Analyzing My Leadership Journey At Reebok And University

Who is a Leader?

Discuss about the Transformational Leadership In Context Of Punctuate.

Leadership cannot necessarily be defined as domination. A leader needs to pave a path for the people and ensure that the members of the organization walk on the given path. Leadership is usually defined as art which very few people are able to master. Leaders are not any extraordinary people; they are just normal people with extraordinary will. However they are great influencers upon people and achieve success in the given domain through love and support from the subordinates (Amanchukwu, Stanley & Ololube, 2015).

There exist certain leadership traits and qualities which help in an identification of a true leader. These may necessarily be discipline, empathy, hard working, creative, and patient and communicator among others. Having described who a leader is and what exactly comprises of leadership, I would like to state the primary purpose of the given report.

The given report will be analyzing my leadership journey which can be witnessed from my work at Reebok organization and in the university. Through this analysis I will be identifying certain strengths and areas for improvement (Bhatti et al., 2012). The following section of the report would focus on the implications of culture on my style. The feedback give by my project partner has been attached followed by rationale for improvement.

From a very young age, I have always been interested in creation of new ideas and buying the consent of people to go along the idea.  This is the reason; I was the group leader of various projects which were held in colleges and school days. As a leader I have won various competitions in school as a team captain in basket ball, football and hockey, I have made an acute representation of my leadership skills.

In my college I became the head of the Games committee and the committee gained large funds from various sponsors like Nike and Reebok. I am good in academics too and for this reason for normal class assignments and reports I have often been elected as the group leader. Even in this sphere, I have taken my tea to new heights of success and have successfully gained high grades.

Last year when I was interning at Reebok as a sales executive, within the period of 15 days I formed my own team and exercised ,my leadership skills to achieve the sales targets and motivate the employees. Therefore, from various experiences it can be stated that I possess good leadership skills.

Traits of a True Leader

Although I have mentioned the various leadership instances I have been a part of and how I have portrayed my skills occasionally, I would like to critically analyze my journey as a leader. To begin with this I would like to describe some of my leadership traits. Successful leaders often possess certain traits. These traits might include traits like creativity, hard work potential, empathy, charisma and personality.

During my internship period at Reebok, I was appointed as a slaes ecevutive, however I was able to apply my leadership skills so well that I was made a team leader in just a periof of few days and I had a group of 5 memebers working under me. This aspect of my life can essentially prove that I have a strong personality and a creative mind; these two aspects are an essential quality of a leader which I possess.

During my school days, I was a part of the sports team and have captained various tournaments. I have always believed that practice is the key to success and thus have engaged myself in immense hard work. Through my hard work I have been able to create a good name in school.

With respect to academics, I have been an integral part of many group projects. Due to my responsible charisma and my empathetic skills (Chaudhry & Javed, 2012), I have always been looked up to by my classmates and that is the reason that I have often been the group leader for various assignments and live projects. Not only this, our group has achieved a success rate of 80% under my leadership. I have always tried to perform my best in various situations and have tried to include ideas from various classmates for better results of the report (Matsa & Miller, 2013). I am a curious person who has been able to build my relationship with my team mates and make good friends (Fairhurst & Connaughton, 2014).

To improve my leadership skills, I often read books and journals on leadership. This goes a long way in helping me to improve my kills and learn from the experience of others. Hence, it can be stated that my leadership journey has been quite a pleasant one.

Culture and the social background of an individual tend to have a huge impact on his leadership style and technique (Bolman & Deal, 2017).  This is because an individual is a product of certain culture and his social background often determines the choices he tends to make. I believe that my leadership style has been greatly influenced from my culture and values at home. I belong from well to do business family who have liberal thoughts. My parents nod our culture have often persisted on hard work as a key success factor in life and it is their advice which has bought me to my present designation. As we belonged to a well to do family, I have received good education which further enhanced my skills and knowledge thereby further enhancing my leadership skills.  However I believe taking an influence from my culture, my leadership style can be described as a transformational style.

Purpose of the Report

My critical strengths can be identified as follows:

• Problem solving skills- Problem solving skills have always been one of the strongest skills which I possess. As a part of various exercises in school and college, I have been faced with critical situations which have required adequate problem solving skills (Northouse, 2015).  I have been able to solve all of them accurately and this serves as one of my most crucial and useful skills.
• Strong result outcome- I have had a success rate of 80% in achieving high grades in tasks that have required me to portray my leadership skills. In college being the leader in various assignments is not easy and I have always portrayed positive results for my team.
• Experience- As stated previously I have profound experience in many spheres of leadership tasks. From a very young age, I have been associated with clubs and groups which have given me a wide variety of exposure as to how I must handle the difficult situations that come on my way and how I will have to face a particular type of problem. Experience often counts more than practice (Chaudhry & Javed, 2012).Hence, it is essentially important to see to it that I utilize this experience to my advantage.
• Support from others- The primary role of being a leader involves being a friend to others. Only when we have the capability to become good friends with our team members, we can solicit their support. A leader can gain this support by successfully helping the subordinates so that they are able to work in the right manner. I have always been a good friend to my juniors and team members alike, which has provided me adequate support.

