Leadership Assignment 3: Leadership Journey
Leadership Assignment 3: Leadership Journey
People can’t be a real leader if they don’t have vision. Vision provides leaders a clear pathway to future by telling them what matter the most. In the meantime, vision is the key indicator for leaders to be success and I want to be a successful leader, too. So, within this paper, I’m going to talk about how I can become a great leader by focusing on my vision statement, two leadership goals toward my vision which are from two aspects, team and personal development. Then, followed by two specific actions to achieve each goal.
Lastly, a conclusion at the end of this paper. Firstly, my vision is to be a facilitative leader. This type of leader is focusing on “monitoring group dynamics, as well as offering process suggestions and interventions to help the group stay on track” (Raza, 2017). A facilitative leader is playing a mentor role within the team and focus on “people-centered” (Smith, 2003) work environment. That required leaders be able to distribute tasks based on individual’s strength and deal with conflicts between members who share differ personalities.
Therefore, becoming a facilitative leader is not an easy job since a lot of skills and appropriate knowledge are all involved there. So, I have enacted two leadership goals to let my dream come true. My first goal is, I can guide my team members to do the right things with the right methods. Right thing means team members are doing the tasks which match their strength, right methods means my people can apply the most effective way to complete their tasks with my suggestions. I have two actions toward this goal.
Firstly, I took too much responsibility in team, so my members were only doing easy jobs with zero benefit to their personal development. In the future, I will assign my members more important tasks such as time tracking and grammar checking based on their strength to ensure they can be benefited from job at hand as practice. Secondly, when my members are facing challenges, rather than do the most difficult jobs for them, I will share my experience as tips to support my members to find their own methods to solve the problems. In the meantime, I will get to know my members better by showing my care to their personal life. After that, my suggestions will be much helpful and effective to them since I know their personalities and strength.
Thus, by performing these two actions, my members will be benefited from this team development strategy. My second leadership goal is to do a better job on time management, because it affects the “leaders’ ability to manage effectively in their field of expertise and responsibility” (Danko, 2010). Good timing is an essential trait for facilitative leader in the high-performance team since you need to complete your own tasks and support your members at the same time. It is a big pressure on time. So, my first action plan is to draw a timeline and label all the processing tasks and upcoming tasks with different color to distinguish their priority in future team works.
In the meantime, any decision on due day or check point will be fully discussed with my members and take their concerns into account. Then, team works will be hewed to the timeline and supervised by all members. My second action is to learn the time management skill from other leaders such as Christian and Haley in our class. I want to learn how they organize tasks and being so methodical even there are changes. Through the learning process, I believe we all can be benefited by exchanging ideas and experience.
In conclusion, being a facilitative leader means you are the mentor to your people. After I achieved these goals, I will have new goals and actions to bring my leadership into a new stage. There is a life-time learning happened there and I believe with both team and personal developments, more practice and inspiration from people around me, I will be a facilitative leader in the foreseeable future.
Paper For Above instruction
Leadership is a vital aspect of organizational success and personal growth. Central to effective leadership is a clear vision, which serves as a guiding light for future actions and decisions. Without a well-defined vision, leaders risk deviating from their goals and failing to inspire their teams. My personal leadership journey centers on developing a facilitative leadership style, characterized by fostering collaboration, supporting team members' strengths, and managing conflicts with empathy. This paper details how I plan to cultivate this style by setting specific goals, implementing targeted actions, and continuously reflecting on my progress.
My overarching vision is to become a facilitative leader. According to Raza (2017), facilitative leadership involves monitoring group dynamics and offering process interventions to keep the team on track. Smith (2003) further emphasizes that such leaders operate in people-centered environments, acting as mentors and emphasizing collaborative work. Achieving this vision necessitates the development of various skills, including effective communication, conflict resolution, task delegation, and emotional intelligence. Recognizing these needs, I have established two primary goals: first, to guide my team in performing tasks aligned with their strengths using effective methods; second, to improve my time management skills to ensure timely and efficient task completion.
To realize my first goal, I plan to empower team members by assigning responsibilities that promote growth and utilize their strengths. Previously, I tended to handle most responsibilities myself, often leaving members with minor tasks that did not foster development. I will change this by delegating more significant tasks, such as time tracking and proofreading, based on their individual skills. This approach aligns with the concept of strengths-based leadership, which has been shown to increase motivation and performance (Clifton & Harter, 2003). Additionally, I will support team members facing challenges by sharing my experiences and offering them autonomy to develop their solutions, fostering their confidence and problem-solving skills.
My second goal addresses the crucial area of time management. As Danko (2010) notes, effective time management enhances a leader's ability to oversee operations and support team members. To achieve this, I will create a visual timeline, marking tasks with varying priorities using color codes for clarity. This method will help me and my team stay aligned on deadlines and key milestones. Moreover, I aim to learn from experienced leaders like Christian and Haley by adopting their organizational strategies. This exchange of ideas can provide practical insights into managing dynamic situations and adapting to unforeseen challenges, which are vital skills for facilitative leadership.
In conclusion, my journey toward becoming a facilitative leader involves continuous learning, intentional goal-setting, and strategic actions. By focusing on empowering team members through appropriate task delegation and enhancing my time management skills, I aim to foster a collaborative, efficient, and growth-oriented environment. Achieving these goals will serve as stepping stones toward future leadership development, ultimately enabling me to lead with empathy, effectiveness, and a shared purpose. The path to facilitative leadership is ongoing, requiring perseverance and a commitment to lifelong learning, supported by insights from research and practical experience.
References
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- Danko, M. P. (2010). A phenomenological study of time management. University of Phoenix.
- Raza, A. (2017). 12 Different types of leadership styles. WiseToast.
- Smith, A. (2003). Facilitative leadership. The University of British Columbia.
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