Introduction
Leadership remains a practical strategy that individuals can apply in different settings to guide their followers. The concept of continuous improvement guides people to become better managers and improve organisational performance. This analysis presents my personal leadership strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) and a gap analysis of the emerging issues. SWOT is defined as a framework for learning about internal attributes (strengths and weaknesses) and external forces (threats and opportunities) capable of either supporting or hindering productivity (Serpa, Ferreira and Sá, 2020). The emerging observations will inform my future initiatives and goals in my management consulting job.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
- With my coaching leadership style, I find it easier to manage others and guide them to deliver positive results. I have an outlook that drives me to assume leadership roles. I take pride in leading and enjoy encouraging and helping others and using
- Belbin’s Team Roles identified me as a finisher and collaborator, styles that guide me to liaise, coach, and guide others to complete their tasks diligently and delivery results
- I am highly empathetic. People with this attribute show consideration, respect and emotional intelligence to those around them (Goleman, 1995).
- I love learning, and I constantly seek more information and look for new ideas on the subjects I am passionate about.
- Social justice and sustainability are very important to me since promote fairness and ideas revolving around environmental conservation (Anderson and Rainie, 2018)
- I have a coaching leadership style. People with this strategy can engage in problem-solving, settle disputes and motivate others through assurance (Goleman, 1995).
- I identify myself as someone with developed collaboration skills. Goleman (1995) indicates that people who possess this attribute are able to liaise and relate with others.
- My coaching leadership style reveals that I can successfully establish new teams and help deliver positive organizational outcomes.
Weaknesses
- I have a substantial lack of confidence in myself and my abilities which holds me back as I believe myself incapable to do the things I would like to do.
- I have underdeveloped abilities in resolving conflicts, an issue that can make it impossible for me to deliver positive results in the workplace. Goleman (1995) indicates that proper conflict resolutions skills are essential in management consultation.
- My computer skills remain underdeveloped. This gap has the potential to affect my use and effectiveness of technology in the field of management consultation.
- Sometimes I experience lack of personal motivation, a gap that could explain why I take longer to analyze and complete tasks. Goleman (1995) encourages individuals to improve their emotional attributes and personal motivation if they are to succeed in their careers.
- Since I am an introvert, I find it hard to liaise with others and pursue my goals diligently
- English proficiency stands out as one of my current weaknesses. An effort to maximize or work on this skill area is essential if I am to achieve my goals in management consulting.
Opportunities
- Management consultancy jobs are needed more than ever before. Such a trend is recorded due to the ongoing wave of globalization (The Careers Service, 2022).
- Learning institutions are available to equip me with additional competencies
- The UK economy is growing after a recession period, thereby capable of supporting people’s career goals (Strauss, 2022).
- Globalisation is making it possible for more people to seek opportunities locally and internationally while learning more about some of the best practices for environmental conservation, green energy and sustainability (Mazmanian, Jurewitz and Nelson, 2020).
- The virtual environment, digital space and new workweek arrangements are making permanent jobs less practical while supporting contracts (De Kock, 2021).
- More consideration is being given to sustainability and the environment, and more pressure is being put on governments, businesses, and industries. Stakeholders need to evaluate their ecological impact if they are to succeed in their sectors (Mazmanian, Jurewitz and Nelson, 2020).
Threats
- As exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is likely to face new and complex threats to society that leaders will have tomanage effectively (De Kock, 2021).
- The other threat is rooted in my weakness, and it is that of communicating with others in English.
- My inability to pay attention to my qualifications could hinder my future performance in the wider field of management consultancy. Goleman (1995) guides people to improve their attentiveness if they are to emerge successful in their respective fields.
Gap Analysis
My dream job is that of becoming a consultant manager in leading organizations, such as McKinsey. However, there is a need to consider some of the recorded gaps if I am to achieve this goal. For instance, I have reduced confidence, a challenge that might affect my interaction with others. I have underdeveloped abilities in resolving conflicts, a major gap issue that can make it impossible for me to deliver positive results in the workplace (Goleman, 1995). Another notable gap is that my computer skills remain underdeveloped. The reduced level of personal motivation explains why I take longer to analyze and complete tasks.
