360-Assessment Assignment Final Review
Capstone (OB)
Lamont Bradley (497855)
Siena Heights University
April 21, 2016
Assessment Final Assignment
The leading and following assessment made me realize just how far I’ve come. In just 14 short months of class, I’ve developed a stronger grasp of what it takes to become a successful leader. Through various scenarios I encountered many of the situations that the survey asked about including: Getting complicated ideas explained to many people, involving other people in the grand scheme of things, as well as motivating others to achieve their goals. I think this assessment really allowed me to see that I am well on the path to becoming a successful Leader. Most of what comes natural to me seems to be things that the survey suggests as being admirable things to do in the role of leadership. One can only assume though, as to the questions weren’t to find right or wrong but to find what we have the tendency to do. I only discerned which motives or subjects were to be ones that are more favorable based on my knowledge and perspective of positive, ethical, leadership.. At times the assessment did seem a little redundant in that it would ask a question similar to the next and almost arrive at the same result. I assume that the redundancy is to find out to what degree or extent one would go to demonstrate that particular characteristic. Will I act entirely on this behalf or just sometimes, is what I took from the redundancy. At any rate I do feel that taking the questions one right after another would have skewed my answers as to my thinking would have been that “I just answered that question”. The fact that the similar question was asked a few questions later helped in clearing my head just a little of the past and similar question.
In all honesty I do believe that, by going through the leadership program, my results were different than if I hadn’t completed the program. I find myself recognizing things that have just recently come about in my character than things of the past. The most recognizable things are the freshest on my brain and when I read the questionnaire most of those “new characteristics” are those that I have just recently become acquainted with.
I predicted that my observers would more than likely see the same changes in me that I saw and would be likely to reiterate the same results as I did. Initially I thought that there may be little discrepancy due to the history of the different relationships; some longer and older than others, but for the most part my leadership skills have been intact for quite some time so I figured that there would be more similarities than none. Surprisingly, my observers gave me a humbling eye-opening report. I am very thankful that those who participated were as honest as they could be in giving me a fair shot at understanding myself as a leader. As I expected a complete and unanimous survey, my observers shined light on quite a few things that I can agree to being in need of some improvement. Amongst other things my observers’ results showed that I have a tendency to be quite an enabler; meaning that I want our team to succeed bad enough to almost take on the whole task myself. I am guilty of this type of behavior and it showed in my leadership style assessment in LDR 640 where I was deemed to be a sort of a “perfectionist”.
In the past I have felt the need to go over and beyond when I lacked the confidence in my team to get the job done. However, I hadn’t noticed that my overachieving was being perceived by teammates as overbearing or non-autonomous. Working on this flaw will take hard work and dedicated effort towards learning to trust others more with responsibility. Great leaders know that the more successful you want to be the more you will have to trust others to help you get there. It’s a total team effort in building a successful establishment and I know this from experience. My problem lies within the freshness of completion of the Leadership program. Yes, I have lead many of teams through successful projects, and yes I have successfully operated businesses, however the corporate world that we have been preparing for suggest that my experience was not enough and that I needed this training to break through to the next level.
Another difference in my personal assessment compared to those of my observers was that of communication. Ive always thought of myself as a very vocal leader, whose direction and instruction was clear and concise. If there is a simpler way to explain things I tend to try to make it as simple as possible. However, my observers ranked me fairly lower than what I predicted in that category. I can only see this as a way for me to see another way to improve my leadership skills. I attribute this breakdown in communication in my constant struggle with learning that everyone learns at different times and everyone may not be on the same level all the time. Im aware of my straightforwardness and my inability to allow time for others to catch on to my plan of action. In a way I justify my actions by thinking of ways to weed out those who cant make the mark of hanging in there with a team that I expect so much from. Since this behavior was in my past I can see how my observers attributed these remarks to my character assessment. By engaging in several weekly scenarios in our strategic leadership class Ive learned to counter this action with that of a more promising approach; one that includes me taking the time to understand what it takes to build a team and then going about doing so strategically.
As a leader you are only as strong as your weakest link, so every effort must be made to fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of each member of your team in efforts to better utilize their talents. Throughout our 8 weeks in LDR 660 we found that Leading Strategically focuses on leveraging the skills necessary to excel as a strategic leader. In taking this course we found out that leaders strategic leadership requires a clear understanding of pressing challenges and three core skills: thinking, acting and influencing strategically. As new participants in leading strategically we learned to apply these skills as they balance the complex aspects of leadership while managing day-to-day operations. By applying the ideas and practical skills taught in Leading Strategically, I feel that as new leaders we will be able to:
~Ensure that leadership strategies align with business strategies.
~Identify the drivers that are key to the organization's business and leadership strategies.
~Maximize leadership effectiveness through strategic thinking, acting and influencing skills.
~Understand the implications culture has on strategic leadership and performance potential.
~Successfully leverage organizational priorities that may be in conflict.
