Developing Strategic Management and Leadership Skills

This report discusses the importance of self-development and self-awareness in becoming a successful leader. It explores two critical incidents and their implications for future career and personal development. The report also highlights the significance of cultural intelligence and Belbin in enhancing leadership skills.

Developing strategic management and leadership skills

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Contents
Contents.......................................................................................................................................................1
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Relevant literature.......................................................................................................................................2
Critical Incidents.........................................................................................................................................6
First incident............................................................................................................................................6
Second incident.......................................................................................................................................9
Summary of Key strengths and weaknesses..............................................................................................11
References.................................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
This report is the reflection on the importance of self-development and self- awareness to
become a successful leader. The report outlines the two critical incidents which used the two
self-analysis toolkits including cultural intelligence and Belbin. At the end of the reflection
report, a summary is provided regarding the strengths and weaknesses that analyzed through the
self- analysis. This report also highlights some of the important areas of personal development as
a future manager. Findings of used toolkits are also presented in this report.
Relevant literature
Managers and leaders play important roles in the organization as they are the ones who perform
their duties efficiently and effectively to achieve the goals of the organizations. Successful
managers and leaders are those people who have the ability to enhance the profit of organizations
(Constantinescu & Stevens, 2015). The success of the managers is highly dependent on their
extraordinary performance regardless of their age or working experience. There are many
qualities of the successful manager and leaders depending upon the different situations. The
researchers have found that the managers did not overlook the importance of self-awareness and
self-development because of which reasons they failed to become successful managers. Previous
studies identified the importance of the self-awareness which results in the excellent
management and leadership(Ugur, Constantinescu, & Stevens, 2015).
The definition of self awareness is given by many authors. According to Goleman, an individual
is said to be self-aware if he is able to identify and fully understand the strong and weak points of
himself or herself(Cherniss & Goleman , 2017). According to Church, the self-awareness is
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defined as the individual’s ability to identify the behaviour and skills at the organizational
workplace(Jung, 2017). Therefore, it states that the understanding of own behaviours, emotions,
skills, strengths and weakness is very important and all the managers should learn about it. Self-
awareness has many aspects which need to be assessed and has a great influence on the growth
of the individual. Some of the important aspects include personal values, emotional intelligence
attitude and learning styles of the manager towards the change (Hanssen, 2009).
Miller has the viewpoint that the managers in the organization failed because of the poor self-
awareness as they did not know the fact that their abilities to motivate and encourage other
people has the great impact on the overall results of the organization(Miller, Mandryk, Birk,
Depping, & Patel, 2017). Sometimes the high responsibility and workload on the managers make
the managers feel frustrates and stressed and affect the performance as well as communication
among the team member. Understanding and knowledge of these emotions will help the
managers and leaders to work on their emotional intelligence which leads to control their
emotions. This also helps in avoiding the harsh conversation with the colleagues. Therefore,
emotional intelligence becomes a significant aspect with the help of which the individuals can
manage their relationships to become a successful manager(BBPSD, 2012).
According to the study of Harris and Sutton, most of the managers compromised their moral
values and the ethical standards with the intent to achieve the goals and objectives of the
organization. it is observed that the managers who already used their own personal values and
developed a set of standards on the basis of his or her previous work experience can always
perform in a more efficient way and more successful in their careers(Sutton, 2008). This is
because the awareness of the personal values and development of a set of standards will always
help managers to make better decisions for the organization without compromising their moral
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values. For instance, this helps the managers to not to get involved in those activities which are
unlawful and avoid many risks to their career.
Some of the authors believed that individuals need to focus on their own learning styles and
constantly learn about new things to become successful managers and leaders. It is suggested by
Kolb that learning is a continuous process and it will help in developing more effective
behavioural skills of the individuals. The manager should adopt the unique learning style that
compliments with an awareness of attitudes towards the changes. It is observed that the
managers will be able to make the right decisions and selecting circumstances where they found
themselves comfortable to perform if they are aware of their personal attitude and behaviour
towards the unexpected changes. However, self-awareness and understanding is the most
important factor in self-development (Radu, 2018).
