Strategic Plan For Personal Development
Strategic Plan For Personal Development
Contents
TOC o “1-3” h z u Responsibility PAGEREF _Toc379628442 h 1Empowerment PAGEREF _Toc379628443 h 2Pragmatism PAGEREF _Toc379628444 h 2Envisioning PAGEREF _Toc379628445 h 3Accessing my leadership Styles PAGEREF _Toc379628446 h 3Components of leadership styles PAGEREF _Toc379628447 h 4Assessment of personal leadership strengths PAGEREF _Toc379628448 h 5Leadership gaps PAGEREF _Toc379628449 h 6Moving from current state to desired state of leadership PAGEREF _Toc379628450 h 7Reason for Admiring and Striving to Become a Transformational Leader PAGEREF _Toc379628451 h 7Lead by Example PAGEREF _Toc379628452 h 8Motivate by Inspiring PAGEREF _Toc379628453 h 8Challenge the Brain Power PAGEREF _Toc379628454 h 9Support the Employee, Help the Company PAGEREF _Toc379628455 h 9Exceptional People Skills PAGEREF _Toc379628456 h 10New Initiatives PAGEREF _Toc379628457 h 10
Leaders are made and not born; therefore, leadership is earned within a given period of time. According to Kirk (2008), there are different roads of becoming an ideal leader. However, most people believe that the foremost leaders are not born but are made. This may be remarkably true given that there are different types of natural talents. Presently, people chosen to be the best leaders still continue to improve their skills of leadership by studying to improve their natural talents and skills. Leadership is defined as the ability of inspiring and influencing other people towards achieving the goals set by the leaders. The ability of leaders in leadership shows how much capacity the leaders have to do something through their talents and skills. Throughout my life when young, as well as I am now, I have been aspiring to have leaders who lead by respect, and who can accept the responsibilities which happen to come with the freedom of making their own decision. The irony regarding leadership can be said to be both complex, as well as simple. The following are characteristics of leaders that I honestly aspire to be.
ResponsibilityA person who is a leader should always be ready to appreciate all that may come with freedom for quicker decision making. I strongly believe that a good leader, and being in leadership is all about someone being responsible and what follows will always be respect for their positions and other people. Leaders should all the time be responsible to enable others follow their footsteps by creating a good environment for more empowerment. I aspire to be a leader who has the responsibility of looking at the complete picture and making everything done. The burly picture thinking have to be balanced pragmatically and doing what is supposed to be addressed today focusing on tomorrow. By understanding tomorrow, I mean that the leader should envision the future by the help of the people who are willing to create it. In my summary, I wish to clarify that responsibility in leadership is what matters a lot; all leaders should acquire the responsibility in leadership to lead effectively.
EmpowermentEmpowerment in leadership has also been my second thought regarding what I mostly aspire to have when blessed to be a leader in a given place. Leaders should be ready to understand that the first rule of empowerment is to “get out of their way”. It is true that, bureaucracy in most situations is mistaken for leadership. It is therefore, essential for all leaders to work for the people they lead, as well as achieving their goals by helping people to accomplish goals along with removing the barriers of goal achievements. Conversely, some people mostly confuse the term “having power” or “taking the control”. I personally believe that power grows only when it is well shared.
PragmatismGood leaders should have the characteristics of pragmatism; they should be practical and concerned with reference to actual practice, and not only theory. I honestly aspire to act like one when I will be a leader. Here is a situation that one day left me with a lot of questions:
“There was a leader in a small company who had been in many situations. The company had a vision which was remarkably clear; however, they had a hard time getting there or achieving their vision, and so the only way he could help this was by getting down to his feet and started learning by doing practical work.”
This signified to me how a good leader should lead by ensuring that, there are diminutive successes although the way. Because of the good leadership showed in this case, I honestly wished to be in the act, and that is why I have been aspiring to be led by leaders who lead by practical engagement (Smith, 2000).
EnvisioningI also aspire to be a leader who is successful by clearly focusing on what tomorrow may be. This means that, the necessary compromises within the actions should be done by designing and not by default. Leaders ought to understand that tomorrow requires more focus compared the total of all projections for every organization; however, it is extremely essential. Consequently, envisioning what will happen in the present requires passion and a strong belief of what will be. Most people argue that it is hard to determine the vision, but this can only be determined by those who are leading. It is hard for every leader to have the correct answers, but there should be capable minds who are supposed to envision for belief in inclusive and pragmatic, which results to a better end product. People usually buy into a vision that they create themselves (Kerton, 2008).
Accessing my leadership StylesThe easiest way I can access my leadership styles is by knowing what is right and what is wrong. My leadership styles are to lead by example, to work hard, as well as not asking any person to do anything I cannot do properly. If selected a leader, I would like to help others get promoted, as well as helping them to achieve their goals. Acquiring a good leadership styles does not need more time, however; it is one’s decision of understanding people who are led and how they should be led. Leading with integrity and strong professionalism requires a high determination within a person, as well as creating an attractive vision for the future.
