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Personal Leadership Platform /
EDLP Intersession Project /
Tim Lampe /
Spring 2012 /

Introduction

In developing a personal leadership platform, it is important to first understand oneself as a person. A person must understand his/her weaknesses and strengths, and to continuously develop a personal skillset that sets him/her apart from others, and to help themselves become the best that they can possibly become. Building a personal leadership platform enhances self-awareness and value clarification, and helps promote reflection prior to action.

Recently, a personal 360-Degree leadership skills assessment instrument was done to survey peers and direct reports in order to gain their perspective on how each person and group views my leadership skills and ability. In my view, this is an excellent feedback tool from which to develop a leadership platform. It shows potential weaknesses and strength as seen by others and assists in creating a point from which to start building and improving leadership skills.

Positions of leadership require that the people who hold these positions constantly look for improvements in all facets of the job, including making positive change in an organization for the future, change for the people who work in the organization, as well as for the leader. Ben Franklin once said, “When you are finished changing, you’re finished…”, which means that for organizations to continuously evolve, if they are to not become stagnant and stale, strong leadership and positive changemust prevailto keep the organization fresh, energetic, and competitive.

What Should Be The Purpose Of Leadership?

The purpose of leadership should be to create vision, initiate direction, and a support system for the purpose of leading a group or team toward a unified goal through a series of objectives, and to continuously elevate the standards for the organization through persistent positive change. A leader must then use their leadership skills to get people to focus on the goals, motivate them to push ahead and to empower them to take responsibility for their actions, to be accountable to themselves and to the group as a whole, to ‘own’ the ideas, initiatives, or plan of action, and to develop anticipatory skills to better service those who are affected by the organization.

Leadership should set the tone for the organization by being present in the moment as well as out in front leading the way, taking reasonable risks, accepting responsibility for any failure and willing to accept any consequences with these failures. Leadership must also be able to influence others in a positive manner, be transparent to those within the organization when making decisions, and be able to empathize with people to fully understand their needs and motives. Leadership must provide followers with needed and customized incentives in order to minimize distractions, and leaders must ‘lead’ them toward the vision that was set forth for the organization.

What Should Be The Relationship Between The Leader And His/her Constituency?

Leaders should stay one step ahead of the people within the organization but not so far ahead that people cannot understand or follow. The relationship that a leader has with his/her constituents should be one of nurturing, support, and trust if the constituents are to embrace the vision of the leader and the direction of the organization. A leader needs to be able to delegate and collaborate to create a positive environment. A culture of learning and perpetual change relative to improved technology, intellectual developments, and improved interpersonal relationships needs to be established, encouraged, and maintained.

A leader must be able to show genuine empathy toward all constituents, be an advocate and a voice for the people of the organization, and service oriented towards the organization, the people within the organization, and the community in which the organization exists. Leadership is a subtle process of mutual influence fusing thought, feeling, and action. It produces cooperative effort in the service of purposes embraced by the leader and the led (Bolman and Deal, 2008, p. 345). Leaders make things happen, but things make leaders happen (Bolman and Deal, 2008, p. 344), indicating that leadership can appear at all levels of an organization indicating that a symbiotic relationship between leaders and constituents is occurring.

Under What Conditions Is Shared Leadership Most Successful?

Shared leadership is most successful in an environment full of trust, with people who share a unified direction with common goals; an environment where organizational norms are accepted and supported, and a shared overall vision for a particular organization, and its values, are deeply woven into the emotional fabric of that organization. In The Deep Blue Sea, Rethinking the Source of Leadership, Wilfred Drath refers to this ‘shared leadership’ as an emerging ‘new’ principle of leadership that goes beyond personal dominance and interpersonal influence. He calls this leadership principle ‘relational dialogue’, which, at its core, means that “people who share work create leadership by constructing the meaning of direction, commitment, and adaptive challenge.” In other words, “leadership happens when people make sense together of shared work” (Drath, 2001, p. 153). This ‘relational dialogue’ model of leadership recognizes that its effectiveness does not depend on individual heroic leaders but rather on leadership practices that are rootedthroughout the many layers of an organization. This leadership concept is therefore more of a ‘relational’ process; a shared or distributed leadership phenomenon that occurs within different levels of an organization that rely on social interactions and people’s individual networks.