The significance of self-development has been raised due to the fastest changes in organizations.
As per the wordings of Koonce, a manager who is not aware of his or her strengths and
weaknesses and areas of improvement would be a disaster at the workplace(Mills-Koonce,
2017). The best way to achieve self-development is to receive feedback from the relevant
individuals such as people working at the same workplace and apply that feedback to perform
more effectively. Through the process of feedback, it becomes easy for the managers to
understand themselves in a better way and enhance their skills and attitudes by setting goals and
standards and monitoring the performance through the comparison of the performance with the
set standards.
There are many ways with the help of which the self-development can be achieved like attending
significant workshops and seminars and developing strong networks that build the confidence of
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the individuals. There are many benefits of self-development as it leads the managers to explore
self-identity and self-knowledge and development of the full potential to achieve the
organizational goals as per the set criteria. Many times managers work to meet the expectations
of the other people and awareness regarding these expectations will always help the managers to
grow in the future career. Self-awareness and self-development are interrelated concepts.
Understanding of own abilities and skills will always assist the individual to make aware of the
competency portfolio and hence, motivates the people to enhance their competencies. This shows
the bond between self development and self awareness activities(Hanssen, 2009).
Therefore, from the above literature, I have found the significance of the self-awareness and self-
development and it helps me to identify and control the emotions and feelings so that I will be
able to become the successful manager or leader of an organization in future. The ethical
decision making is also possible in the future through appropriate awareness and development of
personal values. It is quite difficult for us to understand the values and communicate with others
in case of lack of self-awareness. I can easily encounter the individuals with different styles,
different perspectives and different values and compare them with mine I will be self-aware of
my own skills and styles(Ugur, Constantinescu, & Stevens, 2015).
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Critical Incidents
First incident
My chosen toolkit is: Cultural intelligence
Summary of critical incident
During my session of group discussion in the residential week, I have found that the people
from the Chinese community were more comfortable in communicating with each other in
Mandarin. When they communicate with the other team members from the UK in my group
using Mandarin language, then they would not be able to understand their language.
However, I saw the difficulty of my team members from the UK. The decision was taken by
me was that I stopped my team members to speak in the Mandarin language with the
Chinese people and encourage them to made use of English language so that every person in
the group can understand and get involved in the group discussion activity. Suddenly, when
the group discussion was getting on to the critical part, my team members again started
speaking in the Mandarin language as my team members were not able to speak in English.
Again, I stopped them and force them to speak in English. One of my team members said
that the task would not be completed successfully if they lack in communication.
How does this reflect the findings of your chosen self-analysis toolkit?
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From this group discussion task, I have found that it is always better to exchange a few words
with the members of teams from different cultural background. I realized that it is very
interesting to share the cultural knowledge with team members which allows me to improve
my skills and knowledge on cultural backgrounds. It is a well-known fact that every country
has its own language because of which reason I encourage my team to speak and share their
ideas in a common language that is English. After the refusal by my team members to
establish communication in English, I tried my level best to explain each and every point to
other people from different cultural backgrounds. The full assistance is provided by me for the
delivery of the ideas and opinions. The equal importance is given to each member and makes
them feel comfortable to speak in their own language and I started explaining in common
language. The reason to provide assistance to the members is to make the people aware of the
communication messages and ideas of our team group. From the toolkit of cultural
intelligence questionnaire toolkit, I have agreed with the statement that “I adjust non-verbal
behaviour”. My response during the group discussions indicates that I am self-aware
personality as I was well aware of activities that performed by me and its impact on others.
When I found that my team members were not comfortable in speaking English, then I
decided to speak myself and maintained the non-verbal behaviour.
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What are the implications for a future career or personal development?
