Report on Leadership Strengths
Question
Prepare a 2-3-page business report (single spaced) in which you analyze your leadership strengths and develop a statement of who you are as a leader.
Introduction
This portfolio work project helps you define who you are as a leader. It is something that would be useful to you in annual performance reviews or to use as a reminder of your strengths and best qualities.
Scenario
Your leader is interested in your development as a leader in your organization. You have recently taken a variety of self-assessments designed to better understand your strengths, areas of improvement, communication ability, and values. Your leader would like you to spend some time reflecting on the results of your assessments and gathering some additional information from those who know you best.
Your Role
Your role is to prepare a report in which you review and reflect on your strengths; collect additional information from 3–5 colleagues, friends, or others who know you well; and create a portrait of yourself as a leader.
Preparation
This assessment requires you to collect feedback from 3–5 people who know you best and to complete at least three self-assessments.
Collecting Feedback From People:
Because not everyone is likely to respond, you should identify at least 6–10 people to ask. Choose a variety of people who have had extended contact with you, such as:
- Colleagues (former or current), such as vendors, customers, or board members.
- Friends (old or recent), neighbors, or fellow volunteers.
- Family members.
- Others who know you well. Be creative in your choices.
Try to give your respondents sufficient time to respond. You can create a feedback form or keep it simpler.
The questions you should ask are:
- Who am I when I am at my best?
- Can you provide a specific example of a time when I was at my best?
You can reach out by phone, e-mail, text, or in person. Analyze your leadership strengths.
Self-Assessments
Take at least three of the six self-assessments listed in the Assessment 2 Resources: Leadership Self-Assessments.
Requirements
For this paper:
- Discuss the strengths, skills, and other positives that were revealed in the three assessments that you took. Do these strengths surprise you or reinforce what you already thought? How do you use these strengths currently? Be sure to clearly explain which assessment gave you the information and cite the assessments in APA format.
- Discuss your strengths further by summarizing the responses you received and relating how what you learned from the people you talked to and the assessments fits in with what you already knew about yourself, and with the work you currently do or hope to do in the future.
- Bring together all data points—your own feelings about your skills, what the assessments revealed, what your contacts said about you—in a cohesive discussion of your strengths.
- Develop a statement of who you are as a leader, based on your analysis. This statement should include your values, strengths, goals, and more. You should include in your statement who you want to be as a leader—what you aspire to become. This way, your statement becomes your own vision of who you want to be and an affirmation to help you grow.
- Describe some of the areas that you learned are growth opportunities (where you did not perform so strongly). How did you feel about this? What areas do you feel are most important to strengthen? What specific and actionable steps might you take to strengthen these areas?
Deliverable Format
Your deliverable is a 2–3-page business report (single spaced). Business reports are formatted differently from academic, APA formatting. For information about the differences, refer to the MBA Program Resources on the left side of the courseroom navigation panel. Once you click this tab, several options will appear in the middle of your screen. Click the Writing option. You will want to review the MBA Academic and Professional Document Guidelines. Note that this business report MUST be single-spaced, professionally formatted, and organized with ample headings. Because this is a personal reflection, you may write it in first person.
Related Company Standards
The Defining Yourself As a Leader business report is a professional document and should therefore follow the corresponding MBA Academic and Professional Document Guidelines, including single-spaced paragraphs. In addition to the report, include:
- Title page or a heading at the top of the first page with title, date, and your name.
- Introduction.
- Various sections (see recommended outline below).
- Conclusion.
- References page.
- APA-formatted references (if applicable).
You might consider using the following outline:
- Introduction (tell the reader what this paper is about. Do not assume that the reader knows what the assignment is).
- My Strengths (detail which assessments you took and what strengths and values were revealed).
- Leadership Statement (create a statement of who you want to be as a leader—make it aspiring, like an affirmation).
- Growth Opportunities (detail the areas where you have yet to grow and discuss some plans for achieving that growth).
- Conclusion (wrap up the paper effectively).
- References (in APA format. Be sure to cite the assessments that you took, and any readings that are applicable).
Solution
Report on Leadership Strengths
Introduction
As a leader, it is crucial to identify the strengths and weaknesses to optimize their strengths and find ways to resolve them. People often feel happier and more successful whenever they use their strengths. The feeling naturally extends to the workplace where employees and leaders who intentionally attempt to leverage their strengths are characterized by more success, efficiency, effectiveness, and job satisfaction. An effective leader understands this idea and plans appropriately to map out how they can use, maximize, and improve their strengths while taking care of their weaknesses. Leaders who successfully bring out their strengths in the workplace are more competitive and are more satisfied with their job (Ackerman, 2019). However, this report suggests that certain strengths are more important than others. The report examines my strengths as a leader through self-assessment and interviewing my colleagues, friends, and family members. The report also includes the leadership statement developed from the assessment and interviews and identifies the growth opportunities as a leader.
