Leadership Skills Personal Development - Essay Example

Leadership Skills Personal Development Plan of the Number Introduction Leadership has been defined as an individual’s ability to lead his followers towards a common goal. Although there has been several debates on the actual definition of how a leader should be, but most of the definitions are based on the influencing factor of a leader over a group of people (Northouse 14-16). The concept of leadership has been discussed in the light of several theories like the trait theories, great man theories, situational leadership theory, etc (Bolden 34-43). This study is focused on my reflection of leadership approach. It includes a detailed analysis of my leadership style on the grounds of strength, weakness, opportunity, threats, along with discussion on improving them in order to be a more effective leader. I have also discussed the SMART(ER) goal setting technique to set the goals for my followers and for myself. All the discussions made in this study are backed up by relevant theories. Leadership According to my perception, the concept of leadership is based on the idea of how one individual can guide a group of people to follow his instruction so that they can be driven towards a common goal. At often times the term “leader” is used synonymous with the term “manager”. I think that a leader and a manager possess quite a different set of characters (Davis 8). A leader develops a new trend or a set of rules to follow, whereas a manager makes sure that the rules are properly being followed. Most importantly a manager controls his subordinates by relying on his power of authority, but a leader influences his followers by establishing a strong trust (The Wall Street Journal, “What is the Difference Between Management and Leadership?”). This makes me believe that a leader is a person who takes the right decisions and sets goals for himself and for his followers as well. My Leadership style I have followed a leadership style which binds my team in with strict rules and regulation. I thought that setting up straight forward rules are necessary in order to make sure that there is deviation from the goal. I laid down a series of strict rules for my team and instructed them to follow those rules down to every word. In order to avoid confusion in decision making, I took the responsibility of making all the major decisions myself. I commanded my team to abide by my decisions at all times, so it can be ensured that the progress is directed in the desired way. This style of leadership can be termed as the Autocratic leadership style (Johnson, “5 Different Types of Leadership Styles”). SWOT Analysis Strength: The autocratic leadership style allowed me to have the authority to make all the decisions without taking any input from the team members. This leadership approach saved a lot of time in decision making process. I gained a close supervision over my team members by mentioning that any deviation from the rules and regulations would not be tolerated. Thus my team never deviated from their path; as a result they completed their tasks in much less time. Weakness: Although I enjoyed being an autocratic leader by having my team to follow my decisions, but I noticed that the overall output of the team was lower than expected. The team members are hardly interested in the work assigned to them and most of them were inefficient in their activities. Thus, even if the tasks were completed before time, they all lacked quality (Bakker and Demerouti 209−223). Opportunity: The autocratic leadership style has the opportunity to build a strong team based on a single idea or principle. The leader enjoys supreme power and can produce a strong work force which can take down even the toughest challenges (Baumruk and Gorman 33-38). Threat: The autocratic leadership faces a threat of rejection from the team members (Conger and Riggio 16-18). In my situation, each of the team members was well equipped with all the necessary skills and knowledge base, yet the output was substandard. The primary reason behind their inefficiency was that they were dissatisfied with the leadership style, and they wanted to be a part of the decision making process. The overall success of a team is mostly determined by the type of leadership approach. The acceptance of a particular leadership style is determined by the personality traits of the team members. Members who show creativity and enjoy personal freedom detest an autocratic leadership style. From next time onwards I will have to be more careful in profiling my team members and if I happen to find the same personality traits like my present team members, then I will need to make few amendments in the leadership style (Conger and Riggio 12-15). The team members will be encouraged to give their inputs in the decision making process, so that they feel like being a part of the overall project and feel responsible for its success. This type of leadership can be termed as a Democratic Leadership style, where each of the members is given sufficient priority and the entire team moves following a unanimously decided path towards a common goal. This leadership style will allow me gain the trust of my team members and build a good communication with them. This will help me to make proper job allocation and will result in more efficient individual output (Baumruk and Gorman 14-16). SMART(ER) Goal Setting Setting a goal is a vital responsibility for a leader. This gives the team members a clear objective towards which they all must proceed. I have defined my goals following the SMART(ER) goal setting approach. This approach measures the goal setting based on seven different criteria, which are as follows. Specific: This criterion assesses whether or not the set goal statement is easily understood and visualized by the team members. It will help me to provide a clearly stated set of tasks that the team needs to perform, as a result there will be no ambiguity or confusion in understanding what they need to do. Measurable: My goals will be set in such a way that the progress can be easily measured in quantifiable terms. Making the goal easily measureable will help my team members to monitor the progress and make necessary amendments wherever necessary. It will also help me to receive feedback about the operations in an easier way (Adair 11). Achievable: I will set the goals in such a way so that they seem rational and achievable for the team members. Setting an unachievable goal will eventually demotivate the members. Realistic: I will make sure that the goals are realistic enough so that the team is willing to commit themselves to its achievement. Unrealistic goal setting will build up over confidence and may result in failure of the task. Time Bound: I need to make sure that all the activities are scheduled in a particular time frame, so that the efficiency of the team members can be easily measured. A time bound structure will create a sense of urgency which in turn will motivate the employees. Ethical: All the activities involved should be ethical and should abide by standardized regulations (Adair 15-19). I will instruct the team not to follow any unethical means to achieve the goal, which as a result may cause long term damage to the project. Reward: I will motivate the members by rewarding them with appreciations, so that they can work with more enthusiasm (Charnan 10-13). Time plan Time Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Accumulating team members Individual profiling Discussing the primary objective or Goal, by taking individual inputs Breaking the mission in small tasks Distribution of tasks to the members based on their profile and beginning the activities Monitoring Progress Work in Progress Task Completion Review Works Cited Adair, John. Strategic Leadership: How to Think and Plan Strategically and Provide Direction. London: Kogan Page, 3rd ed. 2010. Print. Bakker, Arnorld and Evangelia Demerouti. Towards a Model of Work Engagement. Career Development International 15 (2008): 209−223. Print. Baumruk, Ray. and Bob Gorman. Why Managers are Crucial to Increasing Engagement. 4th ed. London: Melcrum Publishing, 2009. Print. Bolden, R., Gosling, A. Marturano and P. A. Dennison. Review of Leadership Theory and Competency Frameworks. Centre for Leadership Studies. 2003. Web. 14 December 2014. Charnan, R. Leader at All Levels Development. 4th ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc. 2008. Print. Conger, Jay. A. and Ronald. E. Riggio. The Practice of Leadership: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders. 2nd ed. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 2012. Print. Davis, A. Leadership, Teamwork and Trust. 3rd ed. New York: Harper Collins, 2011. Print. Johnson, Rose. “5 Different Types of Leadership Styles.” Chron. Hearst Newspapers LLC, 2014. Web. 14 December 2014. Northouse, Peter. G. Leadership theory and practice. London: Sage Publications, 2007. Print. “What is the Difference Between Management and Leadership?” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 2014. Web. 14 December 2014. Read More