My Leadership : My Weaknesss And Strengths Of Leadership

There are three styles of leadership have been used to describe leaders in certain situations. I can be able to use the most of my skills if I have full understanding of my strengths and weaknesses associated with style of leadership that fits my personality (Salesforce.com, inc, 2016).

My own leadership style could be considered very similar to my mothers, our personalities are very similar and she was the first person I learned from, so it only makes sense. I consider honesty to be the most important trait. I work to be as transparent as possible with my team. With that comes being open and clear with communication. I have also found that being passion about your job and what you do has a huge impact on how followers see you.

With any course, especially one with a focus as broad as leadership, the material covered may include a range from useful to impractical. It is impossible to learn the skills necessary of an effective leader completely out of a book, it takes the application of them to understand. The development of leadership is vital to successfully moving forward in any career, so it would be beneficial to cultivate these skills academically.

A third leadership strength that I possess is my planning process. As mentioned earlier, I utilize various planners for different aspects of my life which helps me ensure that I make the time to do what I need and want to do. Through planning, I am able to break down my work and class assignments into steps so that I do not feel overwhelmed. It also helps me complete these assignments in a timely manner. This process is useful for all leadership styles, some more than others. This strength is particularly useful when using the directing style of leadership which entails providing detailed goals and tasks and monitoring the performance and progress of employees (Daft, 2014).

This leadership course has taught me to the importance of leadership and what it means to be a leader. That leadership is something that is learned and developed over time. To set goals and encourage those who are involved in accomplishing the goal. Being a leader more than just having follower, but to have enthusiasm, courage, humility, and integrity. This course have also helped me understand how to not only apply leadership to my personal life but to the working atmosphere.

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.

I believe that my general view of leadership has not changed over this course, however, before I had a very vague concept of what leaders do and how they act but not an in-depth perspective of the exact characteristics that they possess and how they use them to better themselves as well as their followers. Through this course I have been able to see how different people view leadership and the strengths and ethics that people feel are essential for the people to be successful leaders. This course has been very beneficial for me as a leader for several

At twenty-three, Carly Fiorina had dropped out of UCLA Law School with no plans about what she wanted to do with her future. However, almost twenty-two years later, she became president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Company - the first woman CEO of a Fortune 20 company. She was given a mandate by HP’s board of directors to “shake things up” and was later named the "Most Powerful Woman in Business" by Fortune magazine. Prior to joining HP, Fiorina spent nearly twenty years at AT&T and Lucent Technologies, where she held a number of senior leadership positions (Cara Carleton Fiorina. (2014).

To summarize my leadership skills I have weakness and strengths. Things that I do well are I have good organization skills I know how to organize things the order that need to be completed. The areas that I need improvement on are time management. I have to manage my time so that I can get everything in the time I have been giving.

My definition of leadership is being someone who represents a group of people, or team. This person takes charge of situations where a person is needed to represent the group or team. This person also sets goals, a common vision, and represents the team in both good and bad situations. The person is not afraid to own up to mistakes that the team has made, even if the leader may not have personally made the mistake. Furthermore, the leader sets the example for the team to follow. Additionally, this person shares their knowledge and experience and sets the example for others to follow. The final point and one that I think ultimately creates a good working climate, is that the person genuinely cares for the team and always has the best interest both personally and professionally.

My philosophy of leadership has changed after taking this course with Dr. Jim Street and Erin Parish. I would personally consider myself a leader from past positions or actions, although I have “expanded my frame” a lot after being in the Leadership and Legacy class. At the beginning of this semester I saw leadership as a position or skill. I still believe that it is a skill that can be retained, although it is not based off position but rather actions taken. I did not know the large variety of leadership that is surrounding me on a daily basis. I have been taught leadership previously by being in student council, public speaking class, Girl Scouts and being a guest service manager at Lowes Foods. This class has really tied all of those things together for me. Communication is crucial when it comes to Leadership, between other leaders and followers, to be a successful leader one must properly communicate which also means knowing how to listen.

Leadership is the ability to engage, inspire, motivate, and support others through setting examples and mentoring others. A leader must be connected and aware of their abilities and values while being able to identify their personal challenges. Displaying confidence in your leadership approach will allow for others to trust your lead and achieve positive results. Benjamin E. Mays, former president of Morehouse College, thought to be one of the greatest student affairs professionals, quoted, “Every man and woman is born into the world to do something unique and something distinctive and if he or she does not do it, it will never be done.” It is our job as student affairs professionals to use our strengths to have an impact on our students.

I have develop multiple leadership skills from being in the military. Recently I have become an NCO and have been given the chance to lead troops under me. Taking this course has taught me how to delegate work down. Running a shop by myself during the week I am so used to doing everything by myself I sometimes forget to delegate work down. From the courses I have taken I have gain new knowledge and have enhanced my skills in the field of Information Technology. This has given me the opportunity to train others and pass on my knowledge to them. I feel to become a stronger leader I need to take more leadership classes and lead other to become the strong leader I would like to be.

It is hard to quantify what I have learned in the semester of Leadership because the courses focus was not about memorizing data, but rather learning about having the will to lead and finding the courage to make it happen. A majority of the information I learned from this course came from learning about myself. Through readings, course activities, and various projects, I learned what makes a great leader, but more importantly what traits I possess that will make me a great leader. In order to be a great leader, one must have an understanding of what leadership is. Leadership is a social influence (Stogdill, p. 25). It means leaving a mark. It is initiating and guiding, and the result is change. Leading is the result of your passion coming to life.

When an employee of an organization feels their performance and achievements do not matter, that organization may ultimately suffer. Genuinely recognizing the value of your employees will help stop a leader from falling into the pitfalls of leadership, and having their employees enter into a dimension known as the ‘critter state”. An employee that falls into this state is known to have their ideas and skills fall short while they focus on a single question: “What will keep me safe?” (Comaford C., 2013). Below, I will explore the leadership pitfalls and how to possibly avoid them.