Globalization has changed the way of technological upliftment, business trends, economic trends and social lives of people at large. Every corporation need to innovate and adopt to changes at a rapid pace but the leadership style prevalent in the organization prevent the changes. Cultural empowerment has been one of the major concerns of modern-day leaders. Empathetic leadership trend has started in Gen Y and Gen Z talent management and sensitive outlook towards employees has improved considerably. Modern leaders lead by action and examples. They prefer ‘work life blend’ instead of ‘work life balance’ (Yahaya and Ebrahim 2016). I think present day leaders should encourage more women empowerment in business and the glass ceiling factor need to be broken down. Giving more focus on agile talents will strengthen embedded culture in the organization and remote work platform will get strengthened. This reflective journal is a piece of self-analysis of my leadership traits, thoughts, feelings and integrated action areas that I need to improve to be more effective as a leader. Theoretical concepts and their relation to my leadership style is critically analyzed.
Completion of my current degree will lead me to the world of competitive business. To have stable grip in this industry I need to have a strong base of leadership and management. I have used Gibb’s framework of reflective writing that includes a systematic approach of presentation of the concerned area od discussion. The six areas that need to be incorporated are mentioned below.
Entering the world of business is not easy and only the most job-fit candidate is considered. The process of recruitment, selection and retention help the HR department in choosing the right candidate for the job role. Interview is the most common form of recruitment and selection. Advertisements in various job portals, online platforms, company websites, newspapers, job magazines and other mediatory help attracting the right talents for the job role (Parris and Peachey 2013). The process of recruitment is a lengthy and tiring process. It starts with resume screening and shortlisting and ends in choosing the right candidate to be interviewed. Selection process follows recruitment. Selection of the right candidate is not then end of the process because it is equally important to retain the talent because if employee turnover increases the overall performance matrix of the organization will suffer. Futuristic evaluation needs to be emphasized more during job interviews. Hiring employees need a complete knowhow of the compensation plans, benefits, perks and other pay hikes during the tenure of the job.
Talent simply means skills and capabilities of an individual in a particular field. Talented employees contribute directly to strategic business and competitive market positioning. Such employees are the most valued assets in an organization. Managing the right talent is not that easy and the HR department find it one of the most crucial job to be done. The philosophy of talent management provides a number of theoretical implications to it. Two most known theories include Person-Organization Fit theory and Inclusive (Egalitarian) or Strengths-based approach (Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy 2014). The person-organization fit theory is also called as attraction-selection-attrition theory. I have noticed that work centric, collectivistic and money-oriented job seekers are more attracted to the Japanese organizations and their cultures. This means that there is a direct link between people and their organizational choice. The Egalitarian approach provides us with the perspective that talent management is managing talents of all employees irrespective of expertise, age, gender, race, caste and creed (Kroeger and Thuesen 2013). I also think that all employees have the potential in them and they all need proper guidance and support in showcasing their talent. It is the most holistic approach of talent management.
Contemporary study on leadership is one of the most discussed topics for academicians and professional practitioners like me. Present day leaders are more open to challenging situations and degree of complexity for them is much higher in comparison to their antecessors. Rapid change in global outlook has a direct effect on leadership and modern-day leaders are more flexible to changes. The importance of integrity and value system has increased leading to strong organizational culture. I have researched a number of websites, peer-reviewed journals, periodicals, e-books, magazines and articles to prepare this reflexive paper. I understood that leaders are empowered business managers. Success of a leader is not his own success but is the success of the whole team. Leaders thought from wider aspect and always works in collaboration (Antonakis and House 2013). The study has widened my sphere of knowledge and now I can relate them to my practical professional world easily. Online social networking approach of communication and networking are widely used by leaders of this generation. Participative and consultative leadership styles use social media for resource activities and are in support of change in work environment as a result of e-revolution. Online research sources have increased my depth of knowledge on one hand but has lowered my eagerness to discover new things. All relevant information is readily available on online sources and thus the urge to creativity and newness has diminished considerably (Avolio and Yammarino 2013). But if I want to mention about the implications of online resources then I cannot deny their importance in shaping my practical outlook and how they have helped me prepare my reflexive write-up.
A number of guest speakers have been provided by Kaplan so that we could widen our knowledge of leadership. They have shared their practical life stories with us and have shown us the path that best suits leaders in an organization. They have at times shifted from their very natural leadership style, and have taken decision from organizational view point, just to achieve the desired result (Yahaya and Ebrahim 2016). Let us have a look at some of the main theories of leadership. First the trait theory is considered which is very controversial in its approach. The main assumptions include that man are born with some inherent traits, among them some traits are suitable for leadership only and good leaders have the right combination of traits in them already. Four primary traits are responsible for the success and failure of a leader. They are emotional stability, admitting faults, strong interpersonal skills and widened intellectual breadth. But a lot of paradox is linked to the trait theory and its practicability is thus criticized more often (Du, Lindgreen and Sen 2013). The transformational leadership theory is based on the assumptions that people will only follow the person who inspires them, a person having clear vision is sure to achieve something great in life and only way to get things done is by injection of energy and enthusiasm. I think working for a transformational leader will increase experiences and our passion of achieving things in life will get the right direction. But transformational leaders are often charismatic and belief in themselves the most instead of believing others (Keskes 2014). And this make them mistaken. Just because they believe that they are right does not necessarily mean that they are right.
