Awareness of Self as Leader - Assignment Example

Awareness of Self as Leader Course Tutor Date Introduction Growing into an effective organizational leader is a dream that most employees and employers in the modern times possess due to the competitive edge that it possesses. It should be noted that this is a paramount objective to the achievement of critical success as it is guided by the need to execute strategy and engage people using the right approach. Researches carried out on effective leadership across various cultural divides show that successful leadership is entirely defined on the personal ability to engage organizational resources for the purpose of enhanced productivity. An effective leader is determined by the ability to retain employees while at the same time delivering in terms of financial objectives and client satisfaction. This article thus seeks to launch a personalized plan for effective organizational leadership growth with a focus to my leadership approach, potential and also identification of important growth with a propensity to personal, spiritual and professional goals. How I see myself as a Leader The fact that leadership has been redefined as a process that is inspired by the social responsibility of inspiring individuals or teams to understand the demands of the organization poses a big challenge to conventional managers. Several inspirational quotes regarding leadership exist in the intellectual circle and even the internet with most of them meant to mould individuals to become well seasoned conventional leaders. Personally I am a staunch subscriber of MARS behavior motivation model which has since become a part of my day to day leadership development school of thought. I see employees as lacking proper tools to perform under tight objectives that define the organization’s existence. As a leader I believe that it is upon me to solve these issues for individuals and teams to gain confidence in me as an inspirational figure within the organization. I believe that I can be distinguished as a leader from my capability to work proactively in team setups with a positive attitude. I am specifically appalled by my ability to amass power collectively due to the manner that I carry myself in my day to day activities. I understand that this form of power is known as referent power which to me can only be achieved through respect to the subordinates. In creating an understanding between individuals and leadership, motivation is the key ingredient. I believe that championing for subordinate motivation has a boomerang effect to an organizational leader. Proactive leadership further imparts knowledge on the team members with a capability of them becoming better leaders. In developing further leadership skills meant for guiding subordinates, I understand that I must lead by example and empathy to all members of the organization. Leading by example translates to deeds that shall affect the final outcome of a given task through the way that a leader represents his or her sentiments. Given the fact that I am a person of my own character and principles I am motivated by offering the right direction whenever I feel that my peers are headed in the wrong direction. As much as people have their right to choices I tend to think that it is my natural mandate to guide or counsel individuals as their representative. This is because this characteristic obviously affects the quality of thinking hence the effects that are often seen on nonperforming teams. In order to build a strong team, guidance and counseling is mandatory as this brings clarity of the visions to which the organization or the leader is enshrined. As a leader, I am persistent in achieving a positive attitude within the teams that I work in. Persistence is the source of hard work and success; two of the major principles to which I subscribe too. Leadership has to let go of the entire passive attitude in order to guide the people in a proactive manner; rather referred to as leading from the front. The intensity of persistence that I possess has actually elevated my ego as a leader since I can intertwine myself with individuals from all social backgrounds and cultures effectively in order to perform as a team. This has enhanced my abilities to negotiate for myself and others whenever we are working for a common goal. With all the persistent and intense motivation I find that leadership is a continuous learning process that is full of new experience. I am an individual who is usually ready to learn by being alert at all times as an observation tool within team environment. Leadership Traits My approach as a leader is people oriented and as such I have very strong interpersonal skills with which I articulate myself effectively on all organizational levels. Interpersonal skills have further enhanced my communication skills in leading the individuals that I am involved with in my day to day activities. As a leader, interpersonal skills aid in communication of the tasks that are set by the organization to the next level as a supplement to usual instructions. I find this as a substitute to leadership since the art of interaction itself narrows down to getting things done within the organization’s perspective. In order to model the organization’s vision interaction is an important trait or tools that needs development as an individual carries on with his or her corporate mandate. Training a team according to Griffith (2013) requires an interpersonal approach for a positive change to be gained. It is sometimes thought that this trait is imparted naturally in individuals, but for leaders training and self acceptance is very important. Culture and skills alone cannot be a leader’s main motivating factors hence the natural diversion to interpersonal skills as the better option. Figure 1: A replication of how I have managed to develop my interpersonal skills - Adapted from the University of Sydney (2013). Just like any other leader, I possess allowable levels of confidence that are worth the emulation of the entire team that I may be working with at any given time. While worrying as a team leader may impart the same feelings on the subordinates, it has been established that when leaders hide these kinds of feelings by being confident, it helps a great deal. Whether I am dealing with large or small teams, I prefer keeping up a confident face or talk in order to keep things moving as desired. In some of the most challenging situations, I have learned that being realistic and optimistic is the best approach. In doing so I ensure that I portray the message that setbacks are natural and everyone should stay focused on accomplishing the main objective. Staying calm on the other hand exudes a feeling of warmth and confidence to the entire team that gets the ball rolling. I am an honest individual; a trait that I have achieved from my spiritual background. This trait according to Prive (2012) should be upgraded in case one is dealing with a team as a show of responsibility. By being honest as a leader, I believe that the entire subordinate employees or peer shall follow the same path. In developing this trait, I have gained high levels of commitment to hard work and quality whenever it comes to production issues. A leader who is committed is a motivation since he or she gain due respect from the subordinates. I am a beneficiary of this principle since it