~Implement leadership strategies to create direction and commitment and
~Apply skills and tools to create ongoing strategic learning in your organization. (Bass, 1999)
Similarities and differences in my report have helped me better understand what I have working for me and what in turn is not. As a leader a general self-assessment should be taken every so often just to make sure you are on task and on target with being as influential of a leader as you can be without losing yourself in the corporate world. While my communication and trust level in teammates lacked in similarities with observers, my ability to show caring and compassionate leadership values translated into true results from those that observed this in the past. I truly believe that any group being lead on a project or any specific goal initially takes on the direction and character of the leader. I have always wanted to be a great example to those that are following behind me. My high level of integrity and self-awareness allows me to restrain from any behavior that I wouldn’t want my teammates to develop. I attribute the high marks in caring, and capable leadership to the way I always try to exhibit the qualities that I want to see in the team I am a part of. I ranked myself highly in regards to being an effective leader and my observers thought this to be true as well. “We all have flaws but it’s not the amount that you have that matters it’s the dedication you have to change them” (Pulley, 2001).
Learning about myself in this assessment was a great feeling. To me there is nothing better than getting a different perspective of yourself from someone who genuinely cares enough to see you improve. I take this assessment serious because it effectively gave me a jumpstart to the rest of my corporate career. Not only will this assessment prove to be beneficial in my working career but in my personal life as well. Of course I thought that most of the time I communicated efficiently and always gave a birds eye view to my plan of action; however it may seem those who looked to me in their time in need, I presented traces of deficiency. I take full responsibility for my character flaws and look to hopefully improve on my improvements that I have made in this program. The way to glory would be to always be critical of myself before others and to remain in the moment. “Being in the moment allows us as leaders to dive deeper into the present time and anything or any goal that is there with you” (Ruderman, 2001). This new focus will allow me to achieve goals quicker and have a better grasp on whose involved. Furthermore, allowing me to include more people in leadership, and show more levels of trust and respect for my teammates. Learning to be more open to suggestion in our team building course has helped me give others a chance to be heard and collaboratively move us closer to our end result. It takes more than one person to move the mission and I am glad to have learned the positive reinforcement having a supporting team behind you can bring.
As a leader and a follower this assessment has showed me that I can accept constructive criticism and that others respect my visionary promise. My strong sense of personal and professional ethics is what I attribute the mass amounts of support from former and current colleagues. I believe my personal and professional ethics come from my upbringing as well as my ability to discern right from wrong. Through many experiences in life such as the time I refused to circulate a picture of a deceased patient that had been traveling through our department, I have found that my character has remained intact and allowed me to make the correct decision regarding immoral or unethical issues. Ive been presented with dilemmas in my personal life where Ive had to choose between compromising my morals in order to keep in contact with people that I love and care about, only to end up winning in the end when I stood my moral ground. Life is truly unique and no one scenario is like the other. What I’ve managed to do is look at every situation as a learning situation no matter how good or how bad it gets. There is always to learn from every effort you make throughout life.
My keen sense of equality and basic human rights is what allows me to see the injustice and how things can be made better with a few minor changes. Our class studies have given us the opportunity to see the world as a whole with similar problems that have unique ways of dealing with them. Our goal as leaders of the new wave of organizational leadership will be to implement systems that work as a win win allowing all parties to come out satisfied. If we all strive to want better for each other then the end results become a lot more attainable. What we see in the media doesn’t necessarily portray an accurate picture of the world. Actual relationships with people and perspectives is what make the world a more informed place. Im grateful that my notion of social justice comes from real relationships with people involved in making a change first hand is some of these areas. Soon we will all be doing our part. I think that being able to see what others think allowed me to see just how much others that have encountered me in the workplace value my leadership qualities and how I go about projecting those ideas. This assessment also showed me that my time in leadership can be short lived if I don’t take the time to further develop a sense of followership as well. I have to be able to follow if I am to be a great leader. “It takes a great leader to be a great follower” (Nevins, 1999). We don’t have all the answers so investing in a team of like-minded individuals is where our power lye. There is power in numbers. Building on our strengths as a team is better than battling our weaknesses individually.
I have just begun refining my leadership qualities but they have been around since I was a child leading my pee-wee football league. Some leaders are born and others are made. I happen to be a nice blend of both worlds. Only time and more experience will tell but the organizational leadership program has given me the confidence I need to successfully develop a team and lead them to success. Ive learned that Leadership is critical in building organizational culture resilience. Consistent vocal support by leaders like us and those higher-ranking individuals in leadership ranks is a valuable building block for both establishing an organizational resilience effort and sustaining it. Front line leaders are important in building resilience in the workforce. Front line leaders are the people that team members have the most interaction with, so these leaders have greater influence on their employees than anyone else. Part reason why I got the remarks I got on my assessment was because of the type of influence my leadership style had on my teammates. Good leaders are said to make a very big difference in high-stress conditions, a culture of leadership is needed to create a culture of resilience, and developing resilient leaders is the key to creating this type of culture. I have work to do in this department but I predict this to come along with more experience.
