Procrastination : Why you Do it, What to Do about it Now - Essay Example

? Individual Authentic Journey Report Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Background ofthe Report 4 Report Aims and Objectives 4 Scope and of the Report 5 Limitations of the Report 5 Justification of methodology undertaken 5 Structure of the Report 6 Discussion 6 Life Story 6 Self Awareness 6 My Leadership Values 8 Humility 8 Discipline 9 Hard Working 9 Honesty 10 Risk 11 The Motivating Factors in my Life 12 Conclusion 13 Smart Objectives 14 Weaknesses and Measures to Deal with them 14 Procrastination 14 Increased Effectiveness to Working Under Pressure 15 Future Recommendations in my Growth as an Authentic Leader 15 Bibliography 17 Executive Summary The main aim of conducting this individual authentic journey is to trace the development of my own authentic leadership footprint. The report utilizes autoethnography as the main tool of enquiry in outlining the various values, motivations and the self awareness that have served to instill in me the qualities of an authentic leader. Authentic Leadership Report Introduction Background of the Report During the recent economic crisis, the disillusioned global audience was witness to an economic crisis of global proportions as the greed exhibited by some of the world’s economic leaders as they attempted to make more money for themselves in collusion with various private enterprises set in motion the unprecedented collapse of most of the world’s financial systems. This economic crisis could have been averted if the leaders entrusted with the momentous responsibility of managing these major corporations had conducted themselves in an honest and integral manner as opposed to the avarice and greed that they exhibited. By conducting this authentic leadership study upon myself, I will be able to improve my own transparency as well strengthen my overall accountability by following the recommendations of the findings that will be laid out in this report. This will help in causing me to develop my capabilities and evolve from being a leader whose leadership only extends to the success of the company’s bottom line to one who is able to aptly confront the various societal and organizational challenges and the various public policy issues in a manner that can be perceived to be both integral and honest. By cultivating these qualities, I hope to be able to transform myself into the image of a leader who is capable of repairing the damaged relationship that exists between the corporate world and the general public. By doing this I will be able to restore, hope, meaningfulness, confidence, optimism and resilience to both sides of the divide. Report Aims and Objectives The Sole Purpose of my undertaking this authentic leadership research was so as to enable me establish my intrinsic leadership qualities as well as formulate a plan that will enable me further develop myself into a better leader. With the recent global economic crisis and especially with the collapse of some of the world’s major corporations such as Enron corporation and the Lehman brothers Holdings Inc, there has been a somewhat tremendous loss of confidence by the general public in the capabilities of the leaders in some of the world’s major corporations. Scope and of the Report The scope of the study will be mainly concentrated on relating several incidences that will serve to highlight various attributes that serve to portray me as being an authentic leader. The study will draw on my previous life experiences as well as reference several books. Limitations of the Report As a result of my being both the participant and the researcher, it might be difficult for me to assume the position of “Bird’s eye view” while conducting the research. To effectively counter this, I will endeavor to ensure that I maintain objectivity in conducting the research project (Magolda, Creamer and Meszaros, 2010). Justification of methodology undertaken The methodology of this report is mainly derived from using autoethnography. Autoethnography is a form of research method that has been gaining a lot of popularity in recent times. According to Ellis, (2004) autoethnography basically refers to a style of writing where the writer writes on their own personal experiences while connecting this autobiographical information provided with political, social or cultural understandings. By using autoethnography in my methodology, I will be able to focus on my own personal experiences as opposed to focusing on the practices and cultural beliefs of other people. Ellis goes on to further highlight the fact that autoethnography has essentially been in use for about two decades and the anthropologist Karl Heider was seen to use autoethnography as early as 1975 (Ellis, 2004). Autoethnography is seen to be vastly different from ethnography which is a social research method that is commonly used by many sociologists and anthropologists, in that, autoethnography as a research tool is keen to embrace the researcher’s own subjectivity which the use of empirical qualitative research method of ethnography is seen to limit. Autoethnography also differs from ethnography in that while ethnography tends to concentrate on attempting to describe various human social phenomena based mainly on the field work conducted, autoethnographers are themselves the actual primary subject of the entire research process of attempting to write personal narratives and stories (Ellis, 2004). Structure of the Report The basic structure of this report will be the presentation of a brief executive summary highlighting the main aims of the research process, a table of contents will be provided immediately after the executive summary which will be useful in the navigation of the document. The rest of the report will be divided into an introductory, main discussion, conclusion, recommendations, and a bibliography. All these sections of the report will be further subdivided by using appropriate subheadings. Discussion Life Story Self Awareness One of the most vital developmental factors in all authentic leaders is having increased levels of self-awareness. Increased self awareness helps authentic leaders by guiding