My Strengths And Weaknesses Of My Leadership Style

Throughout this course, I have learned several things about myself as a leader and about a leader in general. I feel like I now have the ability to point out many strengths and weaknesses I did not notice before. Strengths such as being able to find better ways of doing certain things, spot things that may or may not be really working, motivating team members, and working great under pressure. Some of my weaknesses include resisting change, constantly working within a group, because I always tend to feel like I'm doing either all or most of the work, and sometimes micro managing in an attempt to help/coach closely. Sometimes the micro-managing is unattended but at the same some things don't get right in time unless you keep a close eye on it.

Leadership goes beyond management, for some, leadership is instinctual and pours over into your personal life. This paper will discuss a leader I admire in my personal life, and analyze their leadership style. I will discuss how that leader has influenced my leadership style, as well as how things like environment and the economy affect my leadership approach.

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.

Leadership is an important outcome of the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program (Zaccagnini & White, 2014). Measurement tools are available that identify leadership style (Clark, 2010) and personal talents, called Signature Themes (Gallup, Inc., 2010). When leadership style and personal strengths are identified, they can be maximized to achieve success (Clark, 2010; Gallup, Inc., 2010). This paper provides both a framework about the importance of leadership in the DNP curriculum and several examples of how I will use my leadership style and Signature Themes to succeed in the DNP program.

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.

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).

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.

Today a lot of the things we talked about really hit home with me, and I actually cried in a room full of strangers as I told them my story and why I chose to be a leader.

will become stronger and have more depth, which will allow the entire team to move forward in attempts to achieve their ultimate goals.

The three concepts that I found the most valuable during my academic lessons at Non-Commissioned Officer Academy Intermediate Leadership Experience would be the three elements of flexibility, the five traits of followership, and leadership influencing styles. These concepts are very important to me because they will make a positive change in myself and my leadership style. My goal to change my flexibility and, my overall adaptability, would be to change my default setting of dispositional flexibility to a more positive outlook. I currently may have a stand-offish/negative outlook when it comes to change. To be a more effective leader I must will myself to maintain a positive disposition to a changing environment. The next goal would be

The Leadership Style Assessment tool, I am categorized to have free rein leadership style. I strongly disagree with this assessment for many reasons; I am detailed oriented and I never assume tasks will be completed correctly, unless, I complete the task myself. I am intently focused at work, rarely relaxed, as I want to ensure that I give 100% to my job.

The five strengths identified by taking the Gallup Strengths Finder Survey were; Relator, Consistency, Learner, Responsibility and Individualization. Each of these strengths are different in their own right and give a solid base as to the type of leadership style and personality type I possess. It is the combination of these strengths and how they are utilized that will determine the type of nurse practitioner I will become in my practice.

According to Schwartz (1997), Goizueta joined Coca-Cola at a time when the company was in trouble. Slowed by bureaucracy and with an eroding stock price, the beverage maker was slowly loosing its market share to rivals like Pepsi. An inspirational leader, Goizueta was able to turnaround the beverage maker and before his exit, the company had become one of the most recognizable brands in the world. His managerial style as Rowe and Guerrero (2010) point out was more intellectual than hands-on.

In chapter two of the textbook, Introduction to Leadership, I was introduced to leadership traits, and asked to identify my specific traits and determine my leadership strengths and leadership weaknesses. There is an extensive list of traits which contribute to the leadership process and effectiveness of the leaders, however, six are considered to be key traits: intelligence, confidence, charisma, determination, sociability, and integrity. (Northouse, 2015) Of these six traits, I consider intelligence, charisma, determination, sociability, and integrity to be my strongest, and while I am very confident, I tend to question myself occasionally. Therefore, I would consider confidence to be my weakest trait on the list.

What are the key strengths and weaknesses of the supportive, directive, and participative styles of leadership? Substantiate your response.