Leadership Development and Action Plan - Example

Running Head: Leadership Action Plan Leadership Development and Action Plan [Client’s Name] [Affiliation] Leadership is not only about leading other people; it is not about making great (often impossible) things happen; it is mainly about knowing one’s own strengths and weaknesses and achieving great things despite the human limitations (Conger, 1991); it is about seeing through the problem and finding a way to solve each and every problem that would yield the greater goodness (Mowday & Sutton, 1993); it is about knowledge and understanding of oneself (Bolman, 2003) and using that same understanding to help other people see themselves clearer (Conger, 1991). Leadership to me is becoming the best possible version of oneself in order to help other people become the best versions of who they are. This simple yet elegant notion of leadership has always been the core of my leadership approach, even though I was unable to identify this concept before. In the last few weeks, I have realized a lot about my leadership flaws and strengths. I have seen a lot of what could have been a better approach to leadership, or what approach could have yield better results. Even before this module, I have been so much aware of my strengths and weaknesses as a leader and as a manager. For one thing, I am aware that I have a strong sense of responsibility and that I harbour an extreme sense of duty to my employees and to the people I transact business with. Being exposed to various organizational and operational challenges since my childhood, I have developed (and somehow perfected) my own way of managing my people and inspiring them to follow my lead. I have established personalities and attributes that I know (and I am aware) that would help my people adhere closer to me and my business. Because of the mostly egoistic leadership approach defined and crafted mainly though my limited experience in leading people and managing organizations, I have flaws which, although are not major, could have made me and my organizations better (in hindsight). Also, I have some personal characteristics that I often have a hard time delineating from my organizational characteristics and this sort of create a strong disorientation on my part which I sometimes find disconcerting and counter-productive (like how I get too focused on the project/issues at hand that I tend to forget the details or progress of the less important or less demanding concerns). My exposure to the leadership module in the past few weeks has not only helped me see my flaws or give more definition to my strengths. It has helped me elaborate my view and perceptions on leadership by looking at leadership through a different perspective. For the past two decades of leading the organization and making things happen, my leadership is mainly directed on achieving the strategic goals and objectives of my organization and executing the plans I have for the organization in a very precise manner in order for me to get to the level of success I want. While this looks (and feels) perfectly fine for me, I realized that this approach bars me from building strong and healthy relationship with the people around me. According to Conger (1991), leaders are different from managers in the sense that managers look at the welfare of the project while leaders look at the welfare of the people. I have realized that I am already past my prime and that soon or late, I will have to step down from my current position. Was I successful? Probably yes. Did I change lives? There are many lives I have economically changed. Have I touch lives? Probably, but I wouldn’t know. What I do know is that I want to touch lives in a way I have never done before. I want to feel more responsible and more personal with each person whose lives I touched. I want to build relationships not just by giving people jobs but more importantly by giving them hope and confidence in their capabilities. I would want to be a part of the change I want to see in the world, even if I start little, in order for me to see the change I want to see. It all comes down to what I still want to achieve. I am very much aware that the business I have established can go on and progress without me directing it. I have selected the best and the most reliable people and have trained them to replace me anytime. But at my age and with my wealth, the potential wealth I can accumulate no longer becomes material. I want something that could give me a deeper sense of purpose; something that could give meaning to what I do. I want to be more passionate in what I do and to see the effects of my passion taking place in the relationships I have accumulated. As what I mentioned in my personal vision statement, I want to be a well informed leader that brings out the best in people and in situations (Sergiovanni, 1989) and a leader who is always ready to impart his knowledge, ideas, experience, and his life to the people will almost always find his people sharing a positive and healthy relationship with him (Salas et al, 2004). I want to become a complete leader, despite the limitations of my knowledge, experience, and life expectancy. I want all the people who works for me and who works with me as a friend they can trust and they can share their thoughts with. I badly want to develop myself into something or