Key Strengths And Limitations Of Leadership

What matters the most is what you do day by day over the long haul, explains the author. If you continually invest in your leadership and let your ‘assets’ compound, the inevitable result is growth overtime. While some are born with greater natural gifts than others, the ability to lead is really a collection of skills, with nearly all of which can be learned and improved. You can be a good leader if you want to, since everyone has the potential to be one, you just have to understand that you can’t accomplish it overnight. Leadership is complicated and has many facets, and it takes a lot of ‘seasoning’ to actually an effective leader. Whether you do or don’t have the natural ability for leadership, the author states that in the development and progress process probably occurred in the following four phases: Phase 1 being ‘I don’t know what I don’t know’ here a person doesn’t realize how valuable leadership is and believes it’s for people up the corporate ladder thus passing up the opportunity to learn how to lead. Phase 2 is ‘I know what I don’t know’ here you begin to realize the importance of learning how to lead and the learning process begins’. Phase 3 is ‘I grow and know and it starts to show’, in this phase you realize you lack skills and begin daily discipline of personal growth in leadership. In phase 4 ‘I simply go because of what I know’ is when you’re knowledgeable and your ability to lead

Developing leadership abilities early in my life is vital to becoming the person I aspire to be. Having these kinds of skills is something that can help me become a more effective communicator. Communication is necessary in many careers throughout one’s lifetime. Acquiring attributes of a leader

In another instance, I had to lead my fellow student employees during one of our biggest summer events. Our team had coordinated this event a few times before and each person had both the ability and the confidence to complete their tasks. For this situation, I used an entrusting style of leadership and let them take charge of their respective portions of the event (Daft, 2014). This style of leadership gave them the freedom to use their creativity to improve the event and the decision-making process was more efficient.

Before anyone can become a good leader, they have to be able lead themselves in whatever area they want to lead in and I feel like I am a perfect example of that. Not everything comes easy for me, so I have had to learn to have good time management, self-discipline, and perseverance. These traits have helped me in my school work, athletics and in leadership in the community.

Leadership theories in and of themselves carry negative and positives characteristics. Within the various theories lie strengths and weaknesses that when applied to complex problems can highlight each one respectively. As I examine a few theories, I will look at the strengths and weaknesses of each and determine when and with which situation would these theories best be utilized. Collective leadership or distributive leadership, and leader-member exchange are both theories that incorporate specific team or group mentalities.

2- Taking self-assessments allow for recognition and understanding concerning one-self and the qualities possessed. Various approaches to leadership, decision-making, and personality traits greatly influence communication, motivation and management abilities within an organization. These skills can be learned and enhanced. Understanding how these styles impact others can empower leaders to increase organizational performance and create an improved work environment. Great leaders have impacted our societies and organizations. They have shared necessary guidelines for increasing leadership skills.

A society with an absence of leadership is one that exhibits disarray and pandemonium. Leadership, therefore, is a vital facet of human life and can be seen as a building block from which great nations were built upon or large corporations have thrived under. I believe leadership is intrinsically in all human beings, however some leadership traits in people are far more superior than others. This paper will evaluate results from multiple assessments that identify my particular leadership potential. Using Northouse’s text, this paper will also identify my particular strengths and weakness within leadership. The penultimate paragraph of this paper will consider how my evaluated leadership style interacts within my work environment.

As a leader, it's important to know yourself. In fact, I believe you can't lead if you don't have some basic knowledge of who you are as a person; like beliefs or strengths and weakness. My leadership must incorporate not only my positive attributes but must be willing to make changes with aspects of my personality that don’t work. Admittedly, I am sensitive and also passive. I tend to avoid conflict as much as I can. These characteristics might lead to issues of weakening my leadership. Being a leader to me shows having to show a strong front to most people. That doesn't mean a person should compromise who they are. I have to have a certain image when I enter a classroom. I can learn to be more assertive and have a firm voice in a classroom. I looked at the Johari Window website, to see what results I would get on their quiz.

The same is true for leadership. Not all who effectively lead are born with innate abilities that attract followers. Each of us brings our own combination of life experiences, personal traits and stylistic preferences to the practice of leadership. Through the act of deliberate reflection and contemplation, we become aware of ourselves and how our experiences and traits are likely to help or hinder our pursuit of effective leadership. We become aware of our personal truths, our strengths and our faults and I believe this is the foundation from which leadership is built.

People requires good leadership skills at personal, professional and social level. Personal leadership helps us to determine our desires, strengths and abilities. It means Knowing what we want out of life; knowing what success is for us; what are our goals and how to achieve those goals regardless of what other people think, say, or do. Personal leadership helps us to make our present better and shape a good future.

Leadership is something that we are all born with because we are all born. Therefore, who is a leader and who is not depends on who really wants to be a leader and who does not. Leadership is a skill and so it can be learned. As anything that is learned it demands practice and practice to be the best. It would not be something that will happen in a matter of a day. There are multiple elements that make a leader. Collaboration is a key element for successful teamwork. Therefore, a leader must always be in the look for ways to foster collaboration. Creating trust within the team, support face-to-face collaboration, transfer responsibilities when making decisions, and ultimately teach other how to be leaders. All of this is not done if it is not done from the bottom of your own heart.

It is evident that integrity and competence are two crucial traits of any successful leader. In order to get to know the importance of a quality over the other, we need to find out which of the two can a leader survive without.

Before one can lead others, they must learn to lead themselves. The first step to developing your leadership abilities is identifying your strengths and weaknesses. A few of my personal strengths are, integrity, problem solving, and vision. Some of my weaknesses are priorities, decision making, and most importantly, influence.

Knowing yourself and loving yourself unconditionally gives you an edge as a leader. You are comfortable with your skill set and freely give your knowledge and expertise to others in your team. You take time to mentor / train / teach your team some of the skills that you have and by taking this time you build rapport, become a leader who “walks their talk”, and someone who is willing to build the team.

Self-awareness is important in the development of a leader, because by realizing your faults and the preventing yourself from falling into the traps. A few tools used to help make people those more self-aware of their leadership skills are the IPIP test and 360 degree feedback. Research shows by understanding and examining your personality predicts leadership to a certain degree.