The completed SWOT has revealed that I am introverted. This challenge means that I could consider the best ways to expand my interactional, communication, and relational abilities with others. Since I have negative emotionality, I can focus on my current abilities and examine evidence-based approaches to develop a positive approach to situations. English proficiency stands out as one of my current weaknesses from the completed analysis (Goleman, 1995). The presence of these gaps means I can find it hard to improve my competencies and eventually succeed in my dream job of a management consultant. The promoted personal development plan needed to be pursued or implemented in accordance with the outlined gaps.
My Personal Development plan
The developed personal development plan (PDP) summarises the outlined skills and how to improve them. A PDP refers to a framework outlining anticipated areas of weakness whereby key activities could be performed to improve them within a specified timeframe (Yuniatiet al., 2021). To achieve meaningful outcomes in the field of management consultant, it will be possible for develop and implement the best personal development plan. The key areas to consider include personal motivation, empowerment, and mastery of English. With the increasing level of access to emerging technologies, such as social media networks, I would identify key resources that could help me engage other professionals in the field of management consultation (Pasovska and Miceski, 2018). It will be my goal to apply all my strengths and use them to address existing threats while working on my key areas of weakness.
Based on the Gap Analysis above, I focus on the best strategies to maximize my mastery in English. I will consider the best approaches to improve my technological skills and actualise my abilities (see Appendix 1). I will engage in lifelong learning to acquire additional ideas for improving my personal motivation, involvement, communication, and problem-solving. I will go further to consider emerging insights in the field management consultancy and maximize my abilities. The emerging skills would be appropriate for me and applicable in the field of management consultancy.
Reflections on Leadership: Future Leader in A Changing World
Managers possess unique attributes that make it easier for them to lead and guide others. This initiative helps them to identify existing gaps and make timely improvements to deliver results. Liggett (2020) defines leadership as the process or action of directing, mentoring, and assigning roles to ensure that specific goals are achieved. Different styles exist for individuals to choose from depending on the anticipated outcomes. Based on my gap analysis and anticipated goals, I am keen to consider additional strategies that can eventually maximize my transformational leadership abilities. I will focus on changing customers’ needs, issues to do with organisational culture, and emerging technologies if am to succeed in the selected field of consultant management.
Leadership Style
Different management theories are applicable in a wide range of settings to deliver much-needed goals. Individuals need to be aware of their objectives and future goals if they are to develop favorable leadership styles. From the completed personality test, it emerged that I possessed or applied a coaching approach to management (Veliuet al., 2017). However, some gaps exist that are directly linked to the completed SWOT that could have detrimental impacts on my performance as a future manager. The idea of continuous improvement is essential and capable of guiding me to develop a superior style of leadership that is in tandem with my future goals as a consultant manager.
Currently, my objective is to become a competent management consultant in one of the leading companies, such as McKinsey or BCG. This personal goal means that there is a need to develop the most appropriate leadership style (Veliuet al., 2017). Personally, I believe that the transformational model would be approach ice it allows leaders to remain involved, guide others and ensure that the outlined objectives are eventually realised. The style resonates with my current weaknesses and offers unique opportunities for addressing them accordingly.
Based on this understanding, transformational leadership is a model intended to present meaningful change while allowing individuals to master their skills and eventually become possible leaders. The completed test revealed that I usually applied coaching leadership in most situations. Now the time has come to improve such a strategy since it has been associated with specific weaknesses. In the future, technological applications, changing clients’ needs, and emerging critical thinking strategies indicate that professionals in the field of management consultation should improve their practices. A transformational approach to leadership creates room for managers to identify existing situations and introduce powerful strategies to influence meaningful change (Veliuet al., 2017). The followers will become more involved and eventually acquire additional insights that could eventually make them team leaders.
