Leadership Development Plan - Case Study Example

Running head: LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PLAN Leadership Development Plan [Writer’s name] [ institution’s name] Leadership Development Plan Introduction In order to design my personal leadership development plan, I must give an overview of the strengths and weakness which may be a hindrance or benefit for me. Apart from this I will also have to find out my leadership style. For which a few recent tasks which helped in identifying the strengths and weakness will be discussed. After all this then I shall design my plan for future growth and development as a leader. The Strengthens and Weakness There were a lot of tasks and assignments which helped in indentifying the strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, I had to identify the vital characteristics of my leadership. The main task was to find a suitable leadership style, I found out it was transformational leadership style I came to the conclusion by using two in-class presentations. I have also considered myself to be a “people person”. Thus I believe my strengths as leader would be empathy, feedback and achievement, respectively. Thus, this meant that I tend to value people around me and am careful about their needs (Burns 1978). Similarly, I am effectual at giving positive response to the hard work of others. Lastly, I have a tendency to motivate others and increase their self confidence. My levels of aptitude from strongest to weakest may be considered as the following: technical skill, conceptual skill, and human skill. However, I think that my strongest ability is my technical ability. My strengths were come forth in my class presentations as well. Even though the before mentioned assignments and presentations were meant to as opportunities to develop interpersonal skills, I use my technical abilities to the fullest. Particularly, for my section of every presentation, I first wrote up a well thought of and clear narrative. I kept practicing it so that everything would be prefect when I presented it. The PowerPoint slides were also mainly designed and made by me. Here one may see that my technical abilities were on it’s peak, not just for the sake of leadership but also when it came to small activities like making power point slides. I know my weakness quite well I have noted numerous time that I am low on motivation, performance and empowerment. Many times in group and other everyday gatherings I find that I have a weak ability to make people feel as if they are an important part of the group work (Bass 1998). Moreover, my ability to speak to others regarding their motivation is not at all efficient. Lastly, I do not give enough thought to shaping objectives or managing performance. One could say that I lack soft skills. Soft skills require proficient human understanding and interaction skills . ( Caroselli 2000) Through a lot of incidents I also realized that I lacking in interpersonal skills. This greatly made me realize the fact that I had to work hard when it comes to leadership skills interpersonal skills is something quite important. Even when I attend social gathering I find that my relationship with people may only be based on self centered conversation or conversation about my work my interpersonal skills lack in a lot of different ways. I also, took a “Path-Goal Leadership” questionnaire, I found that I had scored low when it came my aptitude/tendency to become a good and supportive leader. So, I know my lack in interpersonal skills may be the reason behind it. Many time I also felt that my personality was quite strong but very independent which relied mostly on one’s self. This too I found out when I worked in group presentations. I analyzed that I was internally focused, factual and specific person (Albritton 1998). I also realize that I was a person who was who is detached when it comes decision-making process in groups, I also analyzed that I give specific attention to control, planning and structure. Considering all the above abilities and analyzing them in conjunction, this further means that I positively lack the capability to interact with personal level (Nissinen 2006). Finally, referring once again to the in-class presentations, I applied a technical method to these assignments. Although I understood the respective subject matter very well, I felt compelled to develop a script. During the question & answer session following the second presentation, I did not prepare a list of responses to obvious/predictable questions. As a result, I found it more difficult to interact with members of the audience in addressing/answering any such questions. Again, this serves to emphasize my lack of ability to interact with others. To give clear understanding of my beliefs and findings, it would be good give an example of an incident in which I had a leadership role. if I was in charge of processing time & attendance data (payroll information) in a huge organization and the automated time & attendance system which my employer utilized was not good proficient enough and made mistakes . I would notice that it could only generate basic reports of accounting, and leave usage categories. After this I know would want to make change so that it could be efficient enough to be providing supplementary time & attendance data reports when they are needed. Due to using a technical and organized approach the database would then give a good time, scheduling of leave, and the preparation of productivity reports. The fact that I use way to much of my technical skills makes be indifferent to the personal interaction element, thus I am weak in that area. In this regard I am only capable of solving issues which are technical and not human based. For example, even though when I am planning a group presentation I only want things done on time I do not listen to problems and issues of my fellow group members. I do not consider to arranging meetings in which there are brain storming session and multiple decision making. As mentioned before I am very detached when it comes to decision making abilities. But I know that identifying my strengths and weaknesses will help me in paving my way to strong leadership ability. My desire to become an effective leader has made me want to improve on my ability to interact with others when it comes to a personal level as well as with group members. The plan As for my immediate plans for development, I started instantly, and will carryon to increasing the level of personal interaction which I need to maintain with others. This means that I will have to consider the needs of others around me regardless of it being at home, work or in my educational institution. In my educational institution, I have already started arranging meetings for support of team members of my work group so that I may consider their needs before considering the goal and distribution of the project work. . The above mentioned meetings may be held as soon as we get the next group project, these meeting may serve as a chance to talk about common issues, and probable solutions to the discussed issues. At home, I have started to interact a lot with my family; I have started to realize the issue which they face. This has helped develop a sense of mutual understanding amongst the entire family. And has also resulted in a more pleasant environment at home. I have realized that I have to be more considerate about the issues of others. In other words I want to become a transformational leader. Transformational leadership is a type of leadership style that leads to positive changes in those who follow (Bass 1998). Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic and passionate (Alimo-Metcalfe. & Alban-Metcalfe 2001). Not only are these leaders concerned and involved in the process; they are also focused on helping every member of the group succeed as well (Kouzes 1999). As for long term development, I am considering taking up a MPA program. I suppose that this may help me a lot. I may get a lot of opportunities to interact with other proficient people on a personal basis, and in this manner I will be able to further improve my soft skills. Similarly, I will also have to take a lot of seminars on Leadership abilities and how to improve them. These seminars are mainly designed to prepare students to become good and strong leaders, it also promotes oral communication, and other interpersonal skills which may help in leadership (Bass & Avolio 1994). After I indentified the strengths and weaknesses in my leadership abilities , I have successfully developed an action plan, I believe I can attain my goal of getting a position of leadership in a good organization in the next five years. First and foremost, I want to be a leader with whom people around can openly discuss their matters and issues with , keeping mind that the understanding on their part that their input will be helpful and will prove to be valid and positive (Kotlyar and Karakowsky 2006). Lastly, I also want to become a leader that people around will not only consider as a role model but will also consider as someone who understands them and their issues . This I know will bring about a positive change by means positive interaction with others. Conclusion I only hope that I become successful leader so that I may be able to be fruitful for those around me. I know and strongly believe that if I follow this plan I will be able to succeed in doing so. I also know that if I turn into a transformational leader then it will also help me in my personal relationships. I will be able to maintain a healthy relationship with my friend s and family. As mentioned above my plan is well organized and quite précis it gives a clear picture of my strengths and weakness and how I can overcome them. If I am successful in doing so and following through with my plan then I know I will be a prefect leader. References . Albritton, R. L. (1998). A new paradigm of leader effectiveness for academic libraries: An empirical study of the Bass (1985) model of transformational leadership. In T.F. Mech & G.B. McCabe (Eds.), Leadership and academic librarians (pp. 66–82) . Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, J. (2001). ‘The development of a new Transformational Leadership Questionnaire’. The Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 74, 1-27 Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industrial, military, and educational impact. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Bass, B.M. & Avolio, B.J. (Eds.). (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Burns, J.M. (1978) Leadership. New York. Harper & Row. Caroselli Marlene (2000); Leadership Skills for Managers. McGraw-Hill; 1 edition Pielstick, C.D. (1998). The transforming leader: A meta-ethnographic analysis. Community College Review, 26(3), 15-34. Kotlyar, I. & Karakowsky, L. (2006). Leading Conflict? Linkages Between Leader Behaviors and Group Conflict. Small Group Research, Vol. 37, No. 4, 377-403 Kouzes, J.,Posner, B. (1999). "Encouraging the Heart." San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers Nissinen, Vesa (2006). Deep Leadership. Talentum, Finland Read More

