Personal Construct of Leadership - Coursework Example

Personal Construct of Leadership Name Institution Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1.0. Introduction 4 1.1. Leadership 4 2.0. Personal Construct of leadership 6 2.1. Leadership Theories 6 2.1.1. The Great Man Theory 6 2.1.2. Trait Theory 7 2.2. Charismatic Leadership 9 2.3. Leadership Theories Summary 10 3.0. Leadership Skills 10 3.1. Interpersonal Skills 10 3.2. Self-Awareness Skills 11 3.3. Implementation Skills 12 3.4. Summary to Leadership Skills 13 4.0. Summary: Why the Framework Works for Me 13 5.0. Conclusion 13 References 15 Abstract Leadership is a crucial ingredient in any institutional set-up regardless of the size and territorial span of the organisation. Presence of a leadership structure gives an organisation the sense of direction required to drive organisational success. For effective leadership and institutional success, officials holding various leadership roles must execute their roles with strict adherence to certain principles and ideologies which constitute a leadership framework. From the perspective of this write-up, an ideal leadership framework is one which focuses and capitalises on the leadership input of all members of the organisation, not just the managerial staff. A leader accommodates ideas from all and works harmoniously with every member of the organisation to achieve the common goal of organisational prosperity. The analysis in this paper attempts to develop an outstanding framework that would assist individuals enhance their leadership capabilities towards the better. It further assesses various leadership theories so as to shed more light on the developed framework. Finally, it evaluates the various skills that a leader needs to possess and how to improve on them. Indeed leadership is a key issue that need consistent address as an avenue of improving on the leadership skills and embracing the best leadership styles. PERSONAL CONSTRUCT OF LEADERSHIP 1.0. Introduction There are varied opinions concerning what leadership is and who is regarded as a leader. Many people attribute leaderships to the holding of positions of authority in the social, political and economic spheres of human existence (Brooks, Normore & Wilkinson, 2017). From this popular point of view, the people fail to locate the thick line between leading and misleading as many of those thought of as leaders actually mislead their followers rather than leading them. This phenomenon is mostly common in the political where some political ‘leaders’ lead their masses astray for their own mileage. Most of these people seen as leaders actually lack any shred of leadership in them but are just opportunists. 1.1. Leadership Leadership can be defined as the ability to come up with progressive ideologies which guide and streamline a group of people or organisation towards a common positive goal. A leader from this definition is therefore not necessarily a manager or an employee holding a position of authority within the organisation. Anyone within the organisation who constantly inspires and motivates others to achieve more by their ideas and deeds is regarded as a leader (Foti et al., 2014). Leaders exist in all spheres from politicians, clerics, professionals to celebrities in the film and entertainment industry. According to Kiersch, & Peters, (2017) simply put; if your actions and ideas inspire others to emulate you for your way of doing things and personality so as to achieve more, you are a leader! Leaders are generally regarded as role models in their respective spheres of existence. However, success of an individual in a given field does not necessarily make that individual a leader. Leadership is a complex art that requires time to master and perfect through varied approaches. These approaches include, but not limited to, education and mentorship. Leadership is learned via educational training and research to unravel new approaches and styles of leadership. These new skills are then taken through a series of implementation stages which typically takes a leader long to perfect (Nahavandi, 2016). In mentorship, potential leaders go through a number of sessions of coaching by mentors so as to unearth their leadership abilities. Leadership is also learnt from individuals considered as role models. This does not necessarily mean emulating everything the role models do to the latter but rather using their personality and ideologies as a benchmark to formulate your own ideas and mould your personality towards a progressive objective. Leadership is also learnt by reflecting on one’s own past ideologies, deeds and their outcomes (Waite & Brooks, 2014). A moment of reminiscence enables a leader to focus on their past mistakes and achievements to make the future of their organisation more fruitful to all. Challenges and hurdles in the course of duty also play a role in unmasking and shaping the leadership capabilities of individuals. By overcoming challenges, one is able to discover and rediscover how much positive inspiration they can offer to their colleagues to overcome similar impediments (Bolman & Deal, 2014). It is noteworthy that leadership is a personal ability that comes out of an individual voluntarily - leadership cannot be imposed on a person. Leadership is not a formal status granted to an individual by virtue of office but an informal attribute guided by the individual’s personality which commands mutual trust and respect from colleagues. In this light, leadership and management are two different things (Foti et al., 