Leadership Development Plan and Personal Philosophy

Leadership Philosophy

The concept of leadership is associated with the idea of acting together as a team and with the idea of directing the company to further progress. My personal leadership philosophy depends on the approaches to manipulating my personal traits in order to achieve definite results. The focus on improving competence and on honesty is necessary for good leaders, and I observe these qualities in relation to my leadership philosophy.

Referring to the traits which are determined as significant for leaders and related to the course, I can state that my leadership style can be also characterized using such concepts as self-confidence, integrity, responsibility, sociability, and persistence. I can state that I have the powers to demonstrate responsibility and assist others in distinguishing and determining minor and serious issues, and I can contribute to expanding the personal strengths and potentials of the team representatives along with appreciating their initiatives and ideas. I always focus on attaining proficiency in any activities and rely on my personal experience while ensuring that the assigned tasks are completed appropriately and within the fixed timeframe in order to avoid any inconveniences. I am also good at handling stressful situations.

The key leadership philosophy questions are closely associated with the leadership style, type of power used by a leader, conflict-handling styles, and the approaches to build and direct the team. I have the experience of interacting with different people belonging to diverse backgrounds who can be characterized by different origins. Thus, I am focused on the people-oriented leadership style, and I am sure that my task is to create the perfect conditions for the team’s progress. While developing my leadership philosophy, I am inclined to refer to Gardner’s words who states that “there are in any vital organization or society a great many individuals who share leadership tasks unofficially, by behaving responsibly with respect to the purposes of the group” (Gardner, 1995, p. 6). My vision of leadership depends on Gardner’s opinion in relation to the ideas of respect, responsibility, and commitment, but I am inclined to claim that the leader within the organization should be also responsible for his actions and be concentrated on the team’s goals and purposes because of the held positions and associated duties. Nevertheless, the personal orientation of a man to effective leadership is the guarantee of the organization’s success.

Leadership is based on creating the necessary conditions for the cooperation of the team representatives and on stimulating the people’s interest to participate in the project and to perform the tasks effectively (Antonakis & House, 2002, p. 4). I understand that it is important to work with the persons’ intrinsic motives to lead the team to success depending on the motivation as the influential factor. Thus, I can successfully orient within the environments and analyze the potential of the team workers in order to develop the most effective leadership strategy based on the result of the decision-making process.

However, I can determine such my weakness as the focus on the compromising conflict-handling style when I have to work with a team the members of which cannot cooperate effectively. I understand that I am inclined to refer to the continuous positive collaboration within the team. However, I realize that my contribution to the team’s development can be higher than the contribution of the other members. I find it difficult to work with a group of people who cannot appreciate my contribution. I believe that I am a compassionate leader, thus, I orient to the people and their needs, and I discuss the management procedures developed to stimulate the workers’ potential as the conditions for continuous progress.

Career & Professional Development Information

Career Development Information
What do you think maybeyour next position(s) and what may be your ultimate career potential in this organization?
I plan to take the higher position in my organization in a year, after the period of mastering my professional skills through intense working practice and cooperation with the project team members. I orient to acquire the higher position in the management department in order to contribute to the company’s progress through using all the learned and improved skills and abilities.
What academic experiences or professional training will help your advancement?
I am inclined to participate in the professional training programs developed and proposed by my company in order to acquire additional knowledge and improve my current skills. My focus is on the workshops and seminars held within the organization. I should also pay more attention to the performance assessment practices in order to receive the opportunity to improve my educational level and practical skills.
What work-related or managerial experience would help you achieve your goals?
Such managerial experience as the possibility to work with the project teams and manage the work of the team members in order to cooperate effectively can be discussed as significant because I receive the opportunity to work directly with the team and to apply the leadership and managerial strategies to achieve the higher results.
Is there anything else that would be beneficial to your career development?
I should demonstrate my qualities as a good leader while acting as a flexible and decisive manager who can effectively resolve conflict situations, negotiate, direct and monitor the decision-making process, and build strong cooperative relations within the team in order to achieve the company’s goals.

Summary of Self-Assessment Results

While focusing on the results of the conducted self-assessments, I can complete the detailed picture related to my leadership style and to the actual qualities demonstrated during the working activities. Thus, the analysis of the self-assessments’ results is necessary to add to my leadership philosophy.

Following the leadership trait questionnaires, I can state that my strongest qualities are responsibility, persistence, flexibility, and integrity. The focus on flexibility and on respect for other people is also determined with references to the LMX 7 Questionnaire. These findings are also correlated with the results of the assessment aimed to identify the type of leadership in relation to the ability to perform as a transformational leader. My scores are rather high, and I can state that I am a transformational leader ready to work in changing environments with diverse groups of employees.

