Leadership Self-Analysis and Theory Integration Leadership is a term that can sometimes be casually tossed around without understanding what it truly entails. Leadership can be viewed as the person, a particular position, the influence a leader has on others, or by observable results (Banks & Letterer, 2003, p. 16). More than ever before, I feel as though the term leadership Is becoming a focus In Churches, schools, corporations, organizations, government sectors, clubs, and teams. Why? People desire leaders to forester change. Create efficient, encourage unity, and produce excellence.
Leadership is a vast and powerful word that requires sacrifice, integrity, passion, and dying daily to flesh. Since I was a child it seems that the Lord has constantly positioned me in places to display leadership whether I welcomed it or not. Isaiah 55:8 states, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD” (NIP). Therefore, the Intention of this self-analysis Is for me to look Into the mirror and face my flaws, understand my leadership styles, and Identify my Inclinations to be able to serve the body of Christ whole heartedly as God desires.
Interpersonal Leadership Tendencies The Leadership Potential Questionnaire shared with me that quality of leadership (10/11) and management (9/11) are in very close proximity of each other. This test made It clear that having a strong leadership potential gears me towards the use of an Intuitive approach by consistently developing fresh Ideas and seeking new directions for organizations (Draft, 2005, p. 17). I agree with my traditional management score being high because I do like to forester an atmosphere of stability and efficiency while making rational decisions as well.
Having a balance between dervish and management is a fantastic cross between being innovative while staying aware and using wisdom at the same time. The results of me focusing In on the Intuitive approach and being Innovative was reconfirmed with the results of the shared that I am an Extrovert (E), Intuition (N), Feeler (F), and Perceiver (P). Walk (1997), concerning managing subordinates, shared that “Research suggest that E,N, and F are associated with interactive leader behaviors, while S,T, and J are associated with administrative skills”(p. 80).
This statement caused me to reflect on the fact that I such rather be teaching and assisting others then sitting behind a desk completing a list of task. According to Morehouse (2013) someone that’s an NEFF is deemed as an innovator that is imaginative, enthusiastic, and expressive (p. 335). As the Myers-Bring Type Indicator (AMBIT, 1998) provides information to the individual and organization about someone’s unique attributes for leadership, while the Leadership Trait Questionnaire assess personal leadership characteristics which also highlights the special strengths or weaknesses of an individual (Morehouse, 2013, p. 7). Unlike other leadership approaches that address leaders, followers, and situations, the trait approach keys in solely on leaders (Morehouse, 2013, p. 30). With have 5 others taking this assessment and all of them giving me higher ratings then I gave myself, reconfirmed that I am my own worst critic. The following are the traits that were examined: articulation (Others: 4. 6, Self: 4. 6), perception (Others: 5. 0, Self: 4. 0), self-confidence (Others: 4. 8, Self: 4. 0), self-assurance (Others: 4. 8 & Self: 4. 0), persistence (Others & Self: 5. 0), determination (Others: 4. , Self: 4. 8), trustworthiness Others & Self: 5. 0), dependability (Others & Self: 5. 0), friendliness (Others & Self: 5. 0), outgoing (Others: 5. 0, Self: 4. 6), conscientiousness (Others: 5. 0, Self: 5. 0), diligence (Others & Self: 5. 0), sensitivity (Others: 4. 8 & Self: 4. 0), and empathy (Others: 4. 6, Self: 4. 0). Self-confidence and self-assurance are the two areas that displayed the largest margin difference. I think these large variances is because I fear becoming prideful and always want to remain humble knowing that every work is of God and not by any of my own doing.
Proverbs 16:18 states that “Pride Goethe before destruction, and an aught spirit before a fall” (KAVA). Within the Style Questionnaire both my task (41/50) and relationship (47/50) fell in high categories. Morehouse (2013) keys in on the Style Approach having task behaviors which “helps members achieve their objectives,” while relationship behaviors, “help subordinates fell comfortable with themselves” (Morehouse, 2013, p. 75). According to Northerners (2013) grid, my results place me within “team management” which “promotes a high degree of participation and teamwork in the organization” (p. 0-81). Both of these behaviors play key factors in me being an effective leader as Morehouse (2013) expressed, “the key to being an effective leader often rests on how the leader balances these two behaviors and together they form the core of the leadership reprocess” (p. 85). After completing the Functional and Gifts Inventory (Selling & Arroyo, 1989), my scores reflected weaknesses in the areas of – giving (38) and mercy (40), whereas my strengths lie in prophesy (50) and leadership (44).