No leader is perfect and neither am I. As a group leader and in portraying my skills, I feel that there exist various short comings which I can overcome with time (Donate & de Pablo, 2015). The short comings are as follows:

• Patience- Patience often forms the key aspect of leadership and I feel as an individual I lag patience. I often get irritated and agitated if a particular task is not performed according to me or if someone is not following my instructions. In such a scenario, if I am able to remain calm and patient, then I believe that I would be more successful as an individual and would be able to successfully take up additional responsibilities in the corporate world as well.
• Emotional strength- I am an emotional person. I have the tendency to get attached to things easily which would then damage my relationship with other classmates who would not be that emotional. Emotions often come in between taking critical decisions in the firm, which then tend to hamper my decision making (McKnight, 2013). Hence, it is my purpose to improve my leadership skills in order to ensure that I am able to successfully take decisions.
• Punctuality- The third out coming that I have observed is lack of punctuality. A leader should be an inspirational entity in an organization that should possess the capability to perform well and on time. It is the duty of any efficient leader to take the right decisions at the right time. Due to my lack of punctuality I have often failed to make the decisions at the correct time. Although this has not affected my work in university, it might impact my work in corporate world, which needs to be improved.

After analyzing my leadership journey and my list of achievements as provided by me to my partner, he could figure out that as a leader, I have come a long way. In the various endeavors which i have undertaken, i have been able to successfully attain success and have enhanced my personality (Daft, 2014).  A good listener and a good communicator, i have been able to possess both the qualities which have successfully leaded to my achievements so far. My performance in the various class assignments and the extra credit activities have shown that I have always been hardworking and have a knack of performing and giving my best which is one of the most crucial points a leader must possess.

My partner identified my leadership style as that of a transformational leader. This is because during various group projects he has been able to witness hat I allow the amalgamation of different ideas and let people communicate freely. According to Chemers, (2014), this forms an essential aspect of a leader who must be considerate towards others view. He also stated that although my qualities are quite adequate I can further enhance them by attending leadership building classes to achieve excellence.

From the given advice given by the partner, some path was highlighted which pointed towards improving and polishing the leadership skills in order to ensure that I attain future success. This implied the two future paths which I can adopt

• Practical learning: I can enhance my practical knowledge by joining a public speaking club like that of Toastmasters. These clubs not only improve the public speaking skill of an individual but are also efficient in increasing theoretical knowledge. It is a well known fact that a good leader must be a good public speaker and communicator and for that purpose, I plan to join the club. Furthermore I plan to undertake an internship in the Tesco organization as a Human Resource Manager. I believe that this exposure will help me to enhance my skills.
• Theoretical knowledge acquisition- I can further improve my skills as a leader by reading the autobiographies of famous personalities and read their perception of a good leader. By doing so I will be able to attain and understanding which will be beneficial for me in future.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the given analysis on my journey as a leader, it could be identified that I have had a successful journey as a leader so far. The report analyzed various aspects of my life and also pointed out my strengths and weaknesses as a leader. The feedback received by the fellow partner went a long way in helping me to realize my mistakes and improve my performance in future.

References

Amanchukwu, R.N., Stanley, G.J. & Ololube, N.P. (2015). A review of leadership theories, principles & styles & their relevance to educational management. Management, 5(1), pp.6-14.

Bhatti, N., Maitlo, G.M., Shaikh, N., Hashmi, M.A. & Shaikh, F.M.  (2012). The impact of autocratic & democratic leadership style on job satisfaction. International Business Research, 5(2), p.192.

Bolman, L.G. & Deal, T.E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, & leadership. John Wiley & Sons.

Chaudhry, A.Q. & Javed, H. (2012). Impact of transactional & laissez faire leadership style on motivation. International Journal of Business & Social Science, 3(7).

Chemers, M. (2014). An integrative theory of leadership. Psychology Press.

Daft, R.L. (2014). The leadership experience. Cengage Learning.

Donate, M.J. & de Pablo, J.D.S. (2015). The role of knowledge-oriented leadership in knowledge management practices & innovation. Journal of Business Research, 68(2), pp.360-370.

Fairhurst, G.T. & Connaughton, S.L. (2014). Leadership: A communicative perspective. Leadership, 10(1), pp.7-35.

Matsa, D.A. & Miller, A.R. (2013). A female style in corporate leadership? Evidence from quotas. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 5(3), pp.136-169.

McKnight, L.L. (2013). Transformational leadership in the context of punctuated change. Journal of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics, 10(2), p.103.

Northouse, P.G. (2015). Leadership: Theory & practice. Sage publications