impact of Leadership Style on Organization Commitment: In A Mediating Role of Employee Value”. Journal Of Economics & Behavioral Studies, 3(2), 145-152. Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. Read More