Introduction: Being an Australian Business Leader
Purpose: Retrospect and Analysis of Lessons Learned
Taking a look back at what has been learned is important in personal and professional development. The goals of this paper are to summarise the key lessons and set the course for the further progress. In addition, it is expected that measurable and achievable goals should be set.
Structure: From a General Overview to Results Interpretation
First, the issue of interpersonal communication will be addressed. In the said section, the lessons about emotional intelligence and the related information will be summarised. Afterward, personal attributed will be defined.
Body: Reflections and the Analysis of the Experience
Intrapersonal Effectiveness: What Has Been Learned
The course that I have taken helped me learn about different ways of self-assessment. In addition, I have also learned a lot about emotional intelligence (EI), which is the ability to understand and control emotions (Hussain, 2014). In fact, EI allows not only learning more about one’s personal emotions but also understand what other people feel. As a result, one can improve the communication process greatly. For example, with perfect EI skills, one can avoid conflicts during a conversation. Moreover, EI helps negotiate with business partners successfully, reaching a compromise. Last but not least, EI can be the tool for controlling emotions. Thus, one can remain calm and composed in a tense environment. EI is crucial for someone who wants to advance in business because it helps one remain in control over the situation and not let emotions take the best of them.
Personal Attributes: Professional Strengths and Weaknesses
Apart from the ability to control emotions, I have also gained deep insight into my personality. Jackson’s Hybrid Model of Personality and Learning provided a detailed explanation of how a personality is shaped. Particularly, I realised that behaviours are predetermined by peoples need for sensation seeking. Therefore, it is essential to use the identified characteristic to increase motivation levels among team members (Bence, 2014).
Furthermore, I learned a lot about my personal strengths and weaknesses. After applying the model mentioned above to my personality in order to measure my skills, I realised that I needed to work on my negotiation and conflict management abilities. In a business environment, especially in the context of the global environment, where the representatives of different cultures have to collaborate, negotiation is an essential process. Therefore, having the appropriate skills is important (Sylvester, 2015).
As far as the advantages of my personality are concerned, I must mention my ability to find innovative solutions. The environment of the global market needs new and unique ways of solving the relevant issue. Therefore, being innovative helps manage business-related processes successfully. For instance, innovativeness allows one to meet the needs of customers in an efficient way (Drucker, 2014).
Actions for Addressing the Current Problems and Enhancing Strengths
As stressed above, it is essential for me now to work on my negotiation skills. To do so, I will have to consider different types of conflict management techniques and find the one with which I feel most comfortable. Furthermore, I will have to consider whether I have enough agreeableness. It is important to listen to others and be able to accept their point of view. As soon as I learn to view a specific problem from other perspectives, I will learn to respect others’ opinions. The specified ability is crucial for a leader of a team because it helps be objective and search for the best solution out of the available ones. In addition, agreeableness helps convince the team members that their opinions and ideas are valued and appreciated. Thus, the motivation levels among the team members will increase greatly (Oghenejobo, 2014).
As far as my skill of using innovative solutions is concerned, I will have to use it to solve the conflicts that occur among the team members. As a result, the quality of the participants’ performance will be increased significantly. Apart from the rapid rise in the quality levels, it is expected that the adoption of the new strategies will lead to a rise in the motivation rates. I believe that, by focusing on the identified aspects of my professional and personal development, I will develop leadership skills (Agapitou & Bourantas, 2014).
Setting Measurable and Achievable Goals
Based on the evaluation of my strengths and weaknesses carried out above, I will have to set the goals that will help me become a better leader in the business environment. For example, the first goal will concern learning more about conflict management. It is important to understand how relationships in a team can be controlled. Afterward, I will have to choose the conflict management and negotiation techniques that I find most efficient. Moreover, I will have to make sure that I feel comfortable using these techniques. It is expected that the new strategies or negotiation and conflict management will be researched and created within the next month. In the next two months, the number of conflicts in my team is expected to drop by 30%.
The development of innovative ideas is another goal that I will have to consider. Tools and exercises for training original thinking will be designed within the next month. By the end of the second month, I will have to be able to find innovative solutions to interpersonal and business-related conflicts and address at least 25% of the confrontations in the business environment successfully.
Conclusion: Important Lessons and Considerations
Being a good leader is a challenging task, yet, working on my negotiation skills and using my ability to find innovative solutions, I will be able to achieve success. As the overview of my personal characteristics shows, there is a need to focus on communication. To be more accurate, I will need to improve my ability to negotiate and address misunderstandings that occur among the team members. Being an active listener and respecting others’ opinions is a crucial step on the way to a major improvement. Furthermore, I must explore my potential of an innovator.
References
Agapitou, V., & Bourantas, O. (2014). Leadership meta-competencies: Discovering hidden virtues. Farnham, UK: Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Bence, B. (2014). Master the brand called you: The proven leadership personal branding system to help you earn more, do more and be more at work. New York, NY: Global Insight Communications LLC.
Drucker, P. (2014). Innovation and entrepreneurship. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hussain, R. (2014). Emotional intelligence for emerging leaders and entrepreneurs – Illustrating the fortune giants. New Delhi: PartridgeIndia.
Oghenejobo, M. (2014). Strategic Leadership for sustainable personal and organizational success. Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press.
Sylvester, K. (2015). Negotiating in the leadership zone. New York, NY: Routledge.