their overall decision making as well as their subsequent behavior (Burke and Cooper, 2012). Having been born and subsequently forced to flee from a war-torn country, I was forced to become self-aware at a relatively early age. In my childhood days, my siblings and I used to play along with the other neighborhood children in total disregard of the fact that we were of a different religious inclination and had a different skin color from most of our Ethiopian friends. However, as I grew up, I started noticing small indications of discriminations in the way some of the neighbors whispered behind my back and tauntingly referred to my Somali origin and refugee status. My parents narrated to me the tribal discrimination that used to exist in Somalia. They described to me how it was easy to distinguish between persons from different tribes based on their different accents. This revelation by my parents caused me to become acutely self aware as the cocoon of ignorance that I had previously shielded me from the harshness of reality was broken. For a long time after that, several incidences in my past that had all failed to make any sense, all suddenly made a lot of sense in light of the discriminatory outlook that had recently been introduced into my blissful and ignorant life. As I grew up, some of my childhood playmates started discriminating both my siblings and I on the basis of our country of origin and religious inclination. One particular incident in my childhood restored my previously waning hope in humanity. During one of the now frequently increasingly bullying experiences that I was being subjected to on my way from school based mainly on my appearance. I was surrounded by a group of Egyptian boys whose religious views were different from mine. As the group of boys taunted me, a bigger boy I had seen around school from one of the upper classes came and defended me against the taunting group of boys and as he was bigger than the group of bullies he successfully managed to scare and chase after them intent on beating them up. On capturing one of the boys who had been particularly menacing to me and had actually slapped me a couple of times, the bigger boy invited me to extract my revenge on my now severely humbled foe, I raised my fist to strike a blow but stopped in mid action as I was hit by a sudden self awareness and the realization sunk in that hitting him wouldn’t stop the bullying. I stood there my fist raised in mid action, shaking and incoherently mumbled my forgiveness to the surprised bully. Since that day, although the bullying did not completely stop, its severity and frequency reduced as my new bully friend frequently stood up for me during the bullying. This part of my history caused me to become a strong advocate for the peaceful resolution of all conflicts irrespective of the magnitude of the infraction committed. Wherever I am tempted to take any violent action during a conflict, I am always reminded of the astonished and grateful look in the eyes of quivering and crying bully as I stood there and contrary to what he expected, forgave him instead of hitting him. My Leadership Values It is not only important for authentic leaders to develop good values, they should also try and ensure that they also have both the character and will necessary to act on the values. Authentic leadership is a continuous process and not simply a static declaration of ones’ values and actions. Some of the values that I have cultivated and will be important in my growth as an authentic leadership include (Pless and Maak, 2011); Humility I was born in Somalia to two Somali parents. Due to the persistent and ongoing fighting that has been continuously ravaging the country for several decades, my family was subsequently forced to flee from Somalia and seek asylum as refugees in other countries. As a result of this, I have lived in a total of four countries which are; Egypt, Somalia, Switzerland and Ethiopia. The humble living conditions that my family experienced while living in Egypt caused me to appreciate and be content with the simple and little things in life. This caused me to develop the personality trait of being humble. This trait has been an essentially crucial element in my personal development as a leader as humbleness is a leadership quality that is seen to commonly lack in most leaders. Being humble has constantly helped me win the admiration and trust of many individuals in my growth as a leader. Discipline While schooling n Egypt, the school system allows for the caning of students on the palm using a stick. Although at the time this was quite unfavorable, in hindsight, I now realize both the innate value and importance of the practice as it not only inspired me to obtain better grades in school, it also helped me cultivate good discipline while still at a young age. Good discipline has consequently served to help me in all aspects of my life as it has helped me in becoming a disciplined student, and member of society in general. The discipline has also affected my time management skills and I am able to manage my time wisely in a manner that helps me effectively manage all my various engagements as well as create some time to help others. Hard Working My parents desisted from spoiling me with money or other rewards and always ensured that I endeavored to try and work hard in order to rightfully earn any rewards. This caused me to learn the intrinsic values of hard work, a lesson which has stuck with me through out my life. The value of hard work has helped make me a better leader as I have developed the positive trait of not shying away from a challenge irrespective of how difficult it might be, often at times, It has fallen upon me to lead the way when my colleagues happen to shirk away from performing some of the tasks that had been assigned to us due to the nature and intensity of the work or project. My dedication to my work and vision has often resulted in my inspiring my fellow colleagues into attempting undertaking tasks and projects to which they there initially averse to. Honesty While still a young man schooling in Egypt, I once came across a wallet while walking the streets of Egypt on my way from