Personal Statement on Leadership
My perception of leadership is that it is a service to others from those who have the skills and knowledge to lead. Leadership should be a sacrifice where one ensures that they prioritize the needs of others over their own for the wellbeing of everyone. I also believe that the needs of others determine the actions of a leader. This is true in cases where leaders have to work on addressing the needs of their followers to ensure the achievement of goals. In most cases, the leader overlooks their problems to address those coming from their followers. My leadership is based on the principles of integrity, effective communication, professionalism, and objectivity. These principles help to guide my actions and ensure that I stay on the right track as a leader.
Personal Mission and Vision Statement
My goal as a leader is to ensure that I engage in continued learning to achieve competency. Leadership is an evolving process that requires consistent adaptation to emerging needs. The position is characterized by people depending on the leader to address issues and motivate and guide them to achieve various goals. Ensuring continued learning provides the required competency to achieve these functions. As a leader, I also want to ensure that my growth and development go hand-in-hand with my followers. Hence I will also engage them in continued personal and professional development. My vision is to become the best leader in my family, workplace and community.
My Leadership Style
My leadership style is the participative style. It entails ensuring that all stakeholders participate in important decision-making processes. I always include all members in my team in the decision-making process and always encourage individuals to provide their opinions and ideas on important issues. The leadership style is vital to me since I am enthusiastic about motivating others and achieving holistic outcomes in every process. The leadership style has been successful in the achievement of my goals, whereby I manage to help improve the performance and achievements of everyone who works around me. My desire to achieve has been a significant contributor to my success as it ensures that I am engaged in a development agenda. The strength of my leadership approach lies in the participative role that all stakeholders play. The inclusion of stakeholders helps to improve performance and trust in the leadership. However, it hinders decision-making since the contributions of key stakeholders have to be acquired.
Leaders I Identify With
My leadership approach is similar to Martin Luther King Jr., who managed to bring people together to work toward the same goal. His desire for equality in the country was commendable and his efforts to achieve it resonates with my approach to issues. Having the ability to pool the energy and skills of everyone in a team to achieve tasks and goals is a great trait to have. I believe that appealing to the emotions of people is a trait that can lead to significant achievements. I also resonate with Hillary Clinton’s leadership style, which is to focus on the goal despite the challenges that emerge. Her ability to overcome several challenges during her bid to become president shows the attributes of a leader who knows her goal and will not allow external forces to get in her way. President Barack Obama’s leadership approach is also similar to mine. Becoming the change that is required in any setting is a goal I aim to achieve. His approach to social issues like healthcare was great and showed his character in dealing with people.
Personal Leadership Attributes
My personal attributes include being goal-oriented, whereby I always set goals on what I want to achieve and pursue those goals to ensure achievement. Goal-setting helps to avoid distractions that usually emerge and improves performance since actions are targeted. I am also organized, something that I believe helps to achieve my goals. Being organized has helped me to avoid engaging in activities that do not contribute towards my goals. I have gained self-confidence in my period as a leader and it has helped in meeting my responsibilities. Self-confidence has been essential in addressing complaints and concerns. Inclusivity is a crucial trait in my leadership style and it ensures that I engage all stakeholders in all major decisions. Humility helps my relationships with others.
My Professional and Personal Code of Ethics
Integrity is a personal and professional code that I maintain in all settings. I strive to maintain my moral principles and honesty by ensuring that no one compromises them. Doing right by myself, those around me, and the organization is a personal motivation for me. I am a selfless person and I am always helping others. Professional behavior is a crucial code in the workplace as it ensures the maintenance and promotion of productivity. The trait ensures respect and professionalism in all organizational processes and interactions. Objectivity is a trait that helps me achieve established goals. My selflessness can become a barrier when I am not objective at work or at home.