Leadership approaches takes different approaches or styles; these can be based on different theories. A style in use can be on the based on the combination of what they believe in their values, preference and culture, and norms that are encouraged by the specific styles and at the same time discourage others. I would choose to use the transformational leadership style. Transformational leadership is a process where a leader takes actions so that they try to increase the awareness of things that are right and beneficial. There are various assumptions in this kind of leadership style; these include; people following a person who inspires them, people with vision and passion can be exceptional achievers, and the way that things can be got done is through injecting enthusiasm and energy. This leadership style therefore, is seen to bring positive changes in those who follow the transformational leader. As a transformational leader one is expected to be energetic, enthusiastic and passionate all at the same time. Personally I admire this leadership style due to its components.
Components of leadership stylesIntellectual stimulation requires that, as a transformational leader I challenge the status quo and at the same time encourage creativity among those who believe in me and are my followers. Through this style, I am expected to encourage followers in the exploration of other new ways of getting things done and offer new learning opportunities. I am also expected to put emphasis on problems and how they will be solved but not part of blaming.
Individualized consideration is another component, where as a leader, I will be involved in the offering support and encouragement to individual followers. This will enable me foster supportive relationships. As a transformational leader, I am expected to ensure that there is open communication to those who follow me free when it comes to the sharing of ideas so that I can offer recognition directly to the unique contributions of the followers. I will also act as a mentor to those who follow me and give them rewards if they are creative and innovative (Cherry, 2012).
Inspirational motivation is another component, where as a transformational leader, I will have a vision that is clear to enable me articulate to those who believe in me. I am also expected to be able to help those who believe in me and experience a sense of passion and motivation so that they can achieve the set goals. I am also expected to promote the consistent vision, mission, and set of values to my followers.
Idealized influence is another component, where as a leader, I will be a role model to those who are perceived as my followers. This is the fact that this people trust and respect me as a leader and they will emulate me and internalize the ideas that I put across. As a leader, I will gain trust from my followers through my actions and decisions. I will also be expected, as a leader, to place the needs of my followers first over my own, sacrifice any personal gains that I might have, and be extremely ethical in my conduct and actions. I will use power to influence the fight for common goals within those who are behind me (Cherry, 2012).
Assessment of personal leadership strengthsTo be transformational leader, I will require the specific strength that has been mentioned above. Some of the strengths that are expected are the ability to encourage people to take initiatives and take the risk. Another significant strength is to have the ability to lead people who have goals and know what is expected of them. I should also have the ability to challenge, develop, and empower those who follow me. Finally, a transformational leader should be able to value, trust and have respect for their followers.
Certain steps in development of personal leadership are required towards self-assessment in certain leadership strengths. First, I will clearly describe the skills and character traits that represent the desired strength in me as a transformational leader. A list should be made thereafter that will be used as a reflection of the leadership behaviors that when taken together, are a reflection of all the desired skills and character traits. This list of leadership strengths will be then broken down into sections for the formal assessment. The importance of the strengths will be then rated so that their importance can be clearly established. This test can then be completed with the use of standardized test or even interviews. If I lack the desired strengths, then I will go ahead with the development of what is required in a transformational leader.
Leadership gapsToday, there are different gaps that exist in the organizations, this are majorly brought by how individuals perceive one another when leading them. Employer’s employees’ relationship has been overlooked and has led to poor communication within the organization. I identified those gaps by assessing the competencies of leadership while discovering the leadership skills that could be essential to organization success. I also accessed the gaps by understanding the set of competency areas that were mainly unique to the organizations. Accessing the gaps of leadership were much difficult to me, however I managed by doing research in almost every society to identify the main cause of those gaps as well as recognizing the leadership gaps of competency to be addressed.
Moving from current state to desired state of leadershipI intend to develop this leadership style through various ways. Firstly the strategy entails the development of the visions, which will start by identification of what I envision as a transformational leader through the view of a future that will come as an excitement and convert potential followers. As a leader, I will develop the vision to drive my character. The next step is for me is to sell my vision constantly. It certainly requires a lot of energy and commitment by me as a leader (Myat, 2002). I will therefore, take the opportunity and use anything that works so that I can be able to convince anyone to join me in working towards my vision. To create followers, as a transformational leader, I will be extremely careful in trust creation and personal integrity since it is an extremely beneficial selling point.
Finding a way forward goes hand in hand with selling of the vision; this is the next step .as a transformational leader I should have the way so that I can lead my followers into that way. With clearly stated vision, though the way forward may not be obvious it will eventually fall into place. Finding a way forward can therefore, be a process that goes on as time goes by, and as a leader, I am expected to accept any corrections or changes, as well as failures along the way. The final stage is remaining up-front and central in the action of leadership.