This revealing caused me to self-reflect in my areas of weakness as I am a person who desires to consciously make change in order to improve as a total errors. I thought “giving” would have been one of my higher scores as I tend to see the needs of others and assistant in any way possible. My strongest gift as shown by this test is Prophesy. I am very forward in speaking out about things that need to be corrected when God shares that it is time to do so.
Thinking of prophesy reminds me was one who had a natural ability of speaking boldly with a fire, but had to be seasoned with wisdom. I can connect with this character in that God had to soften my tongue and direct my speaking so that it would be beneficial to the Kingdom. I have mound that my trust and faith in God does tend to supersede those around me at times because of miracles He has performed in my life. Sometimes it is not what you say, but how you say things and at times my passion and enthusiasm for Christ would cause people to be intimidated and apprehensive.
The Personality Tendency Inventory (Selling & Arroyo,1989) connected my personality and communication styles in how I relate and understand others This particular test shared that scoring over 75, which I did in all areas, means that my behavior, communication style, and learning styles are fairly flexible. Sometimes this flexibility is caused by spiritual maturity and being able to adjust to circumstances. The results of this test indicated my highest score (91) as ruler with promoter (89) being a close second.
As the levels of motivation can be attributed to different stages that are passed through as we mature , we make decision because of particular needs, goals, and desires. Upon completing the Motivational Development Inventory (Selling and Arroyo, 1989, up. 224-227), I found that Level 3 and 4 both had a score of 33 that depicts that self- gratification is delayed and others are the center of concern in which relationships re built. Within these two levels, selflessness is seen and personal gain is shallow.
Being the person God has created me and through some of my personal experiences, I have solidified more relationships with others through putting them first and identifying their struggle, despite my own challenges to see and meet their needs. As one tries to motivate others, specifically children in a classroom setting, according to Selling and Arroyo (1995), I must be able to identify stresses, pinpoint their levels of motivation, and how to effectively direct, teach, and supervise so that the student is blew to gain academically or behaviorally within the classroom (p. ). The motivational levels I have coincide with the Personality Tendency Inventory test as a Ruler who is self-assertive and a Promoter who is socially-interactive that causes positive results to occur. True Relationships with Others The Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (Daft, 2005, p. 197) compasses four components in which a score of 80 or higher is considered to be a person of high intelligence. In the following categories I scored (24) in Self-Awareness, (19) in Self- Management, (23) in Social Awareness, and (22) in Relationship Management.
A score of 20 or higher in each category is considered high and in Self-Management is where I scored below this mark. I really thought this area would be a strength for me. I ventured back to some of the questions that created my self-management score and one noticeable question was, “Do I produce motivation when doing uninteresting work? ” If the question would have asked, “Am I productive when doing uninteresting work? “, I could have easily answered yes. Motivating others to do something that is not interesting is difficult for me even though I can be efficient and thorough without Ewing motivated.
This is probably why I only drive to be a part of positions that I am passionate about. I could benefit from the Path-Goal Theory concerning my lack of motivation with uninteresting work. Morehouse states that the Path-Goal Theory, “screams for leaders to clear the paths and remove the obstacles to facilitate binders and charts is the last thing I want to do as an Event Coordinator, I know this process is crucial to the order and efficiency of the business.
Part of being an effective leader is still motivating people despite having interest, or the lack there of. Also reading, I was pleased to find that these four areas all fall within the Skills Approach to leadership, which means they can be learned and developed (Coleman, Botanists, & Mckee, 2002, p. 193). As a leader, I must find ways to not only motivate myself when doing things I don’t care, but others as well. This is a weakness of mine that needs immediate attention.
Joining with emotional intelligence would be moral intelligence. I had a exceedingly high score of 93 from the Moral Competency Inventory. Integrity and showing consistency among my values and beliefs where strong, but I showed meanness within “actively caring about others” (Lenience & Kiel, 2008, up. 262-263). The Leader-Member Exchange Theory keys in on the interaction between leaders and followers while making it clear that followers need direct attention as individuals (Morehouse, 2013, up. 165-170).
