Individual Leadership Development Plan
Introduction
While developing skills typical of an effective leader, it is necessary to evaluate personal capacities, attitudes, and values to determine areas for further improvement. The assessment of personal leadership skills with the help of specific questionnaires is a helpful practice for identifying individual strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of this paper is to provide a leadership development plan for the next year that proposes specific actions for improving my leadership skills in those areas that most require additional development.
Leadership Strengths and Areas for Improvement
To assess the development of my leadership skills, I used the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, the Self-Leadership Questionnaire, and the Leadership Styles Questionnaire, as well as a questionnaire designed to determine skills typical of strong team leaders. As a result, I have identified the following three strengths in my leadership style:
- I can effectively formulate and communicate a vision for the future;
- I have a high level of emotional intelligence,
- I am good at motivating people.
Thus, while performing as a leader, I can effectively plan work for the team and formulate a vision to inspire team members to focus on achieving the set objectives. Furthermore, I easily recognize people’s feelings and emotions, and empathy allows me to manage these feelings while focusing on team members’ needs and expectations. It is also easy for me to help people become interested in performing their duties and motivate them to achieve higher results because I try to assign tasks depending on each person’s talents and inclinations.
Despite these positive strengths, I also demonstrate some weaknesses as a leader. In particular, assessment results have demonstrated that my skills in such areas as self-confidence, the ability to adapt to change, and stress management are not developed enough. The first problem is that I have little experience as a leader, which influences my self-confidence. Indeed, there are situations when I have serious doubts about my decisions. Furthermore, I have not yet developed a skill for managing changes or adapting to them. I feel stressed when some changes occur or when I need to manage them while leading a team. Moreover, all of these factors combined to create significant pressure, and I need to improve my skills in stress management to plan work effectively and help team members cope with tension.
Leadership Style
According to different leadership style classifications, I have the skills and qualities associated with democratic and transactional leaders. As a democratic leader, I provide all team members with equal opportunities to share their views and participate in decision-making. For instance, when some challenges occur, I do not provide directions for my team members to follow but rather organize a meeting to discuss a decision. As a transactional leader, I am focused on setting goals for the team, organizing their working processes, and managing their progress. This approach helps me plan the team’s tasks even in situations in which I have no experience.
Leadership Performance
While concentrating on my leadership performance, I can state that I am good at planning project stages, assigning tasks, organizing teamwork, and encouraging cooperation based on respect and integrity. I also have developed communication skills and can use a system of rewards to motivate people. Still, in situations when immediate decisions are necessary, I tend to hesitate and cause undesired delays. For instance, I need a lot of time to assess the advantages and disadvantages of different alternatives.
Lessons to Learn
My experience in leading teams has helped me focus on those leadership aspects and areas that require improvement. I have learned that I can effectively communicate goals, vision, and tasks. I understand the principles of teamwork and respond to the needs of team members to stimulate their learning, performance, and productivity. However, I have also learned that I need to pay more attention to stress management techniques and effective decision-making strategies.
Leadership Development Plan
Conclusion
This leadership development plan describes the areas of my leadership style that require improvement based on an analysis of the current literature. Actions included in the plan are measurable and appropriate to address the identified weaknesses in my leadership style.
Works Cited
Daft, Richard. The Leadership Experience. 6th ed., Cengage Learning, 2014.
Fairhurst, Gail, and Stacey Connaughton. “Leadership: A Communicative Perspective.” Leadership, vol. 10, no. 1, 2014, pp. 7-35.
Hayes, John. The Theory and Practice of Change Management. 4th ed., Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
Nahavandi, Afsaneh. The Art and Science of Leadership. 7th ed., Pearson, 2016.