Introduction
Strong leadership abilities are necessary to ensure the success of any activity performed by a team. Leadership refers to a process through which one person uses the help and support of others towards achieving a particular goal or task. For one to be a truly effective leader, he/she must understand their leadership styles and tendencies. Only then can one interact better with his followers and hence foster productivity. In this paper, I shall analyze my leadership style so as to highlight its inherent strengths and weaknesses. I shall then compare my personal leadership skills with those of two of my team members so as to identify the potential pitfalls that may arise from the differences. The potential synergies that may exist in my team shall also be articulated.
Strengths and Weaknesses of my Leadership Style
Based on the inventory, my leadership style stands right between direct and indirect, with high scores in reserved, urgent, and precise. A major strength in my leadership style is that I come across as approachable and unassuming. A study on leadership by Alimo-Metcalfe and Alban-Metcalfe (2001) in which a survey was carried out on over 4,000 managers found that the single most important positive leadership factor was whether the leaders showed genuine concern for their staff.
This is because all employees regardless of their occupation or level of demographic group incur significant amounts of stress and de-motivation at work if there is a negative relationship that is characterized by a lack of concern with their leaders. Another strength of my leadership style is that I can exercise great diplomacy. Diplomacy entails the use of power and authority carefully so as to achieve positive outcomes by being unanimous or arriving at a consensus (London, 2002). Diplomacy not only enhances leadership but also greatly assists in consensus building. Considering the fact that the conflicts are bound to occur within the group setting in which I operate, the ability to resolve conflicts amicably is vital.
A major weakness of my leadership style is that I prefer to work alone or in small groups. As a leader, I am invariably bound to work with and through other members of the organization. My preference to work alone may therefore prove to be a setback. My leadership style also entails being reserved and acting with urgency. This may be a weakness since I may come off as impatient due to my need to act fast and unfriendly to the people in my team as a result of my reserved nature.
Comparing my Leadership Style with my Team Members
While my leadership style is direct and indirect, one of the members in my team has as his leadership style direct and precise. While he is very assertive, I on the other hand am reserved and somewhat held back. In addition to this, he is very outgoing which results in him making inquiries as to my well-being. However, we share the preference for highly organized environments as well as a sense of urgency in completing our tasks.
My second team member’s leadership style is the indirect style. Like my style, he too tends to be precise when carrying out his activities. His leadership style also favors a strong sense of urgency in the completion of tasks set also just like my style. However, this team member is outgoing and as such, he prefers working with people in contrast to my preference for working on my own.
Benefits of Understanding Team Members’ Style
Understanding my team member’s leadership styles will help avoid misunderstandings. By recognizing that my team member is assertive, I will recognize that his presentation of new ideas in a forceful manner is not so as to offend but rather as a factor of his style. I will also better understand how my team members prioritize their works since the various leadership styles are characterized by people laying more emphasis on differing things. By recognizing that my team members are outgoing, I will not mistake their attempts at trying to stay connected and get personal information from me as prying. I will therefore be friendlier with them and avoid stonewalling them as I would have done if I did not understand their leadership styles.
Pitfalls
There are a number of pitfalls that my team could encounter as a result of the differences in leadership styles that we all have. As a result of my preference to work on my own, I am bound to be frustrated by attempts by my team members who are more outgoing to work with me. This will result in me being seen as anti-social which may have unfavorable results in our projects. The assertiveness that is evident in my team members could also be a pitfall since I am more inclined to be diplomatic. There being assertive is likely to come off as being forceful and demanding. Another pitfall is that I am unlikely to function properly in a group setting since I prefer to work alone.
My team members and I are all highly structured. As a result of this, we are bound to get frustrated by ambiguous situations or in scenarios where specific guidelines lack. In addition to this, our group is very likely to suffer from the lack of innovative ideas which can only come about as a result of being unstructured and being open-minded.
Overcoming Pitfalls
There are a number of ways in which these pitfalls can be avoided therefore bringing about harmony in our operations as a team. The pitfall that results from my desire to work alone can be overcome by working as a group when necessary and otherwise allocating individual tasks for all members of the group. This will be complemented with regular meetings during which we can use assess progress.
In my case, I could try to take the initiative in speaking therefore avoid being labeled as unfriendly by my outgoing team members. I would also aim to speak my mind on important issues so as to avoid the more assertive members overshadowing me. In their case, the more assertive team members could avoid always being the center of attention and give other people in the team an opportunity to be heard.
Since all the team members are highly structured, we can avoid the pitfall that results from this. We as a team can make a conscious effort to use unconventional means to get our work done. We can also try and experiment with new methods so as to overcome the pitfall that is inherent in being too highly structured.
Potential Synergy
Synergy is described as the “interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects” (Sashkin, 2003). With regard to leadership, synergy refers to the smooth working of leaders and employees towards achieving the organizational goals in a manner that would be impossible from individual effort. The differing leadership styles that are exhibited among my team members and me present an opportunity for synergy.
While I come across as approachable, team member 1 comes off as self-assured and forceful. Our two qualities can complement each other hence bringing about greater productivity for the organization since relying on any one of these two attributes all the time would not yield the best results. The outgoing nature of my workmates would be very useful when we are meeting new business relations since they would be able to put them at ease. My diplomatic abilities would ensure that we communicate amicably.
Conclusion
This paper set out to perform a detailed analysis of my leadership style. To this end, the strengths and weaknesses that are inherent in my style have been documented. A comparison has also been made between my style and that of my team members so as to accentuate the similarities and differences. This paper has shown that there are pitfalls that will arise from the differences and has therefore outline possible solutions to this. The synergies that can come about from our different leadership styles have also been highlighted. This paper has demonstrated that by having knowledge of my leadership style and that of my team members, the productivity of our team can be increased since we can maximize the benefits and minimize the pitfalls that are there.
Reference
Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, R. (2001). The Development of a new transformational Leadership questionnaire” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 74, 1-27.
London, M. (2002). Leadership Development: Paths to Self-insight and Professional Growth. Routledge.
Sashkin, G. (2003). Leadership that matters: the critical factors for making a difference in people’s lives and organizations’ success. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.