2017). Management comes with the formal authority of an office to control and direct organisational objectives while leadership is an informal (or formal) voluntary influence and guide organisational objectives and visions towards the desired direction. Leader thus innovate and develop ideas, visions and alternatives to solve problems and propel organisations forward while managers administer and implement set organisational objectives to achieve pre-set goals and organisational stability (Du, Set al., 2013). The success and effectiveness of a leader depends on their interpersonal skills, that is, their ability to work together with every member of the organisation to modify their line of thought into congruency with his/her ideologies - to lead them. The qualities of pragmatism and charisma among others are very crucial for effective leadership. On the other hand, managers heavily rely on their ability to coordinate the functions of the organisation for their success. However, it is very possible, and quite desirable, for one to be both a manager and a leader. Managers with leadership qualities inspire a great sense of confidence and ownership in members of the organisation thus stimulating the thriving of the organisation (Schoemaker, Krupp & Howland, 2013). Both leaders and managers face numerous hurdles in their endeavour to deliver to their organisations. But the single most evident challenge is the expectations (some of which are irrational) from the people around them, that is, organisational executives, stakeholders and staff. 2.0. Personal Construct of leadership 2.1. Leadership Theories 2.1.1. The Great Man Theory Ever since I was young, I had a strong belief that leaders have the natural capacity to lead and that education system or life experiences had no part in developing a leader. My belief leaned upon the notion that children of the most influential people shall definitely become influential, just like their parents. In my infantile perception, the ability of a person to lead was directly related to the ability of somebody or some people within the same lineage to lead. I believed that people’s capacity in leadership is shaped by their culture, norms, wealth, and social class ((Schoemaker & Howland, 2013).). In this regard, therefore, the deprived and the destitute had no place in leadership because of their inferiority and insignificance. However, my current professionalism and discretion have discredited such beliefs since they are unrealistic and erroneous notions. I have come to realize that every person irrespective of background has the capacity to lead and wealth, cultural background or lineage play no role in determining a good and effective leader. Further it is ascertainable that ability of an individual to lead can be shaped and improved through the education system, experience and training (Hannah et al 2014). In many instances that I have been a member of various professional and informal groups, I have realized that when given chance and time, most people have the capacity to leader irrespective of other social or economic constraints. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India for instance is listed as the 13th most influential person in the world by Bloomberg despite having grown up in a humble and impoverished family of six children (Nahavandi, 2016). 2.1.2. Trait Theory In determining the rightful leader, I have taken concern in assessing the right, effective and worthy traits of a good leader. A person recognized as a leader possesses some determinable traits that can undisputedly attribute to him. People have assorted traits which can either classify them as good leaders or bad leaders (Kiersch & Peters, 2017). All through my involvement with people as a leader and as a follower, I have noticed that good leaders are enthusiastic individuals who possess an overt interest in leading, learning from the environment and improving the prevailing situations. Such leaders are always zealous towards every duty they undertake. The good leaders are the internal locus of control hence they deem it their duty ensuring that all organizational operations are done in accordance with expectations. They lead the people towards doing the right thing. Such leaders are highly adaptable and flexible to organizational changes or adjustments and would always lead towards embracing such adjustments. The good leaders have a high level of intelligence and find no problem in making operational and strategic decisions (Schoemaker, Krupp & Howland, 2013). However, despite such traits being explicitly necessary in organizational or institutional leadership, it is vital to note that embracing high level leadership, something Abraham Maslow refers to as a self-actualized leader, requires consistent learning from the leadership environment (Bolman & Deal, 2014). In this regard therefore, the individuals considered weak and indolent can as well learn and improve consistently towards becoming the best leaders. With respect to the contemporary adjustment, it would be wise for organizations to work towards developing leadership skills amongst the team members rather than sourcing for innate limits. I do not despise the necessity of leaders to possess the leadership traits but rather suggest the advancement of the skills possessed by people through training, education and assignment of challenging duties to make them the “self-actualized” leaders in the future (Brooks, Normore & Wilkinson, 2017). Best Leader Poor Leader Moderated-Extrovert Extreme Extrovert or Introvert