According to the other questionnaire to determine the leadership style, I am people-oriented, but my scores in relation to concerns for people and tasks are rather high that is why I can state I try to find the perfect balance while developing my leadership style. While assessing my ability to work with a team, I can describe myself as oriented to the comfort of the team members, and to collaboration in completing the long-term goals. Discussing the skills inventory results, I should note that my skills in oral communication should be improved. Thus, there are more alignments between my personal leadership philosophy and the self-assessment results because my approaches to the philosophy are based on the analysis of the results.

I can determine such my strengths as the ability to create a collaborative environment to complete the project and set goals while working in the team, the ability to perform as the transformational leader with the focus on flexibility, and the ability to find the balance between being the people-oriented and task-oriented leader depending on the project’s goals. My weaknesses are the focus on compromises when it is necessary to demonstrate decisiveness, the lack of experience in an effective decision-making process, and the fear to make definite verdicts. These strengths and weaknesses affect my successes and flaws in the performance directly because there are situations when it is necessary to perform as the transformational leader or state the decision clearly.

Thus, I can describe myself as a people-oriented leader who is inclined to assist the team members to succeed and who is focused on rewarding in order to appreciate the hard work. Superior leadership means perfect oral communication skills, and I work to develop these skills. A good leadership style is associated with positive decision-making abilities either during the problematic periods or during the realization of the regular projects (Ruggieri & Abbate, 2013, p. 1172). That is why I work persistently to overcome my weaknesses. I believe that an effective leader is a charismatic leader who can change the details of his leadership style that is why he is also a transformational leader.

There are no potential fatal flaws in the results, but it is necessary to work more to correlate the leadership philosophy and goals in order to achieve higher results. I should focus on the development of my decision-making skills not to be afraid of stating verdicts and to work more in order to find the balance between the supportive people-oriented and task-oriented leadership styles.

Action Planning

Development Goal # 1 Plan

#1. Develop the decision-making skills in order to demonstrate the ability to state clear decisions during the corporate meetings on the developed project in six months.

The development of the decision-making skills is necessary to overcome such a weakness as the inability to state the decision clearly, based on the analysis of the problem’s aspects. The ability to formulate a clear decision as a result of the effective decision-making process can demonstrate the changes in my approach to the issue. Moreover, the organization will also benefit from my successes in the achievement of the goal because of my improved performance at the corporate meetings on the developed projects.

To reach the goal, it is necessary to communicate with the directors on the strategies followed in the company regarding the decision-making procedures. The next step is participation in all the meetings associated with the developed projects to receive the opportunity to analyze the situations, project progress, and to provide efficient initiatives on overcoming possible issues. The skills should be developed due to the final meeting on the developed project in six months. While attaining the goal, it is relevant to refer to the assistance of the department’s directors and supervisors in order to follow the set plan accordingly and receive the necessary feedback on the successes. I will state that the goal is achieved if I can formulate a clear decision on the developed project’s perspectives as a result of the efficient decision-making process, and this decision should be supported or shared by the other persons present at the meeting.

Development Goal # 2 Plan

#2.To work to state the balance between the supportive people-oriented and task-oriented leadership styles in order to demonstrate the positive results of the teamworkin six months.

I plan to be able to demonstrate the balanced leadership approach to monitor the work in the team, and this achievement of this goal is oriented to leveraging my main strength. In six months, I expect to regulate the work of the team focusing on the people-oriented and task-oriented approaches depending on the goal. Thus, I should learn how to shift the approaches and strategies depending on the project’s purposes. As a result, the organization will benefit because of the growth of my flexibility as a leader. I plan to determine and work out strategies in which the balancing approach is followed. Thus, it is necessary to divide the situations into those ones in which the people-oriented approach works well and on those ones based on the task-oriented approach. The director of the department can assist me in achieving the goal because of determining the significant priorities and perspectives for strategies.

The goal can be discussed as achieved if my team demonstrates high results in relation to completing the tasks of different levels based on effective collaboration in six months. The results should be assessed by the director of the department.

References

Antonakis, J., & House, R. (2002). The full-range leadership theory: The way forward. In B. J. Avolio & F. J. Yammarino (Eds.), Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead (pp. 3-35). San Diego, CA: Emerald.

Gardner, J. (1995). The cry for leadership. In J. T. Wren (Ed.), The leader’s companion: Insights on leadership through the ages (pp. 3-8). New York, NY: The Free Press.

Ruggieri, S., & Abbate, C. (2013). Leadership style, self-sacrifice, and team identification. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 41(7), 1171-1178.

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