The concept of leadership has attracted the attention of leaders over the recent past. I believed that leaders are born, as Shapiro (2020) argues, but this perception has changed as I continue to learn more about this concept. My personal experiences and knowledge gained from books and interaction with other people have changed my perception and knowledge about leadership. Although some people have unique traits that put them in better positions to lead, it is apparent that learning plays a critical role in enabling an individual to become an exceptional head of a given organisation. In this reflective essay, the focus is to discuss my experiences and knowledge gained through academic work, which have defined my perception and beliefs about leadership.
Analysis and Discussion
Leadership is one of the most researched topics in social sciences because of its relevance in different fields. A section of scholars believe that leaders are born with unique characteristics that make them stand out from the rest. Using the Great Man Theory, these scholars argue that individuals with traits such as courage, charisma, communication skills and ability to convince people often find it easy to guide others (Strike et al., 2019). I held this belief for a long time and believed that it is not possible for one to gain these unique skills through a learning process. In fact, I often classified myself as being incapable of heading even small groups at school.
The Learning Experience: Theoretical Underpinning
The perception of leadership that I had has changed significantly over the recent past. I now strongly believe that it can be acquired and anyone can train to become an exceptional leader through practice. Although some of these natural traits are important in enhancing the ability of an individual to be a better leader, emerging technologies, globalisation and many other changes happening in our society makes it critical for one to gain new knowledge.
Synapsis of the Theory
Gibbs reflective cycle is one of the most popular self-reflective concept that one uses to assess self-experience. It identifies six steps that one has to take in personal reflection as a way of learning. They include description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, and conclusion and action plan (). The first stage in this cycle is the description of the event. The first stage in this theory is the description of the experience. One is then expected to assess thoughts and feelings about the experience that one went through. Gibbs argues that in self-reflection, one is expected to evaluate both the good and bad experiences before making analysis in an attempt to make sense of the experience or the situation (). The fifth stage in this theory is for one to make a conclusion based on what has been learned and what could have been undertaken differently to achieve a better outcome. The last stage in this model is to develop an action plan on how one can deal with a similar experience in the future. The model is meant to promote consistent self-improvement based on personal experiences. Figure 1 below identifies the stages involved in Gibb’s reflective cycle.
Applying Gibbs Theory in My Experience
The incident happened when I was in my final year in high school and a member of the football team. I was elected as the captain of the team, a position I believed was suitable for one of my colleagues who I believed had natural traits of a leader. I tried to reject the appointment but the coach and team members insisted that I had the capacity to lead the team. The coach promised to help me learn how to manage teams and overcome numerous challenges which caused the anxiety. Eventually, I was able to overcome the fear, I accepted the position and was able to lead my team into success in various tournaments.
During the period that I served as the captain of this team, I learned that leadership requires commitment. There were times when I had to sacrifice my time for academic work to attend to tasks related to my team. Conflicts among team members would often arise and it was always my responsibility to address them and ensure that a spirit of teamwork is inculcated. The event also made me appreciate the importance of having a proper information sharing system within a group as a way of enhancing effective communication. I had to be the link between team members and other external stakeholders.
The second stage in this model focuses on feelings that one had during the event. I had mixed emotions before, during and after the event. Before this, I had intense fear of failing to meet expectations of team members and the coach as the leader of the group. The immense support I got from my coach and colleagues during the time I was handed the position was comforting. I felt that I could deliver because everyone else demonstrated that they trusted my capabilities. I had a strong desire to demonstrate that I can deliver the best results even though I had demonstrated fear at the beginning.
After the incidence, I felt so confident and self-reassured that I could make it as a leader despite the misgivings that I previously had. Anselmann and Mulder (2020) explain that when one has overcome an issue, there is always a feeling of relief. In my case, that was true because I felt a strong sense of relief when the outcome of my effort went beyond my expectation. I felt that there was no proper justification to fear being the captain of my team. I felt that I could do it again, but in a better way, in case such an opportunity would arise again. The opportunity made me trust my leadership skills more than ever and believe that leadership can be learned.
The next stage of the model is the process of self-evaluation where one assesses the positive and negative factors in the event. During this period, many positive occurrences were noted, one of which was my team winning several major tournaments under my leadership. The team became more cohesive than it has ever been previously and there was the willingness of all the team members to play their role to enhance success. I received praise from my peers for my ability to resolve conflicts. I was keen on ensuring that disagreements that emerged among teammates were addressed as soon as possible and in a way that would not affect the ability of the affected individuals to work as a unit.
It is important to acknowledge that there were some negative experiences during the event, one of which was self-doubt. It made some of the team members doubt my capabilities to lead, but it is important to note that I was able to overcome this challenge. I had to sacrifice my time to engage in team-related activities, which somehow negatively affected my academic work during that period. Ferguson (2018) warns that sometimes when one cannot plan their tasks appropriately, they may neglect important activities in life. With time, I learned to schedule my activities and to ensure that I dedicated enough time for classwork. It is also important to note that my commitment to football made me sacrifice the ambition to try long-tennis as another interesting sporting activity.
The model identifies the fourth step of this reflective cycle as the analysis stage. One is expected to assess the overall impact of the incident and how it impacted their lives (Reardona et al., 2019). The event had a massive impact on my life and personal perception of leadership. I realised that through practice, personal commitment and continuous learning, anyone can become a leader. The situation made me trust in my skills and ability to influence others. Although my academic performance was slightly affected during the period, I was able to recover and achieve success at last.
