Leadership is often a calling more than a responsibility. It is something that a person should handle passionately, believing, and knowing that whatever they do in their positions of leadership affects other people's lives. A leadership position should not oppress others; neither should it be used to benefit an individual. I believe that leadership is a servanthood experience where the leader should be more committed to fulfilling the needs of their subjects than the subjects fulfilling the leader's needs. I believe that democratic leadership is the most authentic and actionable style of leadership. I am a democratic leader who believes that every person should contribute to the organization's performance.
My Core Values as a Democratic Leader
One of the values that I hold close as a leader is the accountability of all my team members and myself. Accountability is the person's ability to account for all activities in their work scope, primarily when the actions affect the team's performance or existence (Nawaz & Khan, 2016). An accountable person can explain why they make individual decisions and why their point s should be considered in the decision-making processes.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
I also hold honesty as a vital component of the democratic style of leadership. An honest person acts in the team's best interest and will make the right decisions to ensure its prosperity. I try to be as truthful as possible because being honest resolves many issues that would otherwise be detrimental to relationships.
A Personal Mission Statement
To be an all-inclusive leader, bearing in mind that every member is an essential contributor to the team's success.
An Analysis of my Clifton Strengths Assessment
One of the strengths identified in the Clifton Strengths Assessment is my pursuit of harmony as a leader. I am the kind of person who wants to be on an agreeable level with all the people I associate with. As a leader, I would like to operate on a suitable level with all my team members. I am also a very analytical person and want to have critical answers to questions. I like to make decisions on factual evidence instead of hearsay or assumptions.
I am also a very competitive person, and I try to be the best among my peers. I believe that every team must have a benchmarking squad with whom they compete. Competition should be healthy to spur each team towards growth and progress (Broome & Marshall, 2020). As a leader, I like people to recognize my position and respect it. I do not want people to fear me; I want them to respect the leader's position. I believe that respect for the leader's position encourages the other team members to identify the leader's important role in guiding the team (Smolović et al., 2016). I value consistency in everything that I do because balance matters in my activities and general life. I like to see things or activities to their completion, and I usually channel my energy and resources to completing my projects. A leader needs to have consistency and steer all team members to work towards achieving the set goals.
Two Key Behaviors that I Wish to Strengthen
One of the critical behaviors that I wish to strengthen is my interpersonal relations. Although I advocate for democracy, I have trouble mingling with people and allowing them to be part of the decision-making process. I am used to being a lone ranger and making decisions on my own. As a leader, I acknowledge that I need to accept the need to include other people in my decision-making processes.
I also need to improve my communication skills because I acknowledge that communication is the firm leader's backbone. I have good communication skills, but I would have to sharpen them to become applicable in my position as a democratic leader. I believe that communication is the bond that holds a team together, and it is one of the skills that individuals should cultivate.
A Development Plan to Improve on Interpersonal and Communication Skills
One way I intend to improve my interpersonal skills is by cultivating a positive outlook for myself. I will remind myself of the good things about my life and my potential as a leader. I will also learn how to separate my personal life from my professional life so that my interactions with my team member s doe s not get affected by external forces. I will also learn how to control my emotions because the workplace is not the place to be overly emotional. I realize that being emotional may cloud my judgment as a leader and limit my capabilities.
One way that I intend to improve my communication skills is by listening more and speaking less. A good communicator listens to the opinions of other people and takes time to understand them. I realize that I tend not listening to understand; I hear to respond. Listening to understand allows a person to think critically about what the other party is saying and find the most appropriate way to respond (Puni et al., 2016). As a democratic leader, I realize that I should understand what my team members say and internalize it before responding. I also intend to improve my body language to improve my communication skills. Aspects of body language such as posture and eye contact help to enhance communication between people. I intend to learn the acceptable forms of body language for professionals to use when communicating with my team members.
References
Broome, M. E., & Marshall, E. S. (2020). Transformational Leadership in Nursing: From Expert Clinician to Influential Leader . Springer Publishing Company.
Nawaz, Z. A. K. D. A., & Khan_ Ph.D., I. (2016). Leadership theories and styles: A literature review. Leadership, 16(1), 1-7.
Puni, A., Agyemang, C. B., & Asamoah, E. S. (2016). Leadership styles, employee turnover intentions, and counterproductive work behaviors. International Journal of innovative research and development, 5(1), 1-7.
Smolović Jones, S., Smolović Jones, O., Winchester, N., & Grint, K. (2016). Putting the discourse to work: On outlining a praxis of democratic leadership development. Management Learning, 47(4), 424-442.