My Strengths
According to the Agile Leadership Self-Assessment conducted, it is clear that one of my core strengths is being analytical. I scored the highest point under the analytical style in a grid containing four different styles: amiable, reasoned, expressive, and driver. Therefore, this means that I emphasize gathering sufficient information before making any decisions and that I am in control of my emotions. In general terms, as a leader, I like dealing with facts. The second highest score was for the style of being expressive, while the third score was for being a driver. The expressive style means that I like sharing stories and anecdotes and expressing my opinion freely. On the other hand, a driver is directive and talks more than they listen.
In the agility assessment, I scored 32 points out of 40 for learning agility. The strength means that I possess the ability to move, think, and learn quickly. Within the same test, I scored eight out of eight for curiosity and being reflective, seven out of eight for associative, and two out of eight for risk-taking. The scores suggest that I am always curious about the world around me and constantly work toward finding answers to the puzzles. In line with this, I always reflect on the best way to do things to achieve the highest level of success. However, as a leader, one has to socialize with others to achieve the desired outcomes, and this explains my scores for being associative. As the assessment has revealed, I have always been afraid to take risks. As for interpersonal agility, the results show a score of 34 out of 40. Besides, it also suggests that I am sociable, optimistic, opinionated, open-minded, and extroverted.Under all these qualities, I scored more than six out of eight. Under the execution agility, I scored 33 out of 40, which also suggests my executive strength. The results further suggest that I am resilient, driven, tolerant, and flexible. Resilience and being driven are qualities that have always enabled me to stay focused on my goals and ensure that I attain the highest level of satisfaction. Flexibility ensures that I institute the necessary changes to stay on course and achieve the set objectives. Nevertheless, I had lower scores for being calm under pressure which is one of the most important leadership qualities.
In an interview with three of my colleagues and two of my friends, the most outstanding leadership quality they identified in me is being analytical. Most of them stated that I tend to dig deeper into a situation and gather all the relevant information before making important decisions. In other words, I have never been hesitant in all my decisions, and I believe this is a crucial strength as a leader. However, they also mentioned that I often develop cold feet whenever I sense risks and that I have a fear of pressure. However, risks and pressure are bound to be experienced in the process of leadership, and they are important in helping one grow as a leader. Therefore, this is an area that I need to work on to develop myself as a better leader.
Leadership Statement
I am a result-oriented, sociable, and open-minded leader with a great passion for learning to achieve success and become a better leader in the future. The statement entails that I am always focused on achieving the desired results and will go the extra mile to ensure that I put in all the efforts to realize all the objectives I set. Nevertheless, there is no single leader who can be able to achieve the set results in isolation. Therefore, I believe I am a sociable leader who embraces people from different backgrounds with the view that they possess distinctive characteristics that are vital in assisting me in realizing my goals. In line with this, I am also open-minded and desire to get diverse views from different people to help me make better, successful decisions. Finally, I believe in the power of learning in shaping an individual to become a better leader, which is my aspiration for the future.
Growth Opportunities
From the assessments and the interviews with colleagues and friends, it was apparent that the two areas that I still need to work on to become a better leader include risk-taking and gaining composure while under pressure. Taking risks is often important in sparking innovation (Zeilinger, 2013). At times, the failed risks provide the most important lessons that a leader needs to prosper. Therefore, through the learning process, I have the opportunity to master the art of risk-taking and use it to sharpen my skills in the area of innovation. Another crucial area is working under pressure. Most of my colleagues mentioned that I often develop a phobia of pressure and would rather postpone a task due to intense pressure. However, as an effective leader, there are times when pressure is bound, and it cannot be ignored. Since I am an agile learner, I will use my strength to ensure that I learn to work with pressure.
Conclusion
To conclude, the report examined my strengths and weaknesses as a leader through the self-assessment method and interviews with colleagues and friends. I managed to identify numerous strengths associated with my leadership skills and a few weaknesses forming part of the growth opportunities. The most important quality identified through the two activities was that I am analytical. The quality entails that I tend to gather sufficient information before making important decisions. On the other hand, I also realized that I have a phobia of working under pressure and taking risks. Therefore, being an agile learner, I have an opportunity to leverage this strength to ensure that I gain these two crucial leadership qualities.
References
Ackerman, E. C. (2019). Understanding Leadership Strengths in the Workplace. Positive Psychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/leadership-strengths/
Zeilinger, J. (2013). Reasons why risk taking leads to success. Huffington Post.
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