Being a Successful Team Leader

Leadership Style:

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Examine yourself using leadership theories, and determine the best theory you should use

From self-examination, I find that naturally I tend to wish the best for my followers regardless of their position. This way, I am able to get the best out of them. My main leadership goal is always to ensure that my followers feel empowered from inside to give their best. This is from the understanding that a team synergy will most likely help me in accomplish objectives easily (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2009). While empowering my followers, I am also able to promote talent and create a bond with them in our working relations.

Being such kind of a leader does not come without its share of challenges. Firstly I have loose chances of winning promotions since, despite accomplishing group objectives; I don’t really come out clearly as the “captain of the ship”. My superiors tend to consider me lucky to have a great team around me since I rarely showcase my control. Secondly, I do not afford the decorum of a man with authority among my followers. This so because in our working relationship we bond as team members whereby each one of us has their distinct role to play. This way am not able to distinguish myself as the authoritative master, rather I just come out as the leader simply playing his role.

However, despite these and other challenges, I still consider charismatic leadership style as the best choice to lead my crew. This is primarily because I work with team and to meet group goals, any leader should have the team come first before his self-interests (Adair, 2013).

Comparing my leadership theory to that my “invisible mentor” portrays.

Personally I regard Pope Francis as my, “Invisible Mentor”. Despite being a religious figure to many, and especially those of catholic faith, the pope is able to transcend the religious bounds and preach peace to every one regardless of religious affiliation (Francis, 2016). He is able to connect with others at a personal basis and this way his message is received deeply. At this level, he is able to create an endearing bond that wins him authority as a Father. Comparing my leadership to his, I feel we both share empathy as a way to lead others. This is whereby as a leader one becomes perceptive to others personal needs both within and outside the work environment (Francis, 2016). By being empathetic, a leader is able to win the loyalty of his followers. Additionally, one is also able to work with others effectively given that he understands the strengths and weaknesses of others.

However, given his jurisdiction, the pope works to create an environment whereby people can development themselves. His message is that for economies to bloom and anything to work, there has to be peaceful environment. This is an approach of leadership different from mine. Given my job description, I tend to work on strategizing plans without giving consideration to the environment on which they have to be executed. I tend to push for strategies to be realized regardless of the environment my team players are in. To better my leadership, I take it as a personal initiative to be more mindful of the environment within which we operate as a team. This is so given that a motivating environment goes a long way in helping team players gives their best in the work place (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2009). Being in touch with their feelings should be complement with tending to my followers’ needs. This way I could gain both their loyalty and commitment towards giving their personal best which would make me a more effective leader.

References

Adair, J. (2013). Develop your leadership skills. Philadelphia, Pa: Kogan Page Ltd.

Francis. (2016). The Allure of Goodness and Love: Pope Francis in the United States Complete Texts. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.

Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., & Werner, S. (2009). Managing human resources (p. 358). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. MIT press