Strategic Leadership and Stakeholder Management

This report discusses the essential characteristics of a good leader, analysis of leadership strength and weakness, and a plan to develop leadership skills. It includes self-assessment tests, such as the Big 5 Personality Test and MBTI Test, to identify strengths and weaknesses. The plan includes mastering digital marketing skills and other skills such as business communication, soft skills, and people skills. The goal is to work in Amazon and lead the team of digital marketing at Amazon Web Services.

Strategic Leadership and Stakeholder
Management

Table of Content
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Essential Characteristics of a good leader............................................................................................................. 3
Analysis of Leadership strength and weakness................................................................................................... 4
Big 5 Personality Test................................................................................................................................................ 4
MBTI Test............................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Plan to develop my Leadership Skills...................................................................................................................... 9
Table of WWWWH................................................................................................................................................... 10
Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................................ 11
References........................................................................................................................................................................ 13

Introduction
Leadership has been in existence since the existence of human race, leaders have
emerged from various races, colour, origins and rose to the occasion to become
exemplary leaders (Tannenbaum & Schmidt, 2017). Leadership can be understood as
both a research area and a practical skill encompassing the ability of an individual to
lead, influence, encourage and motivate the organization or individual to achieve the
personal as well the goals of the organization (Bolman & Deal, 2017). Thus, a leader is a
person who does not walk alone; on the contrary he elevates the performance of the
people working with him by setting aside a clear vision and leading from the front.
Eminent names such as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Warrant Buffet, Steve Jobs,
Jack Welch and Jeff Bezos are some of the greatest leaders of their times who have
changed the world for the good (Northouse, 2018).
Leadership historically has been spoken of something which comes naturally to a
human, but in the present era leadership can both be learnt and mastered. Considering
the above introduction as the preamble of the assignment, the report here will discuss
in length on the qualities essential to become a leader, the skills required to become a
good leader and critical analysis and reflection of one’s own strength and weakness in
context to leadership.
Essential Characteristics of a good leader
Ever since the dot com bubble in the year 1991, and rise of giants such as Amazon and
Google I have always been interested into the internet industry or the e-commerce. I
have carefully researched and identified certain characteristics which are essential for
the leaders in the internet industry. Some of the leadership qualities are:
Strong Communication Skills
This is the prerequisite of any leader working in any industry, however it becomes
extremely important in the internet industry as the young/ millennial population
dominates the force here. Thus, the leader by virtue of his strong interpersonal skills

has to bind the entire team together and make them achieve strong results for
themselves and the organization (Fairhurst & Connaughton, 2014).
Creativity and Innovation
Amazon would have been just an online book seller, if Jeff Bezos would have not have
been a creative and innovative leader and pushed him team to imbibe the same quality
in them, thus, another very important characteristic of a leader (Antonakis & Day,
2017).
Visionary
A leader working in the Internet industry has to be most definitely visionary in his
approach towards his business, and also to spot the trends before anybody else can.
Being visionary helps in having a clear vision for the future which further helps in
driving and laying a clear vision for the employees working in the organization
(Tourish, 2014). It is the vision of Jeff Bezos which has made Amazon as the most
customer centric company on planet earth and most definitely an organization which
gave birth to hundreds and thousands of company working in either the same or slightly
differentiated space (DuBrin, 2015).
Analysis of Leadership strength and weakness
In order to identify my leadership strength and weakness, I took a couple of test which
helped me not only to become self-aware, but it also helped me in understanding what
are the strengths which I can leverage and the weakness which I can minimize to
become an effective leader. In order to do so, I took a couple of self-assessment to
become more and more self- aware.
Big 5 Personality Test
Big 5 Personality test is one of the self- assessment tests which determines the five
factors of personality for a person, basis of which the personality of a person is defined.
My assessment goes on as:

