Leadership and motivational techniques are increasingly becoming central in both the finance and quality realms. In order to be successful as a manager of an organization, one must understand his or her leadership styles and tendencies. As a leader one need to develop integrity and demonstrate it every day by providing clear expectations to the employees, monitor destructive emotions in the organization, and exhibit remarkable interpersonal skills (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). To this end, I am going to identify and assess my own leadership style and find out how that can assist or impair my efforts as a member of a team.
Understanding my leadership style is essential for my development as a leader. My leadership style has three strengths. First, I have an indirect leadership style. This is because in settling a dispute, I usually prefer to negotiate rather than argue or debate on contentious issues without compromising on the wishes of the other party in a conversation. I have noticed that this strength has made me to be an approachable person. Second, I am a steady and urgent person. I make most decisions cautiously; I consider many options and opinions before deciding. More so, I tend to take fast actions when opportunities arise, and I quickly eliminate options that seem to confuse an issue or delay action. Lastly, I love precision. I intend to organize details in a timely and thorough fashion and I like plans that are clearly set and somewhat predictable. I like to bring order and structure to disorganized situations. On the other hand, my weakest leadership style is that I am always a reserved person. However, this does not mean that I do not stay connected to people. I love to meet and greet people and, I love talking problems out with others to clarify feelings.
In comparing my leadership style with that of my other team members, Shannon and Brian, I have noticed some similarities and differences. While I have an indirect leadership style, Shannon has a direct leadership style. However, in settling disputes, she utilizes tact or diplomacy to blunt the edge a bit. Brian also has the same leadership style as Shannon. However, he stops to uphold diplomacy when he is irritated. All of us have reserved leadership styles and have different ways of making ourselves approachable. Shannon feels it a bit easy to engage in a conversation when she is drawn in, interested, or has something to contribute. Brian loves to talk to people one on one rather than in a crowd and he is always happy that makes him to be more approachable.
Understanding the leadership styles of my team members is essential in making me become a more effective leader. This is because I would know how to develop appropriate strategies for achieving the goals of an organization depending on the leadership style of my team members. In addition, this would make me interact more freely with them and avoid conflicts at the place of work. Because of the differences in leadership styles of my team, I expect the following pitfalls: slower decision-making, conflict when a change wants to be introduced, and less initial production.
At times, the process of decision-making can be a sophisticated art, especially when the values and preferences of the decision makers are not the same. That is why we may not be very fast in making decisions since everyone of us might want us to adopt his proposal. Conflicts would arise due to personality clashes, miscommunication, and, may be, unresolved disagreements that can escalate to an emotional level. Conflicts may also arise when there is perceived breach of confidence amongst ourselves. For any program to succeed in an organization, it is always necessary to be acquainted with its modes of operation. However, because all of us are reserved and non-one likes taking the first initiative, there would be less initial production when we want to carry out new programs in the organization.
Slow-decision making would inevitably arise because of our different leadership philosophies. Brian, Shannon and I have different approaches to solving problems; therefore, the process of approval of projects, especially when it is critical, would be slow. We would overcome this pitfall by implementing a strategy that ensures that we verify our understanding of complex problems, look at potential causes of problems, and identify fast alternatives for resolving problems (McNamara, n.d). More so, this strategy will enable us to respect the values and preferences of one another. Since conflicts are sometimes unavoidable, we would overcome them by first understanding their stem causes. Thereafter, we would encourage friendliness amongst us, consult with one another before introducing any change, and listen to the views of one another before making decisions. We would overcome the problem of less initial production by ensuring that all of us are acquainted with new programs, encourage individual responsibility and ensure that all of us have defined roles before starting to tackle projects.
Despite the differences in our leadership styles, there are potential synergies that exist among us and can be capitalized on for increasing productivity. Although Shannon is steady, she easily becomes bored. This can help us in getting rid of redundant activities. In an organization, a lot of time can be wasted in doing the same activity repeatedly. Shannon will be of importance in eliminating unnecessary activities. On the other hand, if we have a project that needs a lot of time to be done, Brian’s style will be of essence since he will not get bored faster. Since he pays attention to detail, his style will be of benefit when we are undertaking difficult assignments. And, since I am a firm person, I would be instrumental in eliminating options that seem to confuse an issue or delay an action.
Reference List
Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B. Z. (2002). The leadership challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
McNamara, C. (n.d). Basic Guidelines for problem solving and decision making. Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Web.