Leadership Foundation Paper
Instructions
Your paper should be 2-3 pages. (The page count is just a guide. Feel free to exceed the stated limit).
Paper must include a Cover page, Abstract, Table of Contents, and Reference page. (These will not be counted in the page count).
Design a plan or “foundation” for your development as a leader. This plan should include 1) an assessment of your present strengths and weaknesses as a leader; 2) identify the 10 “Life Hacks” that resonate with you most and discuss how you will integrate those principles into your leadership skillset; 3) list the leadership resources which you plan to utilize after graduating from college (e.g., mentors, books, tapes, conferences, assessment tools, websites, classes, etc.); and 4) outline a specific action plan that will provide a path and accountability.
All four sections need to have section headings.
FOUNDATION PAPER GRADING RUBRIC
Description Points
| Cover Page, Abstract, Table of Contents, Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation | 1 |
| Strengths and weaknesses | 3 |
| Top 10 Life Hacks | 3 |
| Leadership resources | 2 |
| Action plan | 2 |
| Use of a minimum of three sources | 1 |
| Total |
SAMPLE STUDENT ANSWER
The introduction of this paper looks at how this idea of self-improvement came to be and the effects my leadership weakness had stated to cause at work. I thereof list down my significant leadership strengths and weaknesses to allow me to find the cause of the problems I was creating. Through the paper, I provide life skills that I would wish to incorporate in the process and how I plan to utilize each in making myself a better leader at the end of the process. I tackle the different resources that I have found to be useful in providing the insights I need in this process. These resources range from books to podcasts followed by clear action steps for implementing them in my quest for improvement.
Foundation” For My Development as A Leader
As a leader in a slightly bigger organization, my conduct in business and on a personal level with colleagues, bosses, and subordinates has always been straightforward and to the point. I viewed my traits of being direct and wanting to be heard as great qualities for a leader but in contrast, I was perceived as being overly aggressive. After getting this bad news, a change in mindset was surprisingly easy knowing that my peers at work viewed me with high esteem (Stewart, Courtright & Manz, 2011).
The quest to become a great leader and in the company led to a deeper self-reflection to determine what my leadership traits entailed for me to be able to lead effectively. This journey not only revealed the hidden positive traits in my leadership style but also provided insights on what I needed to strengthen going forward regardless of how minor the faults look like. This paper will detail the process of creating a plan for my leadership development and the intended result after the plan is successfully implemented.
Excellent communication skills: The ability to present instructions to subordinates clearly and also provide arguments in discussions have enabled me to rise the ranks to the leadership position in my organization. This skill has also been instrumental in tackling conflicts that have arisen among colleagues, therefore, enhancing teamwork and well-informed employees. Self-confidence: Since the beginning of my career journey, confidence has been the major factor for my success in the position I hold currently.
The ability to believe that I can do whatever is presented before me while also improving my knowledge in every area has led me to proudly display my confidence to both associates and my bosses. This has in turn allowed me to be trusted with bigger roles that have given me experience and more skills. Being a visionary; The ability to see the bigger picture and plan for the future is a great one in my arsenal as it provides a chance to create plans and timelines for what needs to be done to achieve the goal (Myatt, 2013).
This perspective of the future has improved innovation among employees and the company as a whole while also improving autonomy as the daily implementation of decisions follows a predetermined procedure.
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Micromanaging employees: This has to be the most significant weakness in my leadership style. By having a set goal in mind and an already set procedure, I most times become overly judgmental of employees when they have not followed the set-out plan. This has led to the underutilization of ideas from employees on certain projects, therefore, hindering growth for both the employees and the company (Cherry, 2020). Avoiding delegating work; Due to my over-perfectionism, I tend to avoid delegating work to employees who can handle them better.
The best way to explain this observation is the lack of the ability to balance between strategic and operational forms of leadership. This is where I am able to initiate ideas but unable to fully assign allocate them to people that can successfully and efficiently undertake the required tasks.
10 “Life Hacks” That Resonate with Me
Trusting people; Allowing employees to undertake the tasks involved in a project will enable them to improve their skills while increasing the likelihood of a far better job than if I handled the project on my own. Stop multitasking; This life hack can only be achieved if I adhere to the first one for a prolonged period. Enabling employees to display their expertise will allow me to identify the type of tasks each could be tacked therefore freeing me the need to work on multiple tasks at once (Harkiolakis, 2018).
Collaborating; Setting time aside for interactions and collaboration with employees and peers would be much better for improving my leadership skills as I will be able to understand how different people operate and gain from their expertise at the same time. Allowing others to shine; will be very important in my case as most of my career life has been based on outshining colleagues and rising ranks. As a leader, I could use this hack to invest in helping my juniors excel in their craft and be celebrated instead of taking all the praises on myself.
Establishing a culture; just as in everything in life, having the same culture and following it to the latter helps teams achieve more. In the same case, I am encouraged to invest in a quality work culture that is diversified for all employees to enjoy (Stewart, Courtright & Manz, 2011). Listening more; taking more time to listen than speaking will allow me to get more insights into what the employees and coworkers are going through. This will also help me understand their pain points, their talents, goals, and who they are which will, in turn, help me interact with them better.
Leadership Resources I Will Utilize
In this journey of transformation, there are a couple of resources that I seek to utilize to help me successfully actualize my goal. Books like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek, The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes & Barry Posner, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ by Daniel Goleman have been greatly recommended (Cherry, 2020). There are other resources like podcasts like TED Business hosted by Modupe Akinola, Dare to Lead by Brené Brown that will be on my radar as well. I would also invest in a Leadership Masterclass by Saïd Business School.
After understanding and admitting my leadership weaknesses, there are some improvements I would have to make to become an effective leader. With my weaknesses at hand, I will need to seek mentorship from someone who has been or still is a leader and allow them to be my accountability partner to keep me in check and give feedback on my progress. I will also create time for me to go through the book resources I have chosen and through speed reading, enable myself to read at least a book a week to grab as much information for practice as possible (Dierdorff, 2020).
Similarly, I will have to incorporate the podcasts either visually or in audio format for a faster consumption of ideas. I will enroll in a leadership masterclass to be able to witness firsthand from professionals how to deal with my weaknesses as well as interact and network with like-minded people (Myatt, 2013). The final stage will involve seeking feedback from both my mentor and fellow employees to assess how well this self-improvement process has taken me.
Cherry, K. (2020). Transformational Leadership: A Closer Look at the Effects of Transformational Leadership. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-transformational-leadership-2795313
Dierdorff, C. E. (2020). Time Management Is About More Than Life Hacks. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/01/time-management-is-about-more-than-life-hacks
Harkiolakis, N. (2018). 10 Leadership Life-hacks. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-leadership-life-hacks-nicholas-harkiolakis
Myatt, M. (2013). Hacking Leadership: The 11 Gaps Every Business Needs to Close and the Secrets to Closing Them Quickly. Wiley.
Stewart, G., Courtright, S. & Manz, C. (2011). Self-Leadership: A Multilevel Review. Journal of Management, 37. 185-222. 10.1177/0149206310383911.
Vick, A. (2020). 8 Common Leadership Weaknesses That Can Kill Your Business. https://aaronvick.com/8-common-leadership-weaknesses-that-can-kill-your-business/
Jermaine Byrant
Nicole Johnson
OVER
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