Personal Leadership Evaluation
Introduction
Leadership is not a position. More so, not a combination of qualities that helps one exerts authority over his or her subordinates. Rather, leadership is a service offered to all with good intention being the driving force of the person at the helm. Studies prove that an individual’s intentions inspire the qualities of a leader, which in turn stimulates him to take a position of service to all. For instance, a person who wants to affect his or her whole country has to run for the office of the president. This paper will analyze the philosophy behind leadership, types of leaders and inclination of leadership as being natural or acquired through a combination of various character analysis based on public responses.
My personal statement philosophy of governance states that from deep down my heart, leadership should be inspiring and motivating others to be a better version of themselves through daily interactions (Shanafelt et.al 2015). Besides, people cannot except to follow an individual who does not inspire them to be better than they were yesterday. In other words, a systematic belief in humanity gives a leader credible followers that later crown him or her with leadership even without a position of authority.
As said earlier, a leader inspires other people, which in turn earn him or her followers. What is more fascinating is the fact that a leader has to build trust, which allows other people to entrust their time, respect, and decision-making to him (Rochelle, 2018). Consequently, a leader has to enhance team-managing capabilities among his members. Not only is a leader to influence people within his fold but also outside his fold as well. Therefore, a leader is not only an influencer but empowers, offers services that meets the needs of people and delegates his duties. In short, being a leader entails selflessness and achieving goals with followers.
Leadership is not hereditary and thus one cannot be a leader from birth. Some may argue that the exposure to leadership positions at a young age sets one into a leadership path, early in their lives. However, exposure is not equal to attaining successful leadership. History has enough examples of people who failed to leave up to expectations although they were leaders from an early onset (Rochelle, 2018). Although all of the above may be true, leaders are made; it is fact that stands undebated for centuries. People do not have qualities that make them leaders from birth. In fact, leaders learn a lot from their day-to-day activities, which later shape their perspectives and decisions on various matters. On the other hand, enrolling to a program does not automatically make one a leader. Making a leader means that a person is willing to learn. Some people succeed and give out good results after learning while others fail.
There are various leadership styles. The first is autocratic where one exerts total control over others. The guy does not inspire in any manner and usually have it his way. This type of leadership can succeed in organizational environments that need output only and where the roles are repetitive (Graph Report, 2018). The only advantage of autocracy is that it gives out good results. However, it does not inspire loyalty and creativity. The second style is transactional where leaders need charisma and an effective approach to give out results. Most used in businesses. Transformational style is a hands-on style that encourages the spirit of teamwork and needs dedicated people to carry out the duties. More so, it facilitates innovation and improves people’s talents in relation to their tasks. The only limitation of transformational leadership is that it needs dynamic minds that are able to change with time. The third style is servant leadership where people within power share authority, which facilitates meeting the needs of others. Servant leadership improves diversity and gives people a chance to voice their opinion. It only disadvantage is that it may lead to conflict due to various concepts.
In short, leadership is as a result of art rather than intricate science. It is a compilation of traits practiced and perfected over the years through interaction with education, exercise, and involvement. In addition, it intertwines with being responsible and disciplined in all facets of life.
Translating Personal leadership into public leadership
Based on leadership Circle report, The ability to provide public leadership or create a surrounding that favors it is an essential and central part of any individual who holds a community office (Graph Report,2018). The role and functions of a public front-runner enable him or her to navigate through their duties while at the same time solving challenges that comes with the role. Whether a business entity or a public office, personal leadership boils down to the qualities of the person who is to perform the role of a public leader. In fact, their qualities and character go into shaping the roles and duties they perform on daily basis. In other words, public leadership does not stay in the confines of a community office but is applicable to other sections of the society including private sector, depending on how the individual holding the post executes their post.
High stake conversations need a positive attitude and a courageous heart to tackle the issue at hand rather than brush over the situation with sugarcoated words. During crucial conversations, an experienced communicator considers his or her objectives especially when the situation spirals out of hand (Sharma, S., 2011). Simply put, objectives of a crucial conversation consequently lead to better outcomes rather than a shouting fruitless match between two people. In the end, goals steers the conversation back on track, constructs facts, facilitates sharing of information and comparing points of view between two or more people. In short, the ability to converse and establish a connection with other people fosters social relationships and cohesive coordination and teamwork.
Leadership helps one learn to assess the content or agenda of a particular conversation and reactions of the people present. Physical indicators coupled with emotional signs may provide a good ground for assessing factors that caused the deviation from the main agenda (Rochelle, 2018). Thus evaluating the situation and topic under discussion can save a situation, bring things back to normal, and show the leadership skills of a person.
Weaknesses and strengths of the leadership from the report
As stated earlier a leader has to combine various characteristics to form one formidable trait, channeling it into accurate use and relevant application. As per the report, the weaknesses are controlling, protecting, and complying (Graph Report, 2018). In terms of response personal leadership, needs to be firm yet not dictating or controlling to the degree the leader remains unchallenged in his position. Hence, a leader has to charismatically achieve his or her objectives without the forcing or self-imposing authority on other people. Therefore, the development plan needs to attain the right relationship and a sense of belonging.
Conclusion
In summary leadership encompasses more than just a position and a blend of qualities exhibited through social interactions. In addition, the ability to solve challenges and cater to the needs of other people without raising any attention gives an individual the upper hand. Hence, evaluation of leadership skills needs a balancing of social and personal aspects of at a personal level. A perfect blend of leadership qualities relies on integrity and handling various problems harmoniously.
References
Rochelle, S. (2018).The Leadership Circle Self-Assessment Report.. The leadership Circle.PDF
Graph Report (2018). The leadership Circle.PDF
Sharma, S., 2011. Attributes of school principals-leadership qualities & capacities.
Shanafelt, T.D., Gorringe, G., Menaker, R., Storz, K.A., Reeves, D., Buskirk, S.J., Sloan, J.A. and Swensen, S.J., 2015, April. Impact of organizational leadership on physician burnout and satisfaction. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 90, No. 4, pp. 432-440). Elsevier.
