A Personal Leadership Plan - Case Study Example

Management principles Leadership has existed in the world for so many years now. Those who have had a chance to take on the leadership role have relied on their relationship with the people and most have succeeded in influencing them. Leadership is basically the ability to impact and influence people without necessarily commanding them (Snyder and Houghton, 1994). It involves the formulation of a clear goal, communicating the particular vision to other people for them to be convinced to follow at will, providing the procedural methods for executing the vision, and ensuring the coordination and balancing of the various interests of the stakeholders. Leadership, unlike management, is inherent in an individual and may only be learnt or enhanced through systematic mentoring or couching. This paper seeks to establish a personal leadership plan by describing my preferred style of leadership and the role models who inspire me. Visionary leadership is very essential in an organization since it provides the direction that the workers in the organization need to follow and the dream of the leaders which will make the vision of the company come true. Visionary leaders are considered a new dawn in the company always working with a lot of imagination, insight and boldness. Such leaders’ present challenges that make the whole organization have a common purpose and a sense of teamwork which is key in meeting the goals of the organization (Hoyle, 2006). Visionary leaders are focused and look things beyond the horizon and not just near at the hand. They are people who can be emulated by the others, always think strategically and see the big picture which is needed for the organization to excel. In the 21st century, every organization requires application of visionary principles so that the mission and vision of the company can be achieved (Hoyle, 2006). The real and dynamic world today implies the leaders getting into another level in their visionary attitude. There are several views from several people regarding visionary leadership and its application to the real world. Leaders, for instance have a stand on visionary whereas academicians, thinkers and writers have their stand also. Leaders believe that vision is all about a balanced equation involving the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical dimensions. Gardner and Laskin, (1996) in their book ‘Leading minds: an structure of future leadership’ states that being a visionary leader implies having core values in place, taking an innovative action, empowering relationships in the organization and having a clear vision which can be felt within the organization (Rearick, 2007). There are several styles of leadership that have been practiced by a number of both the famous and the infamous people in the human history. Virtually all leadership styles determine how the leader relates and interacts with the people that are being led. The most common leadership styles include; autocratic, democratic, charismatic, bureaucratic, laissez-faire, people-oriented, servant leadership, transactional, task-oriented and transformational leadership (Snyder and Houghton, 1994). Although the transformational leadership comes last in this list, it is my most preferred style and I would always pursue it. Most of the styles listed, however, have very little in contrast except for the four major ones which include; authoritarian, bureaucratic, laissez-faire, and democratic styles of leadership. There are great men and women whose styles of leadership I admire and have significantly inspired me. My dad, who is a retired principal, is one of these leaders who have inspired me and changed my life in a great way. He has exercised his skills when leading both at home and when in school. I can term my dad as a transformational leader because he is self motivated and can initiate a totally new course of action and inspire others to see the sense in his or her vision (Rearick, 2007). The main style that he utilized involved identification of a problem that needs to be solved or a change that must be done at home or in school. Once he has done this he initiates the process of seeking solutions and means of achieving the end result. As a transformational leader, my dad acknowledges that he cannot singly bring the change that he envisions and will call on the support of all the stakeholders within the school system. He is always communicates the vision which he has to the people. As a transformational leader, my father has further been influenced by the passion to ‘transforming’ others so that they can look out for one another, try and help one another, be harmonious, be encouraging to others and to look out for solutions for the entire organization as a whole. He always tries to create a positive and a valuable change in its followers through motivating them and performing so as to act as role model. Through this, he has affected me and all his other followers in a great way. As a leader, my dad has always been driven by a vision which is inspirational in nature, and has a positive picture over the future as well as having a clear direction which is to be followed so as to achieve what is expected. As a visionary leader, he has a clear picture of what their future is. He works with a lot of energy so as to offer a clear vision of what is possible to the others in the school system or in the society. My dada is always aware of what he is doing and does not need to be followed when performing his work. His motivation is derived from an inner source and is not easily influence by the others who might want to sway his attention (Snyder and Houghton, 1994). As martin Luther king Junior in his “I have a dream speech” put, my dada is a leader who can inspire, has creative power and has an inner drive which will make people to move in a particular direction. As a visionary leader, my father has a sense of deeper feelings on the needs of his followers and he often considers their deeper need for meaning and purpose. In order to measure the extent of the transformation of his followers, the influence in his subjects is great. I have personally grew under his leadership and I feel I can handle any situation which I am faced with very easily. All