Although the society has admitted that good leadership is of the primary importance, nobody has given a clear definition of leadership that will include all its significant aspects and areas in which it can be used. For instance, Manoj Kumar Sharma and Shilpa Jain state that “Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent”. Apparently, a leader is expected to provide an impact on the workers, frame and direct their performance, and stimulate them to achieve the organizational goals. Although leadership implies influencing, leaders are not the only people who can impact the situation. Hence, leadership is expected to have an exclusively dynamic nature.
Depending on the techniques and approaches that a leader may rely on, various leadership styles have occurred, among which the most widely used are autocratic, transformational, situational, and servant leadership styles. Each leadership style offers an abundance of advantages and disadvantages to a leader; hence, it depends on the situation what leadership style is better to use.
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"What is Leadership And Who You Are As A Leader".
My personal perception of leadership differs from the above-mentioned variations; nonetheless, I share the idea that leader should perform situationally and be able to quickly switch from one style to another. That is to say, leaders should demonstrate a high level of adaptiveness to prosper in this position. I consider that leader is a role model and the shiniest example for the workers to follow. He/she is a tutor that teaches and guides the subordinates. At the same time, a veritably talented leader, being involved in the teaching process, does not miss an opportunity to learn from his/her supporters. That is to say, he/she is capable of affecting the subordinates whereas subordinates can provide an impact on their leader. If this mutual interaction does not take place within the organization, it results in autocratic leadership style in which leader commands whereas the employees execute, not even having an opportunity to unlock their potentials. For this reason, I associate leadership with wisdom and knowledge of a person that manages to use these qualities to help others succeed.
Who am I?
Multiple leadership questionnaires, as well as my personal vision of leadership, have helped me to determine my own leadership style. Hence, according to the result achieved, I am a democratic leader. Sanghan Choi describes democratic leader as an individual who shares decision-making authority with others. Asserting that this leadership style is associated with high morale, Choi denies that it implies low productivity level. Moreover, democratic leadership is proved to increase followers` effectiveness, involvement, commitment, and satisfaction. Participation, in turn, is generally regarded as a fundamental principle of democratic leadership and is expected to be helpful, encouraging, and friendly. Furthermore, democratic leadership emphasizes group participation. On the other hand, such leaders are supposed to be knowledgeable, stimulating, and influential. In addition, they create the environment in which the subordinates are encouraged and permitted for self-determination. These people manage to successfully distribute responsibilities and authorities among the followers, empower and assist them in the decision-making process.
Personally, I feel that I am a purely democratic leader. I do not have a necessity to prove my authority and demonstrate my power. On the contrary, I feel like being a tutor for them, a person who can guide them and stimulate both their personal and professional growth. To be a leader according to the position does not mean to be the most experienced individual. I am convinced that a subordinate that has a specific area of expertise manages to get the most profound knowledge in this sphere. Hence, even if I am expected to be the most skillful person, I still need an assistance of those people who regularly operate in this or that field and, therefore, can provide more information about the problem and suggest a meaningful solution. If the situation is disputable, I can involve more participants in the decision-making process. At the same time, I understand perfectly well that my leadership style is inappropriate when the situation requires immediate reaction. For this reason, if it is required, I rely on my own knowledge and capacity to generate the outcome.
In settings that do not require urgency, I prefer interacting with the team members to giving commands. While working, I tend to empower my team to make their decisions independently. Such approach allows me for increasing productivity since every team member feels that he/she is the only person who is responsible for the outcomes of the decisions made and, as a result, elaborates each step more carefully. At the same time, I strive to create a clear vision of the outcomes and understanding of the organizational mission. People should be aware of what they contribute to from day to day.
In addition to my personal reflection, I have passed several questionnaires that have clarified my leadership style preferences. For instance, according to the result received from Stellar Leadership Organization, I am a democratic leader. The test is aimed at indicating which of three leadership styles is preferred by a participant. In autocratic, democratic, and empowering leaderships I scored 23, 40, and 28 respectively. This test has proved that I am an adherent of democratic leadership style, meaning that I empower the team members to participate in the discussion; nonetheless, the final word always rests with me. Moreover, according to the test results, I am well aware of the needs that team members generally have (including their intention to actively communicate and feel an involvement in the decision-making process). Indeed, I am always interested in the wishes and expectations of the team since I believe that the correspondence to their needs is closely associated with their satisfaction with the job that they are involved in. The level of satisfaction, in turn, manages to affect the productivity of the team and, as a result, the whole organization.
