Table of Contents
There are multiple areas that factor into being a great leader. The Self-Assessment quizzes that I took showed me which areas I am strong in and which areas I could improve in. It’s important to reflect on self-assessments so you can strengthen the areas that you lack in to become a successful leader. Such as, I found that I have strong people skills, but it changes when I am dealing with people who have authority. When it comes to leadership orientation, I’m high in all areas except for political analytics. Throughout this paper, I will reflect on my results from the self-assessments, identify strengths and weaknesses, surprises that I found and ways to improve areas that need it.
In life, you have leaders and you have followers. Some people are born leaders, whereas, some are born followers, but can become a leader. It’s easier to follow than it is to lead. Being a great follower, will make you an even better leader. The objective of the Principle-Centered Leadership and Ethics course is to teach us what it is to be a successful leader and how to remain ethical while doing so. When reflecting on my self-assessments surveys, I was surprised by a couple of my results. I was able to see the areas that I’m strong in and areas that I need to improve in. I will be sharing that with you.
Networking
For someone who is an extrovert like me, you would think that I wouldn’t have any issues networking. It is actually a huge challenge for me. I have great people skills, but when it comes to networking, I get extremely uncomfortable. I have to improve my networking skills and train myself to deal with authority comfortably in order to become the great leader that I want to be. I’m going to improve my networking skills by combining the “what” and they “who.” In my case, the “what” is my degree that I’ll earn and the “who” is my networking circle. For example, when I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education, that was my “what” and my classmates, instructors, and mentors were my “who.” The self-assessment helped me identify that I need to improve my ability to network and I need to make progress in dealing with authority.
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Optimism
People generally prefer to follow leaders who are optimistic rather than pessimistic about the future (Daft, 2018). Optimism refers to the tendency for people to see the positive of things and expect that things will turn out to be fine. People rise to the top, because they can see opportunities where others see problems and can instill a sense of hope for the future in others. I have learned that in life, things do not go according to plan. You will have surprises or problems that will arise. During those times, it’s important to remain positive. Those situations are opportunities for you to learn and grow. When you remain positive during the rough times, others will see that and your energy will carry over to those around you. To be a great leader, it’s important to be optimistic for your followers.
Follower Readiness
As I stated earlier, you have to learn how to be a good follower before you can become a good leader. A good leader will adjust their leadership style based on their follower’s readiness. When looking at the results under interpretation of my self-assessment, I noticed that I scored moderate for follow readiness. Once I slowly read through the questions again, I realized that I misread the questions the first time I answered them. Once I changed my answers, it revealed that I had a high follower readiness score. I learned that part of being a good follower is to pay attention to details which in that situation, I did not. Being a good follower doesn’t mean you copy the leader and do everything they do. Being a good follower means you’re actively listening, you’re a team player, and you disagree with the leader if it goes against your ethical and moral standards and your values.
Personality Assessment
My self-assessment results surprised me. All this time I thought I was an introvert, but it turns out I was wrong. My results revealed that I am an extrovert which makes sense as to why I scored high in people skills on my first assessment. If someone were to ask my coworkers if I am a people person, I honestly don’t know what their response would be. I thought it would be introverted, but I really am unsure. I am outgoing and I like to talk to people, but I’m not the type of person that just goes up to someone and strikes a conversation with them. I tend to wait until people come up to me and start talking then I carry on the conversation.
Emotional Intelligence
Being emotionally intelligent means being able to effectively manage ourselves and our relationships (Daft, 2018). This refers to a person’s abilities to perceive, identify, understand, and successfully manage emotions in themselves and others. My self-assessment revealed that I scored high in self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, and relationship management. This is partially credited to the fact that I took a teaching ELL’s (English Language Learners) course in college for my bachelor’s degree. I also have a very diverse family who have taught me that each culture is unique and different in their own way. For example, in America, we shake hands, give each other a hug, and/or we wave when we are greeting one another. In other countries, they might kiss one another on the cheek and/or shake hands and some look at you in the eyes, whereas others find that to be disrespectful. This relates to cultural intelligence as well. I believe that for one to improve that area,they will have to adjust. Researching different cultures and understanding what they do and what’s disrespectful to them will help you learn to adjust.
Leadership Orientation
Leadership orientation is a combination of four areas: political, structural, symbolic and human resources. My self-assessment revealed that I scored high in all categories except got political. That was not a surprise for me. I have always struggled when it comes to any aspect of politics. I plan to improve this by increasing power through political activity. Politics involves activities to acquire, develop, and use power and other resources to obtain desired future outcomes when there is uncertainty or disagreement about choices (Pfeffer). Politically skillful leaders strive to understand others’ viewpoints, needs, desires, and goals, and use their understanding to influence people to act in ways that help the leader accomplish his or her goals for the team or organization (Ferris).
Conclusion
Humans are made of emotions and reason which makes us complex individuals. In the process of becoming a good leader, there are multiple factors to take into account. There are areas and traits that need to be developed and improved. Before you can be a good leader, you have to be a good follower which requires you to discover your true personality. A good leader has great people skills and is able to deal with authority. They are able to network with people from different cultures and backgrounds while staying optimistic. When self-assessing, good leaders consider emotional and cultural intelligence and they don’t ignore the challenges our society currently faces. Good leaders are politically skillful and strive to understand others. Helping one another is the key to achieving success and becoming a great leader.