Future goals for consultant managers include providing timely guidelines and ensuring that companies are on the right path toward pursuing their goals. To develop a transformational approach to leadership, I will begin by acting with the highest level of integrity and consult widely to address my communication gaps. I will be keen to deal with the emotional aspects and tendency to evaluate others. These attributes will make it easier for me to start encouraging, guiding and mentoring others (Veliuet al., 2017). I will go further to introduce a sense of trust among my team members or followers. Such gains will guide me to respond to some of the threats identified above and promote collaboration (Mujib, 2017). By becoming a transformational leader, I will have completed the journey of addressing my gaps and eventually be in a position to succeed as a consultant manager.
Key Issues for Consultant Managers: Changing Clients’ Behaviour
As a future professional in the area of management consultancy, I expect to encounter various issues that need to be addressed from an informed perspective. The first one is the current changes associated with customers’ behaviours and expectations. Leadership does not have to revolve around the welfare, performance and profitability of a given company. The present world is experiencing numerous challenges that might have significant impacts on its posterity, including environmental degradation and climate change. The leader of the future needs to be aware of this predicament and be involved in efforts that could make the planet more sustainable (Warrick, 2017). Personally, I believe that I have a huge responsibility to play in an effort to transform the current situation. My philosophy of leadership will be guided by the idea that more customers are becoming informed and keen on issues affecting them and the global environment.
Future leaders will begin by formulating practical policies intended to compel more companies to focus on their customers. In the future, more management consultants would be expected to operate at the global level whereby they will be focusing on clients with diverse backgrounds. Effective communication and mastery of the English language would be critical. Mazmanian, Jurewitz and Nelson (2020) indicate that the same concern would be worth considering since the customer of the future could be from different cultural backgrounds. The use of the best leadership approach or model would be appropriate to identify and address some of the issues that might emerge. Cultural competency in the field would be essential to meet the changing demands of the customers while considering the best ways to achieve positive results.
As a professional consultant, I will be keen to take the issue of climate change seriously. This idea is founded on the notion that more clients are ready to take sustainability agenda to the next level. A management consultant who is aware of these issues will be more empowered and capable of supporting the delivery of positive results (Mazmanian, Jurewitz and Nelson, 2020). I will begin by ensuring that the developed organisational corporate strategy is informed by most of the issues surrounding conservation. The participants involved in the model, including suppliers, distributors and marketers, will be required to promote specific practices that are capable of protecting the integrity of the natural environment.
I will guide key departments to integrate the organisation’s mission statement on environmental conversation in their activities and responsibilities. Such an approach will ensure that the firm remains committed and capable of supporting the sustainability of the surrounding environment (Mazmanian, Jurewitz and Nelson, 2020). Finally, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) would become a foundational attribute in some of the targeted companies, such as McKinsey. This strategy will guide all workers to prioritise activities that could help address the problematic issue of climate change (Dyczkowska and Dyczkowski, 2018). The model would mean supporting proper drainage systems, using sustainable materials and engaging in environmental conservation initiatives.
Organisational Culture
Any skilled consultant manager should be aware of organisational culture as a powerful attribute capable of influencing performance in the future. The notion of culture remains critical in any organisation that intends to achieve its goals. In the UK setting, leaders are expected to remain open and ready to interact with their followers. In most of the western companies, managers delegate a wide range of tasks while encouraging followers to engage in innovative activities and discussions that might deliver results. The established culture in most of these firms is designed in such a way that it empowers individuals through the use of additional resources, work-life balance, and remunerations (Liggett, 2020). In the recent past, companies have been offering additional support systems to maximise the overall level of satisfaction of their respective workers.
To succeed as a leader, I will be keen to consider most of these attributes of culture and apply them accordingly depending on the needs of my employees. The promotion of the best working environment and advocating for their objectives could make a difference in the organisation. The model will make it easier for me to identify the most appropriate leadership strategy depending on the existing situation and the intended outcomes (Liggett, 2020). By liaising with most of the followers, I will learn more about their needs and some of the recorded challenges. The use of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory will guide me to understand the challenges of my followers and empower them accordingly. The ultimate aim should be to empower them to complete their tasks diligently and improve organisational performance.
