SUCCESFUL LEADERSHIP

Leadership is an ability of a leader to lead and motivate the personnel of a business organisation so that team members can follow the directions towards varied actions. It is ability of making decisions, guide and influence people so that a clear vision can be shared between employees.

Portfolio activity - Personality Test

(Source: Personality test)

Reflection

As seen above, a personality test has been taken by me in which various question were asked and according to my responses various attributes are presented in above results of the test. According to the above test, an analysis to my strengths and weaknesses is developed below in which areas are identified where I feel, I need to develop my leadership skills.You can check out free Examples of Assignments.

After taking a personality tests and classifying my traits into strengths and weaknesses, I can reflect that I am able to of being a leader. It is evident that I need proper training of managing and leading a team which can be gained by me with an internship program in which I can face real life situations. This test has persuaded me to analyse my weakness areas from which I can ascertain tactics by which those weaknesses be evaded and turned into strengths.

Topic 2: Leadership Styles

Leadership styles

There are various leadership styles such as authoritarian and participative which provide assistance to leaders to make decisions in a certain way that it can result in the effective achievement of organisational goals. There are various leadership models which are studied in the module. These models are Fiedler's contingency model, The Normative Decision model, Path goal theory, Substitutes for leadership and leader - member exchange (Nahavandi, 1997). All these models include few guidelines which assist budding leaders to make reliable decisions.

Portfolio activity - Speech 

A charismatic speech is delivered and recorded in order to articulate the ideas and vision in an inspiring manner. 

Reflection

After reviewing my speech, I can say that my speech was considerably clear as I repeated the objectives twice so that audience can get my intention of influencing on the goals. The only drawback in terms of clarity I see in my speech is the metaphor of garden and flowers as this metaphor cab easily result into giggles among the audience as this metaphor is more a cliché phrase. I can see that from my speech I have reflected the personality exactly what I wanted to reflect which is an overenthusiastic leader who believes in his team.

My aim while delivering the speech was to reflect a charismatic personality so that I can compel my audience so that they can believe in my vision and provide their best efforts for fulling the goals. After watching and re watching my video speech, it has been seen by me that I have delivered the exact personality what I wanted. The only drawback I noticed that there were low usage of gestures and hand movements which I will consider for future purposes. According to Crowley, (2013), charismatic speech captures imagination and inspirations which I have successfully delivered by my speech.  

The tactics which worked for me the most was the repetition and rhythm. I ensured to repeat my goal twice so that it can be cleared that I am emphasising over the goals. Along with the repetition, I can also see that rhythm was my speech was a hit; especially the slogan which I created instantly and stressed that it must be repeated by my audience. According to Levay, (2010), appropriate use of rhyme, rhythm and repetition of key words or phrases can make the vision clearer and compelling and by uses these tactics I overemphasised my goals so I can say that these tactics were most effective for me.

The speech delivered by me in last is good in nature which provides the information about goals. The acceptance of this from the listeners is anticipated good. It is felt by me in last that deliverance of goal alone is not sufficient in nature as nothing is provided in respect to achievement of the same along with the formulation of specific strategies and objectives. The overall need in future while presenting the speech is about inclusiveness of the specific objectives and tactics which are needed to adhere in effective achievement of same. You can get Assignment Help in UK.

Topic 3: Leadership Environments

Leadership models

Leadership models are the frameworks which assist in becoming a strategic leader. According to Pearce and Manz (2011), strategic leaders are the individuals who shape the whole organisation. These individuals have the ability to consider both internal and external affairs so that flexibility can be maintained in operations of the organisation in a view perspective of long-term management. 

Portfolio activity - Self-rating and challenge-control matrix grid

The two leaders which are considered for this activity are Bill Chang and Tim Cook. Bill Chang is the Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel). Bill leads infocomm and technology team in this company and believes in innovation. On the other hand, Tim Cook is the Chief executive Office of Apple Inc. Tim leads sales and supply team of this company and believes in flexibility in organisation.

Using the exercise of Self-rating, these two leaders and I are assessed below:

Reflection

It is important for an inspiring leader to conduct a self rating activity so that the position of control-challenge can be ascertained. In this portfolio activity, self rating test has been taken by me. In order to effective compare myself with well known leaders; two leaders have been selected which are Bill Chang and Tim Cook. These two leaders are well known for their vision and efforts towards the success of their organisation. From the above activity, it has been ascertained that how selected leaders and I, use challenge control position.

Bill Chang has scored 9 in challenge task and 7 in control task due to which he has been plotted at the 2^nd quadrant of the matrix which reflects that the personality and leadership style of this leader seeks high challenge but has low control over organisational affairs. This position is effectively used by Bill, as he stresses over brining innovation in the company but make sure to overlook only technology department which can be effectively controlled. Singapore telecommunication organisation is one of the most growing company and due to the efforts of Bill, this company is continuously innovating its services by seeking high challenge.