I have a fairly high score in Openness which goes on to say that I am fairly intellectual,
use creative and innovative ways of looking at complex problems and enjoy novel
experiences (Curtis, Windsor & Soubelet, 2015). This I believe is a very good strength as
it’s a harbinger that I am creative and innovative in my thoughts and will apply the same
in my professional life.
This is another personality trait which is part of the big 5 personality trait. It exaplins here the
degree to which a person is able to exercise discipline and self control in order to pursue the
goals(Anglim & Grant, 2016). I agree with this, I am ususally not much disciplined and have very
less self control, I do understand that I have to overcome this weakness in order to become an
effectvie leader
The next personality trait displayed here is extraversion, I quite frankly believe that the
result is fair and is one of the strongest suites of becoming an effective leader.
Extraversion here implies the inclination of a person to seek simulation from the
outside world, likes attention and admiration of people, love, respect and others(Judge

& Zapata, 2015) . I can strongly relate to this trait as I really enjoy the love, respect and
admiration of people, it definitely motivates me to work towards my goals.
Agreeableness is another trait of Big 5 personality traits and is related to showing
empathy towards others (Fleeson & Jayawickreme, 2015). My results here reflect that I
am very empathetic towards the needs of other people, and I kind of give them
preference over myself. I somehow find that true, but in professional space, I do weigh
down the gravity of situation before being overtly empathetic. However, I am forgiving
in nature and I strongly believe it’s one of the best ways to move forward in life.
This is the last trait of the Big 5 personality and is related to tendency of a person to
experience negative emotions on the likes of sadness, anxiety, fear, shame, guilt and
many others (Curley MacLean & Murray, 2017). The catch here is that people with High
Neuroticism respond to a situation with fear, anger, sadness or such emotions. I have

scored extremely less here, which shows that I am a person who easily brushes off the
misfortunes and gets over quickly.
MBTI Test
MBTI is another self-assessment test which I took in order to become self-aware and
identify my strength and weakness. My findings from the result were very much in sync,
except one element, with what I perceived my strength and weaknesses are and out of
the 16 personality types (Kim & Lee, 2016). I got personality type as INTP (Introvert,

Intuitive, Thinking and Perceiving), these type of people can be seen as analytical and
deep thinkers and are quiet involved in their work. The only variance I found in the
result was that I have an extrovert personality, but here I have been found as introvert,
so this is a big revelation for me.
Thus based on all these self- assessment tests, I have to come to identify my strength
and weakness which are as follows:
Strengths
 One of the biggest strength I found was that I have strong communication skills,
and I can articulate words in a manner to make the sentence more meaningful
and clear.
 I have fast decision making skills, which I believe comes from my understanding
of decision making models I learnt in the past.
 I have good persuasion skills.
 I believe in openness in communication.
 Cognitive understanding.
Weakness
 At times I realized that I am more of an individual player than team players.
 Lack of self -discipline and self -control.
 Really bad at conflict resolution and negotiation owing to my high affinity being
empathetic towards the needs of others.
 Despite have strong communication skills, I still have stage fear which I want to
overcome.
 Inability to focus on one task puts me in trouble at times as I prefer multi-
tasking, but I am really not great with it.
Thus, these are some of the strength and weakness which I have identified as part of my
self -assessment and also by taking feedback from my peers. I am certain that if I further
polish my strength in order to leverage them, and convert my weakness into my
strength I can most definitely become a good leader. The next section will focus on a
plan to develop my leadership skills

Plan to develop my Leadership Skills
As explained in the start of the assignment, I was born in the era when Internet
revolution begun, organization started understanding the technology and how to
leverage this technology for the betterment of the community, society and themselves. I
have been interested into computers right from the start, thus it makes it very natural to
have my inclination towards this mobile and novice technology. Further in my life, I
have learnt, seen and heard some great leaders such as Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs Bill
Gates and Jeff Bezos (My Inspiration) talk about their quest to leadership and how to
reach the pinnacle of success. Ever since I decided that I have to be a part of the Internet
industry and help create products which can create a difference in the lives of people.
Based on the similar lines I have decided to be a part of the E-commerce Behemoth
Amazon and lead the team of Digital marketing in Amazon Web Services in a decade. I
believe that the future is cloud computing and leading the biggest revenue centre at
Amazon is a highly futuristic goal; it is such a goal which will help me push the envelope
real hard and work consistently towards my goals until I reach it. I would like to work in
Seattle alongside Jeff Bezos and become part of his core team. It is most definitely a
mighty task, but I believe that continuous hard work, persistence, focus, discipline and
dedication would help me reach my goal.
In order to achieve this, I need a systematic plan which will comprise of plethora of
training in terms of communication, business technology, digital marketing, leadership
training, team skills, decision making skills, cognitive skills and many more. But the
most important part here is to exercise patience, self- discipline, motivation, self –
control and a never say never attitude in my quest to lead the Digital marketing team at
Amazon Web Services.
It is always good to have a backup plan, as the competition is intensifying these days
and human have access to all kinds of information which makes them knowledgeable.
Hence, in order to be realistic to the goal and not lose any kind of hope if I do not reach
my end goal, I do have a Plan B in my mind. My Plan B is to work in Group M, which is
one of the largest media agency and lead the Web 2.0 team there. The point worth
mentioning here is that I would like to keep my domain still as digital marketing, as it
will definitely evolve with advanced usage of Machine Learning, Artificial intelligence,

