Developing Personal Leadership Skills

The assignment requires a student to develop their personal leadership skills by reflecting on their own strengths and weaknesses, and how they can apply these to lead others effectively. It involves creating a plan for developing inspirational leadership skills, including promoting innovation, delivering results, and achieving goals. The student is expected to demonstrate self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and authenticity in their approach, as well as take into account the company's values and quality standards.

Introduction
The main purpose of this personal development plan assignment is to develop and
enhance my leadership skills and capabilities as well as my strengths and weaknesses to become
an effective leader. Personal analysis along with leadership style is conducted by me, my Peers,
Direct Reports and Supervisor to foster my leadership skills and competencies. My personal
leadership development plan is organized as follows: Introduction, personal analysis with
leadership style along with strengths and weaknesses, objectives for personal development of
leadership skills, action plan for developing leadership and conclusion.
I am extremely passionate about the luxury retail industry and working in an American
luxury jewelry and specialty retailer with over 300 stores, and approximately half of all sales
generated outside of the Americas. The company’s organizational structure helps to create the
alignment needed between the local markets and corporate leadership headquartered. Our
Executive Committee members guide their respective lines of business necessary for success in a
brand-centric organization. And the company is organized and managed as a group of geographic
regions executing a global vision for the brand. Each region serves its customers in the classic
tradition of brand’s style and passion, with the flexibility to address local market dynamics and
business needs. As a leader working in such an aligned and integrated global team, I have
realized that my leadership skills cannot be successful until or unless I can develop my personal,
relational, contextual, inspirational, supportive, and responsible leadership.
Personal Analysis with Leadership Style
By stating trait theory of leadership, I may need certain demographic, intellective and
physiological characteristics that is essentially required to be an effective leader. It has been

noted that successful leaders have different personality traits, interests and capabilities as
compared to less effective leaders. According to my view, I own certain qualities and skills to be
an effective leader in the near future. I can say that my interpersonal skills have been developed
in an effective manner that allows me to build trust quickly and be a good fit for my team.
However, I have found me as a lack of pushing my team member to strive for excellence, even
though I always committed myself to high standards.
My Leadership Strengths, Weaknesses and Challenges
First of all, I have conducted a Six Domains of Leadership Survey (SDLS) for the sake of
identifying my potential strengths and weaknesses as well as areas of future development. In
order to assess my leadership skills and above mentioned strengths and weaknesses and their
development, Six Domain of Leadership Survey (SDLS) report has been used by me and
presented below.

The SDLS report showed that the major problem is associated with my Inspirational
Leadership as my domain has a relatively low score for self-survey, my supervisor and direct
report. My subdomain such as high expectations and promotes innovation scores 63 and 60 from
my direct report while enthusiasm and optimism score 67 from my supervisor. However, direct
reports and peers show that there is relatively strong domains that I have named as Personal
Leadership, Relational Leadership, Contextual Leadership and Responsible Leadership with
Personal Leadership SDLS for peers is 91, Relational Leadership SDLS for direct reports were
82, SDLS score for Contextual Leadership is 75, and 73 for Responsible Leadership.
This survey provides clarity about my leadership did not provide my team members a
sense of high expectations that stop the team challenging itself to do the best it can. My
Inspirational Leadership does not lead the team members continuously raise their aspirations and
keep trying to get better at what is does. In addition, the survey represents that they feel less help
with them to understand their strengths and weaknesses. As a result, it will undermine the team
members to use their own judgment appropriately and will put worse impact upon the team as a
whole.
Objectives for Personal Development of Leadership Skills
Based on the above SDLS results and discussion, I have decided to work out on my
Inspirational Leadership with three weak subdomains, such as high expectations, enthusiasm and
optimism and promotes innovation with the goals have been shown below:
 Cultivate and raise expectations of excellence and innovation
 Be a source of optimism and enthusiasm

Action Plan for Developing Leadership
The action plan for leadership personal development, appropriate actions, success
measures and scheduled time frame is given in the below mentioned discussion:
Month 1
In the first month of my personal development plan, my ultimate objective is to focus on
the subdomains of Inspirational Leadership i.e. high expectations. The reason behind this plan is
associated with the issue of my leadership that fails to push team members to strive for
excellence.
Week 1
Contribute to delivering the high standard customer service.
Means that Great interactions begin with knowing your customers wants and needs. Customers
love personalization. Get to know your customers, remember their names and previous
conversations.
Excellent customer service often comes down to consistently checking in with your customers
and making sure they are happy with the products and services you're selling and the process of
purchasing, ordering, working with you. If you do that successfully, you are on your way to
becoming known for providing excellent customer service.
Be Friendly
Customer service starts with a smile. When you are in a face-to-face situation, a warm greeting
should be the first thing your customers see and hear when they ask for help.

