Personal Leadership Assessment
Introduction
Effective leadership is one of the most important factors in determining the level of success an organization will achieve. There are different types of leadership styles. The character of an individual usually plays a role in determining the kind of a leader he or she will be. There are some people who are born leaders while others have been made. Born leaders usually possess traits that make them stand out in a group and they find it easy to handle leadership tasks. Born leaders have to cultivate a habit and learn how to perform leadership roles. They do not have natural traits that enhance their effectiveness in leadership or even make them stand out as leaders in a group. Most influential leaders in the society utilize their traits to inspire others. It is important for a leader or anyone who wishes to occupy a leadership position to conduct a self-evaluation to gain an understanding of whether he or she has innate leadership traits or needs to put in some effort to develop the necessary skill. The paper focuses on the analysis and explanation of my view of personal strengths and also weaknesses and how they impact on my leadership. It also includes a discussion of a development plan that focuses on both aspects.
The Mastering Leadership Self-Assessment and Leadership Circle Profile
The leadership circle profile entails a number of questions that help in the determination of the personal ratings in various categories including self-awareness, complying, system awareness, leadership effectiveness as well as authenticity among others. A higher rating on the scale indicates a strength while a low rating is an indication of a weakness. A leader ought to find ways of maintaining the strengths and developing the weaknesses so as to become more effective and influential to those that he or she leads. The mastering leadership self-assessment is a distinctive tool because it offers a systematic way to evaluating various leadership aspects. Besides, it is also an effective technique to use in understanding the behavior of human beings as well as their development. For instance, a person who has high self-awareness rating and also a high relating rating will be more successful in establishing and maintaining relationships than an individual who has low ratings in these areas.
The graph summarizes my self-evaluation results. It has many sections and aspects because it makes an assumption that a human being is complex and also well integrated. A human being is whole and therefore it also has different segments to illustrate the wholesomeness of a person (Anderson, & Adams, 2016). These segments are interactive and can influence each other. The graph has four quadrants. The left half indicates competencies related to relationships while the right shows task-related competences. The upper half shows creativity while the lower one shows reactive-oriented aspects.
Strength and weakness analysis
Self awareness-strength
One of the major strengths that I possess and that impact my leadership effectiveness is self-awareness. I consider self-awareness one of my strengths because I scored 4.26 on a scale of 5 on the leadership circle. This is a great performance in the area and it indicates that I am aware as well as conscious of my feelings as well as attitudes. In terms of percentile scores, I scored 89%. This is a relatively high score in relation to the Norm group. Self-awareness is cited as one of the most important aspects of effective leadership. A leader will be incapable of leading and understanding others when he does not understand himself. According to (Goleman, & Simply Magazine Inc, 2011), self-awareness is one of the components of emotional intelligence which distinct effective leaders from ineffective ones. A self-aware leader comprehends his natural strengths and builds his weaknesses so as to enhance performance. This s opposed to those leaders who do not understand who they are and what competencies they possess. A self-aware leader can also understand those that he leads with ease. Self-awareness is also linked to selflessness. A selfless leader is one who focuses on the achievement of organizational goals or group objectives rather than pursuing personal interests (Anderson, & Adams, 2016). Self-aware leaders can also achieve work-life balance with ease. When some individual becomes leaders they forget about their families and other areas such as fitness and friends. Each and every person needs all these aspects of life to be happy and successful. Self-aware leaders understand the importance of balance and will also help their followers achieve the balance which can be an intrinsic source of motivation hence high productivity.
Relating-strength
Relating is also another factor that I would consider one of my leadership strengths. Based on the leadership circle (average response), I scored 4.60 out of 5 points. It is actually the highest rating that I possess in the various categories. On the percentile scores, I scored 95% in comparison to the Norm group. The high score indicates that I can be an effective leader. An influential and a successful leader cannot work independently. He or she must be able to establish lasting relationships so as to build trust and confidence in the followers. Besides, a leader should foster teamwork and be a good team leader. Group work has numerous benefits in an organization and its impact on organizational success cannot be underestimated. A relations leader is a great collaborator. The implication of this is that he can help the team to strike a common agreement and interest without challenges. In addition, a relational leader can initiate mentorship programs not only to help the subordinates in line with the career but also in their personal lives. Conflicts are inevitable in companies and therefore it is necessary for the leader to possess skills that he can use to resolve them. A relational leader utilizes his skills to rebuild broken relationships and restore trust among group members (Weinzetl, 2010).
Complying-weakness
One of the attributes that I have to develop is complying so as to become a more effective leader. I scored very low in this area. Based on the percentile scores, I only managed 5% out of the 100% score (Norm group). This was an equivalent of 1.6 on the average response scale. Some of the behaviors that are associated with complying include passiveness, belonging, pleasing as well as conservativeness. Many times I tend to agree with what other people are saying and overly their point of view and perceptions so that I do not hurt them. This is because I want to feel a sense of belonging and attachment to the person or group. This is not a desirable attribute in leadership because a leader should evaluate another person’s point of view and determine its value and worth I contributing to the overall success of an organization. Besides, I am sometimes too worried about how other individuals will judge me. I am afraid of negative judgment and therefore I will be conscious of my behavior when in front of others. This is a scary attribute leadership because it comprises of deception. For instance, a person who observes me may think that I am friendly and easily approachable when I am actually too conservative (Anderson, & Adams, 2016).
Development plan
I would need to devise a plan to strengthen my strengths and also to improve on my weak areas. I Love been accepted as a leader and for this reason, I tend to make decisions that will be popular rather than what is good for a particular situation. In order to fix this, I will work on my hypocrisy and stop pleasing my followers. I will make them understand that the decisions that I am forced to make as their leader help us arrive at goals that will benefit all parties involved.
Secondly, I also plan to improve my complying weakness by relaxing my conformity to rules. Sometimes I am too rigid and always stick to conventional ways. Business does not have to be done in a serious environment. There are many leaders who have invented interesting and enjoyable techniques for executing tasks so as to eliminate boredom and tension. When a leader is too formal even in situations when formality is uncalled for, followers perceive his or her as been unfriendly and distant themselves.
As a way of developing my strengths and also my weaknesses I intent to join a coaching and mentoring program. Through this program, I will learn from successful leaders on what aspects they have laid emphasis on to be outstanding. Besides, I will also be mentored on how to address my weaknesses. Interacting with leaders and potential leaders is important because I can also learn through observation how they conduct themselves to avoid hypocrisy (Weinzetl, 2010).
References
Anderson, R. J., & Adams, W. A. (2016). Mastering leadership: An integrated framework for breakthrough performance and extraordinary business results.
Goleman, D., Brown, D., & Simply Magazine Inc. (2011). Emotional intelligence: What makes a leader. Campton, NH: Simply Magazine, Inc.
Weinzetl, M. P. (2010). Acting out: Outlining specific behaviors and actions for effective leadership. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher.
