Introduction
Self-leadership is the process by which people control their behavior, influencing and leading themselves using particular cognitive and behavioral strategies. In simple terms, self-leadership is the leadership of oneself. According to Neck et al. (2019), how individuals lead themselves effectively determines whether their leadership journey will become transformational. The transformational journey of self-leadership starts through the discovery of self-vocation, understanding mindfulness, and feeding own curiosity (Harari et al., 2021). Thus, the framework of self-leadership entails self-discovery, self-acceptance, self-management, and self-growth.
To be an effective and great leader requires one to understand the self through self-discovery. According to Carn (2019), each individual has a set of values and beliefs that define them, and knowing this makes one a great leader. Understanding what is essential and what core values one makes one make leadership choices confidently. Another framework is self-acceptance, which entails being completely honest with oneself and accepting it without self-sabotage or self-criticism. Through self-acceptance, an individual can recognize where things are, understand their part, accept failure, become responsible for one’s own actions, and feel and accept strengths and flaws.
Self-managed leaders can work independently, be focused, and be productive. Self-management entails holding oneself responsible and ensuring proper time management and resources effectively. Poor self-management results in constant burnout and stress. A part of good self-management involves making time for self-development and requires self-awareness (Dhiman, 2018). Through self-awareness, an individual becomes able to know desirable habits that are beneficial for leadership roles, control impulses, and motivate good behaviors. Reflection is an essential aspect of self-acceptance and self-discovery as it keeps one with insights on values and priorities and assists in identifying growth areas and opportunities for improvement (Neck et al., 2019). Self-leadership is about individual growth, being a better leader, and being completely honest with the self without self-criticism. Harnessing the power of self-growth requires a passion for learning and a sense of curiosity. Great leaders are curious, always ask questions, and learn about themselves and their industry. Curiosity is essential for closing any knowledge gaps, making one a more skilled and good problem-solver.
These frameworks benefit personal development because they create an environment for influencing others and taking actions that lead to the achievement of organizational goals. Self-discovery and management make one more efficient and productive and keeps motivation and accountability (Neck et al., 2019). Therefore, self-leadership shapes and reshapes oneself when the focus is on individual attention on cognitive and behavioral strategies.
Assessment of Self-Leadership Skills
Based on the questionnaires taken, I am a self-aware leader with greater effectiveness in the workplace, better relationships with co-workers, advanced abilities to recognize and manage emotions, and reduced stress. Understanding oneself is essential for being an effective leader. Developing self-awareness and comprehension of motivational drivers and tendencies results in unlocking potential among the team and self. I am self-aware, able to know weaknesses and strengths, and able to gauge emotions and experiences. I also make critical organizational decisions that help them achieve their goals.
Alignment of INFJ Personality with Self-Leadership Assessments
INFJ is among the sixteen personality types identified by MBTI scores. Scoring INFJ implies that personality types are introverted, intuitive, feeling, and judging. INFJs are easy-going, logical, emotional perfectionists, creative and analytical. Having an INFJ personality makes one feel compassionate due to a strong sense of emotional understanding and intuition, holding beliefs, and abilities to act adamantly to get what is required. INFJ is also idealist, organized, helper, emotional and logical. Therefore, to align the INFJ personality with self-leadership assessments I will adopt a particular way of behaving in a team environment, which will enhance team functioning and achievement of objectives. I will direct people quietly yet forcefully, striving for and supporting the highest and best use of personal potential. In addition, being aware of people and giving genuine care about them will provide an in-depth understanding of their jobs that affect their moods. Since INFJs tend to focus on productivity and people I will also believe in personal developments.
Preferred Leadership Style
Getting the best of an executive team requires using numerous management styles, and the right style can assist in building trust, generating results, and motivating team members to action. For any organization, the best leadership style depends on the goals. With the desire to work towards the greater good and inspire employees to make an impact, the most appropriate and intended leadership style for implementation is servant leadership. Servant leadership is defined as a leadership style that puts followers’ needs, growth, and well-being first (‘‘The 4Ps leadership assessment’’ n.d.). Servant leadership tends to realize a vision by providing vital support to workers, which allows them to learn and grow while bringing their skills and vision to the organization (Gandolfi & Stone, 2018). A servant leader focuses on developing a strategic vision for the organization, encouraging ownership and supporting the team’s trust, bottoms-up empowerment, supplying the team with sufficient resources, and providing a framework for team flourishing.
