What is Leadership?
Jackson and Parry (2008) define leadership as a process where leaders utilise and apply their knowledge and skills to lead a group of individuals in the desired direction to achieve the organisational objectives and goals. A qualified leader usually has a clear and well-defined vision for the organisation and therefore he/she can identify the problems within the organisation quickly and easily, and subsequently tackle the problems effectively and efficiently by bringing necessary reforms into the organisation (Moo & Yazdanifard, 2015).
My Leadership Vision
Although mentioned in Blog 1 that I prefer to be led by Bill Gates (Autocratic & Transformational Leadership styles) and Tim Cook (Democratic & Situational Leadership styles), I hope to adapt a democratic style to lead and bring change to the organisation in the future. The reason behind my future leadership style is because democratic leadership style highly encourages team cooperation and spirit among all team members (Propane Specialty, 2021) as all members are highly engaged in the decision-making process and therefore, allowing good communication and creating a positive environment within the organisation. Besides, democratic leadership style can lead to increased productivity, greater contributions from team members and increased team morale (Amanchukwu, Stanley & Ololube, 2015).
Characteristics of Democratic Leadership Style
As a fresh graduate, I do not have any working experience other than my internship period. I was an intern in the Brand Communication department of a digital marketing company. The environment in the company was quite tense and stressful as the tasks were overloaded and due in very short time. I would say the higher management team adopted a mixture of autocratic and democratic leadership styles in the company where we (the employees) had to do as told and not allowed to give our own opinions or express our feelings most of the time. Although we were allowed to give our opinions during the brainstorming sessions sometimes, the higher management team often neglected our contributions and rarely accepted our advice. This had decreased my satisfaction towards this job. Honestly speaking, I did not really enjoy working in that company due to the tense environment and unpleasant experience. However, I am thankful for this internship experience as it has made me realised which is my preferred type of leadership style and what kind of leader I want to be in the future.
The 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership
Kouzes and Posner (2003) discover five common practices that effective leaders perform when they are at their personal best. They reveal that these leaders show similar patterns of behaviour despite gender, age and culture differences. Table 1 illustrates the 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership.
Source: Kouzes & Posner (2003)
Team Member’s Evaluation
Chart constructed by author
Figure 1 shows the average scores given for my leadership performance by using the 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership framework. These scores were given by four of my team members. As shown in Figure 1, it is seen that I have scored highest on the “Enable” component. This shows that my team members agreed that I have been supportive to them and trust them when it comes to making decisions in the group. Scoring second highest in the “Encourage” component means that my team members believed that I constantly recognised the efforts and contributions made by my team members. On the contrary, it can be seen that I have poorly scored on “Challenge” and “Inspire” components. To improve my performance as a leader, I have to step out of my comfort zone to seek opportunities, take in risks and accept the challenges to strengthen my “Challenge” ability. Moreover, I need to gain more knowledge and experience in the related field to be able to guide and inspire others to work hand-in-hand towards the common goal someday in the future to improve my “Inspire” ability.
Myers Briggs 16 Personalities Test
Source: 16 Personalities
Figure 2 shows my results of the Myers Briggs 16 Personalities test. The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test utilizes a set of questionnaires to help the respondent identify his personality by indicating his psychological preferences on his perception towards the world and judgement to make decisions (Myers-Briggs Foundation, 2021). The test results have revealed me as a Turbulent Protagonist who strives to bring positive impact to the world and other people. In detail, I personally prefer group activities (a team-player) rather than staying in alone (16 Personalities, 2021), which explains a high score of 81% on the “Extraverted” component. It is true that I get excited easily whenever interact with other people in my social circle. Moreover, a 72% on “Intuitive” component shows that I am an imaginative and open-minded person, and I am willing to explore for future possibilities (16 Personalities, 2021). I agree with the test result as I do always seek for new challenges and breaking my own limits. A 91% on the “Feeling” component determines that I am an emotional and a sensitive person (16 Personalities, 2021). I cannot deny the fact that and my emotions get triggered very easily and thus, affecting my rationality to make decisions. Furthermore, I agree that I am a person who is organized and attention-to-detail (16 Personalities, 2021), which explains a 54% on the “Judging” component. I tend to keep things tidy and well-arranged in order for everything to be in good structure. Lastly, a 61% on the “Turbulent” component indicates that I am someone who turns the power of stress into good motivation source (16 Personalities, 2021). I personally believe stress can drive as a strong motivation source to push one harder to improve and consequently achieve their goals.
Johari Window
The Johari Window model was developed by two psychologists named Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in 1955. This framework allows one to further understand his relationships with himself and with other people. To add on, this framework helps to improve self-awareness and communication between a team (Communication Theory, 2013).
Image Source: SkillPacks (2021)
In detail, the Johari Window model consists of four quadrants, such as Open area, Blind area, Façade area (Hidden) and Unknown area. According to Explorance (2020), a comprehensive perspective of the individual can be recognised by all of the four elements. This framework enables individual to discover his strengths, improvement areas, blind spots and perception differences.