has helped me to not only gain respect but also reputation as a serious person. Together with commitment, I am also laden with a sense of humor which I use to encourage my fellow team members in order to show them how serious a goal or objective is without overly making them feel that I am bossy. I believe that a sense of humor is important since it imparts positive energy to the whole team as proven by Prive (2012). My perspective on people versus task People versus task have always been a major point of contention for as long as leadership has existed. Although this problem is further aggravated because of poor goal setting and lack of clear communication by individuals holding leadership posts, I think it is important for an integrated approach to be set in place. As a leader, multitasking on both of the above relationships is mandatory since there is no task can be delivered without ensuring a workable relationship and vice versa. On the other hand task oriented leaders should be rational, factual and logical when dealing with any orientations inclined to tasks. The carefree attitude should also be eliminated by leaders at all cost as this may be a de-motivating factor to individuals who have sacrificed to work under them. Relationship oriented leaders must also not get to the point of forgetting their organisational objectives since they have to get tasks carried out. Fostering good relationships is achieved through clear communication that should be embraced by all leaders as a way of dealing with this dilemma. Members of an organization shall feel motivated if their leader is supportive top their needs hence shall always be working to impress through objective achievement. My opinion on Influence and Power Influential characters are supposed to be movers in that they possess the capacity and capability to bring about the much desired change in an organization. While power has been excessively used in the last generation of leaders to get tasks done strategic conventional leadership calls for use of influence as the persuasion tactic. Power driven leadership has been noted as the major source of organisational conflicts as individuals feel demeaned or de-motivated. If power is used in necessary areas such as protecting of the weak individuals in the company, then to me this is acceptable. Another instance is where a leader uses his or her powers to get support organizations to perform their mandates. When it comes to internal leadership, influence is the best option since it gets individuals delivering on their mandates without necessarily being pushed by their seniors. On my own opinion, persuasive leaders are likely to get their objectives delivered other than the powerful ones because of the reasons listed above. In real life my approach on these two conflicting tactics of leadership is that I prefer applying both depending on the scenario at hand. In cases where I would be dealing with internal employees I would rather apply the influential approach in cases where I know the task at hand is dilapidating and power where the individual are slack. The contrary applies when trying to get things get done by the external organizations who are meant to offer support. An example is when as a leader I am dealing with a procurement firm that is meant to deliver goods or services to my current organization. I do not think that in such a case using power would be wrong as put by Zimmerling (2005). Personal Ethical Framework Decision making is a step by step process that is determined by the ability of the leader to prioritize on pressing matters at hand. Some of the approaches to which I subscribe my decision making procedure include the descriptive and prescriptive. The consequentialist theory which is also utilitarian by nature is a prescriptive approach that aims at the right proportions of actions in order to maximize on the joyful nature of humans. Together with this, the deontological theory of approach by Emmanuel Kant which dictates on doing unto others what you wish done to you has been used by those in the leadership too. A focus on integrity by Aristotle’s virtue ethics focuses majorly on leadership motivation and positive intentions towards the people. Apart from these, the descriptive approach has been used with a focus on cognitive moral development and locus of control. The strength of leaders is exuded through exercising of responsible actions that cannot place unnecessary pressure on other individuals. Nash’s conventional measure is drafted in equal measure to ensure that organisational profit motive is well blended with the personal values. Most of these ethical theories apply within organisational setting since they determine greatly the decision making process. For example imposing undue pressure on individuals is basically impossible considering they may not be able to deliver or they may buckle or even opt out before completion of a task. It is the mandate of a leader to decide effectively in order to get tasks done in the right manner while at the same time ensuring that the employee turnover is kept at a minimum. Some of the most challenging ethical dilemma that I have faced in my work place is related to the fact that organisations do not make decisions but people do. I have been held between a hard place and a rock while trying to deliver justice only to be overcome by mercy. Such events are misleading since you have to maintain your integrity as a leader but at the same time you have to stand firm in defense of your team members. Another integrity related event is where I have been held ransom by the short term goals over the long term only to be derailed by a decision to deal with the long term goals when the short term goals were worthwhile. It should however be agreed that the organisational goals are important than individuals and when doing this ethics or no ethics decisions must be undertaken. Conclusion Leadership is indeed a skill worth adopting in every aspect of the organization. This article successfully portrays the kind of character that I possess as a leader and eventually the theories that I subscribe to in executing my day to day mandates. The perspective of people versus task is also identified as of a challenging nature thus the conclusion to multitask on the two is arrived at. The two most challenging situations that I face at the moment are recognized as justice versus mercy in what I may term as empathy and the short term goals versus long term goals. These can however be overcome by the skills adopted from the course regarding the descriptive and prescriptive theories. Collective resources on this course have thus guided me greatly in overcoming situations that I often face. References Griffith, T. (2013, May 3). Leadership Is More than Interpersonal Skills. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/05/leadership-is-more-than-interpersonal/ Prive, T. (2012, December 19). Top 10 Qualities That Make A Great Leader. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10- qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/ The University of Sydney. (2013). Interpersonal Skills. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://sydney.edu.au/science/uniserve_science/projects/skills/jantrial/interpersonal/interpe rsonal.htm#decision_making Zimmerling, R. (2005). Influence and Power: Variations on a Messy Theme. Dordrecht: Springer. Read More