Coursework:Leadership Self-Assessment
Self-assessmentof my leadership style and skills
Aself-assessment is a significant process that is done to help peoplediscover their leadership styles, skills, strengths and weaknesses.In this paper, I will discuss my self-assessment, with a focus on myleadership style and different skills that help me become aneffective leader. This self-assessment is based on three assessmenttools, including the emotional intelligence test, the New Enneagramtest, and the Jungian assessment.
Emotionalintelligence test
Emotionalintelligence is one of the factors that make me a strong and aneffective leader. A test for emotional intelligence measures one’slevel of maturity and energy (Ledlow & Coppola, 2010). The termenergy in this context refers to the stamina with which leadersapproach their functions. Maturity, on the other hand, refers tosocial grace, refinement, and one’s capacity to grow. People with ahigh level of emotional intelligence are expected to manage their ownemotions and those of other people, especially during communication(Ledlow & Coppola, 2010). Emotional intelligence increases myability to monitor and control my emotions and feelings as well asthose of other people. An emotional intelligence tool provided byGoleman (2016) indicated that I have a score of 72 points. The testscore is within the range of 56-75 points, which is classified as a“great” emotional intelligence. My great emotional intelligencehas five key features that enhance my efficiency in leadership.First, I have a high level of self awareness, which refers to theability to recognize, label, and understand my emotions. Theself-awareness increases my ability to recognize the state of myemotions and determine how they affect my behavior, thoughts, and thedecision making process.
Secondly,a great emotional intelligence helps me regulate emotional responsesby reducing chances of acting on raw feelings in a destructivemanner. I am able to take time and make decisions on how to alleviatenegative emotions and consider different solutions before making thefinal decision. By avoiding emotionally charged actions, I am able tomake quality decisions.
Third,the great emotional intelligence has increased my social skills. Thishas enhanced my ability to communicate in a concise, clear, andcourteous way. Lastly, emotional intelligence has enhanced by abilityto practice empathy. Empathy refers to one’s ability to recognizethe feelings of other people and seek to understand they feel thatway. This allows me to anticipate how my actions and behavior affectthe feelings of the people I lead or work with. However, I havelearned that having a great emotional intelligence increases the riskof losing sight of my needs.
TheNew Enneagram test
Theenvironmental stimulus that acts on the part of the brain known asthe Enneagram determines the type of behavior that one is likely topredispose. The Enneagram is based on the assumption that the leftand the right sides of the brain process information in unique ways(Ledlow & Coppola, 2010). The test classify people into ninecategories, including the helper, reformer, motivator, thinker,romantic, skeptic, leader, peacemaker, and adventurer (Ledlow &Coppola, 2010). After undertaking an online New Enneagram Testprovided by Flynn (2016), I discovered that I have a type 2personality, which is described as helpfulness or a motivator.Motivators are high achievers who lead their followers towardssuccess. Instead of conforming those around them, motivators pullpeople who are in their inner circle towards objectives or goals thatneed to be achieved. This type of personality is in line with mytransformative leadership style.
Thereare three major factors that make my leadership style match with the“motivator” personality type. First, I consider myself to beinspirational, which is confirmed by my desire to motivate followersto rise to the occasion. My style of inspiring others is not limitedto a formal acknowledgement of the work that has been done well.Instead, I take time to learn the factors that motivate my followersand treat them as valuable individuals at all times.
Secondly,I entertain new ideas, including those that originate from thefollowers. An effective transformational leader seeks to empowerother people by giving them the opportunity to take part in theprocess of decision making and to contribute their ideas (Sadeghi,2012). I acknowledge the fact that success is only attained when theleader is receptive to new ideas and encourage teamwork. In addition,I make deliberate actions to source ideas from my followers, which ispart of my plan to help them understand that they are valuable.
Third,sharing the collective consciousness of the organization or a teamhelps me become attuned to emotions as well as the feelings of otherpeople. Followers who are conscious about the progress of theorganization are able to develop a shared vision and make decisionsthat can spur growth (Sadeghi, 2012). Therefore, being a motivatorhelps me inspire people around me and empower them to be part of theteam.
Jungianassessment
Peopleare born with some specific personality archetypes, but theiroriginal personality may be changed or adjusted by the environment.The personality affect the type of leadership style that one adoptsas well as the effectiveness with which leaders execute theirleadership mandates (Ledlow & Coppola, 2010). The Meyer-BriggsType Indicator (MBTI) is the most popular type of the Jungian test.This test has been used to determine the personality of leaders sincethe Second World War. The assessment focus on the determination offour dimensions of personality, which include introversion,extroversion, intuition, and thinking (Ledlow & Coppola, 2010).In overall, the findings of the MBTI test indicate the most preferredleadership style.
Thestyle indicated by this test is likely to remain stable through thecareer life of an individual leader. The Jungian assessment is aneffective tool that is used to determine the type of personalityarchetype of an individual leader. The tool measures the archetype onthe basis of four characteristics, including extroversion, thinking,intuitiveness, and perceiving. I tested my personality using the MBTItest tool provided by Psychology Central (2016). The test helped meclassify my personality as a thinking leader. A thinking leader is aperson who has a strong capacity to execute strategies. However,since I scored 62 % on the side of thing, the test implies that Ihave some (38 %) element of feeling that is satisfying byestablishing relationships with other people. The thinking profilehelps me use the cause-and-effect as well as logics when makingdecisions. This helps me make quality and rational decisions thatresult in the achievement of the goals set by the organization or ateam.
Inaddition, the MBTI test tool classified me as a guardian, which isconfirmed by the aspects of being practical and organized. Moreover,I am more interested in practical applications are less inclined toabstraction and theories. According to Psychology Central (2016) aguardian has an exceptional capacity to organize and run differentactivities. Guardianship is also characterized by the tendency of anindividual leader to value security and a peaceful coexistence. Beinga guardian helps me value the emotions as well as the feelings of myfollowers and coworkers, which is a reflection of emotionalintelligence and transformational leadership.
Conclusion
Anassessment of the personal leadership style and skills helped merealize that a use the transformational style to lead my followerswhenever I am given an opportunity to guide a group of people. I canapply this leadership style in both professional as well socialsettings. Emotional intelligence is the most important skills thatenhance my effectiveness as a leader, since it helps me manage myemotions as well as those of other people. The New Enneagram Testhelped me discover that I have some special skills that make me amotivator to people who follow me. After conducting the Jungian test,I discovered that I am a practical leader, who depends more oncause-and-effect and logics when making decisions, instead of relyingon theories. In overall, the transformational leadership style,coupled with other aforementioned skills makes me an effectiveleader, who works by empowering followers and giving them theopportunity to make their contribution.
References
Goleman,D. (2016). How emotionally intelligent are you? MindTools.Retrieved May 22, 2016, fromhttps://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/ei-quiz.htm
Flynn,T. (2016). Enneagram Personality Test. SimilarMinds.Retrieved May 22, 2016, fromhttp://similarminds.com/cgi-bin/similarminds.pl
Ledlow,G. & Coppola, N. (2010). Leadershipfor health professionals.Jones & Bartlett Learning.
PsychologyCentral (2016). Start your free 16-type Jungian personality test.PsychCentral.Retrieved May 22, 2016, fromhttp://psychcentral.com/quizzes/personality/start.php
Sadeghi,A. (2012). Transformational leadership and its predictive effects onleadership effectiveness. InternationalJournal of Business and Social Science,3 (7), 186-197.