Table constructed by author
Source: Kevan.org (2021)
Figure 4 shows the results of my Johari Window test which was completed by four of my team members and myself. In the Open area (Arena), “adaptable” and “friendly” traits were how my team members and I perceive myself. As an adaptable person, my team members and I agreed that I am willing to challenge myself and tend to focus more on improvement. Besides, as a friendly person, we agreed that I am easy-going person which makes it easier for me to communicate with others. However, there are many traits in the Blind area which I am not aware of. Through this test, I learn that my team members believed that I am a dependable, helpful and idealistic person. These traits on the Blind quadrant portray my hidden strengths which I should make good use of and improve on these strengths that will provide myself a lifelong benefit. Moreover, my team members did not seem to notice the traits of me placed in the Hidden area. To improve on this area, I should communicate more with my team members so they can better understand and trust me to learn about these traits of mine in the Hidden area. Lastly, traits in the Unknown area are waiting to be discovered by either me or my team members someday in the future. Therefore, I believe I should step out of my comfort zone and start exploring the Unknown area to learn new things about myself and others.
My Future Leadership Development
To be a good and effective leader, I need to put in adequate effort and work hard on my leadership development. As a fresh graduate, poor knowledge, skills, and experience are my main current weaknesses. Therefore, I will need to enhance on these specific areas in my leadership development progress to be a good leader in the future. A Personal Development Plan (PDP) would be the most suitable framework for me to set a direction and guide me throughout the progress. It allows me to have a clear vision for my goals and know what the steps are to take in order to fulfill the goals.
To create a strategic PDP, I will adapt the SMART strategy (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) to guide on my leadership development and goal setting. Using SMART strategy to set goals enables people to concentrate on their efforts as well as increasing their chances to achieve the goals (Corporate Finance Institute, 2020). Figure 5 illustrates the action plan of my PDP in detailed.
Continuous Leadership Growth
Source: CCL (2021)
After gathering all the information from the 16 Personalities test, Johari Window as well as the feedback from my team members, I believe that there are big room for improvement on my leadership performance. To be a good leader, I need to enhance my skills on self-awareness, communication, ability to influence and learning agility. CCL (2021) describes that four of these skills are fundamental for every leader regardless of the roles. Improving on self-awareness allows myself to utilise my strengths and notice my weaknesses easily and thereby making necessary changes to bring the utmost benefits to myself and the organisation. More, facilitating communication enables myself to build a better relationship and trust with other people within the organisation (CCL, 2021). Besides, strengthening my ability to influence can better encourage and support my team to improve on work performance (Harvard Business Review, 2020). As learning is a lifelong process, I need to constantly learn new things and from past mistakes, and actively seek to gain valuable experience to be an effective leader (CCL, 2021).
References
16 Personalities. (2021). Free personality test. Truity. Retrieved from, https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
Amanchukwu, R. N., Stanley, G. J., & Ololube, N. P. (2015). A Review of Leadership Theories, Principles and Styles and Their Relevance to Educational Management. Management, 5(1), 6-14. doi:10.5923/j.mm.20150501.02
CCL. (2021, August 23). The Core Leadership Skills You Need in Every Role. CCL. Retrived from, https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/fundamental-4-core-leadership-skills-for-every-career-stage/
Communication Theory. (2013, January 29). The Johari Window Model. Communication Theory. Retrieved from, https://www.communicationtheory.org/the-johari-window-model/
Corporate Finance Institute. (2020, June 16). SMART Goals. Corporate Finance Institute. Retrieved from, https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/smart-goal/
Explorance. (2020). Discovering the 4 Panes of the Johari Window for 360 Degree Feedback. Explorance. Retrieved from, https://explorance.com/blog/discovering-blind-spots-in-360-degree-feedback-with-the-johari-window/
Harvard Business Review. (2020, August 28). Strengthen Your Ability to Influence People. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from, https://hbr.org/2020/08/strengthen-your-ability-to-influence-people
Jackson, & Parry. (2008). A Very Short, Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Leadership. London: SAGE Publication, 208(2), 25.
Kevan.org. (2021). Johari Window – take the test online. (2021). Kevan.org. https://kevan.org/johari
Khoshhal, K. I. & Guraya S. Y. (2016). Leaders Produce Leaders and Managers Produce Followers: A Systematic Review of the Desired Competencies and Standard Settings for Physicians’ Leadership. Saudi Medical Journal, 37(10), 1061-7. doi:10.15537/smj.2016.10.15620
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2003). Exemplary leadership. San Francisco: CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Luft, J., & Ingham, H. (1955). The Johari window, a graphic model of interpersonal awareness. Proceedings of the western training laboratory in group development. Los Angeles: UCLA.
Moo, J. H. & Yazdanifard, R. (2015). How Effective Leadership can Facilitate Change in Organizations through Improvement and Innovation. Global Journal of Management and Business Research: A Administration and Management, 15(9).
O’Donnell, K. (2021, June 9). Characteristics of Democratic Leadership and its Advantages. Empuls. Retrieved from, https://blog.empuls.io/democratic-leadership/#characteristics-of-democratic-leadership
Pathak, A. (2020, November 21). Democratic Leadership: Its Advantages and Characteristics. Vantage Circle HR Blog. Retrieved from, https://blog.vantagecircle.com/democratic-leadership/
Propane Specialty. (2021). Common Types of Leadership Styles. Propane Specialty Services. Retrieved from, https://propanespecialty.com/blog/leadership-skills/common-types-of-leadership-styles/
SkillPacks.(2021, September 10). The Johari Window model: with personal examples and exercises. SkillPacks. Retrieved from, https://www.skillpacks.com/johari-window-model/
The Myers & Briggs Foundation. (2021). MBTI® Basics. (2021). Myersbriggs.org. Retrieved from, https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/