Self-Awareness of Leadership - Essay Example

?Self-Awareness Introduction Henry Fayol, and Mary Parker among other scholars in the field of management have described leadership as the act of getting thing done through others. This definition is consistent with the definition given by James who described leadership as the process of attaining organizational goals, of which these organizational goals are attained effectively and efficiently through the performance of certain leadership tasks such as directing, controlling, organizing, staffing, and planning (13-14). This self-awareness paper is based on leadership development from a personal perspective. This means that through this paper I aim at enlisting my strengths and weaknesses that am aware of so far that relate to leadership. Secondly, through this paper I will enlist corrective measures that I plan to undertake in order to become an effective and admirable future leader joining the ranks of Jack Welch in the years to come. Besides the positive qualities of a leader that were listed by Tichy and Devanna such as the willingness to decide and capacity to do so, persuasiveness, responsibility, intellectual capacity, vitality and endurance (34-38); I would also like to develop other qualities to address organizational needs and objectives that will be present in future organizations. Leadership theory There are two leadership theories that are consistent with my development plan or plan of action, and they can best demonstrate my plans as a future leader, one among them is the functional leadership theory. This theory according to Wren is particularly significant when a leader wants to address some of his or her behaviors that are perceived to contribute to organizational or team effectiveness (27-29). This theory supports my plan since it argues that I should do whatever is necessary for my subordinates in order to ensure that the organizational goal is attained and thus, in a way I will be contributing to the team’s effectiveness and cohesion. Secondly, the transformational leadership theory is also consistent with my plan since according to Bass it is based on the premise that a leader is one who is mandated to perform certain duties and he/ she will in his/ her capacity either punish or reward a team for their performance (10-12). This theory gives me the opportunity to lead a team and if the team conduct itself in a manner that I prescribed, then it will be considered that the organization has been able to attain its goals, which warrant the team members to be reward for their efforts. Personal strengths and weaknesses This course has exposed me to assignments and learning activities that have informed me of my leadership strengthsand weaknesses all together. However, for this research I entirely relied on two tools that I used to identify different aspects about my leadership style that makes it more effective and those that hinder it from attaining absolute perfection. The tools consist of the transformational leadership questionnaire (TLQ) and the assessments that are in leadership theory and practice (LTP). This assessment is made up of eighteen different questions and these questions vary in nature with the leadership competencies they aim at measuring for example the human skill, technical skill or conceptual skill (Tichy and Devanna, 89-94). Thou I have never pictured myself as a “people person” the transformational leadership questionnaire showed that my major strengths as a leader are the ability to imagine and share in other people’s feelings and experience, strong follow through, ambitious, compulsive and articulate. These strengths to me mean that I appreciate others and I care for their needs. These strengths also portray me as an effective leader in offering constructive responses to the efforts of my subordinates and that I also boost the confidence of other people, while still conveying enthusiasm. By the simple fact that I am able to offer constructive responses to the efforts of my subordinates it means that I am good in communication. According to Carter, a leader who is good in communication is able to influence the organization positively since he/ she can ensure that operations within the organization go on smoothly through coordinated efforts. Secondly, a leader who is good in communication will ensure that each stakeholder of the organization is well aware about the objectives of the company at all times and therefore, each stakeholder will be able to direct his/ her effort in attaining these objectives (56-61). Being able to boost the moral of others means that I am a good motivator and as a leader I will be able to have motivated staffs whom according to Wren, are more productive and can influence the organization’s performance in a positive manner (112). Furthermore, Wren stated that a leader who is good in motivating the staffs is capable of retaining top talent within the organization, which will reduce employee turnover and save on the cost of regularly recruiting new staff members (121). The transformational leadership questionnaire showed that my weakness lies in time pressure, which causes me to be stressed. I also have a weakness in build relations that are unfamiliar to me and even to my culture. From the transformational leadership questionnaire, it can be summarily stated that my major weakness lies in proper time management and lack of skills in managing or leading in multi-cultural organization. The inability to handle time pressure first denote that I am poor in managing my own time and therefore, more of often I am pressured to meet deadlines rather than easily manage my time and meet my deadlines without any last minute rush. As a leader, this weakness can affect the performance of the organization that will be working for, since I might fail to meet project deadlines and therefore, I will cause inconveniences to the customers whilst putting the organization’s reputation at stake. Secondly, breaking down due to time pressure means that I will equally try to pressure members of my team in finishing their tasks, which will cause them to have emotional distress and even be less motivated. My weakness in leading in a multicultural set-up means that I am incapable of handling a managing role in a multicultural organization and therefore, I can only be comfortable managing a local organization that is made up of only employees and customers who share my cultural background. However, with such a weakness, it means that I will not be a viable manager/ leader in future organizations since Wren, argued that future organizations are posed to be made-up of employees originating from different nationalities and cultures mainly because of the increase in globalization (101-109). Furthermore, Carter stated that an effective leader is one who is capable of leading a team that is culturally diverse, and therefore, future organizations will require great leaders who can the team members together to ensure they work in harmony (73). Gap in my leadership approach After identifying my strengths and weaknesse4s using the two major tools, I believe I have identified the leader that I am currently and the leader that I would like to become in the near future. To me this is the first step for me to become the leader that I want to be and therefore, I will work on my weakness and improve on my strengths. Development plan or action plan to eliminate this leadership gap In order to eliminate the leadership gap I will focus on improving my strength on communication and work on my weakness on managing a multicultural set-up. To begin with, McKay stated that effective communication requires the selection of an appropriate medium of communication; proper encoding of the message and the communicator has to know well his/ her target audience in order to select the approach through which the communication will take place (13-15). For example, McKay stated that communication could only be effective if the target audience is approached and communicated to, through the correct channel or approach. Therefore, I should have a distinct approach through which I communicate with people in the same level as me, those who are above me and those who are below me. For example, in order to communicate effectively with fellow leaders in the organization, McKay suggested that it would be appropriate to call for a meeting in order to have a face-to-face conversation and even a telephone conversation will be appropriate (24-27). As for my subordinates, I can communicate to them effectively also through face-to-face conversation that can help us build relations or through other forms such as memos and e-mails. When encoding my messages to my subordinates, McKay suggested that I should use a language that is easy to understand and does not include technical terms that could be difficult to decode (31-32). However, while communicating to my peers within the organization I can effectively communicate with them whilst using technical words that are familiar to all of us. I will also apply the suggestion by McKay, that good communication involves knowing the appropriate timing to initiate the conversation and this will mean that I will need to determine the perfect timing to initiate some type of conversation (45-48). For example, I will desist from initiating serious work-related conversation with my peers while we are at a social function because it is likely to be ineffective. Secondly, in regards to my weakness in managing or leading a multicultural organization I will develop some inner traits and skills that will enable me to work and even lead teams that are made up of people from diverse cultures. To begin with, the studies by Thomas recommend that I should be aware of other cultures and at least try to appreciate the difference of the culture with my own culture (18-21). According Thomas, this is the first step towards accepting and respecting people from diverse cultures (20). After learning about different cultures, Thomas suggested that I should take an initiative to learn about communicating, and even working with people from these diverse cultures (25-26). This will take up more of my time but Thomas suggested that in order to ensure I do not provoke a team member because of ignorance about his or her culture then it is very beneficial to learn about this foreign culture (56-58). SMART goals Goal To improve my skills and my ability to work and even manage a multicultural team and/ or organization. Reason this goal is important to me To eliminate scenarios whereby poor communication can lead to the poor performance of my team or the entire organization To have the ability to work and even manage organizations that are made up of employees from different cultural backgrounds Step Mnemonic Description 1 Specific I want to sharpen my skills in communication in order to know how well to communicate with my peers and even subordinates at work. Secondly, I want to know how to manage a team that is made-up of people from different cultures in order to become an all-round leader who is capable of working anywhere in the world. 2 Measurable I will know that I am good communicator if the instructions I give are easily implemented and if my peers are able to understand whatever arguments I will be putting across. Secondly, I will know am a good communicator is I have less misunderstanding with workmates, family members, and friends. I will know I can manage across culture when I am able to attract and develop great friendship with people from diverse cultures. 3 Agreed My immediate lecture, friends, and even colleagues will easily agree to this plan because I will be seeking to develop myself and become a better leader. 4 Realistic My goal is realistic in that I can rely on the knowledge that I already have to easily learn and sharpen my skills on communication and working with people from diverse cultures. Secondly, being a talkative and socially person, I believe I can easily improve my communication skills and even be able to work with people from different cultural backgrounds. 5 Time-Bound Developing my communication skills will be an everyday thing but working with people from different cultures should be a target to be achieved before end of the year. Impact of my action plan My plan will have an impact on my leadership, since I will adopt new a leadership style. My workmates will become friendly to me and I will be able to tolerate and relate well with people from different cultural backgrounds. Assessment and modification of the plan I will asses my plan by looking at the number of employees who are now engaging in talks with me, if the number is high than before, then am on the right path but if the number is minimal I have to re-strategies my action plan. Secondly, if I am able to make more friends who come from different cultural backgrounds then I can be sure that my development plan is working effectively. Work cited Bass Jossey. Business Leadership. New York, U.S: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2003 Print Carter, Louis L. Marshall, Goldsmith, and David, Ulrich. (2008) Best Practices in Leadership Development and Organization Change. California, U.S: Best Practice Institute. James, Clawson. Level Three Leadership: Getting Below the Surface, (3rd Edition). New Jersey, U.S: Pearson Prentice Hall.2008 Print McKay, Matthew. Davis, Martha. and Fanning, Patrick. Messages: The Communication Skills Book. Thousand Oaks, California: New Harbinger Publications. 2009 Print Tichy M., Noel and Devanna A., Mary. The transformational leader: The key to global competitiveness. New York, U.S: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1990 Print Thomas, David. Cross-Cultural Management: Essential concepts. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Inc. 2008 Print Wren A., Daniel. The history of management thought, The University of Oklahoma (5th edition). New York, U.S: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2005 Print Read More