The event has changed my perception of leadership and what it takes for a manager to achieve success when guiding a diversified workforce. In our team, we had members from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. However, I had to ensure that I make them share the same vision for the team and to focus on uniting factors other than what made us look different. Brown and Shaked (2018) advise that when managing a diversified team, it is important to encourage members to value diversity and use it as a means of overcoming a variety of challenges that may emerge. I consider myself lucky because my colleagues were respectful towards me at all times.
The next stage in the model is identified as the conclusion, where one reflects on what else they could have done during the event. One of the things I believe I could have done differently was to avoid self-doubt. It took a while for some of the team members to trust my capability to lead because I had expressed my fear to them. The experience could have been better if I did not demonstrate the fear. Another area of improvement that would have made the experience better is practice. I did not take time to practice leadership skills prior to this event, something that would have made the process less stressful.
When drawing a conclusion, it is often advisable to identify personal strengths and weaknesses from the reflection. According to Miao et al. (2020), such a self-assessment enables one to identify areas that still need improvement and unique capabilities that can be used to overcome various problems that one might face. The event made me learn that I am a resilient person who does not easily surrender even when facing new challenges. I did not believe I could lead the team, but I embraced the challenge and registered impressive results. I also realised that I have effective communication and team management skills. The event made me know that one of my biggest weaknesses that I should address is impatience. I needed quick results and often some of my teammates complained that I was exerting a lot of pressure on them.
The last stage when using Gibb’s reflective cycle is the action plan. In this case, the reflection focuses on what one would do if the same situation arose again. One of the things I would give priority is confidence and self-trust. If others trust my capabilities, the least I can do is to do the same and demonstrate to them that they did not make a mistake to choose me. I would also remain positive from the onset of the program instead of allowing fear to control every action that I take.
When defining the action plan, one of the most important factors to consider is to avoid mistakes which were made in the previous event. The goal is to achieve greater results than what was realised in the last program. Continuous improvement, other than perfection, is the goal of Gibb’s reflective cycle. Using the previous experience as lessons upon which better outcomes have to be achieved in future endeavours is critical. As the figure below shows, the entire process is cyclic in nature, which means that whenever success is achieved, one has to focus on re-starting the same process as a way of improving skills and capabilities.
Lessons from the Educational Experiences
The event provided a major lesson on leadership and team management, which supported knowledge gained from educational experiences. As Volpe et al. (2019) explain, leadership skills are acquired as opposed to them being natural traits. From my personal experience, I can confirm that indeed leadership skills are learned, one can be successful in guiding an organization even when they lack some of the perceived traits of a natural leader. It is critical for one who is trusted with the role of guiding others to learn how issues such as diversity and changing socio-economic and political system may affect their team. Taking the example of my club, it is not easy to lead people who come from different backgrounds and with varying social and religious beliefs.
A successful leader has to understand how to unify the team by creating and sharing a common vision. The goal of team members should always be to use their diversity to achieve a common goal of the organisation. In such an environment, conflict management is a critical skill that one has to learn to ensure that they can effectively manage the issue of diversity. Continuous learning will always influence personal actions of an individual irrespective of the position they hold in a given organisation. It allows one to refine personal skills and to overcome weaknesses that may limit the ability to achieve desired success.
Practice: Applying the Knowledge Gained from the Learning Process
The learning process and the theoretical model discussed above provided practical knowledge that can be put in use in various contexts. Whittaker and Taylor (2017) argue that it is critical for one to understand the setting in which to apply knowledge gained in a learning process. In this case, the event that formed the basis of this learning process was the management of a football club as the captain. However, the knowledge gained through this process can be applied in different contexts. One such situation is in the leadership of small entities in the country. These organisations are struggling to deal with the problem of diversity (Hall & Simeral, 2017). The country has witnessed an influx of foreign nationals coming to work in different sectors of the economy. As such, it has become increasingly common to find cases where a company has a highly diversified workforce.
When a company has to deal with foreign nationals, one of the issues that managers face is the need to unite people with varying social and religious beliefs and practices. In the same way as the case in the football team, such a manager will need to develop a common vision for organisation and ensure that every member understands and believes in it. The case also demonstrated the significance of having effective conflict management skills. A manager who has to handle a diversified workforce needs to be equipped with adequate knowledge of managing issues that may arise from members. Such conflicts should be addressed as soon as they arise and in a way that does not make anyone feel despised.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The reflective essay focused on the concept of leadership and how it can be enhanced through continuous learning. A part of the society believes that leaders are born and that it is difficult to acquire these leadership skills through the learning process. Proponents of this theory argue that unique traits such as charisma, courage and the ability to influence people to act in a specific way are talents that one does not need to go to class to learn. However, the essay reveals that these skills and traits can be learned, practiced and be perfected as long as one has the determination to do so. The following are the recommendations that individuals should consider to enhance their skills in leadership:
- A prospective leader should maintain a continuous improvement as the only way of achieving growth. I realized that I have to learn how to improve their skills by avoiding previous mistakes and building on identified strengths.
- A prospective leader should learn how to deal with diversity in a workplace environment. Handling people from different backgrounds require an individual to be flexible, tolerant and capable of looking at issues from different perspectives, traits which I seek to embrace.
- Conflict management includes critical skills which an aspiring leader must understand. They should have the capacity to identify when conflicts emerge and find ways of addressing them within the shortest time possible and in a way that brings all the parties involved together.
- Learning is one of the best ways through which leaders can sharpen their skills. Changes brought about by emerging technologies, increased globalisation and the changing trends can only be understood and managed through regular learning.
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