Self Leadership And The One Minute Manager

First published in 1987, The Leadership Challenge is a guide for becoming leader. The book received many awards and its above two million copies are internationally sold. The book teaches principles of leadership that apply whether the leader is running a sports team or a fortune 500 organization. The book includes stories and examples of many leaders from micro to macro level (Founders and Authors, 2013). The basic leadership principles can be adopted by anyone to challenge status quo and increase leader productivity multifold. The book tells about the flow and hierarchy of values too (Machedo, 2013). One can use the guide without an instructor to develop leadership traits.

Self leadership through personal learning and reflection “provides a foundation for effective leadership skills” (Watson, 2004). The Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL) includes self leadership as one of it’s five core leadership competencies, which is defined as “The Lead Self” domain. As part of Leading Self, effective leaders must demonstrate: self awareness, managing self, developing self and demonstrating character. (CCHL, 2010).

In presenting a theory about myself as a leader, I will attempt to draw conclusions about my strengths and weakness as a leader based on the things learned in this class. I will speculate on a reflective leadership best-self-portrait through my work experiences that draw on my interpersonal resources for vision. Recognizing my talents and shortcomings will help develop both micro and macro levels of resource development needed to reach my full potential.

Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal. The article “Leadership That Gets Results” by Daniel Goleman is an article that helps readers understand that there is not only one way of becoming a successful leader. Research indicates that leaders with best results do not rely on only one leadership style. Goleman, describes leaderships styles as array of clubs in a golf pro’s bag. Over the course of the game, the pro picks clubs based on the demands of the shot. Thinking is involved during the selection, but usually it is automatic. The pro is aware of the challenge ahead, quickly utilizes the right tool, and puts it to work. It has also been found that emotional intelligence

According to Showry and Manasa, the heart of human behavior in management is being self-aware. A manager must be aware of self, experiences and people’s impact on self. A good leader must understand his or hers own values, beliefs and interior/external motivations. Self-awareness makes a person in a leadership position look at their developmental needs realistically. An effective manager must have an internal sense of self and must be in touch with their values, characteristics, traits, strengths and weaknesses. Finally, to be a good leader one must have determination to shape their life by setting goals and building a team to accomplish these goals over time. Those who do not follow or are tentative about this process remain directionless and an ineffective manager and leader. Leaders should also have a

In Leadership 101 by John Maxwell, the author uses practical application points to give guidance on what it takes to be good leader. The book is divided in three parts, linking the development, traits and impacts of a leader, with a series of questions that the author answers. He also uses real-life stories and quotes from leaders such as the McDonald brothers and Princess Diana, to demonstrate leadership principles. The author also uses these examples and a detailed framework to help the readers enhance the leadership abilities they already possess. Maxwell suggests that in order to be a successful leader you need to; Follow your vision and bring others with you, produce a lasting legacy, grow the loyalty of your followers, make continual

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." Dwight D. Eisenhower This quote from Eisenhower rings true on many levels. During my career in the military and the private sector, I have been subjected to many different styles of leadership, good or bad. In my leadership roles I have attained, I tried to model leadership abilities by taking bits and pieces of previous leader’s styles and forming them into my own model. This has proven to work well as dealing with people from all different walks of life there is no one size fits all approach. In writing this paper, I will detail my own leadership platform drawing from the course material and various other sources. The goal of this paper is to show a solid understanding of the course teachings and perhaps give the reader a new found perspective on leadership.

Over the course of this semester, I have learned about the theoretical foundation of leadership and management. From various leadership styles to numerous learning tools have all aided in shaping me to become an effective leader not only in the health care profession, but everyday life as well. Through utilizing these tools, I have managed to put them into actions through working individually and in teams which has helped me to learn more about myself and the type of leader I am. Throughout this action plan I will reflect on my definition of leadership, what I’ve learned about myself in the capacity to demonstrate leadership, my leadership strengths and weaknesses and three action steps that will help me to develop my leadership in the future.

To begin with, the authors are crystal clear when it comes down to laying out the blueprint the requirements needed for a successful leader. Stepping into any profession requires patience and clear thinking. The authors mention “taking a minute out each day of your leadership can really make a difference between a good and a bad leader”. Throughout the book, the authors step into depth explaining why it is necessary for the leaders to take just one minute out of their day to notice any noteworthy changes in relationship within the firm. By being packaged in the box the entire day and not thinking and stepping out the box, it can cause delays in work and/or possibly an unsuccessful firm. The authors move on to speaking about the different levels of management and the flexibility that occurs at those various levels.

I chose this book in hope that it could help me understand the difference between managing and leading. In addition, I wanted to gain more knowledge and tools to help myself grow as a leader and help develop all of my subordinates that I may have to time throughout my career. The book jacket for this book is ultimately why I decided to read the book because it truly grabbed my attention. I found it interesting that John C. Maxwell is a #1 New York Times bestselling author (Maxwell, 2013). Moreover, the book jacket continued to catch my attention by stating to be more than a boss people are required to follow, you must master the ability to inspire and invest in people (Maxwell, 2013). I particularly found the “invest in people” line most interesting and caused me to want to read and learn more about the authors perspective on leadership.

Before this class, I had a very primitive and vague definition of leadership. Not only did I define it as per my views and ideologies, but I also said that each individual has their own definition of leadership. My initial belief was that leadership does not have a clear cut definition, but there were well defined leadership traits which made an individual. I also initially believed that personal traits did not translate into leadership traits with no strong correlation. After going through the various modules this class offered, it is safe to say that I have significantly redefined leadership and underwent a strong personal assessment. This paper talks what I took back from each of the class activities, assignments and how my self-assessment compares to the perception of others.

Leadership is a very broad topic; I never knew just how many different traits and skills that it takes to become an effective leader. Some of which I was familiar with, and others that I was not aware of, but now from taking this course, they all seem to be necessary for the role of leadership. The attached paper, will explain of some of the important theories and concepts that I thought were most important to be able to become and effective leader.

Before taking the leadership class I viewed leaders and managers the same and I was thinking that only a few people at the top of an organization can lead. However I was wrong and today I view leadership as the challenge and responsibility of every individual with potential to make a difference. Today, I view leadership as a social influence. It is initiating and guiding and the result is change. Leadership is more art than science and more skill than knowledge (Manning, p.61).

When I read the two articles “Becoming the Boss” and “A Survival Guide for Leaders”, I noticed various differences between the two. While both articles consist of tips and advice for leaders, they go about that in two diverse ways. From the one article read, leadership is made out to be an abundance of responsibility, while the other article starts by describing leadership as dangerous and risky. Although responsibility and danger come with both good and bad in this case, I felt very differently about the separate articles. However, in both readings there were things I liked and disliked, and many things I would remember for future reference.

The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D. and Spencer Johnson, M.D., seems like a practical simple plan on managing people and there for other areas of one’s life, however I must admit I am a little skeptical. The three philosophies do make sense especially once analogies are used to put them into more simple terms. Being in the work force for more than fourteen years I have witnessed many types of mangers. I have worked for hostile managers, calm caring managers and managers who fit somewhere in between. My skepticism with this theory is simply applying its use. On paper this method sounds great and makes a lot of key points, but again after