Authentic Leadership
Authentic leadership is all about displaying honesty and integrity that creates trust, makes others feel motivated, and makes them want to comply with your wishes. This skill closely correlates with my leadership style, as I strongly believe in guiding others with honesty and staying true to my core beliefs. During our team development activity, I got the opportunity to put this kind of leadership into action, and it was really educational for me. Open and honest communication is crucial right from the beginning as it helps to develop trust and credibility among the team members. As a captain of the team, it’s necessary to foster a sense of belonging and respect among individuals in order to be able to accomplish our collective targets and work collaboratively.
I learned to lead by openly sharing my vision and principles with my team. I aimed to establish a long-lasting relationship by honestly sharing my beliefs and objectives with others. After seeing me as a leader who was issuing orders, my team members began to recognize me as a team member committed to the team goal. The building of stronger bonds between team members because of their shared mission led to more motivation and dedication among them (Korkmaz et al., 2022). The students understood the objective behind our behavior, which motivated them to work towards our goals. Strong leadership played a huge role in fostering a positive work environment where individuals trusted and respected each other.
I wanted to understand how my leadership style is affecting my group members, so I conducted a survey that allowed everyone to express their thoughts on me and my performance. According to my team members, my commitment to transparent and direct communication had a positive impact on our team’s functioning and productivity. The team members felt valued and appreciated, which helped develop a sense of camaraderie and allowed them to communicate openly with the others. Authentic leadership was critical in our leadership development activity (Crawford et al. 2020). We were able to communicate effectively and make sure everyone knew what we were working towards. By expressing our ideas, we created a great bond and really worked together as a team. As per the feedback provided by my teammates, being honest with oneself leads to better coordination among team members and subsequently results in a more efficient team performance. Moving ahead, I am dedicated to enhancing my authentic leadership style in order to affect other individuals positively with transparent and righteous leadership.
Emotional Intelligence
In our team bonding time, I made sure that people felt cared for and respected by applying the concepts of emotional intelligence. An essential aspect of this was being an active listener. I always keep my focus on listening to the things they are sharing, which include their ideas, problems, and suggestions. This helped me feel the unspoken words and emotions of the speaker. One must appreciate and understand how important it is to recognize these feelings. I felt influential and respected by the comments from our teacher. At times, When I become uncertain or stressed, helping someone emotionally becomes the best way for me to feel calm. It has built a space where everyone is free to say whatever they want without any fear of judgment.
To meet the specific demands of my team and engage them, I used my emotional intelligence to alter how I lead. I always feel happy and really eager to share my friend’s successful moments. I became the source of happiness in my group and shared a good atmosphere among my friends. To evaluate my team’s mental health and perspectives toward leadership under me, I used surveys as a tool (Gilar-Corbi et al., 2019). The findings were revealing. The team mentioned that they feel good about how the leader has been leading and bringing everyone together. The leader tried his best to build strong relationships within the team, and this is what he aimed for. This makes them feel more supported by each other. The better collaboration among the team members improved inter-team communication and developed an environment that was more open and encouraging. This resulted in improving overall performance.
Communication
I ensured that the team members’ opinions were taken into account by regularly seeking feedback and making sure that everyone’s input was valued. It motivated them to be straightforward with their emotions. This made them feel more involved, satisfied, and authoritative. Communication is very crucial when one becomes a leader. I create a team environment where everyone understands their roles and objectives by communicating them clearly and efficiently. Basically, talking with coworkers candidly can lead to erroneous conundrums. Becoming better at speaking is essential for me to improve as a leader (Newman et al., 2020). It is my goal to share my ideas well so that my team and I can work together to reach our objectives
Organization
Organizing skills are essential for being an effective leader. A good leader should be able to allocate resources, delegate tasks, and create schedules on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, they should define and communicate clear expectations for their team members. To achieve this, they need to be agile in handling changes and proactive in anticipating and mitigating potential risks. During our leadership development activity, it was emphasized how important it is to be organized in order to lead our team effectively (Karakose et al. 2021). During our training, I utilized my organizational skills very efficiently. When we lack short-term tasks and organization, the team tends to lose focus. Hence, I initiated our project by creating a thorough plan that included the task distribution, responsibilities, and deadlines. This plan helped our team to be focused and work together efficiently.
