Leadership and Management Reflective Paper

Leadership and management 1
Leadership and Management
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Leadership and management 2
Leadership and Management Reflective Paper
Leadership is a trait that is not possessed by all. According to John C Maxwell 2011, a
leader is that person who knows the way, follows it and shows it to others. A leader knows what
he or she needs to achieve (Boberg and Bourgeois, 2016). They possess set objectives and as
such, he or she channels all the efforts they have towards meeting the set targets. Leaders possess
many traits, which are acquired during their course of duty. Not all leaders possess same quality
since there is variance in the environment in which they work in (Yukl, 2012). Much as these
environments are different, generally, leaders possess same qualities. This is a reflective essay
relating to the leadership qualities I possess as an individual, the leadership qualities I would like
to develop and the plan to be followed in developing the qualities. In addition, the essay seeks
me to compare and contrast my leadership qualities to a notable leader in the world.
Leadership starts all the way from a classroom setting to the outside environment of class
such as clubs and societies. Essentially these clubs and societies are the best avenues for one to
acquire and develop leadership qualities due to the ease of control (Murphy and Johnson, 2011).
Honesty and integrity are one of the personal and leadership quality that I hold dear in my life.
Outside classroom, am privileged to work as the deputy chairperson of the school’s rotary club,
as such I handle many club activities on behalf of the club members. At times am called to step
in when the club’s chairperson is absent or held up. The quality of honesty and integrity came in
when I was the one assigned to deal with information regarding the clubs activities and reporting
to the head office of the county’s chair. In this, I was to inform the country chair of all the
activities that the club was undertaking. I would not lie since these activities were quantitative
and needed evidence. It was essential for me to give accurate information to the chair and the
head office since I was able to defend all I put in my report. Additionally, I was a part of the
budgetary committee responsible for detailing the financial requirements of the club in a rotary
financial year and the desired amounts to be used in the stated requirements. A budget needs to
be justified and the clubs board would hold the committee liable in case the amounts stated in the
budget were misused or went missing. The board as well during club assembly would expect the
committee to give a brief report on the expenditure of the club, in this all club balances need to
tally. Honesty was key in making these processes successful.

Leadership and management 3
Confidence is another key leadership trait for any great leader. As for me, I gained
confidence while serving as the deputy chairperson for the rotary club. Confidence was key in
ensuring that the members of the club adhered to the clubs rules and regulations. Confidence as
well was key in communication to the sponsors of the club. In essence, the sponsors needed
monthly club reports in order to gauge the progress of the club. This included giving a vivid
report of the clubs activities which on many occasions; the clubs chair would call me to present it
since he had more information to touch on during such meetings. Confidence plays a key role in
gaining trust from the people you lead (Walumbwa and Hartnell, 2011). This is another reason
why as the deputy chairperson, I had to develop this trait. According to Yeung and Summerfield,
2012, confidence as well is key in decision making since as a leader one believes in the success
of the decisions made and is ready to channel all the energy and resources necessary for the
decisions made to be effected.
In addition to confidence, honesty, and integrity, decisiveness is another leadership
quality that defines who I am. For a leader, prompt decision-making is very critical( Eden and
Ackermann, 2013). Working in the position of the deputy chairperson, I was able to make critical
decisions regarding to community service activities, together with the other members of the
board. Decision making as well was needed when it came to choosing the best speakers to
address the Rotarians, rotaractors, and guests. In making decisions, a leader shows the
willingness to take risks keeping in mind that if the decisions do not work out, they will be liable
for the consequences (Velasquez and Hester, 2013). Luckily, for me, most of the decisions I took
worked out effectively for the better of the club.
As a leader, I would like to gain more leadership qualities. These qualities would be
essential in handling issues within and outside my position as the club’s deputy chairperson. The
first leadership skill I would like to develop is that of being flexible. In an organization’s set up,
flexibility is very necessary (Goldin and Katz, 2011). A rigid system finds it hard to fit in the
evolving business world, as a leader one needs to be flexible in order to fit in. In fitting in, a
leader is able to accept and work with ideas that initially were not part of his or her plan
(Northouse, 2018). Likewise, flexibility in the clubs scenario would play a key role in looking at
different tasks from different angles. Many times processes are always too long to follow but
yield same results, flexibility will enable I as a leader to gauge and adopt these efficient means of