53/5 Dis R1

Give me at least 2 paragraphs and 2 sources by replying to posts making recommendations for how they might strengthen the leadership behaviors profiled in their CliftonStrengths Assessment, or by commenting on lessons to be learned from the results that can be applied to personal leadership philosophies and behaviors.

POST

“If leaders do not carry the trust or best interests of those they represent, there is no true leadership” (Marshall & Broome, 2017, p. 7). Taking on the role of a leader is no easy task. It requires a focus and an ability to take one’s own personal traits and characteristics and utilizing them to their highest potential to achieve set goals. However, regardless of one’s projected plans and goals, without the support and trust of those they wish to lead, there will be no true success (Marshall & Broome, 2017).

I have always been curious as to the type of leader I may be. While I do enjoy coaching others, planning projects, achieving goals, and consider myself to be very competitive, there is much more that is required in becoming a successful leader. Having awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses is a start. After completing the Strengths Finder Assessment, it was found that my top-ranked aspect is “futuristic”, meaning that my strength is in strategic thinking and is inspired by what could become of the future. I found this to be very true to who I am. The remaining domains were ranked 2- 5 as follows: focus, competition, achiever, and relator (Strengths Finder: Gallup, 2018). Two areas that I would prefer to work on in order to strengthen my abilities as a leader would be a combination of competition and achiever, and also relator.

Competition and achiever leadership qualities somewhat go hand-in-hand. Competition is based on performance, and success is based on one’s own performance in relation to others. Competitive leaders can influence others by promoting motivation for the want to be the best (Strengths Finder: Gallup, 2018). Achievers have a sense of dissatisfaction if there is not some sense of completion or achievement within each passing day. These individuals are driven by the want to achieve more and more. They find fulfillment in the completion of tasks (Strengths Finder: Gallup, 2018). What I feel inhibits my abilities to use these strengths to their maximum potential, is that I am quite the procrastinator. I sometimes set so many goals and expectations that I find myself being lost as to how to begin. The Gallup assessment suggests that strengthening these areas requires setting realistic daily and long-term goals. It is also suggested that an individual not only pace themselves but also except that everything is not going to turn out perfect and that having a win, doesn't necessarily mean “winning” (Strengths Finder: Gallup, 2018).

As far as the “relator” quality. This was ranked as number 5 in my case. This being ranked last doesn’t surprise me, but that it was also considered as a strength is somewhat surprising. While I do find myself to be very accepting of many different individuals and believe in diversity as a strength, I am also a bit (or a lot) of an introvert. I feel that this is probably the biggest hurdle in the way of success as a leader. The advancement of leaders within an organization requires engaging with others (Farrell, 2017). This is an area that requires work, and pushing myself to open up and seek out relationships beyond those of whom I am already comfortable with, will aid in strengthening this quality. Farrell (2017) suggests, that strengthening one’s non-dominant qualities, regardless of being introverted or extroverted, is key. Introverts in comparison to extroverts are inward thinking and focus on details prior to making decisions – also, while the planning of projects may seem difficult, introverts have the greater potential of completing said projects (Farrell, 2017).

References

Farrell, M. (2017). Leadership reflections: Extrovert and introvert leaders. Journal of Library Administration, 57(4), 436-443. doi: 10.1080/01930826.2017.1300455

Marshall, E., & Broome, M. (2017). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert to clinician to influential leader (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer

Strengths Finder: Gallup. (2018). Retrieve from https://walden.gallup.com