someone that could bring me closer to this view I have of leadership. I would want to make good use of the knowledge and information shared by the module in making me become a complete, happy, and fulfilled leader that I still can be. Leadership Philosophy Modern day organizations are becoming more complex that traditional view of leadership no longer works or cease to work efficiently. The demands for good leaders in the organization have increased significantly in the last few decades as the demand for results in organizations has become enormous (Allen & Hartman, 2008). Organizations want to achieve objective goals but are required to address the needs of the subjective elements in an organization, like the human resource and the socio-civic responsibilities of the organization. While the concept is easy to grasp, many organizations find it hard to fuse objective goals to subjective elements and so they experience serious troubles in meeting both ends meet. I, for one thing, have seen how things similar to this works and my objective self pushes me to always consider the objective results first – even at the expense of the honest and hard-working workforce. This view towards organization may have been common nowadays as the modern society still sees strong evidences of sweatshops, unfair treatments of employees within the organization, the prevalence of workplace discrimination, and such. In principle, leaders and managers opting this kind of organizations earns a lot by paying their workers low and selling their products in the market at competitive price. The leaders engaged in such shady business clearly have no regard to the welfare of their employees and workers so long as their financial goals and objectives are met. I was exposed to various kinds of leadership and management styles even at a young age. I have seen people who claim to be leaders or managers prosper at the expense of their people. I have also seen honest leaders that struggled with their people in order to meet the goals and objectives of the organization. My exposure to the best and the worst kinds of leadership styles has helped me a lot in deciding which path to leadership I should choose for myself. Leadership, just like any decisions in life, must be grounded on strong and sound principles (Bolman & Deal, 2003). Leaders that have clearly identified and framed their motivation to lead and their purpose for leading are more likely to succeed in their endeavours than leaders who randomly choose decisions or leaders that lack the basic principles to guide them in their decision-making process (Child, 1975). Over the years of leading people and managing organization, I was able to come up with at least two principles that I think (and I deeply believe) leaders should have. These principles are (a) leadership is a learning process, (b) leaders inspire people or organization to take the goals and objectives further, (c) leadership requires competence, and (d) leadership is all about believing in other people’s potentials. Most people are afraid to lead because they feel that their flaws are too great to inspire leadership. Contrary to popular belief, leaders are not flawless; they are just courageous to admit their faults, mistakes or shortcomings and confidently take the bold step forward to lead, knowing that leadership is a process and everyone will eventually learn from previous mistakes and grow from them (Allen & Hartman, 2008). Because leadership is a process, imperfections are acceptable. Historical accounts on the lives of Washington, Lincoln, Ford, and other great leaders indicate that they have had earlier mistakes which contributed significantly to their leadership growth (Schon, 1991). I can say that I have gone through a lot of mistakes and I have learned a lot from them. There were mistakes where I paid substantially for and yet I still manage to get a strong hold of my position and responsibility to lead. I realized that I am a leader not because I am the best person for the position but because I see myself grow from my mistakes. Leaders inspire people (Conger, 1991). It is difficult to imagine leaders that do not hold charm and influence over their domain. Majority of the leaders around the world, be they famous or relatively unknown, possess some attributes that make them attractive or iconic to people. These attributes and characteristics set leaders apart from common men. Besides, the effectiveness of a leader is measured by the degree of inspiration he imparts on the people he handles, and not on how wealthy or how famous he is. After all, leadership is all about making a positive dent in people’s lives. But how do leaders inspire? The answer is pretty straightforward. Leaders inspire by being good at what they do best. Although competence is not always required for leaders, I believe that competent leaders are necessary in today’s organizations. A leader can create grand visions of the world he is in but only a competent leader has the skills, talents, knowledge, and abilities to turn that vision into reality. This is because at some point of one’s leadership, the flock would turn to the leader for advice or decisions and leaders that do not have the necessary knowledge required of their leadership can destroy the hopes of the people who trust them. As a matter of principle, leaders must not only be able to