Though my heart loves serving others as reflected in the servant leadership questionnaire, moral intelligence pin pointed the fact that I need to take more one-on-one time with others to truly connect with them instead of steering towards helping collective groups. Falling in alignment with moral leadership is courage. Draft (2005) states that argue is the ability to step forward through fear and be willing to step up and take personal responsibility (up. 234-235). Within the Moral Courage assessment, scoring a (40) or higher indicates a person as being a courageous leader. I personally scored a (39).
My two lowest scoring questions where “l quickly tell people the truth, even when it is negative” and the other is that “l am relaxed most of the time” (Draft, 2005, p. 239). James 1:19 states, ” My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (NIP). Sometimes I insider the feelings of others and avoid certain conflicts until the Father shares that I need to speak and address them. Concerning being relaxed, I tend to associated relaxing with being complacent and I never want to become that way in God.
As a leader I must be able to allow my relaxation to come from a place of trusting God and constantly seeking Him which would keep me from becoming stagnant. Through working with various non-profit organizations I have truly been in countless situations that challenge my moral leadership. I have experienced numerous situations that have challenged my moral leadership. As an Event Coordinator of a small business, one recent incident happened where a client had been billed twice for 2 of our service components. Daft (2005) shares that “Courage means fighting for what you believe” (up. 37). As I took personal responsibility for my actions of correcting the billing issue with the client, though the funds could have very well been used in another area, my integrity would not allow it Just to be an oversight and ignored. My supervisor was thankful to see that I was so efficient and this client used our service for two additional events as he made the comment it is hard to find good nine people to do business with. The LAMB Questionnaire (Morehouse, 2013, up. 180-181) exposed that I have a high range of leader-member exchange through my score of (29).
For this particular membership relations with those around me. I been blessed to have a family feel to the majority of my work environments. Morehouse (2013) brought out the importance of leaders being able to identify in-groups and out-groups concerning not having the same relationship with every. This has been evident in my position as a professional organizer as I tend to call or assist certain co-workers more frequently than others which is a major area that I need to ask the Father to aid me in changing. True leadership is not showing partiality as our Father has no respect of persons (Romans 2:11).
Working with Others It is simple that I am truly nothing without our Father in Heaven. Sometimes when God uses me to help others they see me as the person that has come to their rescue instead of realizing that I am Just the vessel that He decided to use for that particular situation. I am not God and can never be God, but feel accountable to make sure that all of the glory and honor is directed back to our Father. Through my score (5. 9 out of 7) on Dubbing’s (2009) Political Skills Inventory, it indicated a relatively high level of political skill.
Before moving to from Florida to Virginia I mostly dealt with a non- profit atmosphere of political behavior steaming from positive ethical power. Now with moving more so into a worldly corporate setting, the political environment is probably the highest I have ever encountered as employees are released and replaced within weeks. At times when things are constantly changing, I take the Situational Approach to leadership. Morehouse states that this approach, “requires traders to adapt their styles to the demands of different situations” (Morehouse, 2013, p. 105).
Though things may be constantly changing, having a continually humble spirit to serve others can make transitions seem seamless. When assessing the Servant Leadership Questionnaire, my high score ranging between 23 and 25 where behaving ethically, emotional healing, conceptual skills, and putting subordinates first. My moderate scores ranging from 17 to 21 included creating value for the community, empowering, and helping subordinates grow and succeed (Morehouse, 2013, up. 245-247). Morehouse (2013) stresses the fact that servant leaders must be able to understand and have compassion of their followers.
I was excited to know that my two co-workers where within one point of how I scored myself. I enjoy serving others and it is gives me even more confidence in knowing that those around me feel that I am a servant as well. Falling in alignment with servant leadership, putting others first and working to assist others to develop accomplish their goals contributes to organizations being successful. With a score of 20, the Multiracial Leadership Questionnaire made it clear hat I am a Transformational Leader well above the transactional and passive/ avoiding leadership styles.