Speaking about Tim Cook, he is the CEO and leader of Apple Inc. which has been plotted at 1^st quadrant of the matrix which implies that he has a high challenge and high control position in the organisation. Tim Cook has effectively used this position and has ensured that the products and services of Apple are highly innovative and the organisation must adapt challenges to innovate their services. Tim Cook has created a balance of taking high challenges by highly controlling his organisation's affairs.

After the analysis of Tim Cook and Bill Chang, it is evidently proven that I require a whole lot of practice and experience of being a leader. From the matrix developed, it is evident that I have been plotted at 4^th quadrant; according to which I have low control over the affairs and I seek low challenges. With the current position of mine at control challenge matrix, my personality as a strategic leader will bring out as an immature and uncontrollable personnel. With my current personality, I will not be able to either effectively control the affairs of the organisation or not be able to seek challenges by which obviously I will save my organisation from contingent losses but the growth of my organisation will also be restricted. So, I think I have to work over my skills and must grab some experience of being a leader.

Topic 4: Individual Traits & Characteristics

Individual Traits & Characteristics

Traits and characterises of leaders are the personalities which makes a leader effective. According to Furnham et.al. (2013) the study of individual traits and characteristics has remerged. A leader has various traits; some of which are inherited but some of them are learnt from the experiences of the leader. These traits are the reflection of behaviour, personality and leadership style of a leader.   

Portfolio activity

Self-Assessment1: Value Systems

Self-Assessment 2: Emotional Intelligence

Self-Assessment 3: Proactivity

Self-Assessment 4: Type A

Self-Assessment5: Self-Monitoring

Self-Assessment4: Narcissism

Reflection

From the portfolio activity of self assessment which has been done is summarised in above section which includes total scores which are gained by performing all the activities. From the first activity which has been conducted is Value Systems assessment. According to this activity, the most important values for me are ambition and hard work, honesty and integrity and justice and fairness. I am clear about my priorities and these choices which I have made makes it clear that the most important values for me is to be hard working and honest about my work so that overall fairness can be attained.

The next characteristic against which I have performed the activity is Emotional Intelligence. By performing this activity, it has been ascertained by me that I am not able to handle my emotions effectively. It is evident that I lost my calm in time of crises which make it worse for me to be focused at the time of crises. It is also observed that I am a kind of person on which people can depend by this dependability even causes obstacles for me. My overall score in this activity was 5 which is considerably low as it is difficult for me to work under pressure.

Another characteristic which was assessed by me was proactive. Proactive is a trait which allows an individual to take charge of the situation and try to control the situation. After performing the portfolio activity, my overall score was determined as 35 which indicates that have various trait which makes me proactive leader. Despite of the fact that I lose calm in critical situations, it is also evident that I do not overlook those situations. I make sure that all the situations are under my control. It is also evident that I am highly emphatic for others. I make sure to be sensitive towards issues of people around me. I am capable to challenge bias and discrimination so that a positive environment is built around me.

Another activity which is performed by me is assessment of Leader Type activity. According to the results of this activity, it has been seen that I am a Type A leader which tend to persuade others and believe in communicating thorough proper listening. Self monitoring is the another activity; results of which has been interpreted that I am a high monitoring individual who makes sure that I am aware of all the situations around me and I see the opportunity where others see a problem.

Narcissism is the trait which includes characteristic of self flattery, perfectionism and arrogance. From the portfolio activity conducted, it is seen that I have gained score of 96 out of 120. This score reflects that I am a moderate narcissus.

Ideal organisation

After assessing my characteristics and traits, I am visualizing a better picture of an ideal organisation in which I desire to work. By profession, I am a chemical engineer but I want to be an entrepreneur in order to serve society by providing them products which can be utilised by them and will facilitate them with fuller satisfaction. But before that it is important to gain reliable experience of being a leader. According to Seibert and Kraimer, (2001), an ideal organisation is the workplace in which people can find happiness in their work.

My ideal organisation must in engineering industry which could possibly operate in chemical components. The mission of my ideal organisation must be to facilitate society by providing them products by which they can attain fuller satisfaction. There must be a culture where people can hold power according to their contribution and not according to their gender, recommendations or experience. I am assuming that my organisation will follow a hierarchical structure where people can freely be communicating but by following a proper chain so that value of heroes can be even enhanced. Leaders of this enterprise will be its heroes who will control the functional structure, formal communication flow and organisational issues of the enterprise.