inspire people but such inspiration should be grounded on competence. Inspiration would only work for as long as the attribute or characteristics required is in effect but when it comes to hardcore decision-making, where knowledge and skills matter, leaders need to be competent first and foremost (Hill, 2004). Leader-dependent organizations fail for two compelling reasons – leaders are incompetent and managers lack the maturity to lead (Child, 1975; Salas et al, 2004). Incompetent leaders bring doom to the organization. Basically, leadership requires responsibility and leaders were chosen to handle those responsibilities. While leadership is in itself a broad concept, leaders in most cases also need to meet goals and objectives just like managers do (Mowday & Sutton, 1993). Because people leading other people are incompetent, goals are not met and objectives are not handled efficiently. As a result, organizations suffer greatly and fail in the long run. For this reason, leaders need competence in order to lead effectively and productively. Competent leaders do not only inspire people but also motivate the workforce because of their capability to handle technical or managerial issues in an effective fashion. If a leader is competent, the likelihood that the employees will follow his lead and respect his decision is high compared to leaders whose only bearing is his charm (Conger, 1991). Similarly, organizations fail because managers are immature leaders. Managers are not necessarily leaders. Managers are individuals tasked to perform certain tasks or goals and these individuals may not have the necessary skills or charm to become leaders. Because organizations today require complex leadership strategies in order to move forward (Bolman & Deal, 2003), managers are required to develop leadership skills in the process. However, leadership requires insight and experience – things that people trained or developed to lead can easily grasp – and managers typically do not see things from this perspective. The discrepancy results in ineffective management despite the competence of the managers. I believe I am a leader that inspires people. I have been working in my own company for many years now and people around me work for me not because I am paying them but because they saw something in me that they find inspiring. According to the feedback I have, people around me work for me because I inspire their careers; that I always see things beyond the scope of their perspectives. They mentioned that working for me and working with me is both challenging and fun because I take them to heights that they themselves have not dreamed of. Likewise, I feel that my competence has greatly contributed in my effective leadership. People follow me because I pave way for them, not because they think I am cool or they think I am good enough. They follow me because they know that each decision I make has some degrees of gravity grounded on theoretical knowledge and experience. They do not follow me because I look neat or that I am eloquent in my speech. I know for a fact that they are attracted to me because I can walk my talk. Lastly, leaders must believe in people’s potentials. Unlike managers that constantly pound the people working under him, leaders must learn to trust on the capacity and capabilities of people following him, and give allowances for his followers to take the bold steps forward towards the right path to success. This is because leaders understand the extent of the mutual trust that exists between them and their followers. Leaders exist because there is no someone to take the lead which does not necessarily mean that everyone else is incapable. Leaders need to identify the strengths and weaknesses of his people and work with them, or through them, to make better people out of ordinary men and women. Vision and Values I wanted to become a well informed leader that brings out the best in people and in situations and a leader who is always ready to impart his knowledge, ideas, experience, and his life to the people will almost always find his people sharing a positive and healthy relationship with him. This is a grand vision even for me for the simple fact that I have always been very objective in my workplace relationship. This vision may be daunting but I am not disheartened. I am resolved to make this vision a reality. However, it is necessary for me to outline the positive values I need to develop over the years in order for me to achieve this vision. Resilience and Persistence I am a proud person. I usually do not like it when things do not go my way which explains why I devote my time understanding the objective business problems and issues rather than being caught in a confrontation between people. I have (quite successfully) dodged any attempt to become too personal with my employees except with some people I am comfortable with and when things go wrong, I simply tune out or space myself out in order for me not to get into trouble. However, my pride would seem to get in the way in achieving the type of leader I want to become. For this reason, I want to develop resilience and persistence in dealing with people in order for me to train myself to be patient with people. Interest and Patience Generally, I do not take interest in people or their personal affairs. I simply stay with the facts and steer clear of