It's important to make sure all of your employees, not just your customer service representatives,
understand the way they should talk to, interact with, and otherwise assist customers. Provide
employee training that gives your staff the tools they need to carry good service through the
entire customer experience.
To keep your customer service standards high, You need to make sure you do as much as
you can to maintain high standards. Lead by example, and try to ensure your potential
customers get the best possible service and experience they can. This is something you've
got to work on and try to get right as much as possible
Empower Your Staff
You've got to remember that your employees are the ones who control your business. They
make the difference between success and failure. So, the importance of leadership in
customer service extends to empowering your staff. An empowered staff will be perfectly
placed to improve the way they deal with customers and give your clients the attention and
service they require. Trust your employees, and make sure you give them the freedom to be
able to express themselves properly. You will be able to help give your customers a much
more personal and involved customer service experience.
Week 2
Manage the team according to the company’s values.
Commitment To Values

Inspirational leaders are value-driven leading from a deep sense of purpose and responsibility to
create positive change. They have a clear understanding of what their values are and don’t cave
under pressure in situations where they’d need to sacrifice their values to achieve a result. This
might not always make them popular and despite the hatred they receive, inspirational leaders
recognize being ethical isn’t always easy, but it’s right.
PROMOTED
Regardless of what the popular opinion is, inspirational leaders stand up for what’s right and
advocate against injustice. They act with integrity because they know employees are always
watching and every action matters. For this reason, they stay true to their values and embed them
in everything they do. Dr. Waller added “an inspirational leader embodies the principles of the
very thing that they’re trying to lead.”
Week 3
Lead with and encourages passion, dedication, and urgency.
A passionate leader believes in the work that they are doing and has a vested interest in how
successful their business is; they understand how their contributions can help their business
succeed and often work relentlessly to achieve their goals. Passionate leaders often possess the
following traits as well:
 Focus – Passionate leaders don’t just work towards a goal, they focus on a goal and do
whatever is required to achieve that goal. Someone who leads with passion can’t help but
pour every ounce of energy they have into doing what is needed to achieve their goal.

 Dedication – Dedication can be a powerful source of motivation and productivity when
channeled appropriately. Dedicated leaders believe in themselves and their team with
everything they have and they will not back down when faced with a challenge.
 Eagerness – Passionate leaders know there is always something new to learn – whether
it’s the opportunity to learn a new skill or sharpen one that they already possess.
 To lead a change effort and gain the cooperation of necessary stakeholders, the first step
leaders must take is to create a sense of urgency. It requires clear and honest
communications that create a sense of urgency rather than a sense of doom.
 Sharing bad news with the organization;
 Requiring managers and employees to talk directly regularly with unhappy suppliers,
customers, and other stakeholders to understand their concerns;
 Sharing data throughout the organization that supports the claim that change is necessary
By creating both a compelling picture of a desired future and the danger of accepting the status
quo, leaders greatly improve their chances of gaining the commitment of organizational
stakeholders for a necessary change effort.
Week 4
Seek and is responsive to feedback. It should be an essential part of education, training and
personal development. It helps learners to maximise their potential at different stages of training,
raise their awareness of strengths and areas for improvement, and identify actions to be taken to

improve performance. The most effective leaders actively seek feedback to enhance their
performance.
Build and maintain a psychologically safe environment. Sharing feedback is often
interpersonally risky. To increase the likelihood of your colleagues taking that risk with you, show
them that their honesty won’t be met with negative repercussions. You can do this before you ask
for feedback by being curious, rewarding candor, and showing vulnerability. Being curious starts
with having the right mindset, or believing that you have something useful to learn. It is
demonstrated by asking your teammates open-ended questions that you really don’t know the
answers to:
When receiving feedback, give your full attention and listen carefully. Eliminate distractions,
including your phone and laptop, and focus fully on the person giving the feedback. Having your
phone present, even if you’re not looking at it, negatively impacts relationships and reduces your
ability to connect with others. Listen carefully to what the other person is saying, resisting the
impulse to evaluate the accuracy of the message.
Don’t debate or defend. If you find yourself disagreeing with some feedback, practice self-
awareness and notice this reaction, but do not offer contradictory evidence or challenge your
colleague.
the Big Four attributes — curiosity, humility, empathy and resilience — is integral to responsive
leadership. In these turbulent times, leaders who believe in and practice responsive leadership are
more equipped to solve complex leadership challenges, drive change, and enable organizational
transformation and success.