Because of the highly competitive and era of globalization, the companies always focus on the
expansion of their business in the international market. The working of the organization
internationally involves high interaction with people from different cultural backgrounds.
There is a possibility that I will join an international organization in future and will meet
people that belong to different nations having different ethics and culture. I have the great
opportunity to improve my personal skills and knowledge by understanding the fact that how
the different cultural backgrounds have influenced the actions of the people. The social
problem in the future can be easily solved by having appropriate cultural intelligence. The
cultural intelligence does not mean understanding the influence of own image on other people
but it also influences the brand image of the organization wherever I will work for the
company. To become the successful manager or leader of the organization, I would have to
work on self-awareness as I need to analyze my own strengths and weaknesses and its impact
on the other members. Also, in future, I will try my level best to understand the group
dynamics including their emotions, thoughts and feelings. I wish I could gain more
understanding and experience of working with the multicultural teams to enhance my skills
and knowledge. I also need to learn about the actions of verbal and non-verbal communication
on the basis of the cultural values, social and professional interactions.
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Second incident
My chosen toolkit is: Berlin
Summary of critical incident
This critical incident is about the conference of the structuring of the pyramid where every
single individual of the team shared the Belbin Preferred roles so that the division of work
can be done accordingly. According to these roles, teams have been informed that there
should be an individual who can handle the finance part. I have shown my key interest in this
role as I have great knowledge about finance and would love to perform this part in this
session. At the starting of the task, the division of work did not take place and I did not get
the opportunity to work on the area of my own interests. My team leader and others did not
plan the work divisions because of time constraints. Therefore, I went to ask the leaders about
my job role and duties. I was feeling very regretful that I was not able to clarify my own
thoughts to the group team regarding that the work division was not built effectively as per
the preferred roles. This poor planning of the work divisions can be the significant reason of
the group failure.
How does this reflect the findings of your chosen self-analysis toolkit?
My Belbin preferred roles: Coordinator, Monitor Evaluator, Investigator and Specialist.
I have analyzed that I am great investigator as I identified that the work divisions in the task
were not appropriate. I was very good at handling and controlling my emotions as I did not
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get frustrated with the work of my team leader who had not been dividing the works as per the
role and capabilities of the team. A great investigator always has a great skill to control
themselves as I did not force myself and my team leader to do particular tasks in the financial
part only. I still managed my emotions as I did not have any harsh reactions to unclear and
inappropriate work divisions. I was feeling that negative responses of mine will affect the plan
of my leaders which assumes to be less concern in the area of self-interest.
I also have the characteristics of specialists as I proudly shared my area of interest and
admitted that I have the knowledge in the financial part and I would love to learn and acquire
the new knowledge in the financial subjects. I was a volunteer person as I have involved
myself in the financial part of the task because I was aware that I can do the best for my team
people(Sullivan, 2017).
I did not have the skills of good monitor evaluator because I was not capable of thinking
about the activities or things in a deeper way. For example, my team member who was
handling the calculation part lack the knowledge of finance and I did not find it a serious
problem although it affects the performance of the team. If I were aware of the consequences
of this inappropriate work division then I can communicate with the team leaders about the
consequences of this poor work division and suggested to bring some changes in order to
complete the task successfully.
What are the implications for a future career or personal development?
From this incident, I have found the importance of the preferred business roles in achieving
better results on task. I also identified and learned through this critical incident that how the
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decisions and actions of the team leaders have a great impact on the results of the task. It is
clear from the incident that I need to develop some areas such as I need to share my own
opinions and communicate in a more effective way with the leaders so that they consider my
viewpoints as a key part of their decisions. I will definitely choose my future career on the
basis of my preferred areas of knowledge and interest and will acquire enough
knowledge(Condon, 2011).
Summary of Key strengths and weaknesses
From the above two critical incidents and the review of literature, I have found some key
strengths and weaknesses along with the area of self-development.