personal concerns, views, and opinions. However, I realized that healthy relationships require certain degrees of sincere interest in people’s lives. Although this is somehow awkward for me, and probably challenging, I believe I would need to be more interested in people more than I am interested in financial figures or equipments or business events. I believe that I can become more successful in relating to people if I take interest in their mundane activities or in their personal lives. Consequently, I think I need to develop my patience when dealing with people on a personal level. I am a very patient businessman but I have a very slight idea on my patience when it comes to dealing with people on a personal level. I strongly believe that a great reserve of patience must be present in dealing with highly unpredictable and erratic people. Since not all of the people who interacts with me are predictable, I believe that high doses of patience can help me establish fulfilling relationships. Honesty and Sincerity I am an honest and sincere person and people know this for a fact. However, my honesty and sincerity is always directed to business processes and never, or almost never, to people. For this reason, I would want to develop an honest and sincere relationship with the people working for me. I want to establish good and fulfilling relationship based on sheer honesty of intentions and sincerity of aims. I want them to feel that I really am interested with the friendship and not for the mutual benefit we get from each other. I want them to feel that I need them because their presence and their companionship could help me become a better person. Most importantly, I would want them to feel that I am incomplete without them in my life, that my life would never feel this right had they been not there in the very first place. This way, I could make them see that we work together not just for the mutual benefit we derive from the relationship but because we care for each other. Leadership Development and Action Plan Now that I was able to articulate my visions, identify my values, and define the leadership philosophies I wanted to follow, I came up with the following goals, action steps and timeline. Goal 1: Transform into relationship-oriented leader I know how it feels to be a goal-driven leader. All my life I gauge my leadership skills on the successes I achieve and eventually, the pressure wears me out. Instead of looking at financial or strategic goals and objectives, I am resolved to transform myself into a leader who cares deeply for his stakeholders and who place strong emphasis on the welfare of his people. This implies that I would need to be more people-oriented as well in order for me to achieve what I still want to become. For this reason, I carefully chose the following steps to guide me in my pursuit of the change I want to see in me. Time Frame: (6-12 months) Step 1: Open myself up to people This may seem rather obvious but opening to people is a difficult task. I am not a people person and I have difficulties sharing my life’s experience, personal struggles, and indecision to other people. Similarly, I usually feel uncomfortable and awkward hearing of other people’s struggles or personal affairs. For this reason, I am resolved to open myself to people, to sincerely express myself and communicate how I feel and what I think, to be interested in their lives, and to be genuinely empathic on their feelings and emotions. I know this may take a lot of time and effort for me but I could not expect to build strong and healthy relationships If I do not open up or take other people’s openness as a sign of camaraderie. Time Frame: 2-6 weeks Step 2: Develop values required to create healthy relationships I already mentioned the values I would need in order to become the kind of leader I would want to be. Developing these values would not only help me build strong relationships with other people but would also make me a better person. Since I have the competence I need to become a good leader, and I think I already have (and practiced) some of the values and characteristics of a good leader, developing these additional values would make me a well-rounded leader who is not only competent but is also likeable to people. The faster I develop these values and characteristics, the more time I will spend making good relationships with my internal and external stakeholders. Time Frame: 4-8 weeks The good thing about putting the values (I think I would need to develop) in writing is that I can go over these values and know which ones are already work in progress and which ones should I need to start. Moreover, I can easily add more values I think I would need to develop to these existing ones, or break down the existing values into simpler tasks so that I would not get overwhelmed with the responsibility of developing new sets of values set before me. Step 3: Spend more time with people The only way for me to get over the fear or rejection and/or complications in relationships is to go out with people and interact with them. I am aware that this is somehow late in coming but I know that I would need all the skills I have to create a few more healthy relationships with people around me. Spending time with the people I want to be deeply involved with is one of the ways to make them feel important. Since I am not the