Based on the studied materials, it becomes quite clear that leadership styles cannot be described as good or bad depending on the recorded outcomes in a single organization. Pasovska and Miceski (2018) observe that different leadership models would deliver diverse results based on the needs of the followers and the culture they are in. Personally, I have managed to identify a wide range of differences between the organisational culture of my home country and that of the UK. A proper understanding of the recorded dynamics could make it easier for me to apply the right strategies, understand how to solve differences, and provide personalised resources to individuals depending on their abilities, weaknesses, and expectations. This aspect would support the idea that effective leadership should be founded on the people’s cultural dispositions and anticipated goals.
By focusing on local and international cultural attributes, I will be in a position to customise my leadership style since I have gained additional competencies by studying and living in the UK. I will consider the concept of continuous learning to investigate more about the attributes of other people, such as power distance and risk avoidance, depending on the countries they come from. The emerging information will guide me to develop teams whereby the involved members have diverse backgrounds to help improve performance (Pasovska and Miceski, 2018). By considering these aspects, I strongly believe that I will be in a position to meet the needs of more employees and make my organisation profitable in the future.
COVID-19 and Modern Technologies
In the above sections, I identified my gaps in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) and how I was working to improve my abilities. The COVID-19 pandemic presents powerful reasoning for taking the issue of emerging technologies seriously I am to succeed in my future roles as a management consultant (De Kock, 2021). This idea should encourage them to monitor emerging trends, liaise with other professionals and sample emerging situations. The ongoing pandemic stands out as a case study of some of the possible trends that can change the world in expected ways. Within the past two years, the global communities experienced new dynamics and developments that had not been witnessed in decades (De Kock, 2021). For example, more companies were compelled to consider providing virtual working environments if they were to continue providing their services to the targeted customers. The imposed lockdown and cessation of movement measures forced organisations to reconsider their models or terminate their operations.
These trends show conclusively that the present business environment in the post-COVID world is different from what used to be common before. As a leader, it becomes necessary to appreciate emerging technologies and make virtual work an option for most of the targeted employees. This model is appropriate since it has the potential to mitigate some of the challenges many individuals encounter while pursuing their career goals, such as commuting to the workplace (Pasovska and Miceski, 2018). With the emergence of modern technologies, including the Internet, companies in the service sector could benefit from virtual support systems to deliver the necessary support to the identified customers. The model is plausible and capable of reducing the expenses of running the business (De Kock, 2021). The involved leaders should introduce proper incentives for governing home-based work stations to ensure that the level of productivity remains constant.
Despite the positive promises and realities of the virtual working environment, some gaps exist that leaders need to address from an informed perspective. First, I would be on the frontline to advocate for work-life balance for my workers in the selected organisation. The strategy will maximise the level of satisfaction, thereby increasing the overall level of productivity (Pasovska and Miceski, 2018). Second, it will be my duty to introduce proper programs for effective health outcomes whereby individuals would have practical schedules for completing their tasks.
Third, the introduction of superior computer systems and anti-viruses would ensure that cases of hacking and phishing remain as low as possible. This objective is critical since most of the companies in need of management consultancy services are relying on modern technologies, including the Internet, to support its marketing goals. I will work with the relevant technicians and experts to reduce cases of cyber-attacks since they might have negative impacts on organisational performance (Pasovska and Miceski, 2018). The primary goal should to be to maximise the level of protection for consumer data and privacy. These leadership views are timely and capable of ensuring that more results are recorded while preventing the challenges associated with COVID-19 and other diseases that might be recorded in the near future (De Kock, 2021). The involvement of all key stakeholders in the implementation of such attributes and the promotion of desirable health practices could change the current situation.