Enthusiastic Apathetic Self-Confident Timid Flexible Rigid Sense of Humor Ever Serious Intelligent Obtuse Assertive Hesitant Equalizing Factor Poor Leader + Training + Education + Challenging duties = Best Leader 2.2. Charismatic Leadership The world of leadership is changing swiftly and the people under leadership are becoming more interested in determining their rights. Contemporarily, people tend to think more of freedom, equality and their welfare than any other time in history. Therefore, leaders should be divinely inspired to meet such human expectations. A divinely inspired leader defines the limits of his power and possesses extra-ordinary determination which certainly differentiates them from others (Waite & Brooks, 2014). Unlike traditional leadership marked with customs, domination and royal inheritance, the contemporary leadership should be full of charisma characterized by weaker chains of command, involvement of everybody in leading and giving everybody a position to lead. Dissimilarly to rational-legal authority marked by bureaucracy and stringent laws, charismatic leadership is marked by power legitimacy leaning upon outstanding personal qualities and extraordinary insights to prevailing problems. People require a leader whom they can emulate and trust in which can only be achieved if the leader is emotionally involved, affectionate, mystical and personally magnetic (Du et al., 2013). To ensure involvement of everybody in leadership and decision making processes, leaders should be charming and inclusive. However, the mystery of charismatic leadership lies on its dark side. Despite its piercing necessity, leaders must avoid excessive charisma as it might lead to diluted judgment and slower decision making processes. 2.3. Leadership Theories Summary As most of the contemporary claims and assertions on leadership attempt to suggest, I believe good leadership consists of a series of development processes just like any other natural process from the tender level to mature level. I believe that if only institutions and organizations would be in a position to train and educate effectively then the world would be a place of great leaders than ever before. As I work consistently in enhancing my leadership qualities, I tend to embrace most of the positive traits to leadership which would one day assist me achieve self-actualization. As a leader, I believe is transparency, self-awareness, internalized moral perspectives and leading without discrepancy and discrimination. Such traits shall assist me in developing trustworthiness and motivating the followers towards doing the right thing. With these traits, perceive it possible being the greatest role model that people shall look upon. 3.0. Leadership Skills For leaders and aspiring leaders to lead others effectively, there are sets of skills that such individuals need to possess. As a leader, I believe that there are specific types of professional and social skills that leaders require to possess if only they want to be classified as best leaders. Such skills are generally classified into three categories including interpersonal skills, self awareness skills and implementation skills. 3.1. Interpersonal Skills As a leader, there is an overwhelming necessity to define personal skills in listening, developing trust and communication. Effective leadership begins when a leader is willing and able to actively listen to his followers. Most information in leadership is of undisputed importance and without active listening, most information would be lost (Clarke, 2013). Active listening begins by doing less of talking and intensively listening so as to get the content and avoid unnecessary forgetting. As a leader, I always aim towards applying the acronym LISTEN in ensuring active listening. The acronym states that to listen actively, a person has to L- look interested, I-Identify the real issues, S-Suspend judgments and emotions, T- Test understanding by asking questions, E- Empathize with your mind and empty it of other matters and N- Notes making (Bolman, & Deal, 2014). Followers would only be in a position to develop trust in the leader only if the leader is in a position to listen to them actively and respond effectively. As a leader, therefore, I deem it wise to desist to destructive behaviors when being addressed and aim to getting the main points in the conversation (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2013). Leaders must also endeavor to ensure integrity, genuineness and authenticity as a recipe to trustworthiness. Finally, empathetic communication is the cornerstone to developing a strong leadership foundation hence an open and unconstrained communication must be encouraged. 3.2. Self-Awareness Skills Self-awareness dictates that leaders too must be in a position to lead themselves first before leading others. In so doing, a leader would be in a position to assess strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats at his disposal and thereby improving on them accordingly (Bolman & Deal, 2014). In ensuring effective self-awareness assessment, I propose reflection on personal traits, attributes, behaviors and skills. In undertaking active reflection, I consider it vital setting aside time to think and reflect on oneself by assessing personal achievement, attributes and traits, having positive feeling on learning and development as ways towards improving personal-awareness and interacting with others so as to get their feedback on my leadership traits. Proactive reflection is as well necessary to a leader where the leader deems it essential questioning assumptions, digging deeper on a particular data to get better interpretations and thinking creatively through brainstorming or imagining so as improving performance (Hannah et al., (2014). The two types of reflections when done effectively mount to emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence involves leading own self and others as well by the use of high cognitive ability, technical skills and social rationalism. Leadership is all about reading, understanding and influencing people’s emotions though effective cognitive and tranquility measures. 