Table of Contents
Introduction
In this project, the author discusses concepts of leadership and leadership applications. Through this, a range of theory and concepts relevant to the coursework are discussed, considering the author’s personal and professional experiences as well as relations of the theory to developments and operations in industry. Consideration is given to what it means to be a leader, what leadership means to me personally in relation to my future plans and aspirations, who has inspired me as a leader and how this has had an impact on my professional experiences and attempts to be a leader, an instance of someone having led me in an incorrect direction in the past and its impact on me, the extent of merit I think specific leadership theory deserves, an assessment of my development as an authentic leader, what I believe my primary leadership style is or will be, how I will further develop my leadership potential and strengths, and how I will address my weaknesses in leadership in the future through some strategic plan. Through all of this it is evident that leadership models are important to use in business because of their consideration of unique variables involved in industrial operations and general operations of organizations.
Meanings of Leaders and Leadership
Being a leader involves guiding others through new tasks and processes. It is not a process of managing existing operations, as these fall into the ‘managerial’ category, but rather involves guiding or leading people through some transformative process or new integration into the organizational or business affairs. Being a leader demands setting the proper direction or providing sufficiently correct information to allow people to follow expected or instructed processes that they are attempting to follow through their involvement with the same organization or process that the leader is involved with. Being an effective leader therefore means optimizing efficiency and effectiveness in terms of their capacity to lead people through change or a new aspect of the operations. Different people may find different leader types to be more effective or inspiring than others, or may prefer to use different leadership styles when addressing organizational or procedural change (Armstrong paras. 1-4).
Leadership, to me, means that a person is bringing or guiding me through steps or processes that are new to me. They are not simply managing my existing tasks or processes, but are rather teaching me how to do something new, or perhaps are helping me to improve my existing abilities or skills further to a point where they can be defined as having reached some new or greater level (Fast Company paras. 1-2). In light of my future plans aspirations, leadership to me means that I will be guided through new processes, my skills and abilities will include additional ones while reaching new levels, and I will likely be leading others through new processes. I am not sure how much newness I will be guided through in any of those areas, or how much I will be involved in actually leading others in any way, but I am certain that leadership will continue to have significant direct relevance in my professional life.
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An old professor of mine inspired me to be a good leader. I had a few professors that challenged me in different ways. One failed the majority or approximately half of his class two years in a row before the instructor was different, and the third instructor helped me to realize the effects of my presumptuousness, which I feel have affected my perceptions of leadership as a fundamental concept. The third professor mentioned seemed to be similar to the first in terms of his treatment of students, and I do not find them to be inspiring as leaders, but perhaps I would if I defined myself as an ‘evil’ person.
Misleading
While I may be accused of having led people in the wrong direction personally, it seems that others have led me in the wrong direction at different points in my life. I had a leader at a retail job that would continually ask me to do things that seemed tedious or generally unnecessary, and this seemed to actually reduce my work capacities and potential to improve or grow as a person. While I understand that some forms of leadership ethics optimize efficiency to an extent that can be considered ‘slave driving’ are regarded as traditional, it seems that they can also actually inhibit kinds of growth that could be better applied to work productivity, and are therefore at least partially counterproductive. The leader that I had in the retail position seemed to be a sort of extreme form of this in terms of tediousness. It seemed that this happened as a result of the individual’s personal traits and perspectives, and not due to their professional training or a professionally practical reason.
Theories of Leadership and Merit
Considering the range of different theories that exist regarding leadership as a trait, behavior, or skill, I believe that transformational leadership has the most merit due to its emphasis on newness and guiding people through new processes. Other leadership theories attempt to address other aspects of leadership, but not in such a fundamental way. Transformational leadership targets leadership as a fundamental concept, and therefore has more of a direct relationship to it than other leadership theories (Goleman 1-3).
My development as an authentic leader involves completing my education while also improving my professional development through experience and training. I plan to learn more about leadership models and their usefulness in considering the unique variables that continue to challenge businesses while keeping them competitive for leadership within their industry. I believe that learning and training more will help me apply the models for their mechanical value in achieving objectives or goals set forth by an organization (Larrson et al. paras 1-3). I also plan to remain current with literature regarding leadership practices, theory, behavior, and other relevant elements in attempt to find and apply anything helpful to my profession (Wang & Cruz paras. 1-2).
Personal Leadership and Development
I believe that my primary leadership style is transformational leadership, and it will be as I apply myself in any leadership role in my professional or personal life. As explained in the previous section, it seems to me that transformational leadership has the most direct relationship to foundational leadership as a concept than other theories, and therefore should be chosen by myself or other people attempting to lead me in some position that I may be working in in the future. After considering the full range of leadership theories that were covered in the course and in my own research of leadership theories and literature, this seems to have potential to hold true through the future, unless some new leadership model is developed and seems sufficiently effective.
I plan to further develop my leadership potential and strengths through a combination of education, professional experience, and personal research. I expect my education to continue including aspects of leadership directly or indirectly, with leadership being a common theme in business and business-related courses to at least some extent. In my professional life, I assume that I will continue to learn more about potential applications of leadership and leadership processes through training that is comparable to education, and that I will also have opportunities to observe leaders or otherwise act in a leadership position while thereby either learning or gaining experience. My strengths in leadership I believe are knowledge of theory and literature as well as an empathy for people; my weaknesses in leadership are also related to my empathy to people, as my sensitivity can also involve negative reactions to negativity, and having mixed feelings regarding the usefulness of theory that seems to be at odds with the business leaders of an organization. I plan to address my weaknesses by giving more consideration to potential strategies to avoid negativity in my confrontations with it, and to continue to learn what I can while also minimizing presumptuousness in decision making or communications. I plan to remain current with the literature, which I presume will be helpful.
Conclusion
Through this project, it is evident that leadership models are important to use in business because of their consideration of unique variables involved in industrial operations and general operations of organizations. Leadership is the process of guiding or otherwise assisting people through new processes. This may involve a range of new variables or concepts, and people may have different opinions regarding the extent of help that they want from a leader or what leadership styles are most effective. I have learned a great deal from leaders in the past and in education, and while I find rigid models and theories useful in addressing a range of variables that encompass challenges and opportunities, I have weaknesses that must be addressed through continued education and training to overcome them. I have been misdirected by some leaders and inspired by others. I am uncertain of how I will feel about the concept of leadership in the future.
Works Cited
- Armstrong, Annie. “Ex-Neo Nazis Explain What’s Driving the Alt-Right.” 16 Feb. 2017. < https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bmpn7q/ex-neo-nazis-explain-whats-driving-the-alt- right>
- Fast Company. “5 Ways Being A Good Follower Makes You A Better Leader.” 30 Apr. 2014. < https://www.fastcompany.com/3029840/5-ways-being-a-good-follower-makes-you-a- better-leader>
- Goleman, Daniel. “What Makes a Leader?” Harvard Business Review 1998. https://hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader?referral=00060
- Larsson, Gerry, Christer Sandahl, Teresa Soderhjelm, Endre Sjovold, and Ann Zander. “Leadership behavior changes following a theory‐based leadership development intervention: A longitudinal study of subordinates’ and leaders’ evaluations.” Feb. 2017. < https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sjop.12337>
- Wang, Huaqing and Juan Cruz. “Transformational Leadership in Supply Chain Management.” 29 March 2018.
