Understanding the Leadership Journey: Reflexive Report

This reflexive report provides insights into the key aspects of a leadership journey, including strengths, weaknesses, and feedback. It explores the implications of the Gallup Strengths Finder tool and its link to theoretical concepts. Recommended strategies for becoming an emerging leader are also discussed.

Running Head: MGT601
Assessment 1, Part B:
Reflexive Report
Student’s Name:
Student’s ID:
Subject:

1
Dynamic Leadership
Executive Summary
The primary purpose of the paper is to provide an understanding of the key aspects of leadership
journey by applying theoretical concepts. The assessment helped in gaining relevant information
on how to become an emerging leader in providing deep reflection on the current leadership
journey. The Gallup Strengths Finder tool helped in recognizing the significant strengths that
will help acquire leadership potential and capabilities. Along with the strengths, there also
possess some of the major weaknesses such as lack of learning and developing skills. Therefore,
it becomes important to overcome these weaknesses to work effectively within an organization.
Thus, it is highly recommended that to overcome weaknesses build trust and relationship with
co-workers. It is also essential to develop a clear and concise plan and objectives to achieve
success. It is also strongly recommended to leverage strengths and focus towards improving the
weaknesses that put a direct impact on achieving desired goals.

2
Dynamic Leadership
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Current role, responsibilities and leadership challenges in the organization................................................3
Key aspects of the leadership journey.........................................................................................................3
The results of Gallup Strengths Finder........................................................................................................4
Key feedback from the partner and other trusted sources............................................................................5
The implications of the feedback.................................................................................................................6
Linking theory and conceptual framework to explain feedback and experiences........................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
References...................................................................................................................................................9
Appendices................................................................................................................................................11

3
Dynamic Leadership
Introduction
The paper will demonstrate an understanding of the leadership journey based on the current role,
responsibilities and leadership challenges faced while executing the work. It will determine the
strengths-based with the help of the Gallup Strengths Finder tool. Based on the resulting
feedback will be provided depending upon social and interpersonal skills and leadership styles
and capabilities. Moreover, the strengths will be directly linked to theoretical concepts. Based on
the feedback review it will be observed that I am a person who is highly responsible while
executing the job and focused upon achieving success in professional as well as personal life.
Current role, responsibilities and leadership challenges in the organization
I have been appointed as an executive manager in a reputed organization; my job is to look after
the operations of the organization. As an executive manager, I am responsible for deciding and
defining the goals and visions of the organization and its various departments. It is the
responsibility of an executive manager is to make personnel decisions, like appointing and
terminating employees and provide them compensation for their good performance (Leih &
Teece, 2016). I am also responsible for establishing budgets and implementing procedures and
policies. Thus, it is my duty to manage negotiations and contracts and evaluate data to make
appropriate decisions regarding organizational activities.
While working as an executive manager in an organization, I have to face various challenges
such as developing effective communication with the coworkers that puts an impact on
teamwork and collaboration. As an executive manager, it is significant to understand the
communication dynamics and improve the weaker areas. There also possess other leadership
challenges like, the pressure to perform as a manager, managing time, setting clear expectations
and goals, enhancing productivity and appointing adequate talents suitable for the organization
(Acton, Foti, Lord & Gladfelter, 2019). Being an executive manager, it is challenging for me to
terminate an employee and recover from the loss.
Key aspects of the leadership journey
Leadership journey helps a leader to align on the principles and values of engagement, define a
common vision, clarify purpose, build trust and create a stronger relationship with the team
(Bradley McKibben, DiAnne Borders & Ackerman, 2017). During my leadership journey gained

