ORG30002 Leadership Reflections: Self-Assessment, Weeks 1-5

This assignment is a reflective journal comprising five weeks of in-depth reflections on leadership, as part of the ORG30002 course at Swinburne University. The student explores various leadership theories, including transformational and servant leadership, and relates them to their personal development. Each week's reflection includes a summary of key concepts from lectures, discussions, and readings, along with a self-assessment of the student's leadership qualities and areas for improvement. The assignment demonstrates an understanding of leadership principles, ethical considerations, and the importance of self-awareness in becoming an effective leader. The student reflects on their strengths, weaknesses, and how they plan to enhance their leadership effectiveness by applying the learned concepts in real-world scenarios. The conclusion summarizes the key takeaways and emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and ethical behavior in leadership.

Running head: LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1LEADERSHIP
Introduction
I would like to start by saying that the interactive classes on leadership so far has helped
me in understanding about leadership at the core level. The step by step classes and the beautiful
presentations along with examples, pictures and real life scenarios has enabled me to get a better
insight on leadership qualities. I am able to judge my current qualities with the help of these
classes and it will help me in comparing my current position with the desired level. I can
therefore prepare a better action plan for my improvement. The following paragraph summarizes
the concepts I have understood from the lectures.
Week 1
Leadership is not just about control but about influencing people (Will 2016, p. 264).
Famous people like Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Ma, Martin Luther King Jr and many such eminent
people are great example of leaders. There are hundreds and thousands of articles and books
written on leadership yet it is one of the least understood topics. The lecture has made it possible
for me to understand the thin line of differences between leadership and management. I have
understood that as a leader I must set an example so that the followers can get inspired and feel
motivated and start acting themselves without coercion. My leadership qualities must bring about
real changes reflecting mutual perspectives of every member in the team. I have understood that
in order to become a leader nature is not sufficient instead it should be learnt and nurtured
(Northouse 2018). As a leader I should be more focused in the long run and focus on developing
strong vision for the organization. My objective should be to empower people at every level and
create more coalitions as well as to ensure satisfaction and motivation at the same time. It is
important for me to take risks as opportunities as a good leader.

2LEADERSHIP
Week 2
In order to be a good leader it is very important to acquire knowledge and training.
Knowing my own-self is the most important part in the process of leadership. I have noticed one
thing that it is always very easy to describe someone else but it has always been very tough for
me to describe myself. This lecture has made me understand the positive and the negative
qualities in me. Lessons should be taken from the failure and the competitors. A friend will
always praise one person but enemies will always highlight the weakness. If I can try to
understand the competition and analyse the gaps in my procedures, then I can take better actions
in the future. I am honest, straightforward, broad minded, supportive, caring and competent
(Muteswa 2016, p.137). However there are always room for betterment. I need to be more
persistent and organized in order to become the perfect leader. Leaders should be people oriented
and not task oriented. The concern should be more for people being a leader. If people are
motivated, then production will automatically increase. The first and the foremost aim as a leader
is to build relationship. Strong relationship will help me in better problem solving and better goal
accomplishments.
Week 3
The course has helped me in understanding the different leadership theories and now I am
able to compare and contrast my leadership style. I believe more on setting appropriate
examples, creating a strong vision and motivating the people. Therefore my qualities are
somewhat worthy to be qualified as a transformational leadership quality. We can keep on
acquiring the knowledge of leadership on a regular basis. It is like a completely new language
(Anderson and Sun 2017, p. 83). There are certain patterns associated with the birth order as

3LEADERSHIP
well. The first born kids generally tend to act like leaders, middle born children have both the
qualities of the first born and the last born and the last born children usually seeks for attention.
Being the middle born, I have the quality for both. My parenting has helped me in becoming
strong and self-reliant, which will help me in facing the future challenges at ease. However I
need to work upon my interpersonal and strategic leadership skill areas so that I can increase my
problem solving skills. I need to be a good listener and increase my understanding ability so that
I can identify problems and solve them at the earliest. The course has helped me in learning from
the negatives and taking opportunity of it in order to leap to a higher level.
Week 4
This lecture has helped me in understanding three most important things – the natural
desireness, the best test and the conscious choice. Servant leadership as I have understood
requires the natural desire of serving first, the choice of leading and to help the ones served to
grow and develop (Stouten & Liden 2020, p.62). This leadership style will help me in building
better organization in the future and will enable me in creating a caring environment. The lecture
has helped me in understanding that the leader first and the servant first are two extremes and
between them are a variety of human nature. Servant leadership focuses on the team as a whole
rather than my own ambitions and it allows them to question my capacity and moral actions.
Being answerable to people will help me in being more responsible. I have understood that as a
leader I need to make my motive naturally understandable rather than making strategies for it.
Rather than making profitable choices if I can take opportunity of all the possible choices
coming in my way, I can be more profitable in the coming future. This lecture has helped me in
understanding that to lead is to serve.

4LEADERSHIP
Week 5
In order to be a leader the first and the foremost thing is to understand that I must be true
to myself and the rest. As a leader it is expected from me to set moral examples so that the others
get inspired. Taking decisions in a global competitive world of today is not an easy task for the
leaders (Walumbwa, Hartnell & Misati 2017, p.17). It has been seen that people take decisions in
haste for short run profits but it must not be the case. I must realize the ethicality of the
opportunity and must act morally. This will not only yield me positive result in the long run but
also portray my character to the subordinates. I have always tried to be fair enough in taking my
personal decisions. I need to work upon more on taking decisions under pressure, for which this
course has helped me a lot. The stories of the eminent leaders has inspired me in how they kept
mental stability in pressure and acted ethically. This lecture will enable me in being honest and
take ethical actions in the most complicated and complex situations in the future.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that leadership is not just about being the boss and asking
people to do their part. It is a broad concept that requires training a development. It requires
understanding people and acting for them rather than simple coercion and getting things done. In
order to be a leader it is necessary to serve, to be honest and ethical in nature and to influence
people rather than merely controlling them. In order to be a good leader I need to be honest, self-
aware, strong, caring and ethical in nature.

5LEADERSHIP
References
Anderson, M.H. and Sun, P.Y., 2017. Reviewing leadership styles: Overlaps and the need for a
new ‘full range’theory.‐ International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), pp.76-96.
Muteswa, R., 2016. Qualities of a good leader and the benefits of good leadership to an
organization: A conceptual study. European Journal of Business and Management, 8(24),
pp.135-140.
Northouse, P.G., 2018. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Stouten, J. and Liden, R.C., 2020. Social Loafing in Organizational Work Groups: The
Mitigating Effect of Servant Leadership. In Individual Motivation within Groups (pp. 55-80).
Academic Press.
Walumbwa, F.O., Hartnell, C.A. and Misati, E., 2017. Does ethical leadership enhance group
learning behavior? Examining the mediating influence of group ethical conduct, justice climate,
and peer justice. Journal of Business Research, 72, pp.14-23.
Will, T.E., 2016. Flock leadership: Understanding and influencing emergent collective behavior.
The Leadership Quarterly, 27(2), pp.261-279.