Another essential part of my organizational strategy for achieving practical teamwork was to allocate specific tasks based on the skills and abilities of each team member. This guaranteed that every team member was assigned a unique responsibility, which decreased confusion and unnecessary efforts. This splitting of tasks not only made work more efficient but also gave team members a sense of accountability for their duties. Managing my time well was really important for me to remain organized (Adams & Blair, 2019). I establish due dates for myself so that their accomplishments can be tracked and ensured until we fulfill our purpose. By avoiding delays, it kept everyone motivated and focused on the task.
In order to evaluate my organizational abilities, I closely observed the accomplishment of tasks, adherence to timetables, and the overall triumph of our assignment. The outcomes were impressive. Efficiency increased noticeably as team members were clear about their responsibilities. Using this method, we can handle tasks more efficiently, minimizing the chance of pile-ups and workflow issues. Following the timetables consistently helped us achieve our goals. By sticking strictly to our schedule and making sure we met every deadline, we were able to keep our project on track (Dille et al., 2020). This way, we didn’t face any hindrance that could have threatened our aspirations. This quickness helped in establishing a belief of reliance and credibility among the group members because everyone understood that they could depend on others to accomplish their tasks.
The accomplishment of the project was the main proof that I am good at coordinating and directing a team. Good organization is crucial, and our team has done an excellent job in finishing the project on time, within the planned period, and with superior results. Our team’s achievements were due to the fundamental importance of organization. Organizational skills are a crucial part of leadership development. By allocating specific tasks, organizing schedules, and working efficiently, I successfully led my team to accomplishment. A good organization has a positive effect on the success of a project. It leads to the clear benefits of enhanced task efficiency and sticking to schedules. As I develop my leadership skills, it is my utmost priority to hone my organizational skills to be able to lead teams successfully and effectively, no matter what obstacles come my way.
Conclusion
These abilities are essential for being a great leader. The skills mentioned align with my personal beliefs and, therefore, help me be a better leader. Moreover, research indicates that they have a positive impact on team cohesion and work efficiency. I evaluated my skills and sought feedback from my classmates on how valuable these skills are in real-life scenarios when leading a group. This task enables me to ascertain the areas I require to ameliorate my leadership traits. I can improve my leadership skills by doing so and so. A good leader possesses many essential skills.
References
Adams, R. V., & Blair, E. (2019). Impact of time management behaviors on undergraduate engineering students’ performance. Sage Open, 9(1), 2158244018824506. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2158244018824506
Crawford, J. A., Dawkins, S., Martin, A., & Lewis, G. (2020). Putting the leader back into authentic leadership: Reconceptualising and rethinking leaders. Australian Journal of Management, 45(1), 114-133. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0312896219836460
Dille, T., Hernes, T., & Vaagaasar, A. L. (2023). Are you stuck in Temporal Translation? Challenges of discrepant temporal structures in inter-organizational project collaboration. Organization Studies, 44(6), 867-888. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/01708406221137841
Fransen, K., McEwan, D., & Sarkar, M. (2020). The impact of identity leadership on team functioning and well-being in team sport: Is psychological safety the missing link? Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 51, 101763. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029220301497
Gilar-Corbi, R., Pozo-Rico, T., Sánchez, B., & Castejón, J. L. (2019). Can emotional intelligence be improved? A randomized experimental study of a business-oriented EI training program for senior managers. PloS one, 14(10), e0224254. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0224254
Karakose, T., Polat, H., & Papadakis, S. (2021). We are examining teachers’ perspectives on school principals’ digital leadership roles and technology capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability, 13(23), 13448. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13448
Korkmaz, A. V., Van Engen, M. L., Knappert, L., & Schalk, R. (2022). About and beyond leading uniqueness and belongingness: A systematic review of inclusive leadership research. Human Resource Management Review, 32(4), 100894. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105348222200002X
Newman, S. A., Ford, R. C., & Marshall, G. W. (2020). Virtual team leader communication: Employee perception and organizational reality. International Journal of Business Communication, 57(4), 452-473. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0090261620300541
write