school, I picked up the wallet and got really excited when I found the wallet to contain a rather large amount of money. I quickly stashed the wallet into my school bag and on the way home, used some of the money to buy some candy and merrily went my way, plotting as to how I would now be able to afford buying all the things I had always wanted but my parents had refused to buy for me. Needless to say, the aspirations of a young man of such a tender age do not amount to much and mostly consisted of buying more candy, go out for a movie and probably purchase the latest clothes and bicycle that were in fashion at that time. I got home and quickly finished my homework assignment; one of my nosy sisters noticed the candy bars in my bag and asked for one. I refused to give her the candy and she told on me to my parents. This resulted in a lengthy session as I explained to my parents how I came by the money to buy candy. I will never forget the disappointed look in my father’s face I related to him how I had used up some of the money although it was not mine. My father asked for the wallet and after proceeding to lecture me on the values of honesty, he was lucky enough to find a business card with the owner’s contacts in the wallet. He called the owner who was exceedingly grateful to me when he came to our home so as to pick up the wallet. My father offered to refund the money I had used to buy the candy but the owner refused the kind gesture and left. Several days later, I came home to find the latest bicycle model at our doorstep and was duly informed by my parents that it was a gift from the wallet’s owner. This incidence ingrained in me the value of honesty in all my undertakings. A value that has continued to serve me to this day. The importance of the value of honesty recently came light at my workplace when as we were closing up the restaurant hotel, I found a lady’s purse that had accidentally been left behind. Remembering my lesson on honesty from all those days ago, I dutifully picked up the purse and handed it to one of the supervising managers. The following day, a lady came enquiring as to the purse and was exceedingly happy on receiving back her wallet. This supervising manager was impressed by my honesty and a few days later, I happened to receive a letter informing me that due to my display of honesty, I had been granted a bonus check as well as a slight raise in my salary. Risk One of my defining values is that I am not afraid to seize emerging opportunities or attempt to take any justifiable risks. At one of my former workplaces, the organization undertook to offering partial sponsorships for those who would be interested to undertake any studies of their choosing. Although most of my colleagues were apprehensive of this and argued that attempting to take any extra studies would not be possible as a result of our busy work schedules. Perceiving the obvious advantages of seizing this opportunity, I was the first employee to offer to sign up for the new program and in an attempt to motivate more employees to join in; the organization offered me a full sponsorship as opposed to a partial one. My direct supervisor was also kind enough to restructure my shifts so as to allow me ample time to attend my classes as well as put in my share of work. When I successfully finished the course and was subsequently offered a better paying position at the company, most of my previously apprehensive colleagues saw the value of the program and ended up joining it in droves having been inspired by me. The lesson I derived from this incident showed me that it was of vital importance for one to take up the opportunities in life irrespective of any doubts that might exist as to the success of the venture. Many a times, I have successfully proceeded to undertake some incredibly doubtful and risky undertakings solely at my own behest, and although some of those undertakings have resulted in some losses and disappointment on my part, for the most part, they have ended up being greatly rewarding. The Motivating Factors in my Life In addition to being self motivated, it is important for leaders to also motivate their followers. Displaying confidence in the abilities of one’s followers serves to increase the follower’s self confidence as well as they own motivation (Mumford, 2010). There have been several key events and incidences that have greatly contributed towards my overall motivation in life, chief among them being my hardworking mother. Ever since my family moved from the war torn country of Somalia, my mother has been constantly working hard to ensure that my siblings and I are all well provided for. At times it was necessary for her to take up two or more jobs just so as for her to be able to adequately support the family by providing food, housing and school fees for us children in addition to other amenities in life. Growing up, when I first became self aware, I realized that my parents had evidently been forced to leave most of their wealth back in Somalia, and forced to flee for their own safety. As such both my parents had found it relatively hard to provide for our large family although initially, this was evidently not clear to us as we were still oblivious little children. Immediately I was able to do so, I started performing small tasks for our neighbors so as to earn extra money and help support the family. My mother would always proudly smile at me as I gave her the little money I had managed to earn from my labors. She never used to use up the money but would instead save it and purchase for me new clothes and shoes as required. In hindsight, I now realize, the importance of this humble upbringing as it served to cause me to be greatly motivated to try and achieve success in all my undertakings so as to make my parents proud of me. Although my family is relatively well off at the moment, most of my relatives back in Somalia still happen to live in rather squalid conditions as a result of the intense poverty in the country. This has served to further cause me to be increasingly motivated to work hard so as for me to attempt to improve their living conditions. Although Somalia currently has a government in place after