Leadership examination - Essay Example

? Leadership Examination Part A: Leadership Strengths and Weaknesses Introduction Understanding thekey strengths and weaknesses have been cited as the first major steps towards leveraging them ensuring that the strengths are fully utilized while the weaknesses as supported in order to achieve a goal (Northouse, 2010). This paper critically evaluates and reflects on my strengths and weaknesses both in leadership and followership based on self analysis, perspectives from third parties and online tests, and from the key strengths and weaknesses determine how I would develop my leadership and followership both in the short run and in the long run My current strengths and weaknesses in leadership and followership The current strengths that I possess in leadership and followership are that I have excellent communication and interpersonal skills and I’m an effective listener. I also have the ability to multitask, cope with previous failure and learning from them and also assuming responsibilities that may not have a person taking of them. My current weaknesses are being disorganized without a planned schedule and analyzing an issue to the smallest details which at times take quite some time. I though sought to identify gaps I was not aware through questioning a number of friends, colleagues, parents and supervisor at work. From their perspectives and opinions, they found some of my strengths being that I’m a determined and does not seem to be put down easily, self motivated, a good team player, confident, and creative in finding ways to get something or solving an issue. Key weaknesses that were notable were that I tend to be a chronic debater which can be annoying, I tend to procrastinate issues, I often go out of way in doing things which may antagonize others, and I lose patience easily since often I want things done there and then. I have also been able to learn in class that leadership is not just about possessing higher intelligence quotient, or high academic capabilities, emotional intelligence that are critical in leaders (Jones, 2010:232; Bateman & Snell, 2007:135). In essence therefore, I took two E.I. online tests to get a better grip on my capabilities as a leader. In the first test with Discovery Fit and Health, my Emotional Intelligence results were 73 out of 100 an above average result. The interpretation showed that I’m generally able to express my feelings clearly in appropriate situations, I’m positive, optimistic and adapt quite well to altering circumstances. I’m self motivating and can be able to get the strength to complete what I need to do to complete my goals, and I’m resilient ready to bounce back when I encounter drawbacks, survive hardships without bitterness and yet still be able to empathize with others (Discovery Fit and Health, 2012). In the second test result with Institute for Health and Human Potential, the evaluation results were 44, slightly above average. The results show that where as I’m sensitive to the emotional climate around me and is aware of the effect of my behavior on others, I should also be able to honestly communicate my difficult feelings and needs. It also shows that I get engrossed in small details in life that I forget what gives me great joy and meaning. It shows that I need to work on issues that may be stressing or causing tension in me and should be able to share my feelings and needs freely seeking to take care of myself as I do others (Institute for Health and Human Potential, 2012). I was receptive to the first results and found them to be quite motivating. They were though simple and delivered in a shallow easy to understand manner. In the second test that I took, though I performed above average, the results description went on to critically analyze my weak points in a manner though awakening, I found was also dramatic than was necessary. Combining the two results, I have been able to comprehend my strong and weak points with regard to Emotional Intelligence. How I might develop my leadership and followership further As I aspire to be a project manager, my key strengths and weaknesses with regard to this, and which need leveraging include: ability to multitask, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, effective listener, self motivated, team player, confident and expressive. Key weaknesses are: disorganized, spend too much time in minute details, procrastinating, debater, and impatient. The table below shows how I would develop some of these: Leadership - Personal Action Plan I need to.... I will go about this by...... I need help/support from..... I will measure my success in this by….. I will do this by X DATE I have done this ? Research on methods to strengthen communication skills to be persuasive Research on the internet, and other resources and practicing Tutor, and colleagues If I’m able to sell a tough idea, for instance help out an insurance sales person to sell life insurance Deadline May 31st 2012 Work on my organization skills First I would have to self learn about this through development of a plan of action for major important things I need to do and developing a schedule for such list of things to be completed I would seek support from my friends to keep focused on the schedule and plan in such a manner that overtime I would be used to the plan and follow my schedules religiously Measuring the number of tasks that I complete before their set time. For instance, completing my assignments before the set deadlines Deadline April 23th 2012. Conclusion This paper sought to critically evaluate and reflect on my strengths and weaknesses both in leadership and followership and from the key strengths and weaknesses determine how I would develop my leadership and followership both in the short run and in the long run. Notable strengths include ability to multitask, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, effective listener, self motivated, team player, confident and expressive, while weaknesses include being disorganized, spend too much time in minute details, procrastinating, debater, and impatient. Focusing on one strength and one weakness, I was able to develop a plan for leveraging them both in the short run and in the long run Part B: Topic 2: Emotions and Emotional Intelligence Introduction The development of effective leadership skills requires not only academic intelligence, high intelligence Quotient or people skill, but it also requires Emotional Intelligence which integrates all these components together to produce an effective high performing and sustainable leader. Research shows