Kingston University: Leadership Self-Analysis and Improvement Plan

This report presents a comprehensive self-analysis of a student's leadership skills, conducted as part of the BS7032 Consultancy in Practice module at Kingston University. The student identifies strengths in participative management and communication, while acknowledging weaknesses in creative thinking, emotional management, and performance evaluation. The analysis includes a detailed plan for improvement, outlining specific objectives, activities, and timeframes for enhancing skills in creative thinking, training and development management, and performance evaluation. The student aims to improve time management, creative thinking, and performance evaluation skills to become a more effective leader. The report reflects on the Johari window, SWOT analysis, and the student's personal and academic experiences to inform the self-assessment and development strategies. The student's career action plan is to be a future marketing consultant and the report provides the necessary steps to achieve this goal.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
Personal Evaluation:...................................................................................................................2
Improvement Plan:.....................................................................................................................6
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................9
References:...............................................................................................................................11

2MANAGEMENT
Introduction:
The significance of the self- analysis is increasing in a significant manner in career
development. The self- analysis has the capability to contribute in the effective identification
of the factors that the individuals are expected to develop in managing their career in an
efficient manner. The concept of the self- analysis is pretty significant in identifying the
strengths, weakness, threats and the opportunities that the individuals are subjected to, in
developing their career. In a nut shell, the concept of the self –analysis, provides considerable
amount of ease to the individuals in identifying their weakness which requires certain amount
of development and at the same time, it also enables the individuals to gather the required
information regarding their strengths which they can utilize in maximizing their success in
their career. Hence, it is evident that the concept of the self- refection or the self- analysis is
pretty significant for the individuals in assessing their growth and the potential factors that
have the capability to affect their growth.
The paper provides a brief idea regarding my possible strengths and weakness which
have the capability to affect my success. With a precise focus on my interest in becoming an
efficient leader for managing the business, I have the necessity to develop my skills of
leadership. As my desired objective is to establish myself as a business leader, the various
aspects of my personal development is more inclined towards the skills required for the
effective management of the business or the organizational performances. With a precise
understanding of my strengths and weakness, the paper includes a brief plan for improving
my excellence and effectiveness as a leader.
Personal Evaluation:
With a precise focus on my objective of improving my leadership skills, the primary
activity for the same is the identification of the strengths and weakness that I have in leading.

3MANAGEMENT
Considering the strengths, one of the important factor that increases my effectiveness as a
leader is the ability of applying the participative management style in my leadership. With a
precise understanding of the factors that have the capability affect the employees in managing
their operational activities is seen to be the work stress. Qureshi et al. (2013) claimed that the
job dissatisfaction or the excessive work pressure is one of the crucial factors that is
increasing the employee turnover in various organizations operating in the modern world of
business. There are various business articles and reviews of the researchers that are accepting
the fact that the employee turnover rate in the organizational context is largely influenced by
the job dissatisfaction of the employees and the excessive amount of job pressure is observed
to be one of the crucial factor influencing the apathy of the employees in continuing in
demanding organizational contexts. Under such situation, I consider my skill of participative
management to be significant as it effectively provides the scope to the employees in taking
the decision regarding their operational activities. I make sure that the employees are
communicated about the strategic objectives and at the same time, I provide full freedom to
the employees in formulating their operational activities. Hence the transfer of the
responsibility of deciding the operational activities of the employees, helps me in improving
my effectiveness in managing the job stress of my subordinate employees in a unique
fashion.
One of the much required skills for the effective leadership is the ability of the
creative thinking. Sohmen (2015) claimed that the success of the leaders gets tested when
they are exposed to in appropriate situations or circumstances. Considering the business
perspective, it is not feasible that the leaders will be subjected to such business environment
where the parameters are well known to them at each and every occasions. Under such
situation, the ability of the leaders in producing multiple solutions becomes his or success
factors. The ability of the creative thinking enables the leaders to design the solutions in

4MANAGEMENT
accordance to the variations of the business environments. Hence the necessity of creative
thinking or design thinking for the leaders is pretty prominent.
Having said that, I consider myself to be significantly limited in the aspect of the
creative thinking and that is pretty evident with my rule conscious nature. It is understandable
that the individuals that are largely inclined towards the management of the rules and
regulations, do not provide the much required scope to themselves for thinking in out of the
box manner. At the same time, I am more inclined towards the identification of the correct
solution rather than a pool of suitable solutions and under such situation, it becomes
extremely difficult for me to develop the solutions with the application of the creative
thinking. Hence, my urge of identifying the correct solution has the capability to decrease my
effectiveness as a leader and in identifying solutions on the basis of the varying parameters of
the business environment. In addition to this, my emotions is also a major obstacle for me in
thinking creatively. I am considerably limited in managing my emotions when it comes to
leading the teams. I consider the ability of the effective management of my emotions will be
significant for my success in thinking creatively.
On the contrary, one of the crucial factors of my personality that can be recognised as
my strength is seen to be the ability of effective communication. I have the capability to
communicate with the individuals in an efficient manner and I make sure that the
communication within the teams or in the organizational context, is informal in nature as that
provides better scope to my subordinate employees in increasing their ability in frequent
communication. With a precise focus on the importance of the communication in the
organizational context, Hackman and Johnson (2013) claimed that the effective
communication inside the workforces plays a crucial role in minimizing the impact of the
organizational conflict. The business managers are observed to be inclined towards
promoting the constructive conflict as it provides them the required scope for gathering

