Personal Leadership Philosophies Essay Paper
Many of us can think of leaders we have come to admire, be they historical figures, pillars of the industry we work in, or leaders we know personally. The leadership of individuals such as Abraham Lincoln and Margaret Thatcher has been studied and discussed repeatedly. However, you may have interacted with leaders you feel demonstrated equally competent leadership without ever having a book written about their approaches.
What makes great leaders great? Every leader is different, of course, but one area of commonality is the leadership philosophy that great leaders develop and practice. A leadership philosophy is basically an attitude held by leaders that acts as a guiding principle for their behavior. While formal theories on leadership continue to evolve over time, great leaders seem to adhere to an overarching philosophy that steers their actions.
What is your leadership philosophy? In this Assignment, you will explore what guides your own leadership.
To Prepare:
Identify two to three scholarly resources, in addition to this Module’s readings, that evaluate the impact of leadership behaviors in creating healthy work environments.
Reflect on the leadership behaviors presented in the three resources that you selected for review.
Reflect on your results of the Clifton Strengths Assessment, and consider how the results relate to your leadership traits.
The Assignment (2-3 pages):
Personal Leadership Philosophies
Develop and submit a personal leadership philosophy that reflects what you think are characteristics of a good leader. Use the scholarly resources on leadership you selected to support your philosophy statement. Your personal leadership philosophy should include the following:
A description of your core values
A personal mission/vision statement
An analysis of your Clifton Strengths Assessment summarizing the results of your profile
A description of two key behaviors that you wish to strengthen
A development plan that explains how you plan to improve upon the two key behaviors you selected and an explanation of how you plan to achieve your personal vision. Be specific and provide examples.
Be sure to incorporate your colleagues’ feedback on your Clifton Strengths
Personal Leadership Philosophies
A description of your core values
I consider myself a religion person. In fact, my religion is the guiding principle for my core values. I believe that I was created by God for a purpose. As such, I look to religion to determine my purpose. In addition, I believe that for every action, there is an equal reaction. Everything that I do has a price and returns. Personal Leadership Philosophies Essay Paper If I go to the movies, then it means that I have taken time and money from other activities. Similarly, if I attend school, then it means that I have sacrificed some activities in order to reap the benefits of attending school. Also, I believe that every person must live with his or her decisions, whether good or bad. It is these core values that guide my life and the decisions that I make (Huetteman, 2012).
A personal mission/vision statement
I want to be a successful individual who lives a positive footprint in my environment. I want others to look at my life and admire me for what I have achieved. This mission guides my vision to be a role model for others in my society. I want those who admire my life to seek to emulate it so that they also positively impact their environments.
An analysis of your Clifton Strengths Assessment summarizing the results of your profile
The results of the Clifton Strengths Assessment indicates that I have five strengths in my profile. My first strength is that I am a learner. I always seek to learn and discover new things. I perceive the unknown as a challenge to be conquered and believe that I am as good as the next person if not better. As such, anything that others learn I too can learn. This belief has allowed me to improve my knowledge base. My second strength is that I am disciplined. I want my environment to have a structure and predictability. This makes me a good planner as I am able to set goals for what I want to achieve and pursue my goals with the required focus. Also, I am not easily distracted from my activities. My third strength is that I am prone to individualization. I am a keen observer who seeks to assign individual identities to everything around me by noting the differences. This has allowed me to get along with others as I am able to identify what they like and do not like. My fourth strength is that I am an achiever who is always seeking to improve. I do not like my shortcomings and always seek to eliminate them by improving myself. My final strength is that I have an inquisitive nature that always seeks to understand the nature of things in my environment. This helps me to gain a better understanding of my environment so that I can easily point out problems and solutions (Gallup, 2017).
A description of two key behaviors that you wish to strengthen
There are two key behaviors that I wish to strengthen. Firstly, I would like to be more spontaneous. I am disciplined and this makes it difficult for me to adapt when circumstances change. For instance, it took me a while to adjust to the social changes brought about by Covid-19 epidemic. Secondly, I would like to focus less on differences and faults. I am prone to individualization, and this has been misinterpreted by others as discriminatory and controlling as I focus on their faults. I would like to change this behavior by focusing less on the faults (Clifton & Anderson, 2016).
A development plan that explains how you plan to improve upon the two key behaviors you selected and an explanation of how you plan to achieve your personal vision.
I intended to strengthen the two behaviors through attending leadership conferences and group workshops. This are forums that allow me to develop leadership skills so that I am better able to engage with other while focusing less on their faults. In addition, I intend to engage the services of a personal coach who will guide me to become more spontaneous (Clifton & Anderson, 2016).
I intend to achieve my personal vision by attending higher education programs and improving my professional qualifications. This will allow me to take on greater professional responsibilities and stand out among my colleagues. In addition, this will allow me to become an exceptional professional who inspires others (Clifton & Anderson, 2016).
References
Huetteman, L. (2012). The Value of Core Values: Five Keys to Success Through Values-Centered Leadership. BOOKLOCKER.COM Incorporated.
Gallup (2017). CliftonStrengths for Students: Your Strengths Journey Begins Here. Gallup Press.
Clifton, D. & Anderson, E. (2016). StrengthsQuest. Gallup Press. Personal Leadership Philosophies Essay Paper