A servant leader can be characterized by teamwork, employee satisfaction, adaptability, motivation, transparent communication, authenticity, and accountability. Servant leadership can be embodied through practice by focusing on the aspects discussed below (‘‘Why servant leadership is more important than ever?’’ n.d.). First, develop strong communication skills to get the most out of the team. Second, improving listening skills allows for hearing members’ perspectives and understanding their decision-making processes. Third, developing empathy allows one seeing things from the team’s perspective. Fourth, working on self-awareness to understand my limitations and strengths. Fifth, learning to use personal influence for good and putting others first. As Oberer and Erkollar (2018) postulates, it will also be worth keeping the organization’s goals in mind and learning to develop others holistically.
Leadership Factors and Servant Leadership
Culture directly affects personal factors like employee motivation and engagement and productivity factors like customer and product service quality. Organizational culture has a direct influence on the long-term viability of the company (Carn, 2019). An organization’s extensive range of ideologies and experiences is the best way to attain success, innovation, and growth. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is associated with better worker retention, and its tactic is to encourage an inclusive culture. An organization must embrace diversity and promote settings where all individuals are heard, respected, and safe (Dhiman, 2018). Gender plays a significant role in defining leadership roles and ascertaining the quality of services in the organization. Leaders act with fairness, inspire their team, and establish a culture of respect and trust.
Servant leadership helps deal with leadership factors as it makes everyone feel a sense of inclusion and being heard, thereby producing a sense of togetherness. Servant leadership also focuses on ethical behaviors as they devote themselves to making informed decisions based on moral and ethical considerations (‘‘The 4Ps leadership assessment’’ n.d.). Core personal values like integrity and honesty also drive the style. At a personal level, integrity transcends ethics, and it entails an individual character that is consistently ethical, honest, transparent, compassionate, and considerate (Duggar, 2009). Personal integrity results in individuals being reliable and predictable in handling issues and others while defending what is acceptable, just, and fair. Therefore, in my journey, I will act with integrity by practicing what I preach, owning up to mistakes and avoid making excuses or blames. As a result, personal integrity will allow me to garner trust among teams and stand up for what we believe in, leading to increased productivity.
Support Needed for Effective Plan
To be effective, it will be required to embrace a mentorship program. Mentoring will allow the transmission of information and equip me to discover truth and ideologies for myself and act accordingly. Mentoring will guide the frameworks to become a liberated servant leader. In addition, I will also need to develop my skills, such as communication skills, listening, and self-awareness, and learn to develop others holistically.
Career Plan
Enhanced leadership skills will be achieved through the completion of the Advance Complete Professional Program offered through the University of Memphis, a member of NSLS. With these skills, I want to be a successful leader who can transform organizations, create efficiencies, enhance value creation, and engage employees to deliver better outputs. In addition, having advanced leadership skills will allow for finding new, innovative ways to develop and manage people. The skills acquired will also make it possible to get an internship in Dublin, allowing career progression and advancement.
SLAP Plan Summary
References
Carn, A. L. (2019). Self-leadership to servant leadership: A metatheoretical antecedent to positive social. Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies.
Dhiman, S. (2018). Self-leadership: Journey from position-power to self-power. In Engaged Leadership (pp. 21-49). Springer, Cham.
Duggar, J. W. (2009). The role of integrity in individual and effective corporate leadership. Journal of Academic and Business Ethics, 3(1), 1-7. Web.
Gandolfi, F., & Stone, S. (2018). Leadership, leadership styles, and servant leadership. Journal of Management Research, 18(4), 261-269.
Harari, M. B., Williams, E. A., Castro, S. L., & Brant, K. K. (2021). Self‐leadership: A meta‐analysis of over two decades of research. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 94(4), 890-923. Web.
Neck, C. P., Manz, C. C., & Houghton, J. D. (2019). Self-leadership: The definitive guide to personal excellence. Sage Publications.
Oberer, B., & Erkollar, A. (2018). Leadership 4.0: Digital leaders in the age of industry 4.0. International Journal of Organizational Leadership.
The 4Ps leadership assessment. (n.d.). Inc.Africa. Web.
Why servant leadership is more important than ever? (n.d.). Forbes. Web.