Virtual reality and other technologies. Hence, it would be really imbecile if I refrain from
being a part of this technology revolution which will change the world for the best and
improve the lives of the people, community, and society and will benefit the country
economically.
When I achieve my greatest job, the legacy I leave to the world will be the motivation
story of a nobody who with his persistent efforts, clear vision in his life, making the
choices which will have an impact in the future gave a platform to other entrepreneurs
who can now leverage the platforms I created and continue making positive difference
in the lives of people.
Table of WWWWH
Who
makes it
and What
is it
about?
What does it
includes?
When the
plan does
take place?
Where does
it happen
Why to do
it?
How does it
impact
others
This
leadershi
p plan I
am
creating
form
myself
and it
entails
my plan
for the
next
decade.
The
leadership
plan includes
my aspiration
to work in
Amazon and
lead the team
of digital
marketing at
Amazon web
services. In
order to do so,
I have to
master my
digital
marketing
skills along
with other
skills such as
business
This plan
starts 1st of
January
2019 and
will go until
I get into
Amazon. I
am not in a
hurry, as
this is a
decade long
plan, hence
it is
required to
be
discipline,
and step by
step move
forward
with
This job will
happen in
Seattle, at
headquarters
of Amazon.
However, my
leadership
plan will be
implemented
partly in
Australia and
partly in
Seattle. In
Australia I
would learn
the skills
related to
business
communicatio
n, business
I really
want to do
it, because
I see a lot
of potential
in digital
industry.
Additionall
y, I see this
is a passion
for me, and
it is always
advised to
follow the
passion.
Thus, I
would
really like
to follow
my passion
It certainly
has an
impact on
others as I
am an
average
person in
studies.
Looking at
me people
would
realize that
this is the
story of a
normal
human who
with his
perseveranc
e, discipline,
zeal and

communicatio
n, soft skills,
people skills
and others.
confidence,
dedication,
motivation
and
perseveranc
e.
technology,
leadership
skills and will
also enrol
myself in
advanced
digital
marketing
program to
get a secure a
job at Amazon
Web Services.
and work
with my
mentor and
the leader I
admire Jeff
Bezos.
Additionall
y, it will
also help
me in
becoming a
better
individual
and
contribute
to the
evolving
world.
focus
reached
such a
marvellous
feat. Thus,
this will go
on to
become the
story that
every
person can
relate to and
motivate
them to
reach their
goals.
Conclusion
Leadership is essential not only for the growth and development of the organization but
also for its employees. Thus, it is rightly said that employees under an able leader goes
on to become successful leaders in the future. I learnt during this assignment after
thorough study that it is not that all leaders are same, or have faced similar situations to
become a great leader. The only thing which remains common in all the leaders is their
curiosity and focus. I too have seen that I am very curious in nature; however focus part
I have to work. It is thus very important to question the normal state of being and have a
look towards the future, it is only then a person can develop a vision for himself, which
can then be translated to the entire organization. While working on this report, I
realized that in order to find my strength and weakness I do have to do a introspection
and become self-aware, only then I can do a justice to the assignment. There is a saying,
becoming self -aware is the first step towards the success. I utilized two self-
assessments namely MBTI and Big 5 Personality traits as tools to become self-aware
and identify my strength and weakness. Towards the end, the report can be brought to a
logical conclusion by saying that self-reflection is the key to become self- aware which
in turn is the first step towards becoming a good leader.

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References