My in-class activity participation has provided me high scope of improvement in areas of public-speaking skills, team building skills and overall communication skills and has helped me in gearing up my confidence level. I have participated in every in-class activity including debate session, group discussion session, impromptu speech session, mind-games session and other activities that has helped shaping my expertise and leadership skills. I have also presented a number of in-class presentations and have mingled well with other fellow class mates. Adding to this, I have completed a number of writing assignments that has increased my vocabulary and has improved my way of presentation. The assessment feedback that I received has identified my ability and strengths along with my areas of improvement and I have gained more self-confidence now. I have gained a crystal-clear picture of my position in this competitive world and need to work on a number of weak areas to add weightage to my professional presence.
A lot of psychometric tests have assessed my leadership qualities. Though end results are provided in the appendix section, but I have done the critical analysis in this section only. The psychometric tests provide me the scope to know myself better by providing some of the self-improvement measures. I have taken the famous five leadership personality tests of Wealth dynamics, John Maxwell leadership assessment, Myers Briggs Type Indicator, DISC profile and Strength Finder. I found myself to be an ENTJ (Extrovert Intuitive Thinkers Judgers) that is Commander in the Myers Briggs test. The results give a feeling of happiness as I am what I am and always try to find a way out or if not make the way on my own. The Wealth Dynamics test is mainly restricted to entrepreneurs (Chemers 2014). It clearly shows one’s stand and also shows the focus areas in work and also in life. The test results show that I am basically a DEAL MAKER and thrive for win-win situation for every result. The John Maxwell Leadership assessment has provided me with benefits like measurement of all 64 leadership attributes, easy feedback compilation, summary of leadership attributes based on my average score, raters’ unedited feedback, and overall category scores on the five leadership levels (Dinh et al. 2014). Though I have done the test here in individual scale and not in group scale. The test results prove that I am a good leader. Strength finder has helped in recognizing my top 5 strengths out of given 34 parameters. The DISC profile test is all about the four behavioral patterns of dominance, steadiness, influence and compliance. As per results I have an influence type leadership trait.
My major strengths include
My weaknesses include
Both my strengths and weaknesses are mentioned by using the tool of SWOT analysis. I have thought on my professional upfront and have decided on the strengths and weaknesses keeping my work life in mind. With time my experience level will increase and I will be able to convert my weaknesses into my strengths. But I also need to improve my overall professional aspect and need to be more practical and open to the real business world.
Conclusion
To conclude this reflective journal, it is evident that I have tried my level best to summarize the writing in the given word limit and has put most of the relevant theories and practical implications that I thought I could incorporate in this paper. I have shared and discussed my in-class experience and have also mentioned those practical implications that I gained from various online sources and my course study materials. I have also mentioned my key strengths and some of the major weaknesses and I believe that I will be able to convert my weaknesses into my strengths one day. I feel today’s leaders need to develop cultural intelligence along with core leadership. Cultural intelligence will broaden their ability to cross divide workforce and adopt the ongoing multi-cultural influx. CQ incorporates in itself networking, collaboration, trust factors and demographic variations. I have well understood the need of cross-cultural support in diversified work-life as it leads to the overall organizational success. So, with time things will get clearer but some issues will still remain unsolved and the mystery of true leadership will continue to unfold.
References
Antonakis, J. and House, R.J., 2013. The full-range leadership theory: The way forward. In Transformational and Charismatic Leadership: The Road Ahead 10th Anniversary Edition (pp. 3-33). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Avolio, B.J. and Yammarino, F.J. eds., 2013. Introduction to, and overview of, transformational and charismatic leadership. In Transformational and Charismatic Leadership: The Road Ahead 10th Anniversary Edition (pp. xxvii-xxxiii). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Chemers, M., 2014. An integrative theory of leadership. Psychology Press.
Dinh, J.E., Lord, R.G., Gardner, W.L., Meuser, J.D., Liden, R.C. and Hu, J., 2014. Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), pp.36-62.
Du, S., Swaen, V., Lindgreen, A. and Sen, S., 2013. The roles of leadership styles in corporate social responsibility. Journal of business ethics, 114(1), pp.155-169.
Keskes, I., 2014. Relationship between leadership styles and dimensions of employee organizational commitment: A critical review and discussion of future directions. Intangible Capital, 10(1).
Kroeger, O. and Thuesen, J.M., 2013. Type talk: The 16 personality types that determine how we live, love, and work. Dell.
Nanjundeswaraswamy, T.S. and Swamy, D.R., 2014. Leadership styles. Advances in management, 7(2), p.57.
Parris, D.L. and Peachey, J.W., 2013. A systematic literature review of servant leadership theory in organizational contexts. Journal of business ethics, 113(3), pp.377-393.
Yahaya, R. and Ebrahim, F., 2016. Leadership styles and organizational commitment: literature review. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), pp.190-216.
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