There are two leadership examples which I find personally meaningful. One of them is my late grandmother – though she never attended college and never held any position of authority or leadership, she led a life in which her values were quite clear. She valued a strong work ethic; read voraciously to keep her mind sharp; and always provided for her family. Her children went farther in the world than she did, and she was proud of them. In essence, she led by example – as did my other example: my mother. My mother has always believed in education and encouraged me to go as far as I could in school, like she did, but to never let my career consume me. She had time for her kids and for fun and has always seemed well-rounded.
My leadership strengths and preferences rest in my willing to collaborate and actively seek input. I have also been described as and understand myself to be charismatic – charisma “has been identified as a key characteristic shared by transformational leaders” (Best, 2010, p. 24). I also think the statement “the ability to inspire trust and competence in others, high energy, an action orientation and high levels of emotional intelligence” also describes my leadership strengths and preferences as well. I am also self-motivated, but sometimes this makes me prefer not to collaborate, especially when I think it will save time and conflict to simply do it myself. Yes, I do prefer to collaborate, but sometimes it seems like more trouble than it’s worth. This is more so the case on days when I’m feeling particularly introverted. I also experience what Strang & Kuhnert (2009) term neuroticism: I sometimes experience moods of anxiety, self-pity, tenseness, touchiness, instability, and worry. These can present challenges to being an effective leader.
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"Strategies to Assess Leadership and Management".
One strategy for enhancing your leadership skills and competencies is actively seeking 360° feedback to get a comprehensive picture of where I need to work (Strang & Kuhnert, 2009). This would help me better understand where I’m succeeding and don’t need work as well.
- Best, C. K. (2010). Assessing leadership readiness using developmental personality style: A tool for leadership coaching. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching & Mentoring, 8(1), 22‒33.
- Strang, S. E., & Kuhnert, K. W. (2009). Personality and leadership developmental levels as predictors of leader performance. Leadership Quarterly, 20(3), 421‒433. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.03.009
