Leadership Development Plan - Coursework Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: Leadership Development Plan Course: Leadership Development Plan Visions, goals and objectives Leadership is the ability to translate vision into reality by planning (Rohlin et al, 2002). I have a vision of becoming an accomplished leader who will take up important positions in respectable organizations in the world and leave a positive mark particularly in ophthalmic care. I would love to be part of the solution always. I am committed to acquiring skills and techniques that will help me grow up as a charismatic leader while admitted at Ophthalmologist center and after. I look forward to being inspired by other leaders like the late Steve Jobs who turned around the fortune of Apple Inc (Rimanoczy & Turner, 2008). I have set out personal goals and objectives that will help me achieve my overall vision of being an accomplished leader. I take every opportunity as a learning session and every challenge as a chance to prove that I can navigate against huddles and achieve what I dream of in life. I visited various plants in industries and talked to leaders or managers on what challenges they encounter in the course of their duty. I would like to apply the knowledge that I have acquired in solving challenges that I will encounter if I come across such similar problems in ophthalmic care. I am interested in financial consulting firms since I want to be good manager of finances and ensure the company gets the best out of its resources. My main goal is also to avoid such problems occurring in the first place. I am at solving most of the challenges that we encounter before consulting the tutor. It will also be appropriate to approach the tutor with suggestions as opposed to looking for solutions to problems without proactive measures. At the Ophthalmologist center I want to be a keen learner with a strategic plan to acquire massive skills and techniques in my profession. Raelin (2000) observe that the significance of business leadership is well demonstrated by the assertion that a good leader can make an accomplishment out of a weak business plan but a poor leader can even ruin the best plan ever. To identify, fill, retain, and attract corporate leadership talent, companies have to possess leadership development programs based on hiring strategies, career and succession planning, and employee development. Marquardt (2004) reiterates that developing effective leadership using an up-to-date management program at every level in the organization is very important to any business. My leadership strengths and weaknesses Over the time I have improved by leadership skills and I can confidently point out areas that I consider my strength and weaknesses. As a leader I am accommodative and invite divergent views from members whom I am leading. I adopt a participative approach that allows every member to get an opportunity to take part in any discussion (O'Hara, Bourner & Webber, 2004). In the case of accomplishing a task I ensure that every member has a role to play. I give members of my group an opportunity to demonstrate skills that they have acquired and through that I have come to learn a lot from other people. Shurville and Rospigliosi (2009) elaborate that Participative or democratic leadership allows followers or subjects to participate in decision making rather than receiving instructions from leaders. I am open-minded an objective; I do not criticize an individual before scrutinizing keenly what he/she has said or put across. I have tremendously improved my time management skills as I try to balance between personal duties and group obligations. I can count my weakness as having poor mobilizing skills. I will always give up on people who do not show interest and charisma in what we are trying to do. I have had problems with an ability to be patient and wait upon individual who do not grasp the concept within the required time. I have to follow them up and try to help them understand what is being communicated. Overtime I have to deal with being late with my own work as I try to help members of my group to catch up. When it comes to decision making, there is always a problem. While some people who will have understood the concept and are ready to make a decision when there are options, there is the challenge of waiting for some members to grasp the same concept before we proceed. At times it is hard to tell exactly where you have to make a decision on the behalf of the group in order to save time and resources or beat the set deadline. In the Ophthalmologist center I will have to be keen to work in teams and appreciate group work whenever it comes up. Modifying or utilizing an existing model of leadership development There are various theories and techniques for determining the appropriate leadership styles for any organization. For instance, the situational theory holds that the type of leadership is determined by the variables in the prevailing circumstances and there is no style of leadership that is recommended for specific workplace situations (Chambers & Hale, 2007). Pointing out the