type that spends idle time with people (blame it on the cliché), this could be a challenge for me. I would need to resist the urge to get back to work, or to lead the conversation to the more technical and fruitful ones. It may take a lot of me to bring down my walls and prejudices and spend quality time with people I want to build lasting relationships with. Time Frame: 1-6 months (This could also mean catching up with friends that I have not seen in the last few years and spending time with them remembering the things we used to do and eventually renewing the friendship and the communication, I think). Time Frame: indefinite Step 4: Start New Friendships I highly think that friendship should not only occur in the convenience of the office, or in the comfort of the exiting friends. I believe there are people out there who need a friend they can spend quality time with, or share ideals and hopes and dreams. For this reason, I am resolved to find a person who needs a friend without regard to the social, racial, or economic differences that exist between us. Starting new friendship is a challenging thing for me but it is only through this that I can be able to open myself completely, put into practice the values I have set, and spend more time with the people I consider as new friends. Time Frame: 2-10 months of searching and nurturing the friendship. Goal 2: Nurture Relationships Friendships are easy to establish, given quality time and enough similarities. However, there are relationships that are hard to keep, particularly if the parties involved have a lot of differences. Very few people stay together in a platonic relationship despite the differences and most of the people who were successful in keeping the relationship are the most fulfilled ones. Nurturing relationships takes a lot of resources, time, and effort and it also takes a lot of skills. I believe I would devote my time in making the relationship work. I would need to nurture the relationship and let it grow for a lifetime. In order to do this, I think I need to develop the following areas. Step 1: Develop my Values as a Leader and as a Friend I am already a leader by definition and by experience. What I need to develop is to transform my leadership into something that inspires friendship and good relationship. I believe that the leadership values I have are enough for me to become a good friend to anybody. I would just need to orient myself into a leader and a friend who is not only competent but also one that deeply inspires other people. Step 2: Accept the Limitations of my Maturity There are things I am really good at, knowing that my age and experience has brought me to a lot of things and scenarios. However, there are certain limits to my maturity, like in my personal relationships. I need to be able to accept the limits of my understanding and my experience. I need to be humble enough to admit that I do not know much about nurturing relationships or building strong friendships. Only then can I be able to prepare myself, or open myself, to the things that I am yet to experience and see in life. Final Reflection Leadership is a process that goes on and on and on. Leaders need to be patient and mature to understand that the process they need to go through are just temporary; that whatever skills they posses will eventually be tightly integrated to what they already have which, hopefully, would make them into better persons. In my case, I still find areas that I feel I lack even though I have been in my position holding the enormous responsibility for more than two decades already. Despite the experience and despite my age, I noticed that there are areas in my leadership life that I still am unaware and I haven’t tried. Because I have a vision that I would like to see in myself in the next few months, I want to push myself harder to achieve more in life. I understand that no matter how mundane the task may be, or no matter how irrelevant the things are that I need to develop, I must have the humility to accept my limitations. Acceptance leads to understanding and understanding leads to the search for more knowledge. As Bolman & Deal (2003) puts it, leaders must be strong enough to accept their limitations in order to access the vast array of information and skills readily available for them to pick up and develop. This way, I can assume that in the next couple of years, I am no longer the mediocre leader I once was; that I will become somebody more relevant and more thorough with my leadership approach. References Allen, S. & Hartman, N. (2008). “Leader Development: An Exploration of Sources of Learning,” Organizational Development Journal. 26(2). Argyris, C., & Schön, D. A.  (1974). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Bolman, L., & Deal, T.  (2003). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership(3rd edition).  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Callahan, K, Stetz, G., & Brooks, L. (2007). Project Management Accounting: Budgetting, Tracking, and Reporting Costs and Profitability. Wiley. 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A.  (1991). Educating the reflective practitioner.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Sergiovanni, T. J.  (1989). Informing professional practice in educational administration. Journal of Educational Administration, 27(2),   p. 186. Read More