Understanding And Applying Positive Leadership Principles Across Cultures: An Essay.

Leadership and its Importance

Question:

Discuss about the Individual Leadership Simulation Reflection.

Leadership refers to the art of motivating and influencing people to act or follow a distinct pattern of activity aimed at achieving a common goal. The leadership process involves the roles, tasks, and responsibilities to be undertaken in achieving a goal. As a leader, I use the several skills acquired in resolving conflicts, increasing communication, and shaping culture towards goal achievement. Leadership is a challenging affair which depends on the choice of leadership forms one decides to follow.

Positive Leadership: Meaning and Application Across Cultures.

The article proposes on the use of positivity in adapting in leadership across a diverse culture. The paper examines the positive elements needed by a leader during challenges and the ways to avoid the challenges towards grasping opportunities in the market. Further, it focuses on the essential theories in leadership such as the contingency approach in affirming the strengths of s leader by appealing to a group under leadership. The article is essential to the study by offering the positive attributes and traits to be adopted by a leader in the personal reflection report.  

My leadership has been successful judging from the way I have been able to handle individuals and lead the existing group to a common goal. As a leader, I have undergone several challenges but managed to outweigh given the leadership theories I put in practice. In my leadership, I utilize a democratic system of leadership where I factor in opinions and the suggestions presented by members of the group and make decisions based on a thoughtful process rather than an authoritarian system (Bryman, 2013). Considering the opinion of group members leads to easy decision making which allows for a positive perception of the issues deliberated.

I believe that leaders are born and carry the traits in them which sprout at different moments. My leadership was innate and always inspired the people to me. I carried myself with integrity and acted ethically without compromise thereby leading to a successful end. At times, it was hard to separate from good people whose ethical lines were warranting, but I had to walk the path to preserve my leadership attributes. 

At the same time, I utilize the contingency theory which states that effectiveness is related to a leader’s traits and behaviors. The theory applies where I use emotional intelligence to accommodate the feelings of others and to put myself in their shoes before acting on issues. In this case, I become non-biased in solving issues where I choose a neutral position and base on facts whenever addressing conflicts (Klenke, 2016). At the same time, I use mediation in solving conflicts where I use the services of a neutral person to listen to both cases and find common ground for the group members to reconcile (Belias & Koustelios, 2014). The action represents the attributes of a leader which enable me to carry out my day-to-day activities.

The great man theory is equally important in inspiring leadership as it emphasizes on personal charisma, wisdom, and intelligence towards making a change in leadership. As a leader, I believe in the existence of wisdom in deciding during stressful situations and arriving at the correct and unbiased decisions. Leaders with wisdom exercise their authority with integrity based on the ethical guidelines in place (Men & Stacks, 2013). Leadership comes with its virtues running along individuals who desire to take the correct path and remain influential. Leaders have well-cut traits which are observable among people in management positions.

Leadership Theories and their Importance

In promoting ideas and change management, I make everything clear and reassure the group members on the viability of the modification. In so doing, I use the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Model where I first tell of the changes and the expected benefits and how it will shape the overall goal of a group. Afterward, I sell the idea to the group members and explain their new roles in the change while delegating duties to different individuals within the group (Middlehurst, 2015). The use of the theory guarantees a proper trait of leadership free from resistance from the group. Further, I use the same approach in introducing new members to our group towards cultivating a good culture.

As a leader, I recognize the role of motivation in boosting employee morale. In this case, I embrace empathy, reward on members and appreciation to recognize their positive contribution. In the end, I can experience improvement from the team where each member remains active and vibrant during work and discussions (White, 2014). The theory of transformational leadership enables me to acquire favor within the members by addressing their concerns and raising a vibrant team.

 At some point, I sought to determine the views of the individuals on my leadership by deciding to resign from the position and allow another to try the same. The decline on the request indicated a positive feedback from my team who expressed confidence in the direction I was taking them. Therefore, it is evident that the use of proper leadership theories and being accommodative of team welfare is essential towards development in a group.        

