Improving Leadership Values - Essay Example

Leadership Plan ID Lecturer Introduction Leadership values inculcate the much needed happiness withinone’s soul. This, I say because I feel that being in the capacity of a leader helps immensely in eventual development of one’s personality. Leadership has always excited me. Being in a position where one could muster enough confidence to have one’s say is an art that a few can really master. I want to have this belief under my belt that I can become a top notch leader – a person who can break the shackles and who can bring a serious difference in the lives of the people for which the leadership attributes are instilled by me. Being 27 years old and a soon mother-to-be, I believe my priorities are set in the right direction – I want to be a good mother first and then finish school and yearn for a successful career. This career will fulfill my intrinsic desires to reach the top, to show my mettle to one and all that I can make a serious difference. However one thing is for certain and that is the fact that I need to work my way through difficult times and understand how life offers chances to people every now and then. I need to grab the chances that come my way with both hands and be thankful to God for giving me a chance to do something constructive. Being in a leadership role would be one feeling that will elevate my status within the society as well as offer me a chance to understand that my hard work has paid the right dividends. (Chemers, 1997) I believe no work goes unnoticed and if a person applies herself whole-heartedly towards a task, success is sure to touch her feet sooner rather than later. Same is my case, where I see myself working towards attaining a task, a goal and an objective – all of which lead towards eventual success in the said field. However there are three different questions which I need to answer and this I will do during the length of this essay. Where am I Now? At the present, I believe I am being too hard on myself. But then again this is a requirement for me since my Bachelor’s in Organizational Leadership is one rigorous program which will eventually prepare me into a professional on all counts. I am vying to pursue my Master’s so that I could give a practical shape to my thinking ideologies and see myself as a successful individual in the coming times. Presently I am working my heart out to attend the night school as well as working full-time as an administrative assistant in the marketing department of an organization. It has become hard on me but I know it will bring the rich dividends which I richly deserve, say 5 years from now. I aim to continue working in this organization and move up the ladder to a position where I could call myself as a truly successful person. This would essentially be in the form of a leadership position which I eventually look to have for my own self and which to this day has remained my wish and earnest desire. My administrative assistant position in the marketing department is not such a glamorous job but then again I believe without a Master’s degree under my belt, I could settle for something less like this than a position in the higher echelon. However I know that this position could prove to muster up enough confidence within me to go for the top management position within my company. I know coming from the lower ranks would help me establish well within the office settings as well as make me adept with the professional commitments. It would make me a hardened professional at the end of the day with significant experience on my side. Even though my current position of administrative assistant does not offer me the luxury to make decisions on my own or command a team under my hold, I have come to the realization that it is a better journey altogether if I go on the long route – gain experience with each passing day, working day in day out and understanding the intrinsic details involved with leadership, what at the end of the day is my most aspired dream. As concerns to leadership, I am at the lowest possible level at the moment. (Tannenbaum, 1961) I have to work my way through to the top and this has to be backed up by strong belief and conviction. I understand that the journey will be tiresome since I have to become a mother in the near future as well as manage my household chores and professional commitments but my strength lies in my resolve, my determination and my courage to face every hurdle with the strongest possible defense that there possibly could be. Since I dream of reaching my eventual position in the next five years, I know that this journey will be extremely difficult to undertake. Since I am attending the Bachelor’s degree program in Organizational Leadership at Chapman University, I have learned during the length of the program that to become a leader one needs to have perseverance within one’s folds and hence I am all geared up to take the challenge head-on. This, I say because I feel I have understood what really goes into becoming a leader within an organizational setting and how the same would benefit the eventual outcome on the personality of the individual who works her way through the thick and thin of things. Same is my case and I know this for sure that I am at a position where leadership is miles away. I have to reach there with hard work, devotion and dedication but I believe the one thing which would keep me charged up all this while is my inner motivation – I am banking on this tangent the most undoubtedly. I do not want to be hard on myself as I usually am these days but then again being critical on one’s own self is good to a certain extent and I will try my best to critique my personality to a specific level and not beyond that, now and in the future. Where do I want to be? My current position of administrative assistant within the marketing department of the organization is not anywhere closely linked to a leadership capacity. I witness people on the leadership ladder bringing the much needed change within the organizational domains and settings. I unfortunately cannot do any such thing and hence this is something that I have longed for, for years now. I am banking on three pertinent things at the present – my valuable experience that I am gaining on a constant basis, my Master’s degree that I plan to pursue in the coming times and support from my family members. However I know that my inner drive and motivation is something which will make me succeed at the end of the day more than anything else. I long to reach the top management position within the organization where I am currently employed but I know that this will be a tiresome and strenuous journey – one that I am ready for on a proactive basis. I want to bring a serious difference within my life as well as that of the people who are directly associated with me and I know this that hard work and complete dedication towards the task at hand will make me succeed. Nothing else will make me feel successful and thus I am banking on the support of my family all this while. Since my strengths remain my perseverance and self-motivated regimes within my personality, I feel I am pretty much at home when it comes to understanding how I will reach the goal which I have set in mind. Then again, it is important to know what this goal in essence is. The goal is to be at a position where my leadership can boost sales figures for the organization as well as bring in new clients and explore new markets. On an internal level, I aim to have such leadership values within my personality which could make me feel as a desired person during the office place and I would appreciate if people would long for my company. (Southworth, 2005) However I would remain humble in my stance even when I reach that position one day in the coming times. The leadership position excites me endlessly and it gives me the sense of accomplishment which sadly to this day I have never experienced yet I know beforehand how it feels like to be at a position where one calls all the shots and makes the significant decisions. I want to do something fruitful for my organization once I land in the leadership role. Not only that but I am looking for molding my personality in such a way that this leadership role will fulfill my desires, change my thinking patterns and ask of me to take decisions on my own. The administrative assistant position does not quite offer me the chance to do all that. I am usually being bossed around with much work and a lot of follow-up needs to be given to my bosses. I want to change all this. I want to act as a leader – one who can dictate terms to the subordinates and be friendly with them at the same time. My leadership role would be a cozy environment where I would instill confidence within my subordinates and peers so that they could speak their mind and thus contribute towards the well-being of the organization in the long run. Thus I would fathom that I am more suited to a leadership role as it will give me room to maneuver my stance and allow me to apply my learned skills in the field of organizational leadership. I would have a better grasp at handling people and taking decisions on a proactive basis, which would in essence mean that my work will be carried out in a very balanced and subtle manner. How am I going to get there? My plan in reaching to the desired position of a leader would entail hard work and commitment right from the onset. This would mean that my loyalty with my own self will reign supreme. I would have to face tough times at the hand of managing my schedules and my family commitments. I would have to let go off my sleep at times as well as spend much time studying and in the office rather than sitting idle or relaxing. I plan to work my heart out to reach the top and shortcuts are something that would never invade my mind. I want to achieve success only if it is bestowed upon me with a sense of hard work and devotion being on my side. I do not want anyone to give it to me on a platter. For me, success will remain a relative term as long as it is not attained in the truest spirit. My resolute nature makes me a believer that God gives His choicest blessings to only those people who deserve it and this comes from their pertinent input in the form of courage and determination to defy the odds that come their way. My journey is long yet I know I have to set foot on this ship all alone. My family and friends would act as my savior but they would not do my bit of the work. My journey would have to be covered all on my own. I believe my plan is wholesome right from the beginning and it gives me a fair idea to touch success with a lot of sound planning that needs to take place on my part. However planning alone would not take me to my set course. I need to implement the planning regimes in a proper and adequate way so as to achieve success. A leadership role at the end would be something that will make me proud of who I am and what I can and will do within the organizational settings. I need an opportunity to prove my worth and this would only be made possible when I am able to implement the plan that I have in my mind. I would try my utmost to change my weaknesses into my strengths over a period of time and thus make my personality a much cherished one within my friends’ circles. I want my family to know that they are my priority and they will always have the quality time that they need from me. However I would require a bit of sacrifice on their part to accomplish my dream. I would sit with them and make them realize what this leadership role means to me and how I am planning to reach the top with a clear mind and a lucid conscience backing me up all the way. The journey from an administrative assistant position to a leadership one is difficult yet it is filled with opportunities – left, right and center. There is so much learning that I can acquire during this time and I am ready to accept all the challenges which come my way. (Davis, 2001) My firm resolve and absolute faith in my abilities would turn the tide in my favor and provide me the much cherished dividends at the end. Thus my leadership plan would be termed as successful at the end if my motivation remains steadfast and if my inner satisfaction levels are fulfilled with the passage of a considerable time period. Conclusion Thus in the end, I would summarize the discussion by stating that a leadership plan could only see the light of the day when there are all-out and concerted efforts by the person in-charge of implementing one such plan. The motivation must come from within under such settings and I, for one know this in entirety. I look forward to the challenge which is thrown my way and my proactive nature towards work and accepting the touch regimes is something which will foster growth within my personality on an exponential level. I will not give into the challenges that come in my way and I will face all the obstacles with a determined stance. (Zaccaro, 2001) All said and done, I pray to God Almighty that He gives me the courage to succeed and make it big within the organizational domains so that the related industry could benefit from my experience and educational levels. Not only that but also my personality growth is another personal tangent upon which I am aiming to focus more and more. I am hopeful my leadership plan turns out to be a success in the coming times and gives me much joy and pomp to write home about. This indeed is my wish, yearning, desire, craving and prayer and I would not let myself down no matter what happens in the coming times. References Chemers, Martin. (1997). An Integrative Theory of Leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Davis, Kevin. (2001). Executive Coaching by Proxy in a Large Organization: A Leadership Development Tool. Journal of Leadership Studies, Vol. 8 Southworth, Geoff. (2005). Developing Leadership: Creating the Schools of Tomorrow. Open University Press Tannenbaum, Robert. (1961). Leadership and Organization: A Behavioral Science Approach. McGraw-Hill Zaccaro, Stephen. (2001). The Nature of Organizational Leadership: Understanding the Performance Imperatives Confronting Todays Leaders. Jossey-Bass Word Count: 2,511 Read More