Project Two: Leadership Styles Approach And Purpose

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The purpose of this assignment is for you to develop a Relationship Building Action Plan. You will analyze feedback from a hypothetical performance evaluation, assess your leadership strengths and weaknesses, and design a detailed plan to enhance your relationship-building skills as a leader. The project involves reviewing evaluation comments, completing leadership assessments, and creating strategies to improve interpersonal and leadership capabilities within your organization.

Paper For Above instruction

Introduction

Effective leadership hinges on the ability to forge strong relationships with colleagues, subordinates, and stakeholders. People skills facilitate trust, enhance communication, and foster a positive organizational culture, all of which are essential to achieving strategic objectives. Leadership is not solely about directing others but also about inspiring, motivating, and building an environment where individuals can thrive collaboratively. As leadership theories increasingly emphasize emotional intelligence and relationship management, it becomes evident that developing robust interpersonal skills is fundamental to successful leadership (Goleman, 1995; Northouse, 2018).

Assessment of Personal Leadership Skills

Based on the hypothetical evaluation conducted after the first year in the leadership role at GDD, several key insights emerged. The feedback indicates particular strengths, including decisiveness and strategic thinking, but also reveals significant areas for improvement, such as communication, trust-building, and emotional intelligence. These aspects are vital because they influence the leader’s ability to connect with followers, foster team cohesion, and drive organizational vision effectively.

From the assessment, it is clear that effective communication skills are critical yet underdeveloped, often leading to misunderstandings and reduced team morale. Additionally, emotional intelligence—particularly self-awareness and empathy—appears to be areas needing reinforcement to better understand and respond to followers’ needs, thereby enhancing trust and rapport.

The evaluation also highlights weaknesses in personality traits related to openness and flexibility, which can impede adaptability in dynamic environments. Recognizing these facets provides a comprehensive picture of current leadership capacity and forms the foundation for strategic development planning.

Linking Feedback to Leadership Theories

Applying transformational leadership theory (Bass & Avolio, 1994), it is apparent that inspiring followers and fostering trust require emotional intelligence and effective communication. Transformational leaders who exhibit high emotional awareness can influence followers’ motivation and commitment. Conversely, transactional leadership, focused on exchanges and compliance, does not emphasize relationship building to the same extent (Burns, 1978). Therefore, integrating aspects of transformational leadership with targeted personal development can lead to a more capable and emotionally intelligent leader.

Developing a Relationship Building Action Plan

The first step involves acknowledging the feedback's validity and reframing weaknesses not as fixed traits but as opportunities for growth. A strategic approach to refinement includes targeted interventions, such as engaging in emotional intelligence training and increasing participative communication practices.

Key recommendations include prioritizing active listening, seeking continuous feedback from team members, and practicing empathy to understand followers’ perspectives better. Implementing regular check-ins, fostering open dialogue, and demonstrating genuine concern are practical steps to rebuild trust and enhance relational bonds (Goleman, 1990; Yukl, 2013).

Additionally, developing resilience and adaptability through coaching and self-reflection can improve openness and flexibility, enabling more effective responses to organizational changes and challenges. These initiatives align with leadership development best practices and are aimed at cultivating a leadership style rooted in authenticity and relational effectiveness.

Conclusion

Robust leadership depends on the ability to build and sustain meaningful relationships with followers. By critically evaluating personal strengths and weaknesses, utilizing leadership assessments, and implementing strategic improvement plans, leaders can significantly enhance their relational skills. Continuous development, grounded in leadership theory and empirical feedback, ensures that leaders remain capable of inspiring trust, fostering collaboration, and achieving organizational goals effectively.

References

• Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Sage Publications.
• Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row.
• Goleman, D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Bantam Books.
• Goleman, D. (1995). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 73(2), 78–90.
• Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed.). Sage Publications.
• Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Pearson.