Leadership Model Applied in the Workplace
As a leader and a caregiver handling vulnerable children at Apple Brooke LLC, I need to ensure that they enjoy high-quality attention from my team. For effective management of my team at the institution, I often apply various leadership styles. Some significant leadership models utilized in my service include transformational and participative. These styles are common in my daily engagements at the institution. For instance, in transformational leadership, I usually inspire my team to execute their duties accordingly. Besides encouraging them to do their tasks properly, I also challenge them to think beyond the ordinary.
Critical thinking helps the employees develop innovative resolutions that improve the quality of care enjoyed by the children. I always motivate my team to devise strategies that can advance the quality of our services at the institution. My encouragements stem from my desire for creativity and development. I love uniquely doing things, something that has gradually improved my leadership expertise. My passion for innovation has also facilitated my decision to utilize the transformational style of management.
The second model that I use when guiding my team at the establishment is participative. My love for innovation triggered the aspiration to adopt the leadership style. I observed that creativity could not materialize in a location where employees follow predefined guidelines. Instead, innovation thrives in societies that practice limited democracy. As such, I always allow my team to provide their suggestions on how the institution can improve. I also delegate duties so that they do not need to consult me frequently. I believe that through practical training, people can make the right choices when faced with a challenge. Delegation of duties also helps the human resources at the institution make their decisions and assess their expertise.
I often utilize the principle when exercising the participative leadership style. In several instances, we have meetings where my subordinates share their views and develop significant judgments. The resolutions usually occur through consensus, voting, or from my final remarks. Sheshi and Kërçini (2017) elucidate that individuals can make their final undisputable resolutions in participatory leadership theory. The aspect of making final decisions is vital during scenarios that need urgent attention. The decision to adopt such a model stems from my realization that inclusivity is vital for organizational growth. Therefore, participative leadership theory has always helped me to lead my team. The model has also advanced the quality of services that the institution delivers to the children.
My Conscientious Colleague
During my initial stages at the institution, I interacted with a friend who had a conscientious personality. I had the chance to learn various issues from the personality attributes demonstrated by my colleague. Anne was my immediate junior when I undertook the leadership post in the institution. I noticed that she was meticulous in her actions and regularly encouraged me to ensure that projects followed a systematic order. Her determination coincides with the sentiments of Wiersma and Kappe (2017), who argue that conscientious individuals do not surrender easily to a task. Whenever Anne undertook a project, she would handle it with the team until completion.
Another feature that impressed me and made my interaction with her significant was resilience. Even during complicated scenarios, she would encourage us to work on the task. She would inspire team members to follow the provided plan and deliver assignments in line with the executive’s expectations. I noticed that many individuals in the group started focusing on punctuality and order. I also observed that Anne always encouraged individuals to exercise transparency. She would give factual and real reasons whenever she failed to meet a specific timeline or deliver a task. She challenged the team to own the assignments and ensure that we worked together to achieve the desired results.
In as much as Anne had various positive features emanating from her personality traits, she equally demonstrated some negative qualities. Some of the common negatives that my colleague showed comprised the absence of individual accountability and limited freedom for creativity. Due to her desire for teamwork and the collective accomplishment of tasks, she rarely reprimanded single individuals when a project failed to materialize. Instead, she blamed the entire team even when a section of members caused the error.
Such behavior discouraged hardworking individuals in the institution who believed that accusing others wrongly was unethical. Blaming employees collectively is different because many individuals, especially those in managerial positions, reprimand the wrongdoers. Another issue that caused ideological differences between Anne and me is her desire to follow the stipulated procedures. Such consideration limited the space that could be useful for innovation. The quality led to some routine at the institution and hampered progress. Employees eventually became bored with the normal operations at the institution. Boredom stemmed from the routine activities that they regularly undertook under the guidance of my conscientious colleague.
Strengthening my Leadership Traits
I have gradually realized that I love being around others and working with them. Such an extroversion trait has helped me lead others effectively and encourage innovation in the workplace. However, my extroversion attribute has triggered some challenges and affected the quality of my administration.
My desire to express opinions dominantly limits the autonomy exercised by others when we are together. I can easily undermine the views shared by others in the group. Sometimes, we agree with my colleagues on how to execute a specific program, but I later undertake it differently. My team members have always complained that I do not consider their opinions unless they share them repeatedly.
After realizing these weaknesses, I have given my colleagues the freedom to rectify me whenever I start to dominate the group. Moreover, I always restrain myself and allow my colleagues to express their opinions. When I am sure that the members have shared their views, then I provide my proposals and seek clarification. I believe that I will eventually manage the issue and improve my leadership skills. I understand that fairness is significant for the success of a project. When leaders focus on inclusivity, their establishments grow. Therefore, when I bring all individuals to commit, we can effectively meet organizational goals.
References
Sheshi, A., & KĂ«rçini, D. (2017). The role of transactional, transformational, and participative leadership in performance of SME’s in Albania. Albanian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 1(1), 285–292.
Wiersma, U., & Kappe, R. (2017). Selecting for extroversion but rewarding for conscientiousness. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 26(2), 314–323. Web.