Leadership Skills Practice and Development - Essay Example

Leadership Skills Practice and Development Author’s Name Institution Different people have diverse definitions of Leadership, but leadership can be defined as the ability of a person to get others into willingly following them (Stogdill, 1989). There is need for a leader in every association. Leadership has also been defined as the act of influencing persons by providing direction, motivation and purpose, while working to accomplish a certain goal so as to improve an organization (Northouse, 2007). Exploring has demonstrated that exemplary leaders develop due to careful application of key leadership skills. Leadership skills are the behaviors and actions that support a leader, consequently, enable the leader to yield the necessary results which are aligned with the goals and the mission of the organization (Rowe, 2007). This paper seeks to show the application of leadership skills in an organization, and a plan which will facilitate the development of my leadership skills. To begin with, I am a leader because in my various leadership roles, I have demonstrated that I have a clear vision. I know where I want to go, and I have a firm grasp on the meaning of success and how to achieve it. A leader is someone who creates a vision, passionately owns the vision, articulates the vision and relentlessly pushes it to completion (Rowe, 2007). I have the discipline to work towards my vision, and I am able to direct my actions and those of my team, towards a goal. I inspire other team members to bring out the best in them. Hence, I believe I am a leader. I was the leader of a business club last year and I managed to evaluate my performance as a leader and the skills that I majored on, and the ones that I performed dismally. There are several areas that I excelled at in my leadership role. Firstly, I was able to lead by example. Setting the example is one of the most important leadership skills. It is the most effective means of showing your subordinates the proper manner to conduct themselves. Most of the people argue that it is more effective than communicating verbally. I imagined myself as part of the organization I led, and I thought about how I would like my leader to act. This way, I was able to lead by example by placing myself in the shoes of the team members. Another area that I excelled at is that I was able to control the group’s performance. A group needs control so as to prevent it from running itself to the ground. Groups and organizations have been shown to work together best when everyone is headed in a similar direction. Control is a function that is conferred to the leader by the group so as to achieve the goal of the team. Through proper controlling, I was able to continuously observe the group, help where necessary, and deal with any disruptions that arose (Kouzes & Posner, 1987). The third strength I possessed was courage and confidence; its counterpart. I had the will to press on and I managed to do what was necessary and what was right for the group without fear. I had the unshakeable belief in myself that I could make it happen. Courage enables leaders to overcome obstacles no matter the gravity of the situation. It has been shown that the majority of leaders fail to achieve their goals and visions due to the fact that they lack courage, and are shackled by their fears (Jago, 2004). This does not mean that leaders should not be afraid. It is the fear that brings out the courage in leaders, and hence, enabling success despite the circumstances. Confidence and courage are infectious and hence, your team members will believe in you, if only you believe in yourself. Good communication skill was another area that I excelled at. I was a good listener, which is a key characteristic of great leaders. Excellent listening skills are important when leading an organization. A leader should listen carefully when team members come to talk to them about their worries and problems. A good leader also listens to the suggestions for improvement from the subordinates. After listening to my team members, I was able to implement their suggestions after evaluating them. Some of them had great ideas that enabled the success of the group. Without listening or by ignoring them, such great ideas would not have been utilized. In this way, subordinates feel as an important part of the team and they dedicate their all to the goals of the group or organization (Stogdill, 1989). Another key strength that I possessed was concentration throughout my leadership role. If a leader does not possess the capacity for deep concentration, the leader is likely to veer off course. Concentration can be divided into two parts. The first part is persistence, which is an important determinant of success of a leader. It is the unwillingness to quit till the objectives of the organization are met. It requires determination despite all circumstances. The second part of concentration is focus, which is the ability to organize oneself, stay on track and decrease distractions (Northouse, 2007). With this, I was able to match the group into success with no deviations from the objectives. Despite the above areas where I excelled at, there were some aspect I did not perform to my best. I was not as assertive as a good leader should be. I was not