Leadership is both a science and an art. Good leadership requires an accurate sense of self, a well-communicated vision, the ability to earn the trust of others and the capability to take effective action. In order to “build your house of leadership” your actions must inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more. (Duren, Lec. 2). Throughout the semester, I have learned that some of the five Kouzes and Posner leadership practices in The Leadership Challenge come naturally to me while others do not. Over the course of my professional career, the leadership strengths that I have consistently demonstrated are modeling the way, challenging the process, and enabling others to act. However, in terms of leadership weaknesses,
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I think I am right to be proud of these accomplishments. Through extensive reorganization, I have restored efficiency to broken office systems and that was great for the business and for the staff members. I set in place processes that encouraged others to act and I modeled the way in the sense that I dug right in alongside everyone else to implement the changes. However, reflecting on those specific instances through the lens of this course, I know that I could have challenged the process in a way that would have incorporated more fully all of the five leadership practices. For example, I did not adequately share my vision for the reorganization. I unilaterally implemented my reorganization plan. I also did not put much effort into encouraging the heart of my team members. I am good at recognizing individual contributions and celebrating the small victories but I can do a better job. From this point on, I will focus on finding creative ways that not only celebrate accomplishments but also personalize recognition for a job well done. I tend to ignore the personal relationship aspect of leadership and seldom get close enough to people, or open up to people, in ways that invite personal connections. I will work on correcting this behavior by increasing self-awareness of what motivates my decision-making, and by being more aware of my current propensity of personally closing myself off to others. In this way, I hope to become a leader more personally connected with the team, and one who leads from a position of humility rather than from one of authority. (Kouzes and Posner, 2012, pp.285-291), (Duren, Lec.
I think I am right to be proud of these accomplishments. Through extensive reorganization, I have restored efficiency to broken office systems and that was great for the business and for the staff members. I set in place processes that encouraged others to act and I modeled the way in the sense that I dug right in alongside everyone else to implement the changes. However, reflecting on those specific instances through the lens of this course, I know that I could have challenged the process in a way that would have incorporated more fully all of the five leadership practices. For example, I did not adequately share my vision for the reorganization. I unilaterally implemented my reorganization plan. I also did not put much effort into encouraging the heart of my team members. I am good at recognizing individual contributions and celebrating the small victories but I can do a better job. From this point on, I will focus on finding creative ways that not only celebrate accomplishments but also personalize recognition for a job well done. I tend to ignore the personal relationship aspect of leadership and seldom get close enough to people, or open up to people, in ways that invite personal connections. I will work on correcting this behavior by increasing self-awareness of what motivates my decision-making, and by being more aware of my current propensity of personally closing myself off to others. In this way, I hope to become a leader more personally connected with the team, and one who leads from a position of humility rather than from one of authority. (Kouzes and Posner, 2012, pp.285-291), (Duren, Lec.