Leadership Practice Weaknesses
As I stated in my opening reflection, the results of the Seven Habits Profile were not really news to me. My number one weakness as a leadership practice is procrastination. This is in category 5 - put first things first, where I received my lowest score. I use the excuse that I work better under pressure, which is somewhat true, but how can your best work be riddled with errors and behind schedule on occasion if that were true. I recall putting off an important report simply because I was tired of reports. As I gathered the resolve to actually do it, (on the day that the report was to be presented), I got a phone call from the boss re-scheduling the meeting until the next day. So in grand procrastination fashion, I figured I'd do it in the morning. Well, as you could guess, the boss realized that he was overbooked for that next day and called for an immediate meeting where the reports were to be reviewed. The result was that it was not a good day for me as I was promptly reprimanded.
Another leadership practice weakness I have is in the area of time management. Too often I put my work life ahead of most everything else. Not because it's the most important to me but because of an overriding desire to maintain a great work ethic. This category is also in the put first things first area but it also rings true to life balance. This weakness has allowed important activities, like family or exercise time, to get lost in the busy activities of the day. And I also spend too much time managing crises and things that are important to another person's agenda.
The third weakness is also one of the disadvantages of transactional leadership in general. And that is allowing the over-reliance on me by the staff members. As a transactional leader, I feel obligated to always be present to guarantee that the work will get done properly. By its very name, transactional leadership puts leadership and the employees on different sides of a transaction. For example, even in the hiring process, time and talent are traded for salary and benefits. Because of the this and a task-focused leadership approach, employees do not feel as if they are working towards a shared goal, and they are not motivated by the overall organizational mission. This may mean that an employee does not feel obligated to work unless the leader is watching. As a manager, I have the power to review results and train or correct employees when team members fail to meet goals. Employees receive rewards, such as bonuses when they accomplish the stated goals.
Recommendations for Leadership Development
After describing my personal leadership weaknesses, I have proposed some
recommendations to help in my efforts to maximize my leadership success. The first one being to tackle my number one weakness of procrastination. I will begin to make a timed list of those things I procrastinate over and focus that time on nothing but that particular task. I will focus on the hard tasks and if it is too big to accomplish quickly, I will break it up into manageable sections. The next weakness to tackle involves the area of time management. I recommend focusing on my highest priorities. That is, separating what urgent and what is important from those activities that are not urgent or very important. Not that those things would not get done but not at the expense of higher priority items. I think it will be imperative to map out my work calendar to reflect the actual amount of time I have to perform certain functions. This will give me some mental cues to help stay on track and avoid time wasters. And my third recommendation is to allow my staff members to be more involved in the workflow process. I think they giving them more responsibility and involvement whenever possible. The aim is to create more "buy-in" and make them understand their roles in the overall success of the mission.
And this is what the grader states: The submission discusses strengths related to the Seven Habits profile, think win-win, synergy, and adherence to organizational structure. The discussion of adherence to organizational structure relates to the Transactional Leadership Theory. However, it's unclear how the other two strengths relate to said theory. Please provide additional discussion.
The submission discusses putting first things first, time management, and always present as leadership weaknesses. The discussion of putting first things first and always being present relate to the Transactional Leadership theory. Additional discussion is needed to show how the weakness of time management relates to said theory.
Please advise