SWOT Analysis of Leadership Qualities and Personal Development Plan - Assignment Example

?SWOT Analysis of Leadership Qualities and Personal Development Plan Introduction The needs and importance of leadership in an organisation is well articulated by the observation: an effective leader is one who can make a ‘weak plan’ a success, but a poor leader ruins the ‘best plan’ (‘Seven steps’, 2012). The basic purpose of leadership is to ‘influence the thoughts and actions’ of followers, to guide them towards achieving organisational objectives (Blanchard et al., 2003). Therefore, a leader is a person ‘in a position of authority’ and who is ‘responsible for the result’ of his group’s activity (Blanchard et al., 2003). For being a good leader, a person must have certain leadership traits such as honesty and integrity, ability to delegate, written and oral communication skill, sense of humour, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition and the ability to inspire. Part 1 SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis as provided below has been based on actual work experience and 360 degree feedback. Strengths I have good team work and organising capacity according to my self-assessment and the feedback from my peer group and superiors. I also possess a good deal of creativity as well as commitment. In group works, I can develop my own ideas and I also have the ability to assign work to other members by making sure that each will enjoy the work assigned to them. I am quite familiar with technological advancements in networking and specialised software. This is an era in which so many technological innovations have come up, so it is necessary that I remain updated with current changes. At all times I try to maintain the values of honesty and integrity towards life and different situations in the workplace. The value of time is of high significance to me and I acknowledge this fact through timely execution of the tasks assigned to me. I am confident that I can complete all tasks assigned to me on time. Weaknesses My weakness lies in my formal communication skills, especially when I communicate with my superiors. Some sort of hesitation and fear always prevents me from confidently handling formal talks. The fear of losing makes me a person with negative attitude and my inability to take immediate decision also negatively impacts my attitude. I am a very serious person by nature, so I lack the tactics of effectively handling situations through humour and friendly communication. Moreover, I am an introvert and feel nervous when I talk to or interact with strangers. Opportunities My overall talents will enable me to work in any multinational company anywhere in the world and I feel very confident and proud of myself. Besides, a number of other opportunities are available in the publicand private sectors. This is mainly because of the increasing advancements in the technological field. In the case of an organisation, since I am familiar with the new technologies, it is easier for me to get a job in that company since companies look for technologically updated leaders. Likewise, for performing day to day activities it is very important to know the updated technologies. Threats As far as I am concerned, stiff competition is the main threat in the modern day for people in leadership positions. Though I possess reasonable skills in written communication, I feel my lacking in oral communication skills, at par with my technical skills, may affect my career as a leader adversely. The primary interaction while being considered for new job positions involves interviews, where I may encounter problems due to my lack of oral skills, and this may limit my chances. Critical Evaluation of SWOT Analysis A leader should have certain basic qualities in order to excel in his position and to influence his followers. Every person does not necessarily possess all the required traits or skills, which make the task of leadership effective. By analysing my SWOT analysis on the basis of practical experience and 360 degree feedback, I have reached certain conclusions. The creative ability along with commitment appears to be my most positive strength. ‘Commitment and creativity are two important elements of a good leader’ and I possess these traits (‘Top 10 qualities’, 2012). While working in a group I feel comfortable and flexible. The task assigning ability and team playing are the two major traits that form a good leader. ‘Ability to delegate and inspire are the two basic instincts that make leadership job more attractive and effective’ (‘Top 10 qualities’, 2012). Technological knowledge in the area of Internet and software would help me to build a good position as a leader. My basic value of honesty and integrity would help me to build confidence and self-esteem. Here, the major problem is my limited abilities in formal communication and my hesitation. To attain good formal communication skills, I will have to avoid the use of jargon and slangs while speaking and always try to get feedback from people with whom I interact. I always feel confused when I am directed to solve certain problems, which need immediate solution, as I require more time to reach a conclusive decision. For attaining the pre-determined objectives, one has to overcome his or her weaknesses. Likewise, I am also supposed to change myself in some areas such as attitude, and eschew my basic timidity. The weaknesses that have come to the fore during the assessment need attention and I should be willing to change. My negative approach towards assigned tasks and fear of losing are two major drawbacks, which prevent me from becoming a good leader. The communication difficulties and negative attitudes always prevent me from grabbing the opportunities available in the external job market. One of the major threats revealed from the assessment is competition. My attitude and lack of proper communication skills may hamper the ability to convert the threats into possible opportunities. Part 2 Personal