Leadership Development Plan: Exploring Leadership Theories And Styles

Leadership styles and leadership theories

The aim of the report is to explore and reflect on self-development as a leader and reflect critically on the leadership theories thereby developing a personal leadership strategy. I belong to India with ten years of experience IT sector and four years of experience in a leadership role. Prior to coming Australia for attaining master degree, worked for a company called Cerner India, a health care provider. I was acting as a team leader for 20 employees belonging from different fields like developers, system engineers and quality analysts. Working in a diverse team helped me to cultivate a right spirit among the team to work towards a definite goal. Further, associating with Project managers helped me to gain ample knowledge and experience and develop management skills thus enforcing me to pursue my masters after ten years of professional experience. Challenging myself in different situations and inculcate a higher leadership activities in my future prospectus has been a motivating factor in my professional journey. Leadership is a process whereby people from different goals and objectives comes together to pursue a certain defined goal in the organization. It involves channelizing the energies of different expertise to perform their best of their abilities. Leadership is not only about managing people but also motivating them to increase their productivity and incentivizing them to bring efficiency and quality in their work. Working in the right direction has helped me to define a detailed five year plan. At this crucial stage of my life where I have earned enough experience to develop better insights and objectives to pursue my goals effectively. This five year time period of my plan will help me to organize my life in the short term of five years and help me to take the right path of my choice. Being aware of my capabilities I have realized that this period will help me to understand my abilities at this current stage of my life and take steps which will help me move in an organized manner and prioritizing my objectives according to my plan  in a phased manner.

The styles of leadership which leaders follow have great impacts on the organisations they serve and teams they lead. The concept of leadership has undergone a tremendous transformation in the recent age. This evolution of leadership can be traced by the theories and their change of focus. While Great Man leadership theory which evolved in the 1840s considered that leadership is hereditary, the Trait Theory which was proposed in the 1930-1940s opposed the pervious theory and opined that leaders can be made (Raupach et al., 2012). It can be pointed out from an analysis of these two leadership theories that they were nucleated around the leaders and paid no need to the subordinates or even situations in which leaders operate. This approach was interrupted by emergence of behavioural leadership theories which categorised leaders according to types of leadership behaviours exhibited by the leaders. Wilkinson and Kupers (2013) alluded that the newly evolving leadership theories emphasised on the need of the teams and organisations. The contingency leadership theories evolved around 1960s, followed by transaction leadership theory and transformation leadership theories in the successive decades (Nommeraadio.ee., 2018). Bolden (2016) mentions that modern leadership is closely linked to the requirement of the organisations as well as the subordinates. Manning and Robertson (2003) point out that this alignment of leadership with organisational has made leadership a dynamic and ongoing process. The leaders employed with organisations require to develop and change their leadership styles to adapt to the changing business environments. This continuous need to evolve and embrace changes to adapt to market environment as well as organisational environment requires leadership to form leadership development plans to emerge as more competent leaders. They have to take into account the needs of the clients, subordinates as well their own needs while forming leadership development plans. The two models would be GROW model and Boyatzis Intentional Change model. The research on the development plan would include figures to attribute the discussion with greater comprehensiveness.

Application of leadership style

I can reflect and point out that two leadership theories namely, transformational and transactional have strong influences on my leadership style in the capacity of a lead analyst working with Cerner Healthcare Private Limited. I can point out that I lead a team of ten direct reporting employees which include developers, support engineers and quality analysts. The experience of three years working with Cerner was in turned supported by my previous experience and knowledge of working with different in various positions. I can reflect on my experience of ten years and point out that I use these two types of leadership styles namely, transformational and transactional leadership styles to ensure high team performance.

Transformational leadership style is the style of leading a teams of subordinates towards changes by setting a vision or goal which the changes aim to achieve. Cohen and Bradford (2007) mention that transformational leadership style is the leadership style which leaders use to lead the subordinates towards embraces changes in order to adapt to the future business requirements. Nielsen and Daniels (2016) in this respect that transformational leaders play great role in today’s organisations since the latter requires to adapt to changes taking place in the external market environmental factors. Fowler, S. (2014) strengthen the opinion of the previous authors by pointing out that macro environmental change taking place in the business environments like changing economic conditions present several risks. For example, the dynamic customer preferences necessitate the companies to align its operations and products with the expectations of the former. Agnihotri et al. (2017) point out in this respect that customer satisfaction is directly proportional to revenue generation. This means that incapability to transform accordingly to ensure high level of customer satisfaction to lead to companies losing customers and facing revenue risks.

