Portfolio in Leadership Skills - Essay Example

Chap I intend to become a leader that leads from the front, depletes the communication gaps and become problem solver for his team. I always try to take the responsibilities on my shoulders and do not like to give the wrong impression that being a leader I do not fulfill my responsibilities. I have a dream to be a kind leader and “servant” of my colleagues. I am also looking forward to work in the challenging environments where I can utilize my abilities to gain the competitive advantage. I want to become a leader that is the example for the people around. Sitting in an office separately from the team members is not what we call a leader. Being in the centre and facing the challenges is the cardinal quality of leadership which I am looking forward to achieve. Chap 2 Problem solving skills: As a customer services officer, I was excellent in handling different customer issues within a very less time. There was a problem of customer with his car finance scheme and he was furious about the bank administration. I personally called him and told him about the exact problems that the administration was facing. Then I talked to the manager and negotiated a little compensation so that we can save this customer from going away. After the problem was solved the customer was happy and the administration also praised me for saving them a worthy customer (DuBrin, 31). Leading from the front: I always like to lead from the front while working. There was once a grave issue of wages and no one from the employees was ready to talk this problem to the higher hierarchies. When I came to know the problem, I immediately talked to my boss and explained him the situation. The matter was resolved and many detrimental consequences were saved. Seeking feedback and listening to others: Listening is a very important trait that I have developed. Being in the customer services domain, I developed the trait of listening to the customer first and then clarifying the situation. There was an incident when the customer was experiencing bad performance in the ATM services. He called and was really furious about the bank. I listened to all his talk and then clarified the situation. After the ATM services resumption, I called the customer and asked him if the performance is good now. This gave a good impression to the customer and he thanked me. Give credit to others: I always give due credit to others. Once there was a problem in the customer services management planning division and people were not getting their services on time. One of my colleagues e-mailed this issue to the CEO of the bank. The matter was resolved within two days. I thanked my colleague openly and told everyone that our life is easy now because of this person. Team work: I always love to work in a team because it gives you the required competitive environment and capabilities to nourish the abilities. As a customer services officer, I always tried to take everyone on board, communicate with everyone and help others at the workplace. Adaptability I think I need to develop adaptability to change because it is the cardinal requirement for leadership and work environments. The cooperate world is open for change and we should adapt the change in the positive sense. I think I can inculcate adaptability by increasing communication, collaboration and traveling. Discipline Discipline is the second most important quality I need to develop in my personality. Sometimes I get too casual and like to work in open environments but there are certain workplace rules and regulation that you have to follow. I plan to set short term goals and seek professional coaching in order to achieve this quality. Chap 3 This week I tried to meet every person like the most important person. Before entering my workplace, I said greetings to the guard sitting outside so that he may feel important. After greeting him I asked him how is life and is there anything I can do for him. This is one of the very important charismatic leadership qualities that are depicted in the text and I think I managed to exhibit it. This gives the feeling to the people that they are being given importance and sanctity. Similarly, I tried to tighten my handshake during any meeting as this is another quality of the charismatic people. Whenever I meet people I try to make an impact and let them know that I am giving them importance in my day. I always shake the hand with the firm grip. I also tried to be more animated in my behaviors and general day to day meetings. I try to be more communicative, animated and reactive to any communication. This is the most important factor in the charismatic personalities because people like to feel that they are being given importance. A lousy and ill hand shake will not depict your personality as animated. Chap 4 This week I tried to follow the adaptability to the situation task oriented behavior. There were many problems during the start of my work at the bank. Then I tried to lead form the front and tried to adapt in the new workplace environments. There were many issues at the start, the office timings were very early and during the work load environments, there were many problems for me. Then I befriended the colleagues there and they supported me. I tried to take everything lightly so that it cannot become a problem for me. Things really get started to improve because I never felt the burden of anything. Similarly, I tried to adapt the risk taking and execution of plans tasks oriented approach during my routine. There were many challenges at the start which I used to avoid at the workplace for example handling the customers that have a great history with the company and problem solving of the complex issues. Then I tried to learn the complex details of the customer services procedures and the results were very appreciating. Within a very less time, I started to cope up with the challenges by risk taking and now no issues seems to be challenging for me as I have enough hands on experience with different types of diverse situations. I also focused on relationship oriented attitudes and approaches. For example I tried to inculcate the satisfying higher-level needs attitude. There was a customer who was insisting for a compensation for a delay in the transaction process. I tried to convince him that his argument is not right as there was a clear instruction from the higher authority that there should be no over-compensation to the clients. Similarly I focused on the “being a servant leader” attitude at the workplace. Being the customer services officer, I took it as a duty to help the fellow internees who were new to the job and wanted to get help in the work. I tried to attend them from desk to desk and ask them about the problems they were facing. The results were bewitching as the tasks were