4
Dynamic Leadership
trust and collaboration that resulted in building an authentic relationship with my colleagues. It
helped me to recognize my significant strengths and weaknesses and provided me the
opportunity to overcome my weaknesses. More importantly, it also provided me a great
opportunity to explore the purpose and values of presenting me as a visionary leader in front of
my coworkers. During my leadership journey, I strongly acquired and developed leadership
skills and gained positive business outcomes.
At the time of the leadership journey, the one who influenced me is the executive director of the
organization. He helped me to build a mutual and supportive relationship with my colleagues and
learn various innovative ideas. He influenced me to enhance my integrity and honesty as a leader
and also developed my confidence. However, it is important for an individual to create an image
as an effective and visionary leader (Breevaart, Bakker, Demerouti & Derks, 2016). As a result, I
developed my self-image as a leader by inspiring others to develop their skills and execute better
performance. To become a visionary leader, it is also important for me to manage time and
communicate well with the team members to understand their expectations. I also made
appropriate decisions that will be beneficial for the employees.
Furthermore, the event that influenced me to become a leader is when the products produced by
the organization was in high demand. However, there were a limited number of employees
within the organization, hence the company needs to hire a number of employees (Meuser et al.,
2016). This particular situation greatly influenced me to hire appropriate employees by
recognizing their talents who can perform the job effectively.
The results of Gallup Strengths Finder
The Gallup Strengths Finder tool is an effective way of recognizing the five significant strengths
of an individual based on the questions asked. The results will help enhance the leadership
qualities in life as well as while working in an organization (Smith, Lewis & Tushman, 2016).
According to the results, I acknowledged that I possess five significant strengths they are,
responsible, achiever, restorative and relator. I truly agree and relate these strengths with my
personality that will put a great impact on my professional and personal life.
Based on the results I have realized that my biggest strength is that I am a relator as I can
understand the feelings of others and like to meet new people. An individual who is considered

5
Dynamic Leadership
to be a relator always shares his or her ideas with others (Ford & Harding, 2018). Thus, I also
like to share my innovating ideas with my colleagues that build real friendship between us. On
the other hand, I am also determined to be a good arranger as I always try to build a trustworthy
relationship with others. As an arranger I can manage the variables, realigning and aligning them
to get positive outcomes. Another strength is that I am a restorative person as I am good at
identifying the issues and finding solutions to resolve it. A restorative person possesses the
capability to resolve the problems whether they are personal, conceptual and practical ones
(Tremblay, Gaudet & Parent-Rocheleau, 2018). My next possible strength is that I am an
achiever as I constantly work hard to achieve success in personal and professional life. My fifth
strength is that I am a responsible person as I carry out every task with massive care and
responsibility to achieve the desired goals and objectives. It provides me a great sense of
commitment and ownership as a human being. Moreover, it has been observed that I also possess
some weaknesses such as I to lack the quality of learner and developer. I am not interested in
developing the skills of others and learn innovative ideas and concept.
Key feedback from the partner and other trusted sources
According to the feedback from my colleague I realized that I possess various strengths such as,
I am a good relator, an arranger, a restorative person, an achiever as well as a responsible person.
Based on the feedback of my partner I am a good relator which demonstrates my attitude towards
my relationships. A relator is always excited about meeting new people and building positive
relationships with them (Lehmann-Willenbrock, Meinecke, Rowold & Kauffeld, 2015).
Similarly, I am also interested in engaging with strangers and becomes comfortable with sharing
ideas with them. My partner believes that I am also an arranger as I always try to implement
adequate strategies to execute the things effectively. I make efficient use of appropriate resources
and the right combination of people to accomplish the project. Based on the opinion of my
colleague I am an exceptional example of effective flexibility.
My partner also states that I am a restorative person who is capable of solving difficult problems.
I always like to overcome the challenges by evaluating the possibilities and recognizing what is
wrong and finding the best possible solutions. I am highly interested in dealing with unfamiliar
and complex problems. Through the feedback, I also realized that I am also an achiever as I
always focus on achieving success in life. An achiever is the one who demonstrates a continuous