Transactional leadership style can be referred to as a leadership style in which leaders and subordinates operate to ensure mutual benefit of each other. McCleskey (2014) points out that in transactional leadership, the relationship between leaders and subordinates rests on performance delivery by the former and employee benefits by the latter. Mintzberg (1994) contribute to the opinion of the pervious authors by mentioning that leaders expect good performances and this requires them to train as well as mentor their subordinates. Similarly, the subordinates expect support, guidance and motivation from the leaders which motivates them to perform highly. An analysis of the transactional leadership style clearly points out that it blends into transformational leadership style. Holten and Brenner (2015) that in multinational organisations the employees have to perform in the lines of expectations of the clients. Their ability to satisfy clients by offering appropriate goods and/or services shows their performance and efficiencies. Thus, it can be pointed out from this analysis that transactional leaders are also required to train their employees to enable them to deliver high levels of performances and transform their methods of operations according to the requirements of the clients, which forms the important aspects of their performance parameters. Thus, it can be pointed out that at this point again transactional leadership moulds into transformation to promote high departmental and consequently organisational performances (Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy, 2014).

Transformational leadership style

I can reflect that I use transformational and transactional leadership styles while functioning as a lead test analyst employed with Cerner Healthcare Private Limited, Bangalore, India. I as a lead test analyst is responsible for implementation of new testing technologies and quality analysis processes while leading the team of 10 members. Gellert et al. (2015) in this respect point out that catering successfully to the needs of the clients require healthcare companies to embrace new technological advancements in areas like electronic health records. This means that testing analysts working with these companies are required to implement new testing methods. The requirement to implement modern healthcare technology requires healthcare companies like Cerner to invest immense financial capital to embrace modern healthcare technology. Newly emerging developments often render the pervious technology redundant. Thus, the capital invested towards adoption of the previous technology also goes to wastage (Williams et al. 2017). I can point out that this requirement to allocate immense financial capital to acquire modern healthcare technology and probable loss on the investment towards earlier advancements creates immense revenue risks before the companies like Cerner. I can point out that as a systems analyst, However, not implementing new technology presents technological risks before companies (Ancona et al., 2007). It can also be pointed out that the Indian healthcare industry is predicted to grow to attain a value of over $ 139 billion. The presence of multinational Fortune 500 healthcare companies like Pfizer has already made the market extremely competitive. The country also house a number of resident healthcare companies which are fast expanding overseas (Export.gov, 2018).  I can point out that from this analysis that this rising competition in the healthcare industry in India presents the third risk before Cerner, market risks.

Figure 1. Market size of healthcare industry in India

(Source: Pwc.in. 2018)

I can reflect that as a senior manager I use transformational leadership style to lead my team and ensure that they perform highly to contribute towards the productivity of Cerner as a whole. I arrange for meetings with my team members to inform about about the recent changes which are taking place in the healthcare sector. I point out to them the need to adapt to the changes and transform their modes of operation. I as the leader of the testing team set parameters regarding defect acceptance and rejection limits. I observe the daily performances of the team members and motivate them. I recognise the staff members who underperform and motivate them in order to extract more productivity from them. I reward the highly performing employees, thus awarding them for delivering high level of performances. Thus, I can point out that here I use transactional leadership skills. I can point out that while leading the team of 10 reporting analysts, I face certain challenges and suffer from certain shortcomings. I can point out that I find it extremely challenging to keep myself abreast with technological developments. The two weaknesses of mine are impulsive nature and average diversity management. These challenges and weaknesses would require me to make a leadership development plan. I mentor the junior employees and encourage all the members to participate in the meetings to take decisions to select appropriate testing methods on receiving client orders. I also maintain continuous communication with the marketing department to gain information about the future requirements and expectations of the clients. Then I offer training to my subordinates according to the future expectations of the clients which boosts their efficiencies, thus once applying transformational leadership style. Thus, I can sum up the discussion by mentioning that using transformational and transactional leadership style allows me to lead my subordinates towards transforming their methods of operations in order boost their performances.

Transactional leadership style

The GROW model stands for Goal, Reality, Obstacles, Options and way Forward. The model explores goal setting and dealing challenges which inhibits achievement of the goal. Amit and Zott (2015) mention that model is designed to enable organisational leaders identify the goals which they aim to achieve. The managers of the company recognise the actual value creation power of the company. The managers also recognise the obstacles which are inhibiting the company from creating maximum value to the clients. Then they point out options which consist of ways or steps which the company can take to remove or at least reduce the obstacles. Finally the managers choose the most appropriate option which is regarded as the strategy.