Morehouse (2013) makes it clear that unlike transaction leadership, “transformational leadership is the process whereby a person engages with others and creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower” (p. 186). I know that assisting my co-workers and seeing them grow as they complete projects and develop skills through assignments truly motivates me. Matthew 13:23 states, ” But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it.
This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (NIP). This assessment leadership. Being around to see seeds not only being planted in others, but also being blessed to see them flourish makes me know that I am doing the work of the Father in the place that He desires me to be. Out of all of the assessments, I feel that Are You a Change Leader? (Draft, 2005, p. 641) is one of the most important questions that leaders need to ask themselves. With my score of 4. , this assessment shared that I have a strong take charge attitude towards change (Draft, 2005, p. 41). If there was no need for anything to ever change then why would there be a need for leaders? I personally embrace change and feel that it’s crucial to the success, longevity, and effectiveness of organizations. God has allowed me to live in over 10 cities and go to 7 universities while completing 4 different programs. My physical and spiritual Journey has involved a high level change which has played a major role in why fostering change is one of my strongest areas as a leader.
Strengths and Weaknesses Upon completing the fifteen assessments, I recognized several personal strengths and weaknesses. Looking at strengths is the simple part, but facing my areas of weakness intrigues me the most because they are a challenge. Through this leadership assessment, I have been able to pinpoint that I love building relationships, putting others first, serving, making others the center of concern, being socially interactive, showing integrity, being trustworthy, and staying dedicated to my beliefs.
On the other hand, my weakness include the following: I don’t have as much self- confidence or self-management as I thought; I am not a true motivator about things that don’t interest me; I don’t take as much one-on-one time as I need to with others o effectively and actively care for individuals; Showing mercy and giving more of my resources to others are areas that need improvement. There was a time when I would be angry that I could not perfect my weaknesses, but man is not perfect, only God is. 2 Corinthians 12:9 states, ‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me’ (ESP.). This scripture helped to embrace my weaknesses, strive to be all God desires me to be and then to trust that God’s plan will be done. Patterns and Strategic Plan for Improvement Analyzing my results upon completion of the 1 5 leader profile assessments, I have been surprised by some patterns that have become relevant. To start, God truly has given me a heart for His people and I have been blessed to build the relationships that I have over the years.
I enjoy helping others, but not at the extent of allowing them to know intimate things about myself which is why I gear towards assisting groups instead of doing more direct one-on-one ministry. Matthew 22:39 states that, ” I shall love my neighbor as myself” (ESP.). This means that I need to be completely open hearted and transparent with not restricting God’s love to be able to flow through me to his people. Philippians 4:6 shares, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God” (ESP.).
Through prayer and supplication God will tear down my walls of defense as I make a conscious effort to be more direct with individuals that are seeking God. In addition, there is a consistent pattern of me lacking self- I suppress these emotions instead of addressing them. 1 Peter 5:6-7 states, Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (ESP.). I can improve this by immediately praying to the Father and sharing with Him all of my concerns instead of trying to figure everything out alone which creates anxiety.
I must step out of comfort zone and allow myself to open my heart in an intimate way to others. God extends open arms and if I am to be a true reflection of His image, I need to do the same. From this time onward, I will be disciplined by praying every ironing concerning those God places around me and creating true transparency. I will continually strive and do God’s work as He molds me and strengthens my weaknesses. As Paul says, I will die daily to my flesh so that God can increase within me to be used for His glory.
Taking these actions will allow me to relate more directly with followers, build stronger individual relationships, and open my heart to actively caring for others beyond a surface level of interaction. God is continually working on me every second of everyday and this assessment has opened my eyes to even more areas that need development. As we are understanding that our sole purpose is to love people to a place of perfection in Christ, this involves a passion so great that not only empowers others individually, but eventually a chain reaction will spread and affect nations of people.
It not only affects change, but an unction to be totally transformed spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. I pray that God continues to use me for the glory of His kingdom. References Banks, R. , & Letterer, B. M. (2004). Reviewing leadership: A Christian evaluation of current approaches. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. Briggs, K. C. , & Myers, l. (1998). AMBIT: self-sharable form m. Mountain View, CA: cap. Daft, R. L. (2005). The leadership experience (3rd De. ). Mason, OH: Thomson Southwestern. Dublin, A. J. (2009).
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