Running head: LEADERSHIP PROJECT PROPOSAL 1
LEADERSHIP PROJECT PROPOSAL 4
The leadership that will be looked at as I lead the group is, “How do I lead people who do not believe that I should be doing the leading?” I have chosen this conundrum because it has been a thorn in my side for a consistent number of years now and I desire to get to the bottom of it. It has been difficult for people to rally around me or build faith in me when I am thrust into a leadership role whether by merit or pure chance. A large number of my experiences in a leadership role have been bitter sweet as I've had two tirelessly work to gain the approval and support of those below me or those in a subordinate role. This relates to who I am because I'm not the most outgoing person and at times I could be considered introverted which makes it difficult in some situations to lead. Shifts in my personality and social contact have been called for in the recent past and I desire to see if there are any changes and how people view my leadership as well as their support. (Gorton, Alston, & Snowden, 2006)
Getting to the bottom of this conundrum will prove key in growing my leadership skills and in turn this will allow the team's success to rise to even greater heights. It can also show me which leadership traits I am lacking and why it has proven difficult for me to acquire any enduring support from others. This process will prove helpful as it will allow me to develop the repertoire of skills that are needed to become an effective leader as well as gain knowledge from practical experiences. It will also create a strong learning culture that will not only improve my capabilities it might also increase the motivation of the team as well as the engagement of the members. Part of being a good leader is knowing that every opportunity, every conversation and eating every experience is an opportunity or chance to learn and the solution of this conundrum walkthrough to be an optimum situation in which learning can take place. (Nohria & Khurana, 2010)
This conundrum can lead to far reaching consequences such as the fact that performance may be impacted as the team members have lost faith in their leader. Thus, productivity and team performance drops. Team members will not be motivated to put in more effort and in some cases they may even decide a leader that they have lost faith in. Moreover, team member development will also drop as people will no longer be encouraged to develop their skill sets and even work on growing their expertise. They will not be driven to explore their strengths, put more effort into their weak areas as well as set certain targets or stretch goals. A good leader is one who has the faith and support of the people and this will in turn lead to the team members being motivated to achieve more as well as develop. Therefore, this conundrum has to be solved while it still in its initial stage before total faith and respect is leadership. My leadership role hinges on this and thus, I need to go through the proper channels and the proper leaders need to be interviewed in order to find a proper and adequate solution to this leadership conundrum. (Rottmann, 2006)
Leaders I will interview include pastors in several local churches as well as the navy leader in my region. I selected the pastors because they are in charge of congregations made up of a large amount of intelligent civilians who chose to grow their faith under the guidance of a religious leader they deemed fit for service. As a leader I can get better by viewing his example as it is not an easy task to have the backing of churchgoers or the aptly titled “flock” with the pastor being the shepherd in this analogy. This will allow me to acquire more information regarding leadership and gain more insight into solving my conundrum. Such a role requires one to possess a considerable amount of charisma in order to win over others. (Carmeli, Gelbard, & Reiter-Palmon, 2013)
My selection of the navy leader is due to the fact that he was selected in order to get into such a position and this is due to the fact that he was able to get people to believe in him and back him as their leader. This is a reflection of his abilities as most of these selections are merit based. This great show of faith and belief from the people is an area in which I am currently lacking and inept in. However, it can be solved if I can understand his perspective as well as how he used his strengths and weaknesses to get elected and how he is able to still hold on to the people's trust.
These two individuals are also in different fields and their varying practical experiences will allow me to develop a wider arsenal of leadership skills. Their years of experience and vast wealth of knowledge will allow me to broaden my capacity as well as prepare me to step into new situations which will test my abilities and hone my skills further. This will allow me to successfully take on greater levels of leadership responsibility. (Eriksen, 2007)
The questions I will ask them are listed below.
· Can you mention someone who has had a huge impact on you as a leader? In what way and capacity did this person affect your life?
· How do you help a new member/stranger understand the culture of our organization or your motivations?
· What advice would you give someone who seeks to build support and faith in people?
· What core values do people respond to the most?
· In what way should one present himself/herself to the public in order to make a proper impression and allow for people to rally behind them?
· How does one maintain the support of others after it has already been acquired and how does one regain it when going through difficult situations?
· What are a few resources you would recommend to someone looking to gain insight into becoming a better leader who people can rally behind and support?
References
Carmeli, A., Gelbard, R., & Reiter-Palmon, R. (2013, January 24). Leadership, Creative Problem‐Solving Capacity, and Creative Performance: The Importance of Knowledge Sharing. Human Resource Management.
Eriksen, M. (2004, Summer). Developing the Ability of Proactive Reflection. Academic Exhange Quarterly.
Eriksen, M. (2007). Personal Leadership Conundrum. Journal of Management Education, 263-277.
Gorton, R., Alston, J., & Snowden, P. (2006). School Leadership and Administration: Important Concepts, Case Studies and Simulations. Open University Press.
Nohria, N., & Khurana, R. (2010). Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice. Harvard Business Press.
Rottmann, C. (2006). Queering educational leadership from the inside out. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1-20.