In my ideal organisation, the role of leaders will be to come up with great ideas and then discuss them with the followers so that followers can effectively play their role of being great supporters. Leaders of this organisation will also be responsible for all the issues such as dress code, work schedule etc. Few more expectations which I have with my ideal workplace are that the dress code will be formal, work schedule will be flexible, there will be space for hang out in office, office décor will be pleasant and will be located at a posh location.

Topic 5: Power and Influence

Power and Influence

Power and influence are the elements of authority which enables a leader to control and take responsibility for the activities of their organisation. The power and influence are acquired by various sources which are required to be controlled in to order to gain power over the operations of an enterprise. Power and influence impacts the behaviour and attitudes of the people. Power is an opportunity which is provided along with a title of being accountable for a task in organisation. In order to analyse the impact of power and influence, an activity is being performed.

Portfolio activity - Self-assessment activity of understanding power and influence

Nine tactics of power are assessed in this activity which are Personal Appeal, Consultation, Inspiration, Rational persuasion, Coalition building, Exchange, Ingratiation, Legitimate tactics and Pressure. These nine tactics can be used by a leader in order to gain power in an organisation These tactics are sometimes used individually and sometimes in combinations. A total of 31 affirmative statements are judged by me in order to self assess my personality about my preferences of selecting the tactics. After judging all the 31 statements and allocating marks to each of them according to the scale of 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Somewhat disagree, 3 = Neither agree or disagree, 4 = Somewhat agree and 5 = Strongly agree. All the marks are then added together to score all nine tactics as:

Tactics for power and influence are just the techniques by which a leader acquires power in an organisation. After conducting self analysis, it has been observed that I use each and every tactic which can provide power. The only difference is that few tactics are more widely used than others. Tactics such as Pressure, Exchange, Coalition Building and Inspiration are few tactics which are averagely used by me as in the situations when I require to pursue my subordinates or colleagues to perform their best. These four tactics are used by me to gain the power in situations in which I have to convince personnel to work harder in order to achieve organisational goals.

There are also few tactics which are highly used by me in order to gain power. These tactics are Ingratiation and Consultation. The reason behind using these two tactics more frequently than others is the situations I face in my workplace. Ingratiation is a source which I use to pretend to do some acts so that my subordinates can like me as a mentor by which I can gain their respect and can ultimately acquire power to control and order them. This source is highly used by me in which I pretend to be a role model so that I can have the key to make decisions in my workplace. Another tactic which is highly used by me is Consultation. This tactic is a source of power in which I allow people to come up to me in any organisational issue and I will do my best to resolve their problem. This tactic is widely used by me as it is a continuous process by which I gain trust of people and acquire the power to make decisions for them as well.

There are various ways by which I can even expand my sources of power. These ways are to attend seminars and workshops which can teach me how to be a successful leader. Another way is to acquire consultation from my seniors who are obviously more experienced than I am, so that I can learn from their mistakes and can learn few more tactics to source the power and influence. 

Topic 6: Developing Leaders

Developing Leaders

Leadership is not a destination; it is a life long trek which allows a leader to learn from life experiences. In the course period of developing leaders, the fundamental premise is the development and enhancement of individual characteristics and traits which can transform an individual into a leader. In this portfolio topic, various reflective questions are answered so that a mission statement can be developed along with personal development plan. 

Reflection

I am an entrepreneur by profession and chemical engineer by qualification. My life aims to start a venture which can produce such communication devices which can actually benefit its target market. I objectify to achieve convenience of people so that my business can be an ideal for future entrepreneurs. I want to be known as a leader who is capable to manage the team and as manage the operations of the organisation as well. I want to be known as the leader who considers the team workers as a family and considers all their issues so that their best potential can be reflected in their work.

If there would be only one thing for which people could remember me, so I want that thing to be my contribution towards the society. Even after having the qualifications of a chemical engineer, I aspire of an entrepreneur. I want to establish a venture which can facilitate the people by its operations. By earning high profits, I want to facilitate people of society and want to contribute towards people health and education. I want people to remember me for my excellent approaches of corporate social responsibilities.

My epitaph should say “this life isn't practice for the next one”. This phrase can reflect my personality of not giving up and try until the goal has been attained. This epitaph can reflect my personality effectively and also can reflect my aim in life.

After my retirement, I desire to see the world but till than I want to achieve whatever I aspire from life.  I want my biggest accomplishment to be my memory as a great leader and entrepreneur. Obviously I want to earn millions and desire to live a luxurious life. But the most prioritised achievement of mine is to be a great leader so that I can live forever in the memory of people.  

Portfolio activity - Creating mission statement and development plan

To achieve the above mission, it is important to create an effective development plan

Read More: Different Types of Entrepreneurial Ventures and Typology - Nom foods

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