Personal Leadership Skills - Coursework Example

Personal Leadership Skills As discussed in the module, information about leadership skills and the leadership qualities of certain individuals have been studied and assessed for quite a long time in man’s modern history. Yet no specific sets of skills have been identified to clearly characterize a person with great leadership qualities. Leadership therefore is probably a combination of inherent personality traits and life experiences, where the extent of its influence on the leadership qualities determines the strengths and weaknesses of the skills of the leader.

How the leader comes to recognize such strengths and weaknesses, and how he/she determines to resolve and act upon the disparities between those personal leadership skills strengths and weaknesses, will be a matter that will greatly contribute to a successful or not so successful development of an effective personal leadership style of that person. Leadership skills strengths The module focused on the discussion of leadership traits on the aspect of a leader as an individual, a leader who must develop a certain relationship among his/ her followers, and a leader who is in a specific situation or context.

Among the basic leadership skills that have been identified (listening, providing feedback, assertiveness, conducting meeting), assertiveness is one of those skills that is proving to be interesting to discuss. Another interesting leadership skills strengths is problem solving, a skill which is considered among the more advanced leadership skills (the others are managing conflicts, improving creativity, empowerment). Assertiveness has been defined as the “ability to speak up, make your points, and say no when called for” (Hughes, 2011).

To be a successful leader, one must possess assertiveness skills among his/ her followers, by making them know what are the things that are to be considered important for the leader or for the team, and by making them know the priorities of the group. A leader must clearly point out what is being expected from each individual in the group, or what must be accomplished by the group as a team. Making this clear enough for the group allows followers to realize any consequential action that may result if they are not able to conform to what is being expected.

By being assertive the leader makes his/ her followers perform as expected, and such action will result to an accomplishment of set objectives according to the vision of that leader. This is the likely strength of assertiveness being one of the desired personal leadership skills of a leader: being able to get people into action toward a single direction as set by the leader. A good leader with a vision will certainly possess good problem-solving skill. This is why he/she has the credibility to lead the group, and he/she has the respect of his/her followers.

If a leader does not have the technical know-how in solving a technical problem, at least he/she will find a way to get technical people to solve the problem. This is only to say that a good leader will possess the ability and the skill to have a good analysis of the situation, given his/ her visionary traits, and is able to direct available resources to resolve the issues at hand, or at least to direct the resources to find a solution to the problems being resolved. Leadership skills weaknesses A leader possessing assertiveness as a skill, however, is not a guarantee to becoming a successful and an effective leader.

As a matter of fact, being assertive in a certain way may prove to be a weakness. This is because assertiveness as a skill must be used, or as a tool, in the military parlance, must be “deployed” successfully, in combination with other essential skills. The degree with which assertiveness is exercised by the leader will have to be calibrated in different situation and with respect to the personality or behavior of the followers being led. As mentioned, leadership is a relational activity where a leader must develop certain relationship among its followers.

Over-assertiveness of the leader, especially in situations where it is uncalled for, is aggressiveness. This may likely result in followers veering away from the direction the leader wants to take, instead of followers marching in line towards that direction. Aggressiveness as a leadership skill weakness of being assertive is one trait a leader must improved to become successful in eliciting desired action from followers. A leader with problem-solving skills, on the other hand, may find weakness in this trait when the leader over-indulges in the analysis process of problem-solving.

Such over-analysis may cause “analysis paralysis”, a common term used in various leadership skills analysis articles which actually only refers to inaction. This is the downside of the problem-solving skill, when the leader takes too much time to solve problems, negating the efficacy of the solution due to lack of timeliness in arriving at that solution. Personal skills development plan Aggressiveness and analysis paralysis are two personal leadership skills weaknesses that must be addressed to become an effective leader.

Aggressiveness causes relational problems in the group, where resentment towards the leader may cause uncooperativeness and other unproductive behavior. An analysis paralysis or inaction, on the other hand, causes a leader to become ineffective due to untimely decision making abilities. These weaknesses can be addressed through the following suggested personal development plan: 1. Realize the difference between assertiveness and aggressiveness. Being assertive is a skill developed in leaders through the art of saying “intentionally what is important to them and by practicing saying no by being clear about their priorities” (Hughes, 2011).

Assertiveness will be accepted by the group depending on how assertiveness is communicated (Hughes, 2011). A leader must practice the art of being assertive without being aggressive. 2. A leader must learn how to have empathy towards his/ her group members. Assertiveness without proper people skills borders on aggressiveness. Such a requirement further supports the fact that leaders must develop relationships among their followers, in order to calibrate the proper application of assertiveness towards the group.

A leader must study how to relate to his/ her group and be able to apply a degree of assertiveness appropriate to the needs of the group. 3. Develop a process and a time frame when dealing with problems. A leader must know the urgency of the task that is being required. Consider the urgency of the matter at hand, and act appropriately. This can be done by thinking about “balanc(ing) speed, rigor, quality, and agility” when solving problems (Schoemaker, 2011). Everything will be meaningless if the problem is solved, but solved in an untimely fashion. 4. Study the profile of the followers or the group to be led.

To be effective, the leader must know the character of the group, and the expectations that go with the leadership position. As one research finding said, “effective leadership involves assessing the group’s style and stage of development and then using a matching leadership style” (Penn State University, 2005). This only goes to show that an effective leader must really be in synch with the group to be led, adjusting his/ her leadership skills and style to what is being required and needed by the group.

References Hughes, M. 2011. Leadership Development: The Four Corners of Empathetic Assertiveness. [Online] Available at: http://eiinsider.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/leadership-development-the-four-corners-of-empathetic-assertiveness/ [Accessed on April 29, 2012] Penn State University. 2005. Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow. [Online] Available at: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/ua416.pdf [Accessed on April 29, 2012] Schoemaker, P. 2011. The 6 Habits of True Strategic Thinkers.

[Online] Available at: http://cmcacorner.com/tag/analysis-paralysis/ [Accessed on April 29, 2012]