Month 2
Achieve a second goal of my leadership development i.e. The second subdomain of Inspirational
Leadership such as enthusiasm and optimism.
Week 1
Initiate action and promotes ownership. e leader’s high standards must be matched with clear
indications of his or her con dence in the capacity of the team to meet these high standards, so
that the overall mes-sage is that the goal is attainable. Leaders should use their words and
actions to convey that not only do they expect great accomplishments; they believe that these
demands will be met because they believe in their people. Followers look to leaders for both
their goal and the con dence that they need to reach that goal. e message, in the leader’s words 
and actions, must be “we (and perhaps only we) can accomplish this exceptional undertaking.”
Week 2
Help prioritize activities effectively in order to deliver results. As a leader, you are expected to
set the priorities of your team, helping them to get all of the goods done, but in an order of action
that improves long-term performance, reduces risks and embeds ethical decision-making at every
level of your organization.
Week 3
Drives self and others to consistently achieve results.
High expectations for others will not be ef-fective unless you show through your own behavior
your personal engagement with and dedication to the team and its work. Your enthusiasm will

fuel the team’s con dence and excitement, but only if that enthusiasm is authentic. If your
Personal Leadership has established your credibility, then your team will accept your high
expectations because they believe you have thought ahead and seen what they can accomplish.
In addition, your people will take the risk of pursuing “audacious goals” only if they see your
concern, respect, and fairness. ey will trust you to inspire them only when it is for the greater
good and merits the investment of self and team — in other words, only if you have been
successful in building trust through attention to your Relation-al Leadership
Week 4
Deliver results in a manner consistent with company’s values and quality standards.
Delivering results may also include delivering quality. In this respect, as the consultant, you are
responsible for:
Measuring organizational improvement
Monitoring progress
Ensuring employees are clear about the organization's goals to improve the quality of services
Assisting to ensure resources are in place to help the organization reach its goals
Aligning quality to make sure that all levels of the system relate.
Rewarding and celebrating improvements when goals are met
Spreading and sustaining goals
Month 3

Achieve the last goal of my leadership development i.e. The third subdomain of Inspirational
Leadership such as promotes innovation.
Week 1
Contributes and gathers innovative ideas, approaches and insights to be an effective inspirational
innovative leader.
Week 2
Encourages and recognizes innovative thinking.
Inspirational leaders encourage innovation, so that people can develop new approaches to tasks
that in the past might have seemed impossible. Encouraging innovation requires that every
employee feels like they’re an active member of the company’s agendas and future plans.
optimism and enthusiasm can be a springboard for new, innovative solutions to problems. Just
as strong Personal Leadership requires creativity in examining the road ahead and coming up
with solutions that will avoid potential pitfalls; strong Inspirational Lead-ership involves
engaging the team in this process. Inspirational leaders nd procedures and team pro-cess that
foster innovation, and they encourage and praise those who come up with new ideas, products
and procedure.
Reward Creativity
This can be individual rewards and also rewards for the entire team. Give something back when
employees come up with a stellar idea
Week 3

Sustains a team environment that values and fosters creativity. to foster creativity, some
companies provide workers with snacks, games, and “time off” during work hours. you
can encourage communication, a positive attitude, and a low-stress environment. All these can
support the greater mental flexibility and unshackled thought that result in profitable innovation
Motivate your team. Positive reinforcement in the form of rewards, bonuses, special
privileges, comp time, and prizes will keep people on their toes. Not everyone will
participate, but many will when they see their efforts have clear benefits.
Build teams comprised of members with diverse working styles, experience, and skill-
sets, whose primary purpose is to get together to innovate
Don’t penalize. To be truly innovative, you must risk failure. That’s just part of the
creative mindset, since you fail more often than you succeed. If your team members fear
punishment if their initiatives fail, why should they even try? Always provide a
suggestion box, so employees can contribute anonymously. Even in an open
environment, some people prefer confidentiality.
Week 4
Challenges conventional thinking, when necessary.
Challenge the status quo. There is a reason people often resist change: There's a comfort in what we
know
Take considered risks and means to mitigate the risks. ...
Create a team of challengers. ..

Hire Creativity – Hire Agile Leaders.
Conclusion
How can I use the SDLS result in the future as a guidance for my leadership career?
What I learn?