The use of decision-support systems (DSSs) will allow me to rely on emerging technologies to guide every decision-making process as a management consultant. I will rely on existing frameworks and models to come up with new ideas based on the recorded challenges. This approach will make it possible for me to adapt to some of the recorded changes and requirements in the ever-changing business environment (De Kock, 2021). Every decision will be made in accordance with the formulated SMART goals (see Appendix 3). The adoption of emerging technologies will streamline decision-making processes and eventually support my goals as a management consultant. The application of various technological models and tools becomes an evidence-based approach for ensuring that leaders make informed decisions and eventually achieve their maximum potential.
Conclusion
The completed investigation has outlined some of the unique competencies that support my leadership styles and goals. The analysis has proved that I can undertake additional tasks, advocate for employees’ needs, promote environmental sustainability measures, and support organisational change. The move to identify and address some of the noticeable weaknesses is an evidence-based approach that will guide me to develop a superior philosophy for guiding my followers. By taking into consideration all key issues ad opportunities, I am planning to engage in lifelong learning to acquire additional competencies and consider how I can maximise my performance in any given organisational setting.
Reference List
Anderson, J. and Rainie, L. (2018) Artificial intelligence and the future of humans. Washington, DC: Pew Research Centre.
De Kock, M. (2021) ‘A rapid review of the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of healthcare workers: implications for supporting psychological well-being’, BMC Public Health, 21(1): pp. 104-121.
Dyczkowska, J. and Dyczkowski, T. (2018) ‘Democratic or autocratic leadership style? Participative management and its links to rewarding strategies and job satisfaction in SMEs’, Athens Journal of Business & Economics, 4(2), pp. 193-218.
Goleman, D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
Liggett, R. (2020) ‘Toward a conceptualization of democratic leadership in a professional context’, Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 193(1), pp. 115-127. Web.
Mazmanian, D.A., Jurewitz, J.L. and Nelson, H.T. (2020) ‘State leadership in U.S. climate change and energy policy: the California experience’, Journal of Environment & Development, 29(1): 51-74.
McGilchrist, I. (2009) The master and his emissary. London: Yale University Press.
Mujib, H. (2017) ‘Organizational identity: an ambiguous concept in practical terms’, Administrative Sciences, 7(3), pp. 28-57.
Pasovska, S. and Miceski, T. (2018) ‘The impact of transformational leadership in improvement of the organizational capability’, International Journal for Innovation Education and Research, 6(2), pp. 235–246.
Serpa, S., Ferreira, C.M. and Sá, M.J. (2020) ‘The potential of organisations’ SWOT diagnostic assessment’, Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 9(4), pp. 93-104.
Strauss, D. (2022) ‘UK’s growth prospects worst among top economies, warns OECD’, Financial Times, Web.
The Careers Service. (2022) Management consultancy fair. London: Oxford.
Veliu, L. et al. (2017) ‘The influence of leadership styles on employee’s performance’, Vadyba Journal of Management, 2(31), pp. 59-69. Web.
Warrick, D.D. (2017) ‘What leaders need to know about organizational culture’, Business Horizons, 60(3), pp. 395-404.
Yuniati, E. et al. (2021) ‘Talent management and organizational performance: the mediating role of employee engagement’, Management Science Letters, 11(9), pp. 1-6.
Personal Development Plan
Name: _________Student id: _________ Workshop Tutor: Rachel Mason
Date Personal Development Plan Completed: __________
Gap Analysis Stages
Step 1: Identify the area to focus on
- Mastery of the English language
- Personal motivation and confidence
- Computer skills
- Resolving conflicts
Step 2: Identify what Goals you want to achieve
- Improve master of English language
- Stop evaluating others
- Expand my AI skills
Step 3: Know your current state
- I have some weakness in liaising with others, using English language, and application of emerging technology
Step 4: Determine where you want to be in future
- Improve my competencies as a management consultant
Step 5: Understand the gaps between two states
- Identify key resources
- Engage other professionals in the field
- Consider emerging technologies
- Practice widely
SMART Goals
- Improve master of English language within a period of six months, an achievement that will guide me in my future job as a management consultant
- Improve my conflict resolution and confidence by interacting with others, reading widely, and engaging in desirable activities in organizational settings
- Expand my computer and technical skills by identifying and utilising emerging technologies within six months