Good essay on leadership

According to Northouse’s questionnaires, it takes many different facets of an individual to make an effective leader. They cannot simply enter a situation with the propensity for taking control. They must also understand the emotions of others, and be able to cultivate creativity and understanding amongst team members, among other habits . Having learned that there were so many more aspects to leadership than I had originally assumed, I was eager to find out whether I fit the mold as a leader. Prior to this class, I believed leadership only took a forthright attitude, or courage under the right circumstances, but I now understand it also takes emotional intelligence, creativity, a proclivity for dealing with conflict, and many other characteristics that are not found in every person. Leadership, essentially, is a rare quality that combines every necessary trait it takes to inspire those around you.
As I took the assessments, I was surprised to find that I am quite fit to lead a group. My strengths are many. However, this was not immediately something I celebrated. According to an article published in Journal of Virtual Leadership one of the most significant strengths a leader can have are their weaknesses . For example, my emotional intelligence rated very high according to the Northouse assessment. I answered with fours and fives on most of the questions involving emotional intelligence. This, however, was because I read emotions as a computer might read them. I do not take into account the reason for the emotion, only the emotion itself. While this has made me efficient in the past, in a leadership position I fear it may be a weakness that cannot be converted into strength because it will prevent me from making a connection.
Another weakness of mine, in a way, was the ability to motivate my subordinates. I did not avoid doing this intentionally, but rather waited for my group to inspire me, when placed in a leadership position. Ideas and creativity coming from unified group work inspires me greatly but after examining my test scores and speaking with those who have experienced my leadership, I was able to realize that I have little to offer when it comes to motivation and inspiration. As a result, the group members sometimes influenced each other too often, which caused more conflict than necessary. I was then forced to devote more time than was needed to extinguishing conflict than leading the group.
Enforcing stern ground rules is an unfortunate leadership weakness of mine. I have continuously made the mistake of assuming that individuals enter a group understanding what is to be expected: I will set an example and give them tasks, and they should work. This method has worked in the past, but only seldom has it succeeded without struggle. Many times, I found myself reminded team members of what they should be doing, and even why they should be doing it. Setting basic ground rules in order to better develop a team structure and claim a definite role as leader never occurred to me until I evaluated my test scores for this portion, which were lower than I would have liked.
I also found that personal decision-making and setting group tone was a person leadership strength that I possess. Most of the questions pertaining to this category were answered with high marks, and I scored in the very high range over all . I have always believed, when placed in a leadership position, that if I make decisions for myself, I am able to set an example for my group. This, in turn, sets a tone for the group’s future work ethic. As suggested in supplementary materials, I have always strived to set a strong work ethic as an example by choosing to work diligently, turning in work only when it was polished .
While I sometimes lack in motivating team members, I am always pushing them to be creative. It could be that I am pushing them to be creative in order to fulfill my own desire to be motivated by them, but regardless, I always attempt to cultivate creativity in team members by being creative myself. I am not limited to the group work when being creative either. I also attempt to be creative when solving problems or working out communication issues within the group. I believe there is room for creativity everywhere and try to teach this to everybody.
In sum, I learned a lot about how I operate as a leader, where I struggle, and where I succeed. Despite my faults, my team always manages to pull together, making up for what I lack. I consider this a sign of effectiveness. To be a more successful leader, however, I will need to work on how I process the emotions of others, my ability to motivate, and setting firm ground rules in an effort to create structure. Especially if I had created a firmer group structure, many arguments could have been avoided and the work could have been completed sooner. I am now more understanding of how other people in groups think and feel, and will attempt to be sensitive to that as I learn about leadership roles in the future.

References

Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2004. Book.
Rodriguez, Joel O., Scott W. M. Burrus and Melanie E. Shaw. ” Models of Performance Improvement for Strategic Planning, Relationships, Communication, Competencies, Training, and Management in the Workplace.” Journal of Virtual Leadership (2011): 10-22. Article.