Definition of Leadership
Leadership is the process by which individuals can guide, direct and influence other’s behaviors towards the accomplishment of set goals. It is the ability to influence others towards the realization of a goal. A leader plays various roles to induce follower to take their roles with confidence and zeal including developing future visions and motivating to attain the visions. Leadership denotes the number of qualities to be present in an individual. Leadership is situation bound, and there is no best style of leadership (Nahavandi, 2016). There is a difference between the concept of leadership and the concept of management. Managers are fundamentally focused on directing people and allocating resources to accomplish tasks (Grohar et al., 2016). Managers employ strong administrative abilities, given that much of their role involves providing instructions to subordinates and reporting results to superiors. Leaders can be managers.
Personal Skills/Weaknesses
Strengths
As a leader, my greatest strength lies in being Open-minded. I keep my mind open while being flexible. This enables me to adjust when necessary. I am also committed to investing, developing and maintaining great relationships. I consider myself a decisive person. The rapid pace of processes and increasing time pressures necessitates dealing with the speed amidst the complexity. I tend to make sound, justifiable decisions in a timely manner, particularly in times of uncertainty and crisis. I am also inspirational. People say I am self-driven and fueled by my beliefs as well as an internal drive and passion. I am a persistent individual. I believe that persistence beats resistance. Some things take the time to accomplish. To achieve them, there is a need for persistent. As a result, I am always willing to go beyond where others stop. I am also a good communicator. I easily make people aware of my expectations, thoughts, and ideas.
Weakness
I have various weaknesses. The first weakness lies in my tendency to be a perfect. I get things done right. However, this leads to attrition and burnout. As a result, it may diminish potential returns over time. I realize the importance of being more accommodating and accepting of small failures, letting go and delegating, allowing for diversity of action and thought and understanding that good enough is often good enough. The second weakness is that I am Over-optimism about strategies and people. The tendency has negative impacts as I may hang on to lower-performing individuals and strategies for too long. As a leader, there is need to recognize the grace in realism so as to see things accurately as they are versus how they should be.
Description of Leadership Experience
One of the most memorable leadership experiences was a picnic trip in summer 2016. The event took place on the month of August. Throughout the trip to Andover City Park in Kansas, I played the role of a leader. My role was to lead my group of 15 members. As the recreation trip leader, I was responsible for planning, leading, instruction and facilitating activities. Safety, as it pertains to the picnic, the skill level of students, and location that the trip was of main concern. I comfortably managed a diverse group of people during the outdoor setting and made decisions for the good of the group. In addition to leading the group, I assisted patrons with their outdoor adventure equipment needs including training, fitting and educating students about the outdoor adventure kits. I was expected to correctly operate cash and reconciliation procedures and engage students in a supportive and friendly demeanor. As the leader, I felt proud that students recognized my leadership skills.
Leadership Skills Used
Communication
The activity required the leader to use a number of skills. Communication skill was the most commonly used throughout the activity. As a leader, it is necessary to be able to clearly and succinctly express expectations to your followers. As a leader, it is important to master all forms of communication through all available means. A large part of communication involved listening. The first step was to establish a steady flow of information between team members through regular conversations with team members.
Motivation
As a leader, I inspired my team members to go the extra mile for the purpose of achieving our objectives. I motivated my teammates through different ways. These include building their self-esteem and giving them responsibilities to increase their participation in the activity.
Strategic thinking
This was perhaps the most critical skill I utilized. Application of this skills involved having an objective of what was expected and influencing team members to achieve that objective. It could not be possible to achieve objectives without communication, optimism, crisis management and effective solving of conflicts between team members. It is clear that working in a team may prove difficult than working as an individual. This is particularly so when team members have conflicting goals, fail to share information and lose themselves in an unproductive argument. Critical thinking helped create a sense of urgency also contributed to the effectiveness of the team. I was able to propel team members to get busy and carryout the activity at the desired pace.
Summary
Leaders focus on influencing others. Unlike managers, followers follow leaders due to their personality and their beliefs. As a leader, my greatest strength lies in being Open-minded, persistent, commitment to investing, developing and maintaining great relationships. I have various weaknesses including perfectionism and Over-optimism. My leadership experience was a picnic trip in summer 2016. As the recreation trip leader, I was responsible for planning, leading, instruction and facilitating activities. Skills used include Communication, Motivation and critical thinking.