those who have been under the leadership of my father often have a feeling of loyalty, admiration and respect towards him and therefore they work towards meeting the expectations which he has always set. My father, while being a principal influenced his students by intellectual arousal, charisma and individual consideration. In addition, he has always been creative since his task has been to seek for new opportunities and threats, new methods for working and try to balance the status between the students and the teaching staff. (Leach, 2005). My dad has also had other attributes like possessing a form of inspirational motivation which implies making the followers to get inspired and thus follow the leader, individualized consideration which implies making the problem that others have be like his own problem, idealized influence which involves a thorough insight into an issue before proposing a solution and intellectual stimulation which involves using the mind as a tool to handle a given issue. My further has always been behind the aspects that surround a transformational leader like the moral character of a leader, the morality of the entire process of social ethical choice and the ethical values that the vision and articulation of the leader lies in (Henriksen et. al., 2006). I consider my father a transformational leader because in his area of specialization he always generated an intellectual stimulation. Intellectual stimulation refers to extent to which the leader challenges assumptions, solicits the ideas from the followers and takes risks in handling a particular problem. This implies that a leader who follows this style would often stimulate creativity in their followers and make them think, develop and nurture those who like handling issues independently. This concept further shows that learning is a very important process because it creates value in an unexpected situation which is seen as an opportunity. This concept makes the followers to ask questions, figure out prospect solutions and think deeply before handling a given issue (Leach, 2005). In spite of the fact that my father has maintained a transformational leadership style, there are other appropriate styles which I also admire and feel are appropriate in any organization. Authoritarian leaders exercise extreme forms of command on the team or employees (Hansen, 2003). It is similar to the transactional style of leadership. Since the people in the team have limited opportunities to contribute in decision making, they may elicit resistance or withdrawal when it comes to the implementation of the decisions. It only results in high turnover rates, and absenteeism since no one likes to be treated like this. For the case of bureaucratic style, the rigidity and inflexibility exerted by the management can serve to demoralize the employees. Sticking to conventional procedures would imply difficulty in responding to the ever changing environment. Furthermore, democratic leaders may take too long to make the final decision since there are diverse opinions for a single issue. This is because this style allows everyone to participate in addressing all issues. Laissez-faire style of leadership is one of the most ineffective for managers since they do not exercise the control over the team and may result in poor quality work. The other leadership styles are closely related to transformational style. It is, however, important to note that each method has got its own situation when it can be effectively used (Hoyle, 2006). Through my father’s influence and inspiration, my leadership vision is being the change agent in the organization. I will communicate the challenge that the organization is facing and then involve the stakeholders in forging the way forward in changing the present situation. This will call for the formation of a task team that will pass on my vision for the organization. My core duty will be to reiterate the need for the change and to demonstrate my commitment to the course. This will ensure that the people are spontaneously energized to action. Most people will respond positively to my communication since it will touch on their welfare although there could be some resistance. Resistance, however, will not imply that my vision is doomed but instead I will go deeper in explaining why we need the change in our organization. This, at long last, will result in the positive transformation of the organization (Hansen, 2003). The modern society embraces the spirit of change and through my leadership style, I will build a reputation as a person with the capacity to transform organizations for the better. This means that I will be able to secure opportunities in the various groups that advocate for change with an aim of making the world a safe place for mankind to live in. The bottom line here is that people will individually make sense out of my vision and then move on voluntarily in the quest to define their destiny. This paper has focused on my personal plan of leadership by discussing transformational leadership, my most admired leadership style and some of the great personalities who have inspired me. It has further elaborated my leadership vision and how I will pass it on to the people and the ultimate impact that it will have on the organization and the society at large. Bibliography Henriksen, K., Keyes, M., Stevens, D., Clancy, C. 2006. Initiating Transformational Change to Enhance Patient Safety, Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2006, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Hansen, D. 2003. The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the ‘I have a dream Speech’, New York: Harper Collins. p. 177 Hoyle, J. 2006. Leadership and long term strategizing: making visions happen, Corwin Press Leach, L. S. 2005. Nurse Executive Transformational Leadership and Organizational Commitment, JONA, Vol. 35, No. 5, pp 228-237, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. Rearick, E. 2007. Enhancing Success in Transition Service Coordinators: Use of Transformational Leadership, Professional Case Management Vol. 12, No. 5, 283–287, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Snyder, N. and Houghton, D. 1994. Values, vision and courage: quality leadership for Management, Free Press. Read More