A leader is a person who guides the team in correct direction, towards the achievement of the goal. In my life, I have taken up the role of a leader many times. Some of the times, I have been elected as the leader by the group members, and other times I became the leader by circumstances. The most important strength I found in myself is initiative. In many situations when nobody was ready to take the responsibility I came forward, and guided the team. Other strengths, as well as qualities I have found in myself as a leader, are commitment, innovative, good communication, inspiring, supportive accountable and sensitive. I always like to include innovative ideas in my work, and had made my team members to view the facts from a different view. This quality has helped me and my team to look differently from other teams.
Good communication skills helped me in developing trust among the group members. Communication is very important in the team work because it helps to convey the message, and improves the network within the group. Being sensitive I always identified the need for change, and changed myself for the accomplishment of the goal. But there are certain areas which I need to improve as a leader. This includes inability to absorb interpersonal stress and not being fair to everyone. I will get stressed easily and sometimes I found it is really hard to manage. Most of the time I have given more consideration to those members who contributed more to the team. According to Carter and Greer (2013), the personal values of leaders has a great effect on the subordinates and their behavior. The values help the leader to take a good decision when they face with a situation that requires choice between two solution. The values that helped me as a leader are respecting everyone, individuality and autonomy. I respect all my team members, and consider them as individuals with their own opinions. I respect their autonomy for expressing their views and concerns. It is not necessary that every member view the fact in same directions. Hence, they have the freedom to express their view points.
I follow democratic leadership style because I respect the autonomy of others. Moreover, this creates a friendly atmosphere where the team members can actively participate in the decision making. In this type of leadership, the leader and the team members understand each other in a better way. The leader support and guide them in every step which boosts the confidence among them. This also increases the satisfaction among the members which in turn increases the productivity. A study was conducted by Saleh, Connor, & Patton, (2018) to identify the impact of different leadership styles on ward nurses. They found that nurses whose manager was supportive and understanding had a better level of job satisfaction. On the other side, the nurses who experienced a negative relationship with their manager had reported with job dissatisfaction. This indicated that the leadership style has an effect on the team members which affected their job satisfaction level, and thus the quality of patient care.
To impart leadership qualities to the members and develop them as leaders, the leader should possess a great influence among them. I will use transformational leadership theory to change my followers through constant motivation and support. The leader has to set a positive example through the work he does in a team. Leading by example is the best way to inspire the follower to behave in a similar manner (Skinner, 2018). I will encourage my team members to keep their knowledge up to date as it is an important asset of a leader. Furthermore, I will delegate them with more responsibilities so they will develop confidence, and it empowers them. Thus I can gradually develop the qualities of a leader in my team members.
References
- Carter, S., Greer, C., Dess, G., Peng, M., & Lei, D. (2013). Strategic Leadership: Values, Styles, and Organizational Performance. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 20(4), 375-393. Retrieved from https://journals-sagepub-com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/doi/full/10.1177/1548051812471724
- Saleh, U., Connor, T., & Patton, D. (2018). The impact of nurse managers’ leadership styles on staff. British Journal of Nursing, 27(4), 197-203. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=32ee3241-a83b-431f-b0c7-ae2fe9038e04%40sessionmgr103
- Skinner, A. (2018). Leadership styles. Nursing Standard, 32(22), 64-65. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/docview/1992717198?rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo
