Introduction
There are many different ways of how a person can check his/her personal abilities to define what kind of job may be closer and more appropriate for him/her. This time, I make use of the psychodynamic approach offered in the book by Northouse and participate in the survey in order to define what kind of person I am and what qualities should perform the leading role in my life.
When I answered the questions in the survey, there were no difficulties to score the results and gain clear understanding of what had to be done and why. However, when I had to combine the scores of questions and unite them with such items like extravert, introvert, feller, thinker, etc, I was a bit surprised because I discovered many captivating things about my personality.
The psychodynamic approach helps to identify personal characteristics and clear up what activities are available and more successful for me; a definite comparison of leader and follower’s qualities provide me with a chance to realize that there are still some issues I have to work on and improve all the time in order to achieve the best results and become what I want to be.
Discussion
To comprehend what qualities should be regarded as my personal strengths and weaknesses, it is necessary to answer each question thoroughly and evaluate my attitude to each point and situation. The results of the survey show that I have more qualities which are inherent to Extraverts; it means that I prefer the outside world to my inside world, like to share my personal ideas with the others, and can thrive on communications on different levels.
I discover that I am an Intuitive who always wants to evaluate the impact of each thought and action before in order to be ready for the results expected. The qualities of Feeler make me take many things as referring to myself and suffer from them sometimes; however, at the same time, I, as a Feeler, am “very focused on the compassionate side of practice” (Ackerman, 2006, p. 16).
And, finally, it was interesting to realize that I am a Perceiver, a person who cannot make decisions independently all the time but still wants to have as many things at hand as possible. In general, the results of the survey underline that I may have all the necessary qualities of the leader however, I need to work more on the improvement of decision-making process and train myself to solve problems and organize the work more effectively and in accordance to the order required.
Kouzes and Posner (2007) admit that any leader has to posses the following qualities: to be honest, to be competent in different situations, to be inspired in order to inspire other people, and, of course, to be credible. With the help of the survey, I am able to identify both, my strengths and weaknesses as a team leader.
According to Hill’s model for team leadership, there are a number of tasks and functions that promote effective leadership and success of the work. Such duties like clarification of goals, proper training, establishment of structure (Northouse, 2006) have to be performed by any leader in accordance with the order and requirements settled.
This model also defines two types of leadership functions that take place on internal and external levels. The results of the survey prove that I am able to perform the functions on both levels, however, it is not always possible to promise the high quality of each function performed. This is why it is very important to improve the already gained strengths and clear up how to compensate the weakness which are still inherent to me due to lack of experience and knowledge.
One of the main purposes of the psychodynamic approach is “to encourage leaders and followers to become aware of their own personality types” (Northouse, 2006, p. 263). The point is that this awareness provides each person with a chance to evaluate personal qualities and take the necessary steps to improve everything. Right now, I have to think about the ways of how I can improve my strengths, make use of them all the time, and be sure about their reliability.
First, it is necessary to continue education and analyze what types of communications are possible between people who take different positions. In order to become a good leader, it is very important to define what kind of conversation is possible between the people with the same ranks and with different ranks. Communication between leaders and employers has its own peculiarities, and each leader has to know about these differences and follow the standards to gain recognition and respect.
Second, any leader has to evaluate not only the current situation and possible results of the actions but also be ready to forecast the outcomes of his/her own thoughts and plans. It is not enough to think about present but it is more important to evaluate past, consider present, and think about future all the time to achieve the desirable purposes.
However, it is also necessary to admit that the results of this survey show that my qualities are not as strong as any leader should have, this is why some improvements and compensations of personal weaknesses has to be admitted. Hill’s team leadership model shows that there are three types of functions any leader has to perform, and I am good only at some of them.
However, such duties like decision making, networking, and training are my weak point, and I have to train myself more to achieve better results. It is possible to use some historical archives to observe how other people made decisions and were able to train people around and give necessary pieces of advice.
Smart ideas, different experiences, and possibilities to change the situation – all this may be used to improve personal reputation and become better leader. It is also possible to consider the mistakes of other people and try not to repeat them in future. Of course, personal experience is the best practice in this life, and this is why it is also better to remember that personal interests and desire to be involved into practices may become the only way out.
Conclusion
In general, the results of the survey and the evaluation of personal strong and weak points to become a team leader help me comprehend that many things depend on person’s attitude to the situation and desire to cope with the challenges. The role of leaders is not that easy, and when a person makes a decision to become a leader and organize other people’s work, this decision has to be properly grounded and thoughtful.
This survey may be used as one of the first steps which have to be taken by future leaders in order to find out their strengths that have to be improved all the time and weakness that have to be compensated by means of other qualities inherent to people.
Reference List
Ackerman, L. J. (2006). Blackwell’s Five-Minute Veterinary Practice Management Consult. Ames: Wiley-Blackwell.
Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons.
Northouse, P.G. (2006). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.