Developing and Maintaining Valuable Relationships
The development and maintenance of valuable relationships is a crucial trait among leaders. Valuable relationships are important within and outside the workplace. They can help to achieve great things that may be impossible without such relationships. To create and maintain valuable relationships, I have developed good communication skills since I know that communication is essential in interaction with people. I am a good listener and I have managed to develop a great skill in giving and receiving feedback. This has been vital in improving my relationships with various stakeholders in the workplace. Accepting differences is also a trait I have developed with the knowledge that people are different and the increasing diversity in the workplace requires one to accept the uniqueness of people. Empathy has helped me to understand people and maintain valuable relationships through the information I gather. Technology is a crucial tool in developing and maintaining valuable relationships due to its ability to connect with people and effectively share information. I am leveraging technology to meet professionals and stakeholders who are beneficial to the organization and community.
Conflict Resolution
I was recently involved in conflict resolution at work. Two workers from different departments were given a task to work on by a joint managerial team. The employees were on the same page during planning on how to achieve their goals. They began to disagree during implementation as everyone had a different opinion about what should be done. Their disagreements led to stalling of the project and the wastage of resources. Their conflict also affected productivity in the workplace and other employees. Everyone seemed to take a side depending on what they thought was the best course of action. The conflict resolution process revealed that poor communication during implementation was the cause of conflict between the two. The resolution entailed openly communicating about intended steps and involving managers from both departments in decision-making.
Resolving Challenges within a Team
The experience is from my first experiences in leadership. I had just been appointed as team leader for a small company project. The team comprised of great employees with some of them having more experience than me. The initial engagement in team work was low and it raised concern over the slow progress of the project. My inquiry revealed that there was conflict among the members about previous projects. There were also personal conflicts among some members. Mitigation was challenging given my lack of experience. The process entailed meeting with individual team members, listening to their concerns, and identifying the ones that affect team performance. Resolution entailed identification of the pertinent issues and resolving them to ensure performance. Resolution of the issues also required a mechanism to avoid future conflicts. I managed this through the introduction of an open communication policy, which ensured that everyone who had a problem spoke out.
Employee Motivation
The experience entailed a lack of motivation among workers. The low morale was due to the management’s failure to uphold their promise to promote workers and increase payment. Most of the workers were not motivated to improve their productivity during the period. They performed their roles to meet the basic demands and avoided being assigned tasks. Some of the employees were actively looking for new opportunities and turnover was bound to increase if the problems were not addressed. In addition, human resources noted that most of the workers did not know the organization’s goals and objectives. Addressing the issue required identification of the underlying issues and engaging relevant stakeholders. The management began with the implementation of salary increments to all workers. Some were promoted and others promised to be promoted if they met specific goals. To ensure continued motivation, the organization committed itself to a program that ensured a review of salaries and bonuses based on performance. Promising employees were also identified and placed in mentorship programs to take on leadership roles.
Work-Life Balance
I experienced a lack of work-life balance during my entry into the workforce. I was too focused on work and forgot to address my personal life. The underlying issues entailed overworking and experiencing fatigue and burnout. My performance declined after some time as work became difficult to complete and I frequently needed to be off from work just to rest and recuperate. My initial efforts to work on achieving a balance were not successful since the only thing I knew was working. I had to acquire professional help to ensure that I was doing the right things to achieve a balance. The professional help was useful as I managed to get the right balance. The whole process made me realize the importance of maintaining a balance between work and life since failure to achieve it leads to negative outcomes for both.
Leadership Growth
My leadership growth process has revealed that leadership is a process of growth where one has to continuously engage in activities that lead to learning. Continued learning is a process that ensures competence in an environment where change is consistent. Growth in a leader should be reflected in their followers by encouraging them to also engage in personal and professional development. Leaders should ensure that they have a code of ethics that guides their actions and decision-making. The code of ethics is essential since situations in the workplace frequently change and one needs guidance based on principles. Conflict resolution is a key skill for leaders since conflict is a consistent issue in the workplace. Having effective conflict resolution skills can help to avoid unnecessary conflicts in the organization. Employee motivation should be maintained by leaders to ensure continued productivity. Work-life balance is crucial to one’s well-being.
References
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