6
Dynamic Leadership
need for achievement not only in professional but also in personal life (Kozlowski, Mak & Chao,
2016). I also acknowledged that this particular strength will always keep me focused on
achieving my goals in life. On the other hand, based on the feedback I also acknowledged that I
am also a responsible person. As a responsible person, I am always forced to carry out
psychological ownership of my commitment. I handle every project with utmost care and
responsibility as every individual must be responsible for its work. According to my partner, I
also possess some weaknesses such as learning skills and developing capabilities. Although I like
to meet new people, still I lack in gaining innovative ideas and concepts as well as developing
the skills of my colleagues.
The implications of the feedback
Based on the implications of the feedback I acknowledged that I need to work on improving
myself by utilizing limited resources constantly. This is determined to be the best way to achieve
organizational and personal goals and objectives. I observed that as a person I am good at
developing a positive relationship with others and gaining their trust. Moreover, I am also good
at managing activities to bring possible outputs. Managing the work effectively helps set
appropriate goals and objectives (Harms, 2017). Meanwhile, I am a person who possesses the
ability to face and overcome challenges by finding appropriate solutions beneficial for everyone.
Another implication is that I am highly interested in achieving success in professional and
personal life. I believe that there is a constant requirement for the achievement to become a
visionary leader while working within an organization. On the other hand, as I have a better
understanding of my responsibilities, hence I am determined to be a responsible person.
Moreover, along with these strengths I also possess some of the major weaknesses such as I am
not a learner and developer. While working in an organization, it is essential to learn and present
new ideas and skills to gain success (Busch & Davis, 2018). Therefore, I must learn new ideas
and concepts to enhance my capability and help in developing the skills of my colleagues to
build strong relationships with them.
Reflection on its significance
The Gallup Strengths Finder tool helped me to recognize my five major strengths they are,
relator, arranger, restorative, achiever and responsibility (Bauer & Ege, 2016). All these

7
Dynamic Leadership
strengths are significant as it will help me in the future to become a visionary leader. It will help
me managing my time to better communicate with my team members to find out their
requirements and expectations. A good and visionary leader possesses a futuristic vision who
knows how to transform innovative ideas into success. Thus, the strengths will help gain success
in life and build integrity, honesty, and confidence. In other words, the following strengths will
help in acquiring the leadership qualities and skills efficiently and effectively.
It can be said that developing leadership qualities and skills is the best way to motivate or inspire
others to execute better performance to achieve organizational goals. Looking upon my
strengths, I acknowledged that if my actions motivate others to do more, learn more and dream
more than I am a leader. I also believe that the strengths will help me to become a creator and
innovator because innovation differentiates between a follower and a leader.
Linking theory and conceptual framework to explain feedback and experiences
The expressions and feedback received by using the Gallup Strengths Finder tool are linked to
Bureaucratic leadership theory. The bureaucratic leadership is determined to be a management
system where the employees are made to follow particular lines and rules of authority (Mendes,
Gomes, Marques-Quinteiro, Lind & Curral, 2016). Based on the strengths I realized I possess the
characteristics of a bureaucratic leader as I am highly focused upon the organizational and
administrative needs. Likewise, bureaucratic leader, I am highly engaged in making appropriate
decisions for the betterment of the team members as well as the organization. This particular
theory is linked with my strengths as I am a responsible person who always executes every work
with full responsibility. Similarly, a bureaucratic leader possesses a better understanding of his or
her responsibility while working in an organization.
The strengths helped to develop my leadership qualities that are purely linked to bureaucratic
leadership style. As a bureaucratic leader, I possess the quality of strengthening the relationship
with my colleagues and manage my time adequately. To enhance the working condition of the
employees the bureaucratic leader makes adequate decisions. Therefore, based on my strengths I
acknowledged that I possess the ability to maintain empathy, passion, and commitment towards
others.

8
Dynamic Leadership
Figure: Bureaucratic leadership theory
(Source: Amanchukwu, Stanley & Ololube, 2015)
Conclusion
The paper demonstrated the fact that to become a dynamic leader it is important to have all these
strengths. However, the Gallup Strengths Finder tool helped in identifying the five specific
strengths such as relator, arranger, achiever, responsibility, and restorative. The following
strengths will be helpful in the future to achieve success and gain competitive advantage. It also
provided feedback from a partner based on the strengths and linked the feedback and experiences
to theoretical concepts. It also discussed the implications of the strengths based on the feedback.
It has been observed that the strengths are linked to bureaucratic leadership theory.