Figure 2. GROW model

(Source: Amit & Zott, 2015)

I can reflect that I can use the GROW model to achieve personal development as a leader. I can point that my role as lead test analyst requires me to mentor and coach my juniors. I have to keep myself abreast with the ever dynamic healthcare technology which I find challenging. Moreover, I am extremely impulsive and require develop my diversity management skills. Thus, as far as the application of GROW model in personal development, the challenges and weaknesses would provide me with the goals. The three goals which I would aim to achieve through the performance development plan are, enhancing by technological knowledge, gaining higher levels of self-control and better my diversity management skills. I would also sharpen my customer management skills. The obstacles which have I have recognised are lack of resources and time. The options to which are available to me would be attending workshops and training sessions. I can also gain feedback from my partner sources like peers, superiors and subordinates.  I can also attend counselling courses to enhance concentration and self-control. The way forward would be forming a leadership development plan which would be covered below.

The international change theory, the next personal development model which I would use, is a personal development theory which consist of five steps. Jackson (2018) mentions that the first step consists of creating a vision or goal which the person seeking to achieve using the personal development plan. The second step consist of analysing the real self which includes both strengths and weaknesses. Feedback from natural sources like peers, superiors and subordinates enable the person to realise the strengths and weaknesses he possesses. The third step as mentioned by Wilson et al. (2014) consist of forming a personal development plan to enhance strengths and minimise the shortcomings to the feasible extent. Amit and Zott (2015) can be reiterated here to point out that here the intentional change theory is merges into the GROW which is evident from the steps. However, Betz (2016) contradict that the two models are not similar and in fact intentional change model is a deeper self-development model. This is evident from the next step which involves experimentation with the new learned knowledge and skills through the international change model. It can be clearly alluded that this step is very similar to the refreezing stage of the Lewin’s organisational change theory (Goldman, 2007). The next step consists would consist of incorporating the newly acquired skills or the positive changes with the organisational structure. Thus, it can again be specified that the final step once again draws from the organisational change management model of Lewin.

I would apply the Intentional Change Theory Model to develop my leadership skills. First, I will recognise the gaols which I want to achieve like bettering by technological skills. The next step would be gaining feedback from peers, superiors, subordinates and even clients to gain in depth knowledge about by strengths and weaknesses. The next step would consist of making a personal development plan followed by applying the newly developed skills in while leading my team at Cerner. The final step would be adapting the newly developed skills with the business requirement of Cerner to be able to deliver higher levels of performances as a senior test analyst and team, leader.

I can reflect upon my leadership qualities and propose a personal development plan keeping the strengths and weaknesses in view. As I have already pointed out, my weaknesses are impulsive nature and average diversity management. The challenges which I face are difficulty in keeping myself abreast with the modern technological advancements which would also include Agile. The objective of mine would be dealing with these weaknesses and challenges outlined above. I would use project management tool Ms Project to form my personal development plan for a period of 2 years.

I have made several assumptions while forming the project development plan. First, I have assumed that the project would start on December 3, 2018.  The development has six parts each of which would target an area of weakness and challenges ultimately gaining the aimed self-development. It has been assumed that the personal development training would take place in India and hence the amount has been calculated in INR. It would also be assumed besides the pointed out training and counselling, I would consult secondary resources like books, articles and newspapers. The resources required to conduct the training would consist of financial resources (indicated in the activity list), trainers, psychologists, meditation experts and training rooms.

Personal Development plan
Activity no.	Description	Per month cost	Time(months)	Cost(INR)
1	Impulsive nature management		14
1.1	Impulsive nature counselling (average)	1200	2	2400
1.2	Meditation classes (average)	1000	12	12000
2	Technological training(including Agile)(in house)	0	2
3	Diversity management		3
4	Mentoring		2
5	Monitoring and experimenting(Corresponds to 4th step of Intentional change theory)		2
6	Taking corrective measures a		1
	Total time		24	14400

I can reflect that the self-development plan as discussed above of mine is qualifying according to the SMART objectives. They are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time based. The activities to be taken are specific because they are particular and each of the activities aim to deal with a weakness. The outcome of the training would be measured and monitored. The task is time bound and stretch over a span of 24 months. This shows that they are time bound and attainable with help of trainers and mentors as mentioned above. Thus, it can be pointed out that the self-development plan is SMART qualifying

Conclusion:

I can conclude by pointing out that the self-development and self-analysis are two important processes which leaders must undergo. The business environment is undergoing dynamic changes and the managers have to act as drivers. This requires them to undergo continuous self-development to be able to lead their subordinates towards changes. Thus, I can finally close the discussion by mentioning that I would undergo this training to sharpen my leadership skills.

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