Evaluating Personal Leadership Using Seven Leadership Mindsets Theory

The Task

The mindset of a person plays an integral role for the growth of individual along with that of the environment. A person with a solid mindset will rather be ready to serve rather than being served. It is an important attribute for a leader because it can help an organization to work effectively and achieve the objectives. The leadership mindset within an organisation ranges from that of driven, discerning, innovative, judicious, tolerant and motivational. A leader who is driven commits for the vigorous pursuit in relation to professional experience that helps in achieving the vision of organization. A discerning leader displays objectivity in the arena of decision making while he is making difficult decisions (Vogelgesang, Clapp-Smith and Osland 2014).  They are the ones who ask difficult questions and always want to follow reason. There are also innovative leaders within an organisation who see change as providing opportunity in relation to growth. It can prove to be a resilient agent in relation to change within the fluid environment in the modern world of today. A judicious leader displays maturity while making decisions and they recognize that some of the problems are ill-structured. A tolerant leader respects diversity within an organization and respects the different opinions within an organization. A motivational leader can help to inspire an organization and makes it grow with the help of his energy along with enthusiasm. 

Leadership Traits that I have observed in my organization are primarily that of establishing trust, practising servant leadership and demonstrating care. The leaders who have these important traits can create engaging culture and help in delivering strong growth for the business. I have seen leaders who can establish trust that acts as a bed rock in relation to leadership and can help in creating a strong organizational culture. It can drive performance in an organization (Kennedy, Carroll and Francoeur 2013).  Trust has direct co-relation with that of the result of business. In my organization I have seen Servant Leadership who put the need of others as compared to that of their own. They hold the belief that serving other people will be their mission of life and by helping the others the organization can succeed and grow. The servant leaders in the organization count their success by measuring how much they are able to help others (Vogelgesang, Clapp-Smith and Osland 2014). There are leaders who demonstrate care towards their subordinates that helps the employees to perform in a better manner. Employees who work in a caring culture can get better job satisfaction and they become better committed to that of the organization. It has been found that there is a co-relation between that of caring for other people and that of organizational success. Caring for the employees can pave the way for effective leadership and help the organization to grow. Proper engagement with the employee can help in accomplishing things that money or reward cannot do.

There are some leaders who act as opportunist who are manipulative and filled with mistrust. They have a tendency to prioritize their personal wins and they perceive as other people to be like opportunities who should be exploited. They determine the outside world on the basis of their own perception of control and they have a tendency to think of other people like objects whom they want to control. These kind of leaders have a tendency to retaliate harshly. There are diplomatic leaders within an organization who wants to please the colleagues who work at the higher level and want to avoid conflict. There are achievers in the organization who want to become manager and want to see themselves go up the hierarchical level (Buchanan and Kern 2017).  They realize that conflicts in the organization occur on account of difference in relation to interpretation. They are aware that resolving the clashes will require sensitivity in relation to relationships. The individualist leaders add practical value to the organization and they can communicate well with other people who have different action logics. The strategic leadership focuses on organizational perceptions and they can create shared visions across that of different action logics. There are leaders who play the role of alchemist and they can re-invent themselves along with that of their organizations in significant manner.  According to me, I belong to the category of expert leadership who want to perfect knowledge in relation to both their professional along with that of personal lives. They can present logic in order to gain consensus.

Answers

 I contribute effectively to the organization because I am always in the pursuit for continuous improvement and that of perfection. This brings me sometimes in conflict with the managers because they tend to think that whatever they have said is right. I can act on the basis of changing situations that makes me an expert in the arena of “situational leadership”. I can demonstrate four critical leadership competency- diagnose, adapt, communicate and advance (Javidan, Bullough and Dibble 2016).  I know how to manage my strengths and what are the critical skill sets that I need to develop within a high-performing organization. I can conduct effective conversations and address any kind of critical situation. I can create a productive team and accelerate the development of individuals.

I am working as a financial analyst in United Finance Company. My task is to perform financial analysis and complete financial duties on different projects that is complex. The organization provides financing for vehicle and equipment in Sultanate of Oman. It provides different kinds of loans along with that of bill discounting. Critical thinking, decision making, mathematics, complex problem solving and social perceptiveness are important when one is in the position of a financial analyst. I am strong at critical thinking, problem solving and decision making which is of great importance for a financial analyst. I need to develop my abilities in relation to delegation and time management in order to excel at my position.

On the basis of the feedback from other team mates in the organization my skills in relation to various attributes was found:

Attributes	Weak/Average/ Strong
Critical Thinking	Strong
Decision making	Average
Mathematics	Strong
Complex Problem Solving	Average
Social Perceptiveness	Strong

It was found from the feedback conducted that I need to improve on my decision making skills along with that of problem solving so that I can contribute effectively to the team. It was found that I was weak in these areas as compared to the rest of the attributes and improving on these areas will enable me to progress in my professional career.

The team mates of my organization revealed that from the point of view of mindset, I was not an opportunist. I do not prioritize my personal wins and give priority to the others. I acted for the well-being of other people and always thought of the welfare of my team mates. According to my team mates, I was not diplomatic and did not play office politics in order to go up the hierarchical level in the organization. The achievers are ambitious and want to see themselves occupying the top positions in the organization (Keogh and Byrne 2015).  The opinion of my team mates revealed that I was not very ambitious and wanted to rise in my career but at a steady pace. They felt that I was individualist and understood the perspective of other people that made it easier for me to communicate with other people. The team members revealed that I was great at implementing strategies and I can easily understand the perception of other people who had different action logics.  The team members suggested that I can play the role of an alchemist that can help me in re-inventing my company and achieve the vision of the organization.