5MANAGEMENT
important opinions and solutions. On the other hand, it becomes important for the business
managers to make sure that they neutralize the impact of the destructive conflicts as that
affects the performances of the employees. Hence, it is evident that my skill of effective
communication has the capability to place me in a better position for effectively managing
the detrimental impact of the destructive conflicts in the work groups that I managed till date.
Having said that, one of the significant skill of the efficient leaders is observed to be
the ability of proactive identification of the factors that are affecting the performances of their
subordinate employees. With a precise focus on my ability as a leader, I feel I lack the
mentioned skill in notable manner. With a precise focus on the modern business environment
and the increasing level of business competition in the organizations. According to the
Herzberg two factor theory, the effective identification of the developmental needs of the
subordinate employees is observed to be crucial in managing the job stress and job
dissatisfaction of the employees and under such situation, the ability of the leaders in
identifying the developmental needs of the employees in an efficient manner, contributes to
the success of the leaders in managing a motivated workforce (Alshmemri, Shahwan-Akl and
Maude 2017). At the same time, the capability of the leaders in designing the training and
developmental activities of the employees with a precise understanding of the developmental
needs of the employees becomes crucial for the success of the business leaders in improving
the skills and competencies of their employees. Hence, the importance of identifying the
developmental needs of the employees and designing the training activities in accordance to
identified training needs of the employees, is pretty prominent. However, I lack the required
skills in effectively formulating the training activities’ of the employees which on the other
way, restricts myself from contributing towards the continuous development of the
employees for the improvement of their performances both in terms of the quality and
quantity.

6MANAGEMENT
Considering the perspective of the business leader, I consider myself to be capable
enough for interacting with the subordinate employees. With the application of the strong
interpersonal skills, I have the capability to interact with my subordinate employees in an
effortless manner. The reflection of my strong interpersonal skill is pretty prominent with my
higher acceptance level amongst the individuals and at the same time, it also influences the
subordinate employees to approach me without any sort of second thoughts. Hence my strong
interpersonal skill is expected to be recognized as one of the key strengths of mine.
On the other hand, one of the major concern for me with my leadership skills is the
inappropriate performance evaluation of my subordinate employees. The evaluation of the
performances of my employees is an important aspect of the business leaders’ roles and under
such situation, the capability of the leaders in evaluating the performances of the employees
in appropriate manner contributes towards the effective management of the team. Along with
this, the sustainability of the business operations of the work groups is seen to be notably
affected by the appropriate evaluation of the performances of the employees as the
recognition of the good work of the employees from the part of the business leaders is a
massive motivation for the employees in managing their business activities in an efficient
manner. However, in majority of the cases, the performance evaluation that I conduct, is
observed to be affected by the rater bias. Hence the effectiveness of my performance
evaluation gets decreased.
Improvement Plan:
Objectives Activities Timeframe Changes in thinking
and behaviour
Improvement in
creative thinking.
The primary activity
that I will be
The mentioned
objective is expected
With the effective
participation in these

7MANAGEMENT
inclined towards
undertaking for the
improvement of my
skills of creative
thinking, is the
participation in the
brainstorming
activities. Along
with this, I will also
try the creative
thinking techniques
such as the Osborn
checklist or six
thinking hats.
Apart from this, I
would like to make
sure that I control
my emotions when it
comes thinking
creatively which can
be achieved with the
application of a
formal approach
towards the
participation I these
to be achieved
within 12 weeks and
I will make sure that
I evaluate my
success in improving
the skills of creative
thinking in the 13th
week.
activities, I am
certainly in a better
position as a leader
as I have the
capability to
contribute with
multiple suitable
solutions. This also
improves my
capability as a leader
and effectiveness in
producing solutions
on the basis of
varying parameters
of business.

8MANAGEMENT
activities.
Improvement in the
skills of training and
developmental
activities
management
The effective
consultation with the
subordinate
employees will be
significant for my
success in
identifying the
developmental needs
of the employees.
Along with this, I
will make sure that I
evaluate the
performances of the
employees with the
help of the
performance
scorecard for
identifying the
barriers that are
restricting the
employees in
providing the
required quality.
The mentioned
objective is expected
to be achieved
within 16 weeks.
With the effective
implementation of
the mentioned
activities, I am able
to improve my
knowledge regarding
the probable factors
that have the
potential to affect
the performances of
the employees. It is
significantly helpful
for me in improving
the ability in leading
various work groups.
Improvement in the As the detrimental The objective will be With the

9MANAGEMENT
skills of the
performance
evaluations
impact of rater bias
is pretty prominent
in my performance
evaluation, I would
like to formulate a
performance
evaluation form with
approximately ten
necessary
parameters. This will
be crucial for me in
avoiding my
tendency towards
rating the
individuals in such a
manner which
reflects the impact of
the leniency bias,
central tendency bias
or the strictness bias.
achieved within 12
weeks.
achievement of the
mentioned objective,
I have developed the
skills of appropriate
and accurate rating
of the employees.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note it is prominent that I have the required skills for becoming an
efficient business leader. The ability of implementing participative management style, strong
interpersonal skills and communication skill are significant in increasing my effectiveness as

10MANAGEMENT
a leader. However, the success of mine in managing my lack of skills in creative thinking, in
identifying the training and developmental needs of the employees and in evaluating the
performances of the employees appropriately will be crucial for my success in being an
effective leader.

11MANAGEMENT
References:
Alshmemri, M., Shahwan-Akl, L. and Maude, P., 2017. Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Life
Science Journal, 14(5), pp.12-16.
Hackman, M.Z. and Johnson, C.E., 2013. Leadership: A communication perspective.
Waveland Press.
Qureshi, M.I., Iftikhar, M., Abbas, S.G., Hassan, U., Khan, K. and Zaman, K., 2013.
Relationship between job stress, workload, environment and employees turnover intentions:
What we know, what should we know. World Applied Sciences Journal, 23(6), pp.764-770.
Sohmen, V.S., 2015. Reflections on creative leadership. International Journal of Global
Business, 8(1).