Development Plan Personal development planning is ‘a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development’ (Personal development planning, 2006). Personal development planning will help one to define and explore his or her goals and to find out the ways and means to turn them into reality. It will also enable the person to articulate the skills that are required to develop in order to recognise and utilise the new opportunities that will be available in the future. The word development is very familiar, but its practical application is a little bit difficult if one does not focus on honing the existing skills and develop new ones that are required to handle emerging situations in the workplace. My inability to develop appropriate skills that match the expected qualities for a leader may hamper my progress to success. Thus, I will have to focus on developmental activities to make sure that I attain the ability to sail smoothly on the path to success. Since I have been able to obtain a proper appreciation of my weakness through the analysis, I can now move onto the measures which will help me overcome my weaknesses. Acquiring proper communication is a process that requires constant practice. I have to learn the mechanics of formal communication thoroughly for attaining success in this area. I also need to make it a point to read more academic journals, articles and other books that relate to communication skills as well as others on general management subjects. I also feel the need to improve my accent, body language and gestures while speaking to an audience. Since I have to lead a group, I expect situations where I will have to interact with people with different accents and linguistic backgrounds. Therefore, apart from maintaining a standard accent, I also will have to learn the art of modulating my speech according to my audience so that I can meaningfully communicate to diverse audiences. Attitude is another important aspect where I see the scope for further development. If my attitude is right, I can confront any crisis and overcome the problems in the workplace. If my attitude is wrong, whatever abilities I have will not be enough for me to attain success in the assigned tasks. So, in order to have a positive attitude I will undergo some counseling. I also feel that meditation and yoga may be helpful in building positive energy. Books on the topic of personality development will be another source of help. For removing my shyness I have planned to attend a lot of programmes and conferences, which can instill confidence in me. Active participation in various projects within workplace as well as my social circles is another key tool to improve confidence as well as to learn new strategies for improving leadership skills. Personality development programmes are now being offered by many organisations. My inherent tendency to hesitate while speaking can only be changed by engaging in different speaking activities. So I have to utilise all the opportunities that are available to me. Even though I possess a serious nature, I will try to mingle with my team members and will try to be one among them. Besides, I will also engage in different social activities. I am confident that by systematically subjecting me to various activities as stated above, I will be able to eliminate all the negative aspects of my attitude. For increasing knowledge, a reading habit should be developed. And for dealing with crisis situations, I need more experience. To achieve this, I will go through different case studies and try to solve the problems in different areas. By doing all the above mentioned things, I believe that I can have a good relationship with my team members and be a good leader from all perspectives. The Important Urgent Goal Prioritisation Matrix Very Important – Not Urgent Very Important – Urgent Formal Communication Attitude Not Important – Not Urgent Not Important – Urgent Sense of humour Building relationship SMART Goal Setting Template Goal Specific Measureable Achievable Realistic Timed Develop Formal Communication Organise productive meetings Read books Communication games x x x x Create a Positive Attitude towards Task Intend to improve Be flexible and truthful Read something inspirational Yoga and meditation Be receptive to new ideas x x x Increase Knowledge in Key Areas Read books Keep up with current events x x x x x The Ability of Intuition Practice case studies x x Building Relationship Interact with superiors and peer groups x x Name Student Number Update date Long-term Goals Priority Goal Resources needed Date by Evidence Reward Short-Term Goals Priority Goal Resources needed Date by Evidence Reward Action Plan Action Date When or Date By When I strongly believe that leaders are made and not born. If one has an inner calling to become a leader, he or she can succeed provided the person recognises the shortcomings and work hard for removing them. For this, the first thing is that one needs to identify his or her strengths and weaknesses. It is equally important to maintain the strengths as well as overcome the weaknesses. It will be better to prepare a self-development plan and to follow it. At first, a person may feel it as a very difficult task to attain. But by a continuous effort, he or she can have the right kind of attitude. First of all, an individual’s attitude has to be moulded and then the outlook towards work and life will automatically change. A person who understands the need of the hour and changes the attitude and outlook appropriately to adapt to a situation, will definitely achieve success in his or her career as a leader. References Blanchard, K. H. et al., 2003. The secret: what great leaders know – and do. USA. Personal development planning, 2006. University of Bolton. Available at [Accessed on 11 March 2013]. Seven steps for effective leadership development, 2012. Oracle. Available at [Accessed on 11 March 2013]. Top 10 qualities that make a great leader, 2012. Forbes. Available at [Accessed on 11 March 2013]. Read More