This greatly made me realize the fact that I had to work hard when it comes to leadership skills interpersonal skills is something quite important. Even when I attend social gathering I find that my relationship with people may only be based on self centered conversation or conversation about my work my interpersonal skills lack in a lot of different ways. I also, took a “Path-Goal Leadership” questionnaire, I found that I had scored low when it came my aptitude/tendency to become a good and supportive leader.

So, I know my lack in interpersonal skills may be the reason behind it. Many time I also felt that my personality was quite strong but very independent which relied mostly on one’s self. This too I found out when I worked in group presentations. I analyzed that I was internally focused, factual and specific person (Albritton 1998). I also realize that I was a person who was who is detached when it comes decision-making process in groups, I also analyzed that I give specific attention to control, planning and structure.

Considering all the above abilities and analyzing them in conjunction, this further means that I positively lack the capability to interact with personal level (Nissinen 2006). Finally, referring once again to the in-class presentations, I applied a technical method to these assignments. Although I understood the respective subject matter very well, I felt compelled to develop a script. During the question & answer session following the second presentation, I did not prepare a list of responses to obvious/predictable questions.

As a result, I found it more difficult to interact with members of the audience in addressing/answering any such questions. Again, this serves to emphasize my lack of ability to interact with others. To give clear understanding of my beliefs and findings, it would be good give an example of an incident in which I had a leadership role. if I was in charge of processing time & attendance data (payroll information) in a huge organization and the automated time & attendance system which my employer utilized was not good proficient enough and made mistakes .

I would notice that it could only generate basic reports of accounting, and leave usage categories. After this I know would want to make change so that it could be efficient enough to be providing supplementary time & attendance data reports when they are needed. Due to using a technical and organized approach the database would then give a good time, scheduling of leave, and the preparation of productivity reports. The fact that I use way to much of my technical skills makes be indifferent to the personal interaction element, thus I am weak in that area.

In this regard I am only capable of solving issues which are technical and not human based. For example, even though when I am planning a group presentation I only want things done on time I do not listen to problems and issues of my fellow group members. I do not consider to arranging meetings in which there are brain storming session and multiple decision making. As mentioned before I am very detached when it comes to decision making abilities. But I know that identifying my strengths and weaknesses will help me in paving my way to strong leadership ability.

My desire to become an effective leader has made me want to improve on my ability to interact with others when it comes to a personal level as well as with group members. The plan As for my immediate plans for development, I started instantly, and will carryon to increasing the level of personal interaction which I need to maintain with others. This means that I will have to consider the needs of others around me regardless of it being at home, work or in my educational institution. In my educational institution, I have already started arranging meetings for support of team members of my work group so that I may consider their needs before considering the goal and distribution of the project work. .

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