Understanding of Leadership
Leadership requires various skills and broad knowledge related to management, decision-making, and motivation. It may be necessary to obtain theoretical and practical knowledge, as leadership is situational and requires an individual approach for each case. Work experience accompanied by theoretical fundamentals may be the key to efficient administration. My image of leadership reflects my views on the importance of flexibility. There is a wide variety of leadership approaches, and it may be necessary to utilize all of them depending on the circumstances. According to some sources, mindfulness significantly correlates with leadership flexibility (Baron et al., 2018). Implementing the four principles of mindfulness in leadership may be necessary to achieve higher goals. These principles include nonreactivity, nonjudging, awareness, and describing. Modern managers and leaders need to be flexible in terms of analyzing the external environment and providing an agile approach to human resource management.
Another significant aspect of leadership is the ability to accumulate, analyze, and filter data. Decision-making is a complicated process, and success often depends on the availability of information. It may be necessary to precisely assess resources, including human resources, external factors, possible threats, and opportunities, in order to develop a practical decision. For example, accounting information may play a significant role in decision-making (Collier, 2017). Moreover, it may be critical to develop appropriate communication skills. Most people associate leadership with the ability to motivate and command people, yet listening is an essential part of leadership too.
Active listening may provide access to valuable information not only about the relationship “climate” in the team but also about significant problems regarding workflow. Furthermore, using emerging digital platforms as means of communication may be beneficial in terms of corporate performance and emotional capital (Cardon et al., 2019). Modern technology may sometimes have a controversial impact on society. Nevertheless, any leader should assess and implement innovative techniques, to improve efficiency. Leadership methodology changes rapidly as hierarchical frameworks are replaced by agile management. Hence digital communication or active listening should be utilized in modern leadership. Moreover, healthy communication may contribute to the development of trust and genuine connections with team members (George, 2015).
General understanding of leadership constantly changes throughout history as diverse values establish and new principles emerge. My personal understanding of leadership is also forged by the new knowledge and experience I obtain. I believe that a true leader should move with the times and implement relevant techniques. As mentioned before, leadership and management should be flexible and able to adapt to changing circumstances. In order to achieve that goal, it may be critical for a leader to have sufficient knowledge and skills regarding distinct methods and approaches. Therefore, it may be necessary to develop leadership skills constantly throughout life.
The Impact of other People
Even though there are general concepts and principles of leadership, there is no unified approach suitable for every possible case. Moreover, people tend to have opposing views on leadership values and methods. Some people believe that agile methods are the key to effective management, whereas others strongly disagree. A wide variety of opposing opinions regarding leadership taught me that the truth is somewhere in between. Each leader has a unique approach, which may seem to be a combination of other methods. There may be no “right” or “wrong” approach to leadership, and distinct techniques have their own place in management. Constantly learning about leadership methodology is crucial to assessing existing ideas and developing a unique set of principles and values. According to George, staying true to personal beliefs and acknowledging that all leaders have weaknesses is the key to effective leadership (2015). Hence, it may also be critical to accept the fact that mistakes are inevitable and normal in order to prevent motivation problems. In addition, using errors as learning opportunities may be beneficial for both the leader and the team.
Personal Strengths and Weaknesses
As already mentioned, there are numerous leadership approaches with distinct characteristics and purposes. Therefore, it may be complicated to evaluate personal strengths and weaknesses regarding leadership as the same aspect may be beneficial in some cases and have a negative impact on others. Nevertheless, there is a list of personal skills and competencies which may “objectively” be considered an advantage. First, I am capable of adapting to a new environment and assessing the circumstances. The ability to analyze information is needed for decision-making, which is a considerable part of leadership (Nichodemus, 2015). I also believe that supportive leadership may be particularly suitable for me. Supportive leadership is highly focused on team members and fits the modern management paradigm. It may be beneficial in terms of motivation and productivity and particularly effective in projects which involve creativity. Even though it may not be suitable under certain circumstances, it is an efficient leadership style that contributes to the development of healthy communication and organizational culture (McCarthy, 2018). Overall, my primary strengths are the ability to be flexible in the choice of methods and openness to new knowledge.
Nevertheless, there is a list of areas in which I need to improve or change my leadership skills. The first weakness is my tendency to micromanage team members as much as possible. I am always afraid to lose control of the process, and it frequently leads to trust issues. Some sources state that micromanagement may be beneficial as it provides employees with constant guidance (Mishra et al., 2019). However, in many cases, it drives the workflow into strict frames preventing feedback and flexibility. Another leadership area that requires improvement is closely linked with my ability to set clear expectations and goals. In many cases, I fail to assess available resources and consequently set unrealistic goals rationally. Failing to set clear expectations may lead to communication flaws, employee dissatisfaction, and low levels of engagement (Lowry, 2016). Acknowledging these weaknesses may be the first step to reducing their negative impact on my leadership performance.
Reference List
Baron, L. et al., 2018. Mindfulness and leadership flexibility. Journal of Management Development, 37(2), pp.165–177.
Cardon, P.W., Huang, Y. & Power, G., 2019. Leadership Communication on Internal Digital Platforms, Emotional Capital, and Corporate Performance: The Case for Leader-Centric Listening. International Journal of Business Communication.
Collier, P.M., 2017. Accounting for managers: interpreting accounting information for decision-making, Hoboken (N.J.): Wiley.
George, B., 2015. The Rise of True North Leaders. Leader to Leader, 2016(79), pp.30–35.
Lowry, G., 2016. Employee engagement: Communicating clear expectations. Seminars in Orthodontics, 22(2), pp.103–106.
McCarthy, C., 2018. Ease transitions by providing supportive leadership. College Athletics and the Law, 14(12), pp.12–12.
Mishra, N., Rajkumar, M., & Mishra, R., 2019. Micromanagement: An Employers’ Perspective. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 8(10), pp. 2949-2952.
Nichodemus, E., 2015. An approach to understanding leadership decision making in organization. European Scientific Journal, 11(11).