“Shared leadership occurs when all members of a team are fully engaged in the leadership of the team and are not hesitant to influence and guide their fellow members in an effortto maximize the potential of the team as a whole” (Pierce 2004, p. 48). This type of shared leadership looks more like a flat structure and less like a top-down style of hierarchy. Flat reporting structures in shared leadership style organizations tend to result in higher levels of trust, cohesion, and consensus and lower levels of unhealthy conflict. Under shared leadership conditions, reasonable risk-taking is encouraged and praise, not punishment, is given when failures occur. New barriers cannot be broken and innovative breakthroughs achieved if people are not permitted to take reasonable risks. Risk taking is critical in order for organizations to advance in their specified industry, thereby raisingthe standards by which they operate and becoming a leading force within that industry.

What Motivates Constituents To Contribute Wholeheartedly?

Tapping into people’s emotional psyche by creating loyalty and getting a total buy-in is a surefire way to get people to contribute wholeheartedly to an organization. A leader must be able to assemble a team of people who can work together in unison toward a common goal with intrinsic, purposeful, and passionate energy.

To accomplish this, a leader must be able to inspire people. If a leader clearly and effectively articulates the vision for the organization and is able to get people to focus on this vision, the leader can inspire people to want to achieve set goals and objectives toward that vision. By showing concern for people as well as task, by being task competent, showing good judgment and displaying self-confidence, and by having the courage to make decisions as well as to take risks, leaders can develop a crew of highly motivated people who genuinely and wholeheartedly care for the organization and others who work in it. “If leaders are to be effective in helping to mobilize and elevate their constituencies, leaders must be whole persons, persons with full functioning capacities for thinking and feeling” (Bolman and Deal, 2008, p. 226).

What Is Your Definition Of Effective Leadership?

Effective leaders help articulate a vision, set standards for performance, and create focus and direction (Bolman and Deal, 2008, p. 345). In addition, effective leadership is having a clearly communicated and inspiring vision as well as clearly defined goals and objectives that are developed through collaborative input from the organizations constituents. Effective leadership also demands that the leader lead by example in an optimistic, heartfelt, and confident manner; one who influences others by using good judgment, displays genuine empathy towards others, and empowers others to be fully engaged to achieve the overall vision.

Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, “setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.” If a leader is to be credible and trusted, he/she has got to lead by setting a good example and not by sitting in the proverbial ivory. The leader has to be out front and visible yet transparent, but he/she also needs to be in the trenches from time to time to rally the troops and to show that there is a strong connection between alllevels of the organization.

What Personal Characteristics Are Possessed By A Successful Leader?

A comprehensive list of personal characteristics can be found in the article, Transformational Leadership: Characteristics and Criticisms, by Iain Hay that collectively ‘describe a human being of remarkable capabilities’. It is a thorough description of the qualities a leader needs to possess if he/she is to become the quintessential model of the perfect leader.

  • Clear sense of purpose
  • Value driven
  • Strong role model
  • High expectations
  • Persistent
  • Self-knowing
  • Perpetual desire for learning
  • Love work
  • Life-long learner
  • Identify themselves as change agents
  • Enthusiastic
  • Able to attract and inspire others
  • Strategic
  • Effective communicator
  • Emotionally mature
  • Courageous
  • Risk-taker
  • Risk-sharing
  • Visionary
  • Unwilling to believe in failure
  • Sense of public need
  • Considerate of employees needs
  • Listens to all viewpoints to develop a spirit of cooperation
  • Mentoring
  • Able to deal with complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity

It would be next to impossible to possess all of these characteristics to their full meaning and capacity, however, I agree that there are leaders who possess these ingredients to some degree or another and that all leaders need to constantly work on them. And while this list is extensive, another characteristic is the ability to inspire trust and build relationships (Bolman and Deal, 2008, p. 346). Trust and relationships are at the core of good leadership and pertain to developing and maintaining the culture inside the organization as well as successful business partnerships outside of the organization. Leaders need skill in managing relationships with all significant stakeholders, including superiors, peers, and external constituents (Bolman and Deal, 2008, p. 348). Without trust, nothing else matters, but with the added skills of relationship building, leaders will be all that more effective and the results will show.

What Two Preferences Do You Possess (One from MBTI and one from LCI)

That You Consider Important Assets In Your Leadership Role?

There are two preferences that I possess that I consider to be important assets in my leadership role. One preference is from the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and one is from the Learning Connections Inventory (LCI).