However, I experience some difficulty at some point where I am forced to take action on non-performing individuals which the rules allow for expulsion. The leadership action destroys the team spirit which separates individuals used to a specific system and losing their contributions (Dinh, Lord, Gardner, Meuser, Liden & Hu 2014). Therefore, I plan to develop an approach to ensure all team members become effective towards productivity. Proper communication can assist in building confidence by requesting individuals to cooperate and show efforts towards the process.

Before I became a team leader, I was a member who valued the benefits of cooperation within a team. I was an effective follower playing by the rules of the team towards furthering my contribution. I contributed positively during and out of demand towards achieving group goals. My active participation and research efforts enabled me to rise to the leadership role having caused positive changes to the case. At the time, I used the opportunity of a democratic rule to present my ideas and register my differences while accommodating the concerns of the rest of group members. I managed to learn from others and draw inspiration from those offering a positive contribution towards self-enhancement (Nahavandi, 2016). Further, I created a good rapport with individuals within the team and gained significant acceptance among them.

Leaders ought to be positive in their reasoning and carrying out tasks involving a team. Most of the students expressed the need to remain objective as a leader and exercise fairness even in the wake of violence. As a leader, I learned and planned to implement the attribute of acting with integrity to demonstrate the aspect of true leadership. According to Avolio, Keng-Highberger, Schaubroeck, Trevino & Kozlowski (2016), leaders ought to understand and strengthen the weaknesses of members to pull them to a level playing ground. In this case, I learned how to deal with non-performing members by encouraging them towards contribution. Further, I would encourage them to give their opinion with the hope of getting feedback that can assist in knowing the truth and changing according to the demands.   

Conclusion

Leadership is a choice which has to be deliberated upon by an individual. For instance, there are forms of leadership ranging from the authoritarian to the democratic rule where each has consequences on the end product. In this case, I chose to utilize the democratic rule that accommodates and sets members at liberty to decide on the means for engagement. According to Hendricks (2014), the fact proves the model of leadership and ho the theories can be in cooperated to attain success. The self-assessment on my direction and team player skills enables my to upgrade on my mistakes and explores the opportunities ahead of me. I learned the importance strategic communication in a group and the power of equal inclusion towards fostering teamwork. Therefore, I am convinced beyond doubt that my track record in leadership is active given the feedback and the length of my leadership in the group.

References

Avolio, B. J., Keng-Highberger, F. T., Schaubroeck, J., Trevino, L. K., & Kozlowski, S. W. (2016, January). How Follower Attributes Affect Ratings of Ethical and Transformational Leadership. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2016, No. 1, p. 16854). Academy of Management.

Belias, D., & Koustelios, A. (2014). Leadership and job satisfaction–A review. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 10(8).

Bryman, A. (Ed.). (2013). Leadership and organizations. Routledge.

Dinh, J. E., Lord, R. G., Gardner, W. L., Meuser, J. D., Liden, R. C., & Hu, J. (2014). Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 36-62.

Hendricks, J. M. (2014, July). When the Postive Attributes of Leadership Become Harmful: A Pre Post-Test Analysis. In Sigma Theta Tau International's 25th International Nursing Research Congress. STTI.

Klenke, K. (Ed.). (2016). Qualitative research in the study of leadership. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Men, L. R., & Stacks, D. W. (2013). The impact of leadership style and employee empowerment on perceived organizational reputation. Journal of Communication Management, 17(2), 171-192.

Middlehurst, R. (2015). A critical reflection on leadership in higher education. Dimensions of Marketisation in Higher Education, 189.

Nahavandi, A. (2016). The Art and Science of Leadership -Global Edition. Pearson.

White, J. V. (2014). Students' application of leadership learning through reflection (Doctoral dissertation, THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY).

Youssef-Morgan, C. M., & Luthans, F. (2013). Positive leadership: Meaning and application across cultures.