While I've always been drawn to leadership positions, I learned that leadership isn't just from personality.
I learned a lot about myself and my leadership styles. I actually have a style that contains components of more than one style. This class was very informative and gave me a lot to think about.
Taking a learning point from Warren Bennis's list on what good leaders do, I am going to focus more on providing hope to my team. I am a subordinate leader in an organization that has undergone constant change in leadership for the last three years. The uncertainty about our efforts/mission has led to many folks to retire or leave for other opportunities. I want to be more intentional about providing a vision for my team that reiterates our purpose.
A leader needs to inspire his team towards achieving results. I will make my team feel important and use inspirational stories and examples to guide and influence them. I will also be innovative, caring, truthful, consistent, committed and open to their opinions while presenting my competence and ability to drive change encourage them towards achieving outcomes.
A key take-away from this lesson is that great leaders change their leadership style based on the situation versus sticking with the style that is most comfortable for their personality. I definitely want to implement this more into my day to day, and have more intention around using and exploring the different leadership styles.
It was very interesting learning the different leadership approaches. While I have had experience with multiple leadership styles, I was not aware of the actual definitions, and this training has given me the opportunity to understand each type of leadership style a little more. This helps me understand my own leadership style. I have noticed, I do not fall under one category, but I see myself in different leadership styles based on different situations.
I am relieved to know that I have several leadership styles. I, 5too, feel the leadership style can change depending upon the situation.
I learned that I need to flex my style a bit more depending on the situation. I try to avoid coercion at all costs, but in some instances it is necessary. In other instances, I should probably be less democratic than I normally am, especially when people are looking for someone to take the lead and guide everyone to a better place. I also liked the thoughts of Warren Bennis. Without a sense of purpose or connection to something that is positive and larger than us, work can turn into drudgery and merely following a bunch of policies and rules because they have been created institutionally. Most of us need that connection to the "why".
I learned a lot about diffirent leadership styles and how certain things can be met. I learned that a leader really needs to flexible in terms of getting everything done.
Learning about the various leadership style and finding myself in each one, good and bad, has been very enlightening.
Leadership qualities change as the demands of the job changes. Being empathetic and adaptable is important but having a firm resolve to do what needs to be done and get your team to buy into the goals that must be set and met is always an enjoyable challenge.
I lead by example and I lead with a listening ear. I believe that utilizing varying types of leadership styles that evolve with the situation can be beneficial. I feel as though my leadership capabilities will continue to grow throughout my life and career.
My goal is to lead by example. I never want to ask my team to do something I am not willing to do. I also want to lead my team to have the confidence to make decisions and be their best.
I try to lead from the front, through fairness, effective communication, providing a safe space where stakeholders can grow and be the best version of themselves.
I saw many examples of poor leadership that I have experienced in my career. We can learn from what we believe to be poor leadership and we can become so much better than what we have experienced.
I found it very interesting that I am a combination of so many styles.
I have a pacesetting leadership style. I still tend to lean more towards manager, but I see how that can actually help in some leadership styles. I have also been much more aware of how I react to a situation and contemplating approaches I never really thought of before. I am not in management, but I have been seeing how some of these approaches have helped encourage my co-worker along with the rest of the group. I am intersted to complete the next lesson.
I think its important to draw upon various leadership styles based on what is needed. If a leader is able to utilize different ways of leading, they can be very successful. In addition, doing a SWOT analysis can help reflect on ways a leader may grow.
After this course I now realize the many different leadership styles and traits that are useful for everyday leading. Although we may try to incorporate these styles for successful leadership, our group of followers must be evaluated. Some styles and traits may not work for all followers. Just as we must evaluate our class of learners to determine what works best for them, so should we look at our followers to determine what works best. I suppose this is why there are so many styles and traits. A good leader will be able to incorporate what is needed to better inspire his/her followers.
I have learnt the various leadership styles, their stengths and weaknesses. I also have a better understanding on my style and how to make improvements. One's leaderdership style should not be based on their personality but the people thsy lead.