3.3. Implementation Skills The workplace is always a busy place full of work pressure and need to solve consistent problems. A leader must therefore be in a position to understand fully the working environment and do whatever is favorable for the sake of the working environment. Meeting the leadership demands in this case requires the leader to be like a manager with the tremendous ability to plan, organize, direct and control an organization’s operations (Bolman, & Deal, 2014). In planning, the leader primarily set goals that the organization shall work towards and lays down strategies for meeting the set targets. SMART is an acronym that assists indeed in setting organizational goals where the leader needs to be S- systematic, the goals set should be M-measurable, the leader should be A-action oriented, the goals set must be R-realistic and finally, the leader should be T-time focused. As a leader, I deem it worthy applying the acronym in enhancing leadership skills so as to think strategically, act strategically and work strategically (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2013). It is additionally of importance dealing with stress in the workplace. A leader must be in a position to deal with personal and team anxiety, unrealistic thoughts, anger and response to task as a way to deal with stress and increase performance. As a type B leader, it is wise to have a more balanced approach to life as compared to a type B personal who is more anxious, impatient and over-aggressive. 3.4. Summary to Leadership Skills Improving and developing my management skills is one of the goals that I endeavor to achieve. To possess the leadership skills, it is indeed crucial to reflect on self by carrying out SWOT analysis on oneself and always being eager to learn. LISTEN is indeed a powerful acronym in augmenting communication skills. 4.0. Summary: Why the Framework Works for Me This framework is undoubtedly necessary in moving from naivety to intellectuality. The framework assures me that lack of leadership skills is not the end to an individual’s aspirations to lead but rather the beginning to a prosperous leadership. I have learned that learning about leadership is a continuous and unending process hence I shall devote my time and resources in nurturing, learning and developing my leadership skills towards an affluent leadership future. I have learned the best leadership styles and the most the necessary skills to leadership which shall offer me the momentum I need towards being the best leader. 5.0. Conclusion Leadership is indeed a vital aspect of life as every team or group however big or small it might be begins and ends with the type of leadership used. Numerous proponents have attempted to address the issues on leadership together with its definition which remains blurred. Various proponents have attempted to relate leadership with management but this paper draws a clear distinction between the two mysteries. Leadership is more concerned with imposing power and will on other people as management is interested in finding solutions to various institutional problems and assisting in achievement of set goals. The analysis in this paper has explicitly covered what it takes to be a leader by taking a detailed analysis on various leadership theories and leadership skills necessary for an individual to be an effective leader. The framework in which the analysis in this paper is based upon brings on light the factual and accurate concepts on leadership which if applied effectively shall result into a more developed and highly skilled leader. References Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2014). Leadership and management. Christian Youth Work in Theory and Practice: A Handbook, 245. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=g7OdAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA245&dq=Bolman,+L.,+%26+Deal,+T.+(2014).+Leadership+and+management.+Christian+Youth+Work+in+Theory+and+Practice:&ots=F3HzIb_gI7&sig=D1l2v7gwawKurSPlDpEM1C6AwF4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Brooks, J. S., Normore, A., & Wilkinson, J. (2017). School Leadership, Social Justice and Immigration: Examining, Exploring and Extending Two Frameworks. International Journal of Educational Management, 31(5). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315507091_School_Leadership_Social_Justice_and_Immigration_Examining_Exploring_and_Extending_Two_Frameworks Clarke, S. (2013). 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Harvard business review, 91(1), 131-134. https://www.harvardbusiness.org/sites/default/files/HBR_Strategic_Leadership.pdf Waite, R., & Brooks, S. (2014). Cultivating social justice learning & leadership skills: a timely endeavor for undergraduate student nurses. Nurse education today, 34(6), 890-893. http://www.academia.edu/28676771/Cultivating_social_justice_learning_and_leadership_skills_a_timely_endeavor_for_undergraduate_student_nurses Read More