In accordance with the results of the second test, I am a transformational leader. Although these leadership styles have much in common, I still believe to be a democratic leader since there is a slight difference between transformational and democratic leaderships. For instance, democratic leadership actively relies on the consensus and group inputs while solving problems. Although these leaders encourage open discourse, they still prefer to make a final decision. That is to say, democratic leadership is flexible and may vary from autocratic to laisse-faire. It gives the leaders an opportunity either to provide total control over each team member or create a highly motivating environment for them, thus encouraging independent performance. A transformational leader, in contrast, tends to inspire the team by virtue of his/her belief, passion, and enthusiasm. Evidently, the test failed to provide trustworthy information about my leadership style; nonetheless, the results achieved are very close to what sort of leader I am. Finally, the test suggested by a psychology expert Kendra Cherry has proved once again that I am a democratic leader that encourages collaboration and empowers the team to perform independently, thus taking responsibility for both success and failure.
Leadership Legacies
I strongly believe that people do not remember their leaders for what they have done for themselves. They remember only what they have done for others. For this reason, leadership legacy is a substantial component of every leadership practice. Being a democratic leader, I highly appreciate collaboration, assuming that collaborative work creates a friendly environment which stimulates creativity and increases productivity and effectiveness. Hence, my legacy would be a democratic friendly environment in which every worker is empowered to act independently and, therefore, bears responsibility for the consequences.
In the new environment, every subordinate would be encouraged not to be afraid of being independent. Although there is higher probability to make a mistake, the experience gotten is the most treasured possession that s subordinate can ever have. Moreover, decreased supervision enforces people to rely on each other, therefore, intensifying active communication and flow of the newest and the most creative ideas. I want them to have a strong team spirit and a sense of mutual supportiveness. Even though I expect my subordinates to perform independently, they should remember that my assistance is guaranteed and that I will always give them a helpful hand and/or pithy advice. Additionally, I seek to create an environment in which every individual is involved and feels that although he/she accomplishes small personal tasks, all the results will ultimately contribute to the final goal which is usually a prosperity of an organization. Hence, fruitful environment, a strong sense of team spirit, creativity, and personal responsibility of every worker are the core constituents of my leadership legacy.
Strengths and Areas to Improve
Leadership is a continuous learning process which requires a leader to dedicate much time and efforts to get satisfactory results. As a leader, I am well aware of all my strengths; nonetheless, I also know perfectly well what areas need to be improved. Hence, self-confidence, positive outlook, and emotional intelligence are the key strengths that impact the effectiveness of my leadership.
Self-confidence
Self-confidence is regarded as one of the strongest characteristics that I have. Firstly, I have a high self-esteem and, therefore, strongly believe in my professionalism and effectiveness of my decisions. I am seldom assailed by doubts and I am always convinced in inevitable success of the decisions made.
Positive Outlook
Although the working process implies some difficulties and problems that should be solved, I always have a positive outlook and manage to inspire others. I never give up and easily accept any challenge. My positive outlook makes others believe that the goal will be finally achieved. Moreover, it encourages them and increases their productivity.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence allows me for interpreting people`s emotions and, as a result, understanding their intentions, motivations, wishes, and the level of satisfaction with what they actually do. It helps me to become more successful and provide necessary changes in regard to the needs of others. Hence, my assertiveness, resistance to stress, optimism, and flexibility which are associated with a high level of emotional intelligence greatly assist me in goal achieving.
Areas to Improve and Obstacle to Overcome
Although being a good leader, I feel that one area of my leadership requires an immediate enhancement. Hence, I fail to create an inspiring vision for the future. I cannot formulate what should be done and determine how it can be done. I consider this inability to be the only obstacle that prevents me from being a highly effective leader. For this reason, to overcome it, I need to improve my persuasive skills and decision-making capacities. Decision-making, in turn, is regarded as a driving force in the leadership practice. As Zimmerman and Kanter specify, decision-making “may be broken into parts – define the problem, specify the objective, gather data, generate alternatives, weigh the risks and uncertainty, identify the trade-offs, consider consequences, and select the optimal choice”. Vision appears to be closely associated with decision-making skills as it requires a leader to make all these steps prior to building an inspiring vision. If I manage to define the problem and then generate potential alternatives, I will better understand what the final result will be like and, therefore, will sound more persuasive. In order to persuade somebody in the rightfulness of the decision, it is crucially important to know more about the problem than it is required and be able to answer all the questions that may be potentially asked. Only a highly knowledgeable and competitive leader is the most persuasive one.
- Bolden, Richard. What is Leadership? London: South West of England, 2014.
- Choi, Sanghan. “Democratic Leadership: The Lessons of Exemplary Models for Democratic Governance” International Journal of Leadership Studies 4, no. 5 (2012): 245-262.
- Hoobs, Daryl and Ronald Powers, Leadership: What is It? Its Dimensions. Ames: Iowa State University of Science and Technology, 1976.
- Sharma, Manoj Kumar and Shilpa Jain. “Leadership Management: Principles, Models and Theories.” Global Journal of Management and Business Studies 3, no. 3 (2013): 309-318.
- Stefanović, Nikola/ “One-Dimensional and Two-Dimensional Leadership Styles.” International Journal for Quality research 1, no. 2 (2007): 105-111.