style of leadership for any organization applying this approach involves identifying the work type, complexity of the organization, and the follower’s qualifications (Baldwin & Ford, 1988). The style of leadership applied by the leader of corporate security will not be necessarily the same as the style of leadership of an art museum director (Cromwell & Kolb, 2004). The latter may be charismatic while the former is authoritative. Despite having ways of solving common challenges uphold the observation of situational leadership where some circumstances will dictate what kind of leadership style should be applied. Pluralistic leadership style involves group-decision-making. It values that opinion of other people in the group (Sinnott, 2008). Despite the CEO of a company having a preferred style of leadership, various functions or departments in the organization will require other leadership styles that are best suited for them. Such departments will include manufacturing operations, creative services, finance, marketing, and security. A leadership style has to be in synch with the organizational culture of those particular institutions or else there will be a lot of conflicts (Bourner, O’Hara & Webber, 2002). Change as a consequence of the leader’s advice Learning through teaching is important and I take every opportunity I am given to lead to also learn through imparting knowledge in other people. Kramer (2008) states that mentoring refers to taking someone under one’s wing and teaching her over a period of time. I will love to be mentored and that is why I have linked up with my tutors to guide me through my leadership plan and how to acquire leadership skills. I will respect and listen to all directions given at the Ophthalmologist center. I look forward to being mentored my tutor and me mentoring other people that I encounter in my life in order to sharpen my skills. Mentoring requires commitment (Raelin, 1997). Among the main concepts leadership development include: Self efficacy-here the right coaching and training should result in self-efficacy in the trainee (Boshyk & Dilworth, 2010). Albert Bandura came up with this concepts and it has been important in learning. Secondly, experimental learning involves positioning the person in the focus of the learning process that goes through concrete experience, observation and reflection, formation of abstract concepts, and finally, testing new situations. Thirdly, visioning is developing the ability to come up with a clear image of the foreseen future of an organizational outfit (Cromwell & Kolb, 2004). A suitable leadership developmental program has to assist in developing a plan that will enable in gaining essential leadership skills that are required for roles applicable across a wide spectrum from a young environment to a corporate realm. I have taken into consideration the advice given by my tutor and I plan to implement the skills whenever an opportunity presents itself. I have to be a good learner in all circumstances if I am determined to be a good leader. I will be happy to work with every at the Ophthalmologist center in order to make my dream come true. References Baldwin, T. & Ford, K. 1988, Transfer of Training: A Review and Directions For Future Research, Personnel Psychology, Spring, 41 (1): 63-105. Boshyk, Y., & Dilworth, R. L. 2010, Action Learning: History and Evolution, Macmillan. Basingstoke, UK. Bourner, T., O’Hara, S. & Webber, T. 2002, Learning to manage change in the Health Service, in: A. Brockbank, I. Chambers, A. & Hale, R. 2007, Keep Walking: Leadership Learning in Action, 2nd edition, Publishing, London, UK. Cromwell, S. & Kolb, J. 2004, An examination of work-environment support factors affecting transfer of supervisory skills training to the work place, Human Resource Development Quarterly, 15 (4): 449-71. Kramer, R. 2008. Learning How to Learn: Action Learning for Leadership Development. A chapter in Rick Morse (Ed.) Innovations in Public Leadership Development, M.E. Sharpe and National Academy of Public Administration, Washington DC, pp. 296–326. Marquardt, M. J. 2004, Harnessing the power of action learning, T’D, 58(6): 26–32. O'Hara, S., Bourner, T. & Webber, T. 2004, Practice of self managed action learning, Action learning: research and practice, 1(1): 29-42. Raelin, J. A. 2000, Work-based learning: The new frontier of management development. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Raelin, J. A. 1997. Action learning and action science: Are they different? Organizational Dynamics, 26(1): 21–34. Rohlin et al, 2002, Earning while Learning in Global Leadership: the Volvo MiL Partnership, Sweden, MiL Publishers AB. Rimanoczy, I., & Turner, E. 2008, Action Reflection Learning: solving real business problems by connecting learning with earning, Davies-Black Publishing, New York. Sinnott, D.J. 2008, July, ‘Leadership Turnover: The Health Care Crisis Nobody Talks About’, Trustee Magazine. Shurville, S.J. & Rospigliosi, A. 2009, Implementing blended self-managed action learning for digital entrepreneurs in higher education, Action Learning: Research and Practice, 6 (1): 53 – 61. Read More