This program helped me analyzed and understand the synergetic relationship between leadership and decision making. It “combined theory and practice to inform [us] students of the latest and best studies on how effective decisions are made, as well as how bad decisions can be side-stepped” (Martin, 2003). I've learned that “an adaptive strategic leader, a resolute and flexible individual, presents themselves as persistent in the face of challenges that hold them back, but also able to react strategically to other company-wide shifts, has learned to apply all of the necessary skills of strategic leadership at once” (Alexander, 2002). Needless to say my observers have shown me the way to this mastering of attributes. In our program we learned that strategic leaders are the focal point for organizational learning. We must continue to “promote a culture of inquiry, and always search for the lessons in both successful and unsuccessful outcomes” (Bass, 1999). In order to move forward in leadership, I must; study failures, my own and my teams, in an open and constructively critical way to find the hidden lessons.
The field of Organizational leadership has helped us “students develop oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills, as well as critical planning skills that enables [us] to facilitate our ideas of organizational compliance more effectively” (Collins, 2001). This program gave us an inside look at informal and formal communications, leadership, intercultural communication, and integrity issues that may arise in many workplaces. I can honestly say that by applying concepts presented in the Org/Ldrshp program, that I am able to demonstrate ethical leadership and business integrity while balancing short-term concerns and pressures. After the many course discussions, and the weekly assignments, I felt lifted above the daily challenges of my role to a broader and more strategic level. It was one of the best executive development programs I have been a part of. l am able to do these things while ensuring effective compliance and control and responding to increasing regulatory developments, including financial reporting, capital requirements, and corporate responsibility. Most of my characteristic flaws came during my past work history; where most of the time I, as a leader, was asked to in uncertain times, have had to make tough calls with incomplete information, and often had to do so quickly. But throughout this program I have learned that “strategic thinkers/leaders must insist on many options at the outset and don’t get prematurely locked into simplistic go/no-go choices” (Sankar, 2003).
My tendency to shoot from the hip had to be broken in order for me to follow a disciplined process that balances rigor with speed, considers the trade-offs involved, and takes both short-term and long-term goals into consideration. In the end, leaders like myself must have the courage of our convictions, informed by a hearty decision process. Together this new wave of leaders can and will make the days of corrupt dealings in companies disappear. We will be a part of the change we wish to see in the corporate world, I guarantee it.
The leadership program has been a great learning experience for myself and my classmates. From our weekly threads you can see that we all have made changes as a result of participation in the program, and most of us thought the program to be highly valuable in regards to the usefulness in our career. This learning experience challenged our thinking about ourselves and our interaction with others. As participants in the leadership program we also enjoyed and had great benefit from the interactions with entrepreneur’s as well as fellow employees via the opportunity to learn with them as well as from them. While there may be some anxiety and lack of confidence during implementation of these newly learned skills into the workplace, I feel as though we are all a work in progress; meaning that “developmental efforts will always be ongoing” (Fulmer, 1997).
Overall, I believe that the education received in this program strongly suggests a positive direction of impact, such that we as students feel more effective and empowered in our roles and are able to engage with others to positively affect our team and organization. I am proud to have been one of the many that will complete this program but most importantly one who actually will apply skills learned here in the near future. This program has given me a greater Self-Awareness allowing me to understand my strengths and weakness through 360-degree feedback, what motivates me in my work role, and where I fall on the Leadership Compass (London, 1993). By completing this program and assignment I have gained a greater social-awareness, in that I am beginning to be more conscious in recognizing and working with the diversity of skills and needs of other workers, starting to think more about the best way to reach a person, having more empathy for the different struggles people have, and possessing a greater understanding and acceptance of the dualities of organizational life. The gain of greater self-management has allowed me to be less harsh in judging myself and understanding my triggers. I notice myself gaining more confidence through practice and real life application and by utilizing others for information and support I can be more conscious and deliberate in allocating time for personal and professional needs. This journey through conscious thought and deliberate and effective leadership has been one that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Special thanks to all of the instructors and classmates that were involved.
Reference
Alexander, J. & Ciaschi, E. (2002). “Leadership Development in the Digital Age.” Presented at the Human Resource Planning Society annual conference.
Bass, B.M. (1999). “Two Decades of Research and Development in Transformational Leadership.” European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8(10): 9-32
Collins, J. (2001). Good to Great. Harper Business: New York.
Fulmer, R.M. (1997). “The Evolving Paradigm of Leadership Development.” Organizational Dynamics, 25(4).
London, M. & Beatty, R.W. (1993). “360-Degree Feedback as a Competitive Advantage.” Human Resource Management, 32: 353-372.
Martin, J. (2003). “Rise of the New Breed.” CEO Magazine, August/September: 25-29.
Nevins, M., & Stumpf, S. (1999). “21st-Century Leadership: Redefining Management Education.” Strategy, Management, Competition, 3rd Quarter: 41-51.
Pulley, M.L., & Wakefield, M. (2001). Building Resiliency: How to Survive in Times of Change. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership.
Ruderman, M.N., Hannum, K., Leslie, J.B., & Steed, J. (2001). “Making the Connection: Leadership Skills and Emotional Intelligence.” Leadership in Action, 21(5): 3-7.
Sankar Y. (2003). “Character Not Charisma is the Critical Measure of Leadership Excellence.” Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 9(4): 45-55