The MBTI revealed that I am an ISTJ (Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging) which basically means that I am meticulous and thorough, I have a profound sense for right and wrong,I am devoted to duty, and punctuality is of great importance to me, for myself as well as others. Specifically, however, the one MBTI preference that benefits my leadership role the most is that of ‘Thinking’. This is important because I tend to look at things and situations deeper than what is just seen on the surface. I look for the root-cause of a particular problem or challenge and try to solve or correct it instead of wasting time by taking the cosmetic approach of addressing only what is seen at the surface. While I might tend to look deeper into matters, making quick decisions to keep things moving forward toachieve goals is generally no problem.

Aligning very nicely with the MBTI preference of ‘Thinking’ is the LCI preference of ‘Sequence’. This preference basically indicates that I think with clarity and I work methodically on projects. Being organized and creating a structured environmentis what works the best in the field offacility and event management. Things need to be done in a systematic and organized fashion.

The combination of ‘Thinking’ and ‘Sequence’ seems to go hand-in-hand with each other. Think things through, see how they fit with the overall picture and put together a plan to remedy a particular situation or issue.

What Sort Of Leader Do You Want To Be?

Before taking on the daunting task of going back to school, I would have answered this question by saying that I would like to be a trusted leader who is respected, effective, and a difference maker; someone who is always ‘present’ and who improves people and situations by being a service oriented leader towards people and community.

While this still holds true, through research surrounding this particular project, I have reacquainted myself with the notion of ‘Transformational Leadership’ and to really see how this type of leadership can be beneficial. Through the four “I’s” (Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, and Individualized Considerations), I would want to be that leader who has “charismatic vision and behavior that inspires others to follow, the capacity to motivate others to commit to the vision, encourage innovation and creativity, and coach to the specific needs of the followers” (Hay, 2006, table 1). To have or to create followers, as opposed to mere subordinates, by virtue of what kind of leader I am is the telltale sign of an effective leader, the sort of leader I would like to be.

Additionally, I would like to be a multi-frame leader. The concept of looking at situations from different perspectives in a timely fashion will take time to learn but it offers a chance to get beyond constricted or oversimplified views (Bolman and Deal, 2008, p.355) or opinions by offering a more open-minded and constructive decision making process.

How Do You Understand The Impact Of The Three Texts

We Have Used So Far On Your Learning About Leadership?

The three books that we have used so far have had a far reaching impact on my leadership style. In general, the take –away from these three books has been that I need to stop, think, evaluate and analyze each situation that I encounter, the people involved, and the desired results. Too often, leaders blow through each situation without reflecting on what just happened, why it happened, and what could have been done differently to achieve more desirable results. I also find myself having more concentrated attention on the keys to forming a good team with which to work. Building trust, learning to accept that conflict is fine and encouraged, and finding people who are committed to their work who are willing to be held accountable for their actions are part of daily team building.

I don’t think that a day goes by that I don’t look deeper into situations to more closely evaluate why the situation exists,who the players are, and how my reaction or decision will affect the situation. Looking at things through alternate lenses helps to open the mind, to see things from a different perspective, and to better understand what is going on and what to do.

I am also more keenly aware of how I am seen as a leader and, more importantly, how people view my actions as a leader. Do I come off as a dominant figure as in “do as I say”, or do I display a shared leadership style whereby people are active participants in the decision making process? Because I work in an environment of higher educational the role of ‘teacher’ never goes away. For years I have taught the values of being dependable, accountable, and the development of anticipatory skills. I constantly preach that there are no bad ideas and that I am aware that I can fall into the trap of not trying new things due to my advanced tried and true experience. I feel that being surrounded by graduate students and young professionals I am able to stay fresh and to be more accepting of new ideas. As technology changes and advances I would be foolish to not listen to the ideas of the youngest members of the team.

What Else Has Impacted Your Leadership Platform?

There are many experiences that have the potential to impact one’s leadership platform. For me, there are three things that immediately come to mind that have certainly impacted mine.

The first is my strict upbringing. There is no doubt that being brought up in a tightly controlled, military style household has had an immense impact on what I think and how I approach things. There are negatives and positives but for the most part I feel that my appreciation for a good work ethic, good working relationships, and strong moral and ethical behavior are a result of my upbringing.

A second experience that has impacted my leadership platform is the time that I worked with unionized labor. It was indeed one of the most challenging times of my professional career but, reflecting back on that time, I would have to say that the experience made me better appreciate self-motivated individuals. There is a distinct difference between people who are motivated to make a difference and who wholeheartedly give something to an organization compared to those who are always trying to get something out of the organization. This cannot possibly be true across the board but, from my experiences, this is a clear differentiation between unionized and nonunionized labor. I feel that I can quickly see through those people who are motivated by what they can personally gain, rather than what they have to personally offer.