Reason for Admiring and Striving to Become a Transformational LeaderThe transformation style of leadership draws on classified abilities and techniques to address leadership through developing different advantages for the organization. A leader employing this loom has integrity, sets an excellent example and evidently shares his objectives to his followers. Such a leader anticipates the best from the followers and that is why he can issue them with the best in return. As a leader admiring and striving to become a transformational leader, it is significant to have the ability to inspire individuals to look beyond their own interests and concentrate on the interests and needs of the team. This means there is the need to issue the team with arousing work and take the time to identify proper work and well-behaved people. In order to achieve all these goals, there is a need to adapt the following motives of a quality transformational leader.
Lead by ExampleTransformational leadership is wider and more challenging than a customary management speculation. Managers entrusted to transformational leadership attempt to exemplify qualities most referred to as the four I’s. These are the inspirational motivation, idealized manipulation, intellectual inspiration and individual consideration (Myat, 2002). As a leader, there is a need to adopt all these I’s in order to feel appreciated as a transformational leader. All it means is that the initial step in becoming a transformational manager is to strive to become an idealized persuader on the individuals under the management. This entail being an excellent example of the mindset and behavior that I wish the employees to imitate.
Motivate by InspiringTo become a transformational leader means to become an inspirational motivation to the surrounding people. Motivation is a subjective and highly individualized thing. It is difficult to succeed inspiring the employees in an organization without familiarizing with employees in the organization (Kerton, 2008). Comprehending the employees means to acknowledge them on an individual basis and comprehend what motives each of them require. Not all employees are motivated by similar things. For instance, one employee may be aggravated by an outlook of taking home a bonus, another by the opportunity of promotion, another by praise for work well done, another by conquering a challenge. Once a leader comprehends what motives the employees have, one can inspire them to perform more effectively than what they are doing at the moment.
Challenge the Brain PowerThis refers to the ability to motivate the employees intellectually. Rational inspiration is the reverse of lethargy; this means that one has to have the ability to conquer well-established behaviors and even pessimism to adjust the thinking of employees. This entails giving confidence to employees and helping them find a fresh and effective process, to propose fresh products and endorsements, or to recognize regions where the corporation delays behind fresh developments (Smith, 2000). This is an extremely effective means of getting the employees to participate in the growth of the organization. This is because, apart from the employees participating in production, they also take part in decision making and advancing productivity and competency. All begins by one becoming an intellect motivator, and that is my admiration as a leader.
Support the Employee, Help the CompanyA transformational leader is an individual who is not self-centered; a person who minds about the employees and the company. When he is at home or even on vacation, his mind always thinks about some strategies to progress the organization (Changing minds, 2012). Progression of the organization begins by personnel who have to be comfortable and motivated to pursue their duties. This means that I have to admire and strive to support both the employees and the corporation to advance in order to be among the transformational leaders.
Exceptional People SkillsAccording to the studies done by MacGeorge Burns on the concept of transformational leadership, a quality leader is an individual who identifies and investigates the present needs or requirements of a latent follower, seeks for latent motives in followers, and strives to satisfy higher needs of the employees and the organization (Cherry, 2012). A transformational leader should possess characteristics like decisiveness, vigorousness, heroic nature, and even be compelling because there is the essence to dexterously inspire workers. A manager with these exceptional populace skills brings benefits to any venture he partakes. That is why I am trying, as much as possible to adopt and become an influential leader in the organization.
New InitiativesThis refers to the point where the leader must come up with fresh ideas and tactical procedures on how to tackle things in the organization in order to ensure everything runs efficiently. Once the employees realize that their manager comes up with fresh ideas, they also get motivated to maintain the lead and increase the competitive advantage. It is also the point where the leader supervises special projects in the form of fresh initiatives (Kerton, 2008). As a leader, I have to strive to empower the workers to make adjustments in themselves and identify their full potential.
References
Changing minds.(2012). Transformational Leadership. Retrieved December 16, 2012 from http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/transformational_leadership.htm
Cherry, K. (2012).transformational leadership. Retrieved December 16, 2012 from http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/a/transformational.htm
Kerton, B. (2008). Do You Know What Kind of Leader You Want to Be?.EzineArticles Submission – Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-You-Know-What-Kind-of-Leader-You-Want-to-Be?&id=4456531
My Leadership Style « On Becoming a Leader.(2012). On Becoming a Leader. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://johndemmablog.com/2012/01/08/my-leadership-style/
Myat, M. (2002). 15 Ways To Identify Bad Leaders – Forbes. Information for the World’s Business Leaders – Forbes.com. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/10/18/15-ways-to-identify-bad-leaders/
Smith, S. (2000). What is Leadership?.Steven M. Smith & Associates, LLC — Accelerating Team Productivity. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://stevenmsmith.com/what-is-leadership/