several decades of constant fighting and lawlessness, the current Somali government is ailing In the event that my home country of Somalia finally manages to attain some peace, I hope to go back to Somalia and aid in its development, after having been motivated by the developments I happen to have witnessed while in some of the countries that I have lived in like Egypt and Switzerland. As opposed to demotivating me, the fact that my home country is not well advanced in its development only serves to increase my motivation to help develop it. Conclusion According to Denzin and Lincoln, (2003), in conducting and autoethnographic research project, the various stories that we write serve to put us into conversation with not only ourselves, but also with various readers. During the conversations, we end up exposing our values, vulnerabilities, choices and conflicts. The accounts we write help us in adequately expressing the various difficulties as well s the complexities that we experience as we attempt to cope and feel resolved. They also portray how we have changed over time as we attempted to struggle and make sense of the experiences we encountered. Although the experiences we relate of our various experiences are often found to be wanting n that they are usually imperfect and unflattering, they are usually not only believable, but also human. As such, the text used in an autoethnographic research study is found to be an appropriate agent of ethical discussion and self understanding. Form an analysis conducted with respect to the accounts provided in my life history narrative, I consider myself to be quite an effective authentic leader due to the fact that the various experiences have caused me to not only be extremely self aware, but have also served to ingrain in me a myriad of values and motivation factors that I believe have so far served to make me an authentic leader. My early self awareness in light of the turmoil and discrimination that is existent in my country was an eye opener that helped me understand the harsh realities of life. The leadership values that I acquired during my upbringing such as the development of discipline, deep appreciation of hard work and honesty, have served and still continue to serve me in good stead in life. They have served to cause me to become an authentic leader who is well respected by both my family and colleagues. My motivating factors have provided me with a strong driving force that has continually aided me in achieving new levels of success while remaining grounded to my core values and ambitions. Smart Objectives Weaknesses and Measures to Deal with them Procrastination In line with my commitment to try and develop my authentic leadership capabilities, I will work toward the reduction an eventual elimination of some of my weaknesses, key among them being my procrastinating nature. I always find myself caught up in several things all at once, I will endeavor to work towards better prioritizing and time management so as to be able to give ample attention to all my different projects (Burka and Yuen, 2008). Increased Effectiveness to Working Under Pressure Although I always pride myself in my ability of being able to work effectively under pressure, during a recent incident at work where as we hosted a large wedding. The intense pressure at the event nearly caused me to crack, and although I still managed to deliver on my work, my ability to effectively work while under pressure was severely tested which caused me to question myself. I realized that I had my limits and during my journey to becoming a better authentic leader, I would need to work at improving on this aspect of my personality. Future Recommendations in my Growth as an Authentic Leader In order to sustain my growth as an authentic leader, I will work at clearly defining my purpose. In the event that an individual happens to lack both leading and purpose, it usually begs the question of why would anyone want to follow them. To become an effective authentic leader, I will need to answer the question as to why I desire to become an authentic leader. Most of the current global leaders are only attracted by the financial rewards, the prestige and the power that accrues to them as a result of their being leaders in large organizations. These leaders often tend to find themselves extremely vulnerable to narcissistic impulses as well as at the mercy of their egos. The purpose for one’s leadership is unique to every individual (George, 2003). I plan to commit myself toward the attainment of excellence as opposed to settling for perfection. As an authentic leader, although no one can claim to be perfect since we all happen to be work in progress, I however, need to commit myself towards maintaining excellence in all my undertakings. I will continually push myself further while raising my standards. I will also work towards the addition of deep value to the lives and wellbeing of all the various individuals I encounter and deal with. This will serve to help me make the world a better place for all these individuals. Although I aspire towards the attainment of success as an authentic leader, it is much more vital for me that I always remain significant by leaving a mark in everyone’s life. Bibliography Burka, B., J., and Yuen, M., L., 2008. Procrastination : why you do it, what to do about it now. Cambridge, MA : Da Capo Life Long. Burke, J., R., and Cooper, L., C., 2012. Inspiring Leaders. Routledge. Denzin, K., N., and Lincoln, S., Y., 2003. Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials. Thousand Oaks, Calif. ;London ;New Delhi : SAGE. Ellis, C., 2004. The ethnographic I : a methodological novel about autoethnography. Walnut Creek, Calif. : AltaMira Press. George, B., 2003. Authentic Leadership : Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value. Hoboken : John Wiley & Sons. Magolda, B., B., M., Creamer, G., E., and Meszaros, S., P., 2010. Development and assessment of self-authorship : exploring the concept across cultures. Sterling, Va. : Stylus Pub. Mumford, D., M., 2010. Leadership 101. New York : Springer Pub. Pless, M., N., and Maak, T., 2011. Responsible leadership. Berlin : Springer. Read More