1.a)

I am driven, innovative and motivational and I have these leadership mindset imbibed within me that can be of service to my organisation. I can partner with different operation groups and develop detailed financial analysis that includes profitability and pricing. I can provide strategic advice for investment related decisions and thus I work for achieving the vision of my organisation. By making use of my innovative mindset, I can improve the forecasting accuracy that can help in driving new business insights (McCleskey 2014). I can make use of complex streamline analytics processes in order to carry out fact-based decisions (Moorley and Chinn 2015).

The team members were asked about my leadership ability and they attested to the fact that I was an achiever and had great strategic leadership abilities. With the help of my strategic ability I can steer my company out of any situation of crisis and have analytical skills that can be of great benefit for an organization (Daft 2014). I was however an achiever and it sometimes compelled me to take drastic steps for the financial management of my firm. According to my team mates, I sometimes become overtly ambitious that affects the performance of my team. Delegation is an area that I needed to work on as it was important to allocate tasks to every member and not work single-handedly (McCleskey 2014).  Without having effective skills in relation to delegation I sometimes became overburdened and I need to improve in this area so that I can contribute effectively to my organization. They also pointed out that my time management skills were not up to the mark which cost the performance of the team. The world of finance has evolved and become highly competitive. Time management acts as a competitive advantage for a finance professional and it can help him in becoming more productive. Success in the field of finance is achieved if one can deliver on immediate deliverables. Success can be achieved in this field by approaching tasks on the basis of priority and by adopting simple methods.

Situational Leadership is vital for the complex professional environment in today’s world. A situational leader knows how to align his goal with that of the organisation. I can diagnose the particular situation and act accordingly. The global economy is facing powerful cross winds and the financial market is in a state of turmoil. It is important for the leader of modern times to adjust themselves to the rapidly changing situation so that they can achieve their organisational goals (Aberman and Aberman, 2017). Market dynamics are the pricing signals that are created on account of changing supply and demand level in the market. It is the fundamental concept in relation to pricing economic model (Luo and Liu 2014).  The changing market dynamics require a leader who possesses the traits of situational leadership to succeed in complex environment (Koh, 2017). A successful leader should be able to foresee changes and act on the basis of such changes. A situational leader can adjust his leadership style to that of the skill level of his employees and the changing situations (Thompson and Glasø 2015). An organization should work according to the changing market dynamics so that they can make profit. Situational leadership can prove to be vital for the organization because the market dynamics and economic scenario is constantly changing and a leader who is skilled and proficient in handling changes can help the company to make profit and grow (Mendoza, Orea-Amador and Kendall 2016). A situational leader can reduce the task behaviour and increases the relationship behaviour. Delegation by the leader acts as a positive indication in relation to trust and provides encouragement to the employees. A situational leader can explain his decision and provide opportunity to the subordinates for clarification.

1.b)

Leaders act as role models who influence the culture of an organization. The leadership style that is practised by the managers greatly influences productivity at the place of work. The model of situational leadership encourages the higher management to use the leadership style in a flexible manner on the basis of the situation which thus contributes in getting effective results (Guardianleadership.com, 2017). Telling, selling, participating along with delegating are integral concepts in relation to situational leadership and these steps prove to be crucial for the successful running of the organisation (DuBois et al. 2015).  A fresher who has joined the organization wants the leader to tell him about his responsibilities so that he can work on that basis and contribute for his team. The aspect of selling is important in the modern era so that one can convince other people about his opinion and get their support in getting the work done. Removal of conflicts can augment the performance of the team and contribute to organizational success.  Delegation is important in the present professional world because one cannot handle all tasks simultaneously and an effective leader knows how to distribute tasks on the basis of the skill sets, experience and knowledge of his team members (Dailytelegraph.com.au, 2017).

The mindset of a person has an impact on his leadership style and a fixed mindset stagnate the growth of an individual within an organisation as the individual cannot cope with the changes and the evolutions taking place in the professional environment. This can stifle creativity in a team and the willingness of the people to pursue innovative process. Innovation is an important aspect that is essential for modern day leadership because a leader has to think of new process and method that can help him in achieving his objective (Northouse 2015). The growth mindset on the other hand will view the current skills of an individual as the starting point. Fixed leadership does not yield any positive result in the modern age which is ever-evolving and constant changes dominate every field of life (Armstrong 2016).

Establishing trust, demonstrating care along with practising servant leadership are the three important attributes that an ideal leader should have. This can help in the creation of an engaging culture and can earn revenue for the business of an organization. Establishing trust is of crucial importance for a leader and can help the leader in successfully leading his team. It is found that trust has a co-relation with that of performance in an organization (Northouse 2015).  Building trust can help in building a strong organizational culture. Servant leadership is also of supreme merit for an organization as it emphasizes about serving other people and contribute to the betterment of the team (DuBois et al. 2015).

I have learnt that time management and delegation is of vital importance for a leader. I have to learn skills related to delegation so that I can emerge to become a successful leader in my organisation. Selling is of extreme importance in the present era and I learnt that a true and efficient leader should be able to sell his opinion to other people. A great leader should be able to convince other people regarding his opinion. I learnt that a leader should participate in different kinds of conversations so that he can know about the problems existing within his team.

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