giving outputs with a great speed and efficiency. Chap 5 There was a clash of two persons on the nearby road of the workplace. I saw that the policemen were not intervening in the situation and both the person was beating each other very ruthlessly. The policemen just seemed to be waiting for the clash to end and then file a report. This approach was very heart breaking for me because any leader or decisive and authoritative position should not wait for the worst to happen rather they should decide immediately to stop the bad things happening. If I were at the place of the policeman, I would have taken the “deciding approach” of the leadership and would have immediately ordered both the parties to distance themselves from each other and then I would have ordered the junior police officers to ask them about the real cause of the problem so that we can amend the situation. This kind of approach provides the optimal solution in cases where there is a vulnerability of the worst case scenarios. Similarly, there was a manager who did not give a free hand for the employees to work in the workplace. When I took the charge of the customer services, I always tried to give self confidence to my colleagues. Once there was a new internee who was always hesitant of the higher level meetings. I deliberately made him the chief presenter of the project and then he started to give the presentation about the sales per week and in this way the whole team saw a clear depiction of self confidence in him. He started to lead from the front and then never feared any upcoming project. Chap 6 I went to a shop to buy shoes. After the selection of shoes, I paid the amount at the cash counter and took the remaining amount from the person at the counter. After leaving the shop I noticed that the remaining amount is more than what was due. I thought this scenario from the ethical standards and then went into the shop and gave the extra money to the person at the counter. This gave me internal satisfaction and conformance to ethical standards. Chap 7 There was a visit of a delegation tour workplace. At start I perceived it as a liability that we will have to stay tuned for the overtime and there will be much work to do. Then I took it as an advantage to increase my social circle. After the official meetings and gatherings at the delegation meeting, I went to the chief organizer of the program and praised him about the class of his abilities. He asked me about my work and qualification. I focused to use the ethical approach and just told him about my work and my future ambitions in order to check that whether he can help me in the career. He said that you have a bright future and customer services are a very vast field. In the end he gave me his contact number and told that you should send me your CV. This meeting gave me a great chance to elevate my social and professional network. Chap 8 There was a colleague of mine who always used to come late to the office. Being his senior, I decided to use the influence approach and convince him that he should come on time to the office. I talked to him but he said that the agreement was to complete the 6 hours job and it does not matter that on what time I come. I devised another approach based on the arguments and said that what will you feel if you have a company and your employers come to the workplace after you. You will feel that they are not working. He got influenced from this argument and changed his working hours. Chap 9 Putting myself in the centre is the main team working skill that I try to follow these days at the workplace. I do not stay away from my junior colleagues thinking that it will lower down my status rather I indulge myself in the work and try to interact with them as much as I can. Similarly, depleting the separate areas and encouraging the “common areas” are really beneficial and I am trying to create a common workplace for the related team so that everyone can communicate with each other optimally and every kinds of communication gap can be vanished. This is really helping in increasing the interaction, problem solving and friendly environment. Chap 10 I tried to recognize the efforts of sweeper at my workplace. He always works very hard in the office and tries to clean the floor from every inch despite of great rush hours. I went to him after the closure of the office and recognized his efforts and said that I like his work a lot and everyone at the office is enjoying the clean environment because of him and I really appreciate him. His facial expressions were really bewitching and he thanked me. Similarly, one of my colleagues work very hard in the office and pays extra efforts and time in the job in order to ensure the quality. I went to him personally and said to him that I really recognize his efforts and the office have experienced a great elevation due to his efforts. He was so happy that he embraced me and said that this is the first time any senior is recognizing my efforts. One of our higher managers really works hard. He always takes responsibilities on his shoulders and really leading from the front. One day I went to him and said that we, as a team really admire your work and dedication to the company, we are enjoying the fruits of your efforts here. He was really happy and felt appreciated. From that day he is looking more dedicated in his work. Chap 11 At my university, we always say the staff, guards and low level workers working very hard with a very little appreciation and monetary benefits. One day I thought that we should not rely upon the administration to take the initiatives rather do something on our own. I talked to my friends and we planned a “staff appreciation day” We collected 2$ from every students we could access and bought juices, flowers and chocolates. On the designated day, we distributed these things to the guards, gardeners and low level staff. They were very happy and later the principal of our institute came to the place and congratulated to us and gave the prize money which we distributed in the same people. Chap 12 There was a presentation scheduled for a mega project in which our customer support and services staff was given the opportunity by the higher authorities to present the business model. During the presentation, my colleague who was appointed to give the presentation got nervous and messed up all the presentation. I did not wait even for a minute knowing the fact that this is a golden opportunity for the company and we cannot let it go. I came forward and started to present it on my own. For fifteen minutes I kept talking and presented the people with a good image of the business model .At the end, the authorities praised me as the business model was accepted. Reference DuBrin, Andrew J. Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage, 2010. Print. Read More