9
Dynamic Leadership
References
Acton, B. P., Foti, R. J., Lord, R. G., & Gladfelter, J. A. (2019). Putting emergence back in
leadership emergence: A dynamic, multilevel, process-oriented framework. The
Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 145-164.
Amanchukwu, R. N., Stanley, G. J., & Ololube, N. P. (2015). A review of leadership theories,
principles and styles and their relevance to educational management. Management, 5(1),
6-14.
Bauer, M. W., & Ege, J. (2016). Bureaucratic autonomy of international organizations’
secretariats. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(7), 1019-1037.
Bradley McKibben, W., DiAnne Borders, L., & Ackerman, T. A. (2017). Development of the
Dynamic Leadership in Counseling Scale–Self-Report. Journal of Counselor Leadership
and Advocacy, 4(2), 147-160.
Breevaart, K., Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Derks, D. (2016). Who takes the lead? A multi‐
source diary study on leadership, work engagement, and job performance. Journal of
Organizational Behavior, 37(3), 309-325.
Busch, P. S., & Davis, S. W. (2018). Inside Out Personal Branding (IOPB): Using Gallup Clifton
StrengthsFinder 2.0 and 360Reach. Marketing Education Review, 28(3), 187-202.
Ford, J., & Harding, N. (2018). Followers in leadership theory: Fiction, fantasy and
illusion. Leadership, 14(1), 3-24.
Harms, P. D. (2017). Gallup Strengths Finder. Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual
Differences, 1-3.
Koryak, O., Mole, K. F., Lockett, A., Hayton, J. C., Ucbasaran, D., & Hodgkinson, G. P. (2015).
Entrepreneurial leadership, capabilities and firm growth. International Small Business
Journal, 33(1), 89-105.
Kozlowski, S. W., Mak, S., & Chao, G. T. (2016). Team-centric leadership: An integrative
review. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 3,
21-54.

10
Dynamic Leadership
Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Meinecke, A. L., Rowold, J., & Kauffeld, S. (2015). How
transformational leadership works during team interactions: A behavioral process
analysis. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(6), 1017-1033.
Leih, S., & Teece, D. (2016). Campus leadership and the entrepreneurial university: A dynamic
capabilities perspective. Academy of Management Perspectives, 30(2), 182-210.
Mendes, M., Gomes, C., Marques-Quinteiro, P., Lind, P., & Curral, L. (2016). Promoting
learning and innovation in organizations through complexity leadership theory. Team
Performance Management, 22(5/6), 301-309.
Meuser, J. D., Gardner, W. L., Dinh, J. E., Hu, J., Liden, R. C., & Lord, R. G. (2016). A network
analysis of leadership theory: The infancy of integration. Journal of Management, 42(5),
1374-1403.
Smith, W. K., Lewis, M. W., & Tushman, M. L. (2016). Both/and” leadership. Harvard
Business Review, 94(5), 62-70.
Tremblay, M., Gaudet, M. C., & Parent-Rocheleau, X. (2018). Good things are not eternal: How
consideration leadership and initiating structure influence the dynamic nature of
organizational justice and extra-role behaviors at the collective level. Journal of
Leadership & Organizational Studies, 25(2), 211-232.

11
Dynamic Leadership
Appendices
Feedback summary from the partner
The partner who has given feedback based on my strengths is a colleague from the college in
which I am studying. My partner asked me a few of the psychological questions based on that
answers the strengths have been recognized. The questions are as follows:
1. How can you store so many things in your mind at a single time?
2. How could you remain so flexible, to make well-organized plans to accomplish your
goals?
Based on the feedback I acknowledged that I have a positive attitude towards building a strong
relationship with others as I like to meet with new people. Moreover, I am a good conductor
where I possess the ability to face complex situations. I also realized that I love to resolve the
issues coming my way effectively. I am also an achiever who likes to enhance productivity by
gaining success with full responsibility.

12
Dynamic Leadership
Psychometric result

13
Dynamic Leadership

14
Dynamic Leadership

15
Dynamic Leadership
Planning template
Weekly (April 22-28)
SR/No. Days Activities
1. Monday Learn innovative ideas and concepts
2. Tuesday Become a developer by developing the skills of
others
3. Wednesday Work hard to communicate well with my
colleagues
4. Thursday Develop innovative skills and capabilities
5. Friday Work upon myself to improve my weaknesses
6. Saturday Create clear goals and objectives
7. Sunday Make a commitment to enhance potential and
capabilities