Self-Reflection on Leadership Journey: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Feedback

This report is a reflection of my leadership abilities, strengths as well as weaknesses. It contains details of my current leadership role, leadership journey, Gallup’s strength finder analysis, feedback from partner, and conclusion. The report is a summary of my experience as a leader as well as a reflection upon my leadership style.

dynamic leadership
Self-reflection

Executive Summary
A leader is the lynchpin upon which the entire team rests. A leadership experience is full of
immense learning and responsibility. My leadership experiences have taught me responsibility,
time management, honest, people management as well as communication. This report is a
reflection of my leadership abilities, strengths as well as weaknesses.
Currently, I am working as a pharmacist in a pharmacy store. I am leading a team of five people.
This course has helped me in reflecting upon my journey of leadership. I have also taken online
tools that have helped me in further identifying my leadership skills. The report also contains the
details of the feedback that I have received from my partner. The entire process of self-reflection
has been an eye opener and I am sure that my learnings through this process would help me in
improving upon my leadership abilities further.

Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Current leadership role....................................................................................................................2
Leadership journey..........................................................................................................................3
Gallup’s strength finder analysis.....................................................................................................3
Feedback from partner.....................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................6

Introduction
Effective leadership is one of the most important attributes within any organization. It is one of
the primary pillars which supports the business as well as all its stakeholders. There has been an
on-going debate about the nature of leadership. Some people believe that leaders are born while
some scholars are of the opinion that leadership abilities and attributes can be learned. Every
leader in the business is responsible for their team. Their primary responsibilities include
motivating team members, addressing their issues, ensuring coordination within the team,
leading by example and guiding their team towards the successful accomplishment of team
goals.
I have been presented with several opportunities that have given me experience of a leadership
role. This particular report reflects upon the entire journey of my leadership experience. The
contribution of a leadership role in any individual’s life is very critical. In fact, these roles play a
significant part in shaping one’s personality. This report is a summary of my experience as a
leader as well as a reflection upon my leadership style.
Current leadership role
By profession, I am a pharmacist working in a renowned pharmacy store. At present, I am
leading a team of five medical representatives. My leadership journey with this team started two
years ago. Since then, it has been an immense learning experience. As a leader, I try my best to
keep my team motivated. We work as a team and all the decisions that are made within the team
involve the participation of all team members. I am a democratic leader. This suggests that my
leadership style is participative in nature.
My current leadership role has taught me to take responsibility and work together with a team in
a coordinated manner. It is very important that people working in pharmacy stores are highly
attentive and active at all times. As a leader, I have tried my best to instil a culture of open
communication and utmost transparency. Communication within a team is critical to the success
of the team (Hackman & Johnson, 2013). Being a leader of the team, I practice a 360 degree
feedback strategy. This strategy suggests that every employee of the organization is given a

feedback from their seniors, juniors as well as peers (Bracken & Church, 2013). Therefore, as a
leader too, I receive consistent feedback from my team members.
Leadership journey
My first leadership experience was when I was heading my team project in school. It was a small
journey, yet it helped me familiarize with the responsibilities of a leader. Post which, I became
the head of the communications club in my college. This club was founded to organize
competitions like debate and declamations. As a group, we also organized workshops for
improving communication skills among people. After the first year, I was appointed as the head
of the club wherein I led a team of 28 people. The leadership journey with the club helped me
understand the value of punctuality, honesty and responsibility. I became a more organized
person and planned my time in an effective manner. Besides this, I also experienced what it feels
like to be associated with a group.
A leader must be able to work with different people and ensure effective coordination among
them (Germain, 2012). I was able to learn the same from my leadership experience. Once I
started working at the pharmacy store, I enhanced my learning. Owing to my performance, I was
offered a leadership role. This role further enhanced upon my experience. I faced several
challenges owing to the critical nature of the job. A leader must be capable to face challenging
situations and achieve goals. As a leader in this role, I have always tried to lead by example. A
leader must lead in a manner that sets an example for the rest of the team (Edgar, Geare &
O’Kane, 2015). This would assist in gaining trust and respect from team members. My overall
journey has been that of immense growth and personal development.
Gallup’s strength finder analysis
Gallup’s strength finder is an online tool that allows people to identify their top five strengths.
The first strength of mine as analyzed by the test is that I am a relator. This suggests that I tend to
accept my weaknesses and flaws and I relate with people who are ambitious. Since I accept my
weaknesses, I am also honest in all my communications. The second strength of mine was being
an includer. This means that I have an accepting nature towards other people. I completely relate
with this analysis because having worked with different kinds of people, I have come to