From the critical incident one, I have found the significance of the self-development and self-
awareness and it gives me an opportunity to identify and self control on the emotions so that I
will be able to become the successful manager or leader of an organization in future. My strength
is my personality and understanding skills. My response during the group discussions indicates
that I am self-aware personality as I was fully known for my choices and actions and its impact
on others. When I found that my team members were not comfortable in speaking English, then I
decided to speak myself and maintained the non-verbal behaviour (Stark & Baumgartner, 2016).
To become the successful manager or leader of the organization, I would have to work on self-
awareness as I need to analyze my own strengths and weaknesses and its impact on the other
members. Also, in future, I will try my level best to understand the group dynamics including
their emotions, thoughts and feelings. I wish I could gain more understanding and experience of
working with the multicultural teams to enhance my skills and knowledge. I also need to learn
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about the communication actions either its verbal or non verbal on the basis of the cultural
values, social and professional interactions (Iowa State University, 2018).
From the critical incident two, I found that I am very good at handling and controlling my
emotions as I did not get frustrated with the work of my team leader who had not been dividing
the works as per the role and capabilities of the team. I found that I am a very good investigator
as I identified that the work divisions in the task were not appropriate. I was a volunteer person
as I have involved myself in the financial part of the task because I was aware that I can do the
best for my team people. However, it is clear from the incident that I need to develop some areas
such as I need to share my own opinions and communicate in a more effective way with the
leaders so that they consider my viewpoints as a key part of their decisions. I will definitely
choose my future career on the basis of my preferred areas of knowledge and interest and will
acquire enough knowledge(Faltas, 2016).
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References
BBPSD. (2012). Self Awareness and Personal Development. Retrieved from
http://www.ibskills.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Self-Awarness-Sample.pdf
Cherniss, C., & Goleman , D. (2017). An EI-Based Theory of Performance. Retrieved from
http://www.eiconsortium.org/pdf/an_ei_based_theory_of_performance.pdf
Condon, R. (2011). The Relationship between Self-Awareness and Leadership: Extending
Measurement and Conceptualisation . Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b003/19e8c39a22f0e2730c4f2b7e39babb899dec.pdf
Constantinescu, P., & Stevens, M. (2015). Self-Awareness and Personal Growth: Theory and
Application of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research(60), 89-
110. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1076682.pdf
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310020994_Self-
Awareness_A_Need_To_Know_for_Managers_and_Leaders
Hanssen, S. (2009). Self Awareness in Leadership: A Case Study on how a Leadership
Development Course can Contribute to Self Awareness. Retrieved from
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Jung, C. (2017). There is no cure and no improving of the world that does not begin with the
individual himself. Retrieved from https://www.insights.com/media/1744/self-awareness-
white-paper.pdf
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Miller, M., Mandryk, R., Birk, M., Depping, A., & Patel, T. (2017). Through the Looking Glass:
Effectsof Feedback on Self-Awareness and Conversationduring Video Chat. Retrieved
from http://hci.usask.ca/uploads/493-pn1475-miller.pdf
Mills-Koonce, R. (2017). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill official website.
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322533025_Self-
awareness_and_personal_development_plans_of_students
Stark, S., & Baumgartner , P. (2016, May 27). The why, what, and how of self-awareness.
Retrieved from http://www.performancecoaching.ca/assets/Uploads/The-Why-What-and-
How-of-Self-Awareness-PCI-Ignite-November2006.pdf
Sullivan, P. (2017). The Relationship of Self-Awareness to LeadershipEffectiveness for
Experienced Leaders. pp. 20-65. Retrieved from
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
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Sutton, S. (2008). Predicting and Explaining Intentions and Behavior: How Well Are We Doing?
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Research (EJER), 15(60), 89-110. Retrieved from
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282418363_Self-
Awareness_and_Personal_Growth_Theory_and_Application_of_Bloom's_Taxonomy
Iowa State University (2018). Self-Awareness: The Essence of Effective Leadership. Retrieved
from https://www.extension.iastate.edu/hr/self-awareness-essence-effective-leadership
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