that leaders who not only expresses their emotions but are also capable of reading the emotional atmosphere in an environment are often effective motivators in the workplace environment (George, 2000). This paper analyzes the role that Emotional Intelligence plays in leadership and evaluates whether it is an essential ability or trait necessary for leadership based on research evidence. The Role of Emotions and Emotional Intelligence in Leadership Emotional and emotional intelligence play a critical role in enhancing leadership effectiveness. Emotional intelligence allows a leader to be aware of his or her emotions and therefore be able to more expressive and effectively interact with others. When leaders understands their emotions and those of others, they are able to control and manage their own and to effectively use the information as an advantageous tool in influencing others thoughts and emotions. Research shows that individuals who have a high IQ are not necessarily successful leaders if they lack of Emotional intelligence. A combination of both high IQ and high EQ results to a high performing individual (Davis, 2011). Emotions and Emotional intelligence enables a leader to be able to influence and manage emotions and moods in a given environment and to positively motivate subordinates. In aligning the four element of emotional intelligence work: expression and appraisal of emotions, emotive knowledge, management of emotions, and using emotions to enhance decision making and cognitive processes, to various elements of effective leadership as gathered from various leadership theories, George (2000:1040-1043; Goleman, 1995) noted that key roles that emotions played in leadership include enhancing the leaders’ abilities in building compelling shared visions and goals for their organization and able to manage key emotive knowledge within the organization and be able to make follower’s optimistic in resolving problems no matter how serious they are. Other key roles that emotions play in leadership are that positive emotion and mood stimulates creativity in leaders, improves decision making when in a positive mood, instills enthusiasm, cooperation ad trusts in workers through flow of positive emotions, enables to management of the various emotions effectively in a manner that while followers will be aware of the problem, they would be confidence enough of their abilities to resolve them (Lazanyi, 2005:104). In addition leaders are able to use emotions to read signals in areas that need urgent demand, and also enables the leaders to assess problems or opportunities that arise in an organization. Emotions also enable leaders to be flexible to changes in moods and emotions and to better be able to read them and understand how various issues interrelate, and how such issues need be handled. It also enables a leader to reach out to the feelings of other employees regarding certain issues and set them in positive light that aligns with the company’s goals and needs, for instance a change in the organization that may not be desired by some people. Such emotions often give the impression of a transformative leader as they are able interest in the organization (Gardner & Stough, 2002:70). Whether Emotional Intelligence (E.I.) is a key trait/ability for leadership Though there have a wide array of differing views concerning the emotional intelligence being a key trait or ability for leadership, this paper contends that it is. This is because leadership entails working with people and guiding people. Having the ability to perceive individual emotions and body language of various followers is critical for a leader. This gives the leader an upper hand during negotiations, control, managing and other duties and they are able to chart the way forward. In deed Lopez-Zafra (2012) in her study of the relationship between transformational leadership, gender roles, and emotional intelligence from 431participants found that there emotional intelligence predicted the transformational leadership skills. This research is supported by Chopra (2010) who note that E.I. abilities are essential for effective leadership communication within teams and in building teams, Rehman (2011) who concludes that emotional intelligence strongly moderates the relationship between the form of leadership adopted and the decision making model in a n organization, and Mersino (2007) who notes that indeed emotional intelligence is an essential skill for project managers to get any project done and completed within stipulated constraints. Though critics such as Brody (2004:236), Schulte, Ree, and Carretta (2004:1064), and Antonakis et al (2009) who claim that E.I. does not measure ability but rather measures factors such as personality, conformity, and knowledge. This though has been proven wrong by Khosravi et al’s (2011:230) research which notes that the positive relationship between emotional intelligence and the ability to effectively delegate duties reminisces that of leadership abilities. In addition, Chopra (2010) found that the essence that higher E.I. align with excellent management and effective inspirational leadership points more to E.I. being more of leadership capabilities and abilities within an organization. George (2000) in his empirical analysis of 110 managers also found that emotional intelligence was essential for effective leadership. Conclusion This paper sought to analyze the role that Emotional Intelligence play in leadership and evaluate whether it is an essential ability or trait necessary for leadership based on research evidence. From the above analysis it can be concluded that indeed E.I plays a key role in leadership. Some of the roles played by E.I. in leadership are that E.I. enables the leaders to manage their emotions and those of others, and thereby effectively use the information as an advantageous tool in influencing others thoughts and emotions. E.I. also enables a leader to be able to influence and manage emotions and moods in a given environment and to positively motivate subordinates, stimulate creativity in leaders, improves decision making, instills enthusiasm, cooperation and trusts in workers through flow of positive emotions, and enables to management of the various emotions effectively. E.I was also found to be a critical core component of leadership both as a trait and as ability, with those supporting this view showing a more objective and solid evidence that it is so than those who contest E.I. being a critical ability in leadership. Topic 3: Leadership Development Introduction Leadership development is one of