The trait approach to leadership or “great man”
approach concentrated on characteristics or qualities that make up a great
leader (Northouse, 2016). There are certain traits that I possess that improve
my ability to lead, but there are also several characteristics I have that
hinder my ability to lead. First, I will discuss the qualities that are
unfavorable to my leadership ability.
One characteristic that has held me back for as long
as I can remember is self-doubt. Northouse (2016) defined self-confidence as
the capability of being assured in one’s skills and abilities. Self-confidence
is something that I do not possess. I always doubt myself when entering
something new. When I started college, I was convinced that I would not be able
to catch on to the material and would be forced to leave school. When I began
my current position as an accountant, I believed that I would never grasp the
new concepts and would end up getting fired. When I started my journey toward
obtaining my MSLD degree in April, you guessed it; I was scared my writing was
so poor that I would not make it out of MSLD 500. Even as I write this blog, I
doubt myself a bit.
In all three examples, I was able to succeed, so I
am not sure why I always doubt myself. When I face an anomaly at work, I will
usually go to my supervisor with a half-hearted solution on how to fix the
problem. Most of the time my manager will tell me that is a great solution, so
why am I so self-confident about my thought process? I know that self-doubt is
something that I must overcome to become an effective leader, and is something
that I have worked on over the last couple of years. How can I lead a team if I
do not believe in my abilities? Why would anyone follow a person who does not
believe in themselves?
In my blog last week, I described how my preparation
was a trait I possess that improves my leadership. While this is true,
preparedness can also be a quality that hinders my ability to lead. I rely so
much on preparedness that when something unplanned comes my way, I get flustered
and bogged down. When I get flustered, I lose the ability to articulate my
thoughts and it is very messy and unprofessional. I lack the capacity to
improvise, and this causes the previously discussed self-doubt to creep in.
According to Sabourin and Pratt (n.d.), improvisation in the business world is
a great trait in dealing with unexpected challenges in the workplace. For me to
be a good leader, I must learn how to adapt to situations when they do not go
as planned.
A trait that I own that improves my ability to lead
is integrity. Northouse (2016) described integrity as honesty and
trustworthiness. I have mentioned in prior blogs that, in my opinion, people
are the most important thing in an organization and life in general. I have a solid
moral compass and believe that people deserve fair treatment. Mintz (2013)
discussed a survey asking CFO’s what traits were most sought after when
grooming a future leader. Integrity beat out interpersonal skills, initiative,
motivation, and business knowledge as the number one skill needed. I believe
that if my followers trust that I will be fair and honest with then, then they
will also be trustworthy and honest with me. Trust must be a two-way street
which will lead to a better relationship.
Another trait that improves my ability to lead is
determination. Northouse (2016) defined determination as the drive to get the
job done. I do not like to leave things unfinished and will work tirelessly to
make sure work is complete. To complete all work by the deadline, I will stay
late when necessary. I also take great pride and responsibility in my job, so I
do not want to leave projects unfinished or incorrect. I believe this will
trait can increase my ability to lead because my followers will witness that I will
not give up and hand it over to someone else to complete. If my followers are able
to feed off of my determination and persistence, then the team will be closer
but also more successful.
In describing sociability, Northouse (2016) stated,
“Social leaders have good interpersonal skills and create cooperative
relationships with their followers” (p. 28). I am ambivalent towards the trait
of sociability. I have always been able to establish collaborative
relationships with all of my coworkers. I have a great working relationship
with all of my current workers, and I believe that is grounded in the respect
and integrity I mentioned earlier. The one area I fall short regarding
sociability is strong interpersonal skills. As a Millennial, I tend to rely on
social networking, texting, and emailing as my preferred forms of
communication. To develop stronger interpersonal skills, I must break away from
my reliability on computer-mediated communication and get back to the trend of
face to face communication. To build a stronger connection to my followers and
be considered sociable, I must find a way to strengthen my interpersonal
skills.
For me to be the most effective leader that I can
be, I must learn how to let go of the self-doubt and constant reliability on
being prepared. These traits detract from my ability to lead. On the other
hand, I must learn how to strengthen my integrity, determination, persistence,
responsibility, and sociability. If I can find the appropriate mesh between the
skills that hinder my leadership ability and the skills that increase my
leadership ability, then my followers will be following a much more efficient
leader.
References
Mintz, S. (2013). Integrity: The
most important trait of leadership. Retrieved from http://www.workplaceethicsadvice.com/2013/02/integrity-the-most-important-trait-of-leadership-.html
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership:
Theory and practice (7th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Sabourin, R, & Pratt, R., (n.d). Attentional
and interpersonal characteristics of improvisation professionals vs. business
executives: What executives can learn from improvisation professionals.
Retrieved from http://www.anderson-sabourin.com/Characteristics_of_Improv_Professionals_vs__Executives_Biz_Improv_v2.pdf
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