What are the personal attributes that drive you to be a leader and mentor?
Since leaders and mentors have certain attributes that define them, the research question seeks to assess personal attributes that enable one to be a leader and a mentor. According to Adair (2013), enthusiasm, integrity, toughness, fairness, humility, confidence, warmth, and industriousness are some of the leadership attributes that leaders possess. In this view, the research question seeks to identify if an individual possesses some of the leadership attributes, namely, integrity, humility, confidence, and industriousness. Integrity is variable that portrays the moral behavior of a person about moral laws and legislations, while humility is variable that measures the humbleness of a person. Confidence and industriousness are two variables that depict the courage and hardworking ability of a person respectively. Each of the variables has an ordinal scale of measurement that ranges from high to low. The characteristic analysis entails continuous data of variable versus discrete data of a participant.
Do you have the essential knowledge and skills to be a successful leader and a mentor?
This research question seeks to establish if an individual has the essential knowledge and skills in leadership. Although scholars believe that leadership emanates from the innate attributes of a person, knowledge, and skills play a central role in the development of leaders (Adair, 2013). From this point of view, a leader should have appropriate knowledge and skills regarding leadership theories and styles that are applicable in modern society. The two variables in the research question are knowledge and skill. Knowledge is a variable that examines how one comprehends or understands leadership theories and models, while skill is the ability of a person to apply knowledge in leadership. These two variables use a nominal scale. The characteristic of the variable is that it entails the measurement of the discrete data of the variables versus discrete data of a subject.
What is your career plan as a mentor and leader?
Career planning is important as it helps one to achieve a vision in a given career. The variables present in this research question are goals and objectives. Therefore, the research questions seek to assess the goals and objectives that a person has set. Goals are general targets, while objectives are specific targets that one aims in the career plan (Pardey, 2013). The suitable scale for measuring each of the variables is nominal. In the assessment of an individual, the characteristic of the variable is discrete variable versus discrete data of a subject in a study.
What are the attributes that effective leaders cultivate to make them successful in their leadership positions?
Effective leaders have unique attributes that make them influence others and bring change in their respective positions of leadership. Effective leaders are responsible, courageous, and flexible. As a variable, responsibility is the ability of a leader to manage all activities that fall within the job position, while courage is variable that depicts the ability of the leader to face challenges and make complex decisions in exigent circumstances. Flexibility is a variable that shows the capacity of the leader to respond to changing trends of leadership in response to new challenges. The measurement of the three variables is under the ordinal scale that shows the degree of responsibility, courage, and flexibility. Thus, the characteristic of the variable is continuous data of a variable versus discrete data of a participant.
What are the leadership attributes that you share with effective leaders, which you need to cultivate?
This research question is important because it enables an individual to identify and cultivate appropriate leadership attributes. Adair (2013) states that leadership attributes range from physical attributes to mental attributes of a person. Therefore, the research question examines leadership attribute as a variable. An effective leader is proactive, flexible, courageous, educated, enthusiastic, organized, and confident. In this view, leadership attributes are unique attributes that differentiate effective leaders from ordinary people. Leadership attributes exist on a nominal scale, which states whether a person has a given attribute or not. The characteristic of the variable in the assessment of effective leaders is discrete variable versus discrete data of a subject.
What have you accomplished so far as a leader and mentor?
This research question assesses how far an individual has achieved the goals and objectives set out in the career plan. Since objectives are specific targets that are measurable over a given period, their assessment helps in identifying accomplishments. Therefore, accomplishment is a variable that indicates achievements of certain objectives. As accomplishments show the extent of achievements, their scale of measurement is ordinal. The characteristic of the variable in the analysis is continuously variable versus discrete data of a participant.
What are some of the leadership challenges that have made you fail to meet your goals and objectives?
Leaders usually encounter numerous challenges as they strive to achieve their goals and objectives. In this case, leadership challenges comprise a variable that depicts setbacks and problems that leaders grapple with within their respective leadership positions. Essentially, leadership challenges range from personal to organizational challenges and thus are the product of a complex of factors. The appropriate scale for measuring leadership challenges is nominal. The characteristic of the analysis is a discrete variable versus a discrete variable of a subject in a study.
What are the leadership strategies that you employed, which made you achieve your goals and objectives?
Assessment of the strategies that one employs in overcoming leadership challenges indicates the creativity and tenacity of a leader. Bad leaders have no creativity and tenacity, which is essential in overcoming challenges. Therefore, leadership strategies form a variable that measures the creativity and tenacity of a leader amidst various challenges in leadership. The appropriate scale of leadership strategy is a nominal scale, which states different strategies that leaders employ. Hence, the analysis of the variable is a discrete variable of leadership versus a discrete variable of the participant.
What are the weaknesses that hinder you from achieving your goals and objectives in your career?
The nature and quantity of weaknesses determine the ability of leaders to overcome challenges and become effective leaders. Effective leaders understand their weaknesses in leadership, and thus they have developed means of overcoming them and become effective leaders. In this question, weakness is a variable that defines the shortcomings of a leader. Since a leader needs to know the degree of their weaknesses, the appropriate scale of measurement is ordinal. The characteristic of the variable in the analysis is a continuous variation of the weaknesses versus the discrete variable of the subject.
How do you intend to integrate leadership and mentorship?
The variable in the question is the knowledge of integration, which aims at creating a link between leadership and mentorship. Knowledge of integration is the ability of a leader to integrate leadership and mentorship as a complex practice, which requires competent leaders with leadership and mentorship knowledge (Dungy, 2009). The appropriate measurement scale for the knowledge of integration is ordinal. The ordinal scale provides quantitative data that shows the extent of knowledge that a leader possesses regarding the integration of mentorship and leadership. In this view, the characteristic of data analysis is continuous data of variable versus discrete data of a participant.
References
Adair, J. (2013). Develop Your Leadership Skills. London: Kogan Page Publishers.
​Dungy, T. (2009). The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams That Win Consistently. London: Tyndale Momentum.
Pardey, D. (2013). Introducing Leadership. New York. Routledge.