able to state clearly what I expected from my team members during some instances. Without a leader being assertive, misunderstandings usually result. A leader must be assertive in order to achieve the objectives of an organization. Research has shown that many leaders have a hard time in striking the correct amount of assertiveness (Northouse, 2007). Being overassertive or under-assertive is a frequent weakness among most leaders. I came to realize from one of the team members that I did not have a sense of humor during my leadership. A sense of humor is crucial in relieving boredom and tension, as well as to dissolve hostility. Effective leaders understand how to employ humor to energize their subordinates or team players. Humor is some form of power that facilitates control over the environment of work. Hence, there were some minor hostilities within the organization which I would have easily diffused if I had a good sense of humor. Generally, my performance as leader during this role was a success. We were able to achieve our objectives on time, despite the above weaknesses. I was able to motivate my team members and inspire them into dedicating their all into achieving the vision of the organization. The old fashioned thinking of leadership and leadership skills is that leaders are tagged for leadership from early life. This thinking purports that leaders are born leaders, and that there is little you can do to become one if you are not born to lead. However, through persistence, patience and hard work, one can become an effective leader with the right leadership skills. As long as one has the effort required; effective leadership skills can be honed by a leader or an aspirant. One has to work on his/her behavior and learn from their mistakes in order to hone these key leadership skills. There is need for development of a proper plan in order to improve one’s leadership skills (Stogdill, 1989). In order to come up with a proper plan to develop my leadership skills, I will employ the skills and situational leadership theory. The skills theory postulates that acquired skills/abilities and learned knowledge are significant factors in leadership practice (Jago, 2004). The situational theory suggests that different styles of leadership are required in different situations (Northouse, 2007). Therefore a leader must adjust the style of leadership and adjust according to circumstances. Some of the skills that are required for effective leadership include courageousness, ability to inspire and motivate, honesty, competence and communication skills. In order to construct this plan, there is need to learn the theory that is necessary for leadership development. The theory to be learnt should be relevant, detailed, practical and convertible into a behavior. The first step is self assessment. Here, there is need to re-evaluate oneself and find out your strengths and weaknesses, in terms of leadership skills in different situations. For assessment, one can employ others, for example, team members, subordinates or even professionals (Mischel, 1968). This will yield a credible feedback on your leadership skills. After the feedback, your goal will be to improve on the areas that you are underperforming or areas that you are poor in. The second step is skills practice. Skills vary in terms of effort and amount of time that one must dedicate in order to practice. Different leadership situation will require different skills. This requires a great deal of practice and many hours. This kind of practice will require motivation which must come from within. It requires a great deal of will power which is enhanced by employing guided imagery and self talk (Northouse, 2007). Practice will require feedback once more. This is via self monitoring or feedback from others. The final step is skill mastery. This will require a special state of mind and will enable precision, accuracy and speed. In conclusion, leadership is an integrative process where one inspires others into achieving an objective. Proper leadership requires proper skills in order for one to be successful. Great leaders are made and not born. Hence, if you have the willpower and desire, you can become an effective leader by perfecting your skills. This is through self-study, education and intense practice. The self-study can be done through feedbacks so as to know the skills in which you underperform and improve on them. Reference List Jago, A. (1982). Leadership: Perspectives in theory and research. Management Science, 28(3), 315-336. Kouzes, M., & Posner, Z. (1987). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Lamb, F., & McKee, K. (2004). Applied Public Relations: Cases in Stakeholder Management. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. Matteson, M. (2007). Organizational Behavior and Management. New York: McGraw-Hill. Mischel, W. (1968). Personality and Assessment. New York: Wiley. Newstrom, J., & Davis, K. (1993). Organization Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New York: McGraw-Hill. Northouse, G. (2007). Leadership theory and practice. 3rd ed. London: Sage Publications. Rowe, W. G. (2007). Cases in Leadership. CA: Sage Publications. Stogdill, R. (1989). Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of Theory and Research. 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