understand and accept people. It also suggests that I am a cheerful and optimistic person. I often
use this attitude to keep my team members motivated. An effective leadership must work
towards creating a positive working environment (Men, 2014).
The third strength of mine was being a developer. This suggests that I try to recognize and
cultivate potentials of others. As a leader, this is a really effective skill. I try to ensure that all my
team members are doing the jobs that they are good at. A leader should be someone that team
members can come to for advice (Thorton, 2014). I try my best to be that leader and offer advice
to my team mates as and when necessary. The fourth strength of mine as identified by the
Gallup’s test was being restorative. This suggests that in times of a crisis, I try to deal with the
problem in the most effective manner. A leader must be able to effectively deal with challenging
situations (Butcher, 2018). This is important because at the time of a crisis, every person in the
team looks up to the leader. I agree with this analysis because I have personally noticed this
attitude several times. Last but not the least, the fifth strength identified by the test was
consistency. As the name suggests, this reflect upon my ability to treat all people in the same
manner as well as upon my stability within an organization. I avoid being partial towards any
particular team member. This helps in keeping the working environment fair and impartial. A
leader must always be fair in order to maintain the decorum of the team (Hutchinson & Hurley,
2013).
Feedback from partner
Through the course of this self-reflection, I also got feedback from my partner Samantha. She
suggested that interaction with people or communication is an essential part of my life and I
could use this ability in my leadership journey. She also suggested that try to collaborate ideas
and opinions of different people and then bring them together with efficacy. In her feedback she
also mentioned that I tend to be diplomatic in cases of conflicts. Even though sometimes it is
essential, but not always recommended. She suggested that I try to be more honest in my
approach and address conflicts in a transparent manner.
One of the most important feedback that I received from her was that I should not try to please
everyone around me. I tend to do that a lot which also sometimes lands me in trouble. I desire for
good and long term relationships. She mentioned that even though it is a good thing, I must not

let myself be taken for granted. Her feedback has largely helped me in understanding various
facets of my personality that I did not know before. She also appreciated me for the fact that I am
very organized. However, she also guided me that I should not allow my desire to be organized
to blind me from new opportunities.
Conclusion
Leadership roles that I have encountered in my life have been a major source of learning for me.
Through this course, I have been able to reflect upon my leadership skills and styles. I have been
able to identify my strengths and weaknesses. The Gallup’s test as well as the feedback from my
partner have been largely helpful.
As a leader, I am participative and optimistic. I try to take responsibility for my team members
and consistently work towards motivating them. I also try to understand my team members better
so that they can identify their potential. I possess excellent communication skills. I would surely
work towards improving my ability to deal with conflict. I would also try to ensure that I refrain
myself from trying to please everyone around me. The entire self-reflection process has been that
of immense learning. I am sure that my revelations from this course would help me improve
upon my leadership skills and would guide me in the future course of my journey.

References
Bracken, D. W., & Church, A. H. (2013). The" new" performance management paradigm:
capitalizing on the unrealized potential of 360 degree feedback. People and
Strategy, 36(2), 34.
Butcher, B. W. (2018). Leadership and Crisis Management. Rapid Response System: A Practical
Guide, 19.
Edgar, F., Geare, A., & O'Kane, P. (2015). The changing dynamic of leading knowledge
workers: The importance of skilled front-line managers. Employee Relations, 37(4), 487-
503.
Germain, M. L. (2012). Traits and skills theories as the nexus between leadership and expertise:
Reality or fallacy?. Performance Improvement, 51(5), 32-39.
Hackman, M. Z., & Johnson, C. E. (2013). Leadership: A communication perspective. Waveland
Press. United Kingdom.
Hutchinson, M., & Hurley, J. (2013). Exploring leadership capability and emotional intelligence
as moderators of workplace bullying. Journal of Nursing Management, 21(3), 553-562.
Men, L. R. (2014). Why leadership matters to internal communication: Linking transformational
leadership, symmetrical communication, and employee outcomes. Journal of Public
Relations Research, 26(3), 256-279.
Thornton, K. (2014). Mentors as educational leaders and change agents. International Journal of
Mentoring and Coaching in Education, 3(1), 18-31.