Brandon Su

12/9/14
Rec 321
Leadership Self Analysis Paper
Leadership is defined as a person who guides or directs a group.
In this paper I will be discussing five leadership theories that include
Authentic, Path goal, situational, team and skills theories. I will
summarize the main points to each leadership theory as well as the
self-assessment and self-analysis of each individual theory.
Summaries
The skills approach is a leader-center perspective that
emphasizes the competencies of leaders. According to Katz there is a
Three-Skilled Approach, which includes Technical, Human, Conceptual.
Technical skills is having knowledge about and being proficient in a
specific type of work or activity. Human skill is having knowledge about
and being able to work with people. Conceptual skill is the ability to do
the mental work of shaping meaning of organizational policy or issues.
Leaders need all three skills but skill ability and importance changes
based on level of management (More technical skill for supervisory
management and more conceptual skill for top management). In the
skills approach is says that leaders skills and abilities can be learned
and developed over time. The Skill based model explains individual
attributes