Strengths and Weaknesses in Leadership Capacities

Summary of Results

The first assessment explored cultural proficiency, leadership capacities, and systems thinking. According to the given scoring criterion, I scored 84 out of 100, which is in the upper third of the total score. The score was an indication that I have a culturally competent mindset with a good understanding of system thinking. The assessment helped in understanding my range of cultural competence as well as identifying my strengths and weaknesses in cultural proficiency, leadership capacities, and systems thinking. Among the strengths that I identified is that I am an enlightened leader who believes that there is always the right way to do something. Although we may not always do things the way they are expected, there is always the right way to do whatever we do wrong. To completely learn cultural competence, we should conduct self-assessment or start cultural interaction with patients to learn beliefs, values, and needs we need to know about other cultures.

The second self-assessment was about leadership and cultural proficiency questionnaire. The assessment was more of a tool than a test. The assessment helped recognize how to be an effective leader in diverse surroundings. I recognized that I was an effective leader since I was diverse. I know various cultures, and I have a robust understanding and knowledge about their customs and beliefs, and I respect them despite being different from my cultural beliefs and values. Cultural diversity is a good leadership quality as I can manage culturally diverse groups without discriminating or disrespecting any of them. I also have impeccable systems thinking skills as I tend to focus on the big picture instead of small pieces in the puzzle when solving a problem. Like a system, I seek opportunities to collaborate before making significant decisions, resulting in biases or severe consequences. I recognized that I was an effective leader since I believed that systems are constantly evolving and minor changes can result in large results.

Assessment of Leadership Strengths and Weaknesses

After assessing my leadership capacities, I identified my strengths and weaknesses, some of which I experience in real-life situations. Some of the strengths include:

• Strong communicator. I can communicate in writing, verbally and non-verbally, to ensure my subjects have to understand what needs to be understood. The primary reason for being a good communicator is to ensure those I am serving stay productive and motivated to my service (Popescu & Predescu, 2016).
• Diverse. I am a diverse leader who understands other cultures despite being different from mine. I also value other people opinions, even if they are different from mine.
• Knowledgeable and with a high Emotional Quotient (EQ). I value diversity and a multicultural mindset. I can easily understand other people’s emotions and maintain strong relationships.
• Decisive. I rethink and weigh my thoughts before giving the final decision. I value other people’s decisions, opinions, and views even when they are different from mine. I examine potential prejudices and biases that my decision making can impact.

Weakness

• Manipulative. I can be easily manipulated by other people’s opinions and disregard my options which were the right opinions. I am easily obsessed with obscure issues, mainly from underserved people.
• Slow decision-making. I make decisions slowly due to fear of the consequences and the need to accommodate other people’s views and opinions.
• Low credibility. I do not tolerate discomfort such as stress.

Table 1

Strengths and Weaknesses

Cultural Proficiency Assessment

Cultural proficiency is the skills, knowledge, and beliefs that help someone respond effectively, work well, and support people in different cultures (Lindsey et al., 2018). I am culturally competent since I can learn about other cultures, freely interact with other diverse groups, and know much about myself and my culture, values, beliefs, and historical roots. One can increase their cultural proficiency by conducting a cultural competence self-assessment or cultural interactions with patients (Lindsey et al., 2018). These strategies are important as they help identify your strengths and weaknesses when working with people from diverse cultures and interacting with patients to identify their beliefs, needs, and values. One is considered an effective leader if they can manage culturally diverse groups while respecting all their beliefs, needs, and values (Lindsey et al., 2018). Therefore, improving cultural proficiency is significant in leadership philosophy as it increases the leadership quality of cultural diversity.

Assessment of Change in Leadership Capacities

The assessment has helped me in understanding my leadership strengths and weakness. I have worked in my weakness to ensure quality leadership capacities. Low credibility was one of my leadership weaknesses. I have greatly improved after the assessment since I can now be comfortable with chaos and uncertainties. I can also make decisions faster than before as I have learned that although people’s opinions and views are important, they do not influence my decision. I can now make independent decisions without necessarily waiting for other people’s opinions. Assessment one also taught me that people are not the same. We all have different make, beliefs, needs, and values. In the same way, we all have different cultural diversities, we are individually different, and we should be treated as unique.

New Insights

Among the insights gained from the assessment was the need to make independent decisions. Although it is good to listen to and respect other people’s opinions, making your personal decisions is independent of other people’s opinions and views. It is also good to learn about different cultures and respect their beliefs and values. Being multicultural diverse helps us learn about other people, socialize with them freely and respect what they believe in even though it is different from what we believe. Also, like culture, people are different and unique. We all have different beliefs, values, and needs, which make us different. Therefore, we should be treated as creatures with different flexibility and adaptations in behavior to work in various environments effectively.

Future Leadership Role

The insights have impacted both my present and future leadership role in that I can now make independent decisions faster than before. I don’t have to ask for validation before making my personal decisions. Therefore, the process is easy and faster. Cultural diversity has also helped me become a competent leader who can effectively manage workgroups from diverse cultures (Popescu & Predescu, 2016). I know how different culturally diverse groups need to be led. I can manage different groups from different cultures and have everyone feel respected and satisfied with my leadership.

References

Lindsey, R. B., Nuri-Robins, K., Terrell, R. D., & Lindsey, D. B. (2018). Cultural proficiency: A manual for school leaders. Corwin Press.

Popescu, G. H., & Predescu, V. (2016). The role of leadership in public health. American Journal of Medical Research, 3(1), 273.