Leadership Development Paper

Leadership Development Paper

        When I initially enrolled in this course, I found myself thinking more and more about leaders whom I have seen on TV, some that I have had personally and ones in the past that have made an impact on even a greater scale. As a began looking over our course material, I remember when I came across the quote by Ronald Regan, which reads “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one who gets the people to do the greatest things.” Immediately the quote resonated with me and I felt as if I could greatly improve my personal leadership skills. Fortunate for me, I was about to indulge in a course that I believe will help me in many situations for the rest of my life.

        The Five Traits of Effective Leaders initially grabbed my attention as I started to become more familiar with the leadership concepts. I felt it would be most beneficial if I started to dissect my own leadership traits and how they fit into the model. I was able to gather many of my personal leadership characteristics by completing the Leadership Trait Questionnaire. It was quite interesting to see how my colleagues perceived me compared to how I perceived myself. Luckily, many of the responses from each individual were in line with my personal responses. This allowed me to focus on my areas of weakness such as articulation and sensitivity. As I self-reflected, I noticed there were times where I could simplify a complex message for a colleague or do a better job of understanding why a task might not have been done correctly or in a timely fashion.  Discovering that I needed to improve in these specific areas, I was able to put an action plan in place. I decided to tie both items into one by being better at defining the task and outlining the material in a way that would be best for the recipient to understand. This has allowed my colleagues to comprehend the request and ultimately complete the task efficiently and correctly.

        As I continued to increase my leadership knowledge, it became ever so clear to me how a transformational leader can have such an impact on the people around them. I admire the transformational leader, who has charisma and is able to demonstrate their expertise of the business. However, I think it is just as important to me that a transformational leader is able to create connections with his or her followers by helping them realize their full potential. Personally, I strive to be a transformational leader over a transactional leader because of the bonds you form with your followers. This claim was apparent when I took the skills inventory assessment and my human skills ranked a few points higher than that of my conceptual and technical skills. The skills assessment allowed me to recognize how important it is for me to understand my followers and how my decisions affect the lives of others. Furthermore, I was able to see my style of leadership heavily relied on an open communication climate which hopefully makes it easier for all parties to work together to achieve the goals of the organization. As I continue to evolve my leadership skills, I want to focus on becoming a better listener. I feel many times throughout the day we find ourselves becoming distracted while conversing with one another and it hinders further dialogue to be had. My intentions going forward are to be conscious of this by focusing in on the interaction and reflecting back that I am listening. Overall, I believe this will create longer relationships which are more open and honest.

        As I think about collaboration, open communication and honesty to one another, I can’t help but relate it to a thriving culture. I have noticed through our studies how important the leader’s role is in establishing a culture that all employees can succeed in. The leader has the ability to set the tone of the office by being clear and open about the behavior and expectations of each individual. Additionally, I believe the leader can do some of his best leading by representing themselves in a way that their followers look up to and respect. The style questionnaire assessment was one assessment that aided me in understanding what my strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to helping others by defining their roles and letting them know what is expected of them. I gathered I am more of a relationship oriented leader which was not a surprise to me. My leadership style focuses on helping colleagues get a long and communicates actively with group members. In addition, I enjoyed seeing that I respond favorably to suggestions and treat others fairly. Both of these traits tie back to my overall opinions on what makes a successful culture. On the other hand, I noticed there were a few task-oriented behaviors in which I could improve on. The improvements deal with making my perspective clear to others and being better at defining roles and responsibilities. Being a younger leader in my current office, I can see this being a weakness of mine yet I cannot let my age or experience get in the way of what I feel is the best way to accomplish our overall goals. By concentrating on this leadership trait, I find myself to be more confident and self-assured when presenting my viewpoint to older colleagues without forgetting to be respectful in my delivery.         Many of the top leaders in today’s working environment are faced with intensifying pressure to perform from board members and shareholders. As these types of pressures escalate we have seen a number of highly ranked leaders crumble because of steering their company to act in unethical ways. Leaders at the top of organizations are continuously judged on their credibility and are watched closely so that their values match their actions.  When a leader of an organization has a standard of unethical behavior there can be dramatic impacts not only on the leader and their shareholders, but to its employees and communities as well. I am fortunate to work for an organization that views ethics as strongly as I do. I believe we are all pressured in our jobs or lives at some point in time. However, it is how we respond in these circumstances that truly define what kind of leader we are. I found D.G. Zauderer’s ten markers of ethical and unethical behaviors to be a useful learning tool in outlining what a leader needs to incorporate in his or her manners. Thankfully, I feel many of my behaviors fall under the ethical category and not into the unethical side of the outline. While I believe I am an individual who makes decisions with his morals, I felt it is best to put a process in place that will guide me in making future decisions. I start with clarifying the goals and determining the facts of what is at stake. Next, I develop various options and consider the consequences of each option. In doing so, it allows me to make informed decisions while analyzing all angles. By completing this process I trust that my followers will see I have theirs and the organizations best interest at hand.