the critical factors in any organization as it is through leadership development that businesses are able to be coherently led and to perform highly. Difference organizations adopt different approaches to developing leaders in a manner that aligns well with the need of the organization. Leadership and management development is deemed as a key tool through which effective learning are employed in order to drive leadership and management towards effective behaviors. This paper evaluates some examples of leadership development as drawn from some companies and from these cases analyzes and deduces the current trends in leadership development programs. Developing leadership capability: examples from companies Difference companies have adopted difference leadership and management development strategies that in the face of a changing workforce structure where more of generation Y are entering the job field and the baby boomer population is increasingly retiring from the workforce. The changes in the workforce outlook bring with some challenges to leadership development tin organizations (London, 2002:21). For instance in an organization such as Sony in Europe division, a leadership development program that is focused on intensely developing the emotional intelligence of the leaders thereby helping them be able to understand their employees and manage them well has been critical for the company in pursuing its business goals (Johnson, 2007). Notably in this program, leaders and managers are supposed to develop deep listening skills, coach their employees, be able to understand how their different emotions impact employees and their performance, and focus the training on people more than on abstract objects with leaders putting what they are taught into practice within their working environments and self assessing for effective impact. Notably Sony has also developed a European graduate program within its leadership development strategy which is meant to develop leaders from the moment they are recruited so as to instill key company values and leaders qualities and competencies to these graduates. This change in leadership and management development strategy which is focused on emotional intelligence impacted the companies annual sales where the sales by 47.04% from 2006 to 2007 (Johnson, 2007). Another key notable company is Coca-Cola Company. In Coca cola, the shortage of marketing executives a key notable position in the company inspired rapid change in the manner in which leaders were d3eveloped in the company. The company formed a talent and leadership development centre from where twice a year key potential talents are trained and put in the pipeline for leadership positions. The company is able to develop these leaders by first developing a coherent job description, and from these train the leaders based on actual events occurring in the company rather than hypothetical examples ways to solve a wide array of problems. In doing they also align the companies competencies to the core leadership competencies of the company in order to ensure alignment with company goals. In these centers they deal with actual problems, enforce coaching and encourage feedbacks while also giving back feedback (CIPD, 2008). Johnson & Johnson has also been adopting a strategy where it builds a pool of employees who are upcoming leaders through its succession development plans and its graduate programs meant to develop employees with visions and skills to carry forward Johnson and Johnson’s visions (Johnson & Johnson Annual Report, 2010:3; London, 2002:90). What the cases tell about current trends in leadership development programs From the cases above clear trends can be noted in leadership development programs. First and foremost most organizations have made leadership development their priority and have invested in these programs to ensure that the generational gap is bridged by providing work experience to younger more capable and qualified candidates. This is seen from all the three cases above where all the three company’s have invested highly in leadership development programs in order to reduce the risks of a leadership gap in the organization. Another trend is that companies are increasingly turning inwards to their staffs to identify talent and develop it even though they still consider outside talent. This is intended to increase the pool of leaders within the company who are geared up for succession roles, and who are intended to reduce any gaps in leadership within an organization. This implies that companies are tending towards less and less purchasing of talent but rather focus on developing talent that aligns with their business goals and objectives. Leadership are also tending towards being more driven by emotional intelligence in the workplace with increased listening, cooperation and feedback mechanisms in the organizations. The leadership development programs have also incorporate in them in-depth and feedback coaching tools which seek to ensure that the leaders are able intricately understand complicated areas within an organization. Indeed Allio (2005:1074-75) recommends that in developing leaders a focus should be put on skills and knowledge where leaders are able to intricately understand various facets of the organization in order to succeed in the various leadership programs developed. Coaching entails more than training. It involves self focused learning. This view is supported by Sloman (2005) and Vloeberghs and Henderickx (2011) who put an emphasis on informal learning tools as critical for leadership development. Conclusion This paper sought to evaluate some examples of leadership development as drawn from some companies and from these cases analyzes and deduces the current trends in leadership development programs. From the examples evaluated it can be noted that though different companies respond differently in developing leaders, they tend to respond to common labor market trends and the high competition for talent in the market. Notably they have increasingly focused on developing internal employees rather purchase talent from outside, and most have strategically aimed at developing leaders at all levels of the company that ensures that leaders are in the pipeline and are ready to fill up any gaps in leadership positions. In this sense therefore, most organizations have made leadership development their priority and have invested in these programs to ensure higher internal supply of leaders. Key tools used in leadership development has been tending towards the use of coaching and incorporation of emotional intelligence in a manner that a leader is able to align well organizational goals with the emotional motivations of the employees in the company Topic 4: Coaching and Mentoring Introduction Over the past few decades the importance and significance of coaching and mentoring in human resource management has been rising by leaps and bounds increasingly playing a critical role in the training and development within most organizations. This has also been noted to be one of the key ways through which an organization can attain maximum productivity from its employees. Of critical importance has been the role that coaching and mentoring has played in leadership development. This paper analyses the contribution of coaching and mentoring to the leadership and management leadership within organizations and this has helped in developing leaders. What coaching and mentoring contributes to leadership development Mosca, Fazzari and Buzza (2010) define coaching as a focused development of employees through personalized instruction whether informal or formal in a way that empowers, enables consistent feedbacks, creates an enabling work culture eliminated maladaptive behaviors, building employee behavior and tapping into the great potential of the employees. On the other hand Segers, Vloeberghs and Henderickx (2011) define coaching as a systematic and intensive facilitation of groups of people through the use of behavioral methods and techniques that are aimed at attaining self conscious change and self congruent goals, that enable development and improved performance and wellbeing of the individuals being coached. From these definitions it can be noted that coaching is mainly and primarily directed towards leaders and plays a critical role on how effective a leader is. Coaching and mentoring are an important tool in development of leaders within an organization as it enables effective apprenticeship programs and grooming of succession programs in organizations in preparing for the retire or the risk of a significant organizational figure leaving. This is clearly evidence in a recent research conducted by AMA of 1000 business leaders around the globe. The study found that 60% of the surveyed companies in North America frequently used coaching and mentoring tools for high potential employees as a preparation tool for future leadership positions, or as a form of developing their leadership skills, while only 42% of coaching was done on already existing executives (Taleo Research, 2011:14). This clearly shows that mentoring has a higher focus towards leadership development of those not yet in leadership higher leadership positions. The incorporation of coaching and mentoring as part and parcel of talent management processes such as staffing needs, selection and succession enables an organizational culture where from the moment of hire individuals are being modeled to be leaders within the organization. In specific, integrating coaching and mentoring with leadership development is critical in enabling the coached employees be able to obtain the necessary leadership skills essential in the organization and also important for the leaders to incorporate within the development process essential skills and experiences that would enable them integrate within their leadership styles effective coaching (Northouse, 2010:213; Garvey, Stokes, and Megginson, 2009). Coaching is essential in leadership development as it helps in increasing self awareness of the leaders which is critical in enabling flexible relationships and work patterns, and also motivating leaders to take increasingly challenging and demanding roles within the organization. Key notable coach is Sir Richard Branson who scooped UK’s most preferred coach in 2011 due to the high coaching culture that has been adopted at Virgin Atlantics (Training Reference, 2011:1). This coaching culture according to Wilson (2007:17-18) entails three elements, that of responsibility, self belief and a blame free culture. How coaching helps leaders develop As noted above, coaching plays a critical role in leadership development, and in this it implies that coaching helps leaders to develop is a variety of ways. Notably in helping to develop leaders coaching promotes confidence, reflectivity on newer roles before assuming the position, improved psychological wellbeing of the leaders, improved skills in problem solving, better relationships and communications among different facets in the organization, career enhancement and development, increased knowledge and skills and an increased collaborative culture (Lord, Atkinson & Mitchell, 2009:31-34). This points to the fact that for coaching to be carried out successfully, three levels of competencies and development are required. These are habit formation, corrective changes in will power and personality, and leadership in doing so. This would seem to imply that just as coaching is integral in leadership, so is leadership integral in coaching. Notably, Cragg and Spurgen (2005:5) model the competencies of a good leader within theories such as situational and trait theories. Such would tend to focus on coaching traits as such as courage, charisma and intelligence as outlined by trait theory and which show that such attributes are innate to a coach and based on the situational model, shows that a good coach is one who is able and can easily morph to the needs of the employees being coached, thereby being flexible within the learning environment (Gorrel, & Hoover, 2009; Northouse, 2010:214). In this sense, such competencies which are core to coaches and transferred to those who are being coached, mainly define core skills that make leadership effective. Conclusion This paper sought to analyze the contribution of coaching and mentoring to the leadership and management leadership within organizations and this has helped in developing leaders. From the analysis, it can be noted that coaching and mentoring are a critical tool both for training and development and a preparatory tool for effective apprenticeship programs and grooming of succession programs in organizations. It also enables the coached employees be able to obtain the necessary leadership skills essential in the organization. In essence therefore coaching helps a leader to develop by promoting their confidence, reflectivity on newer roles they would be taking, development of essential skills, improved problem solving skills and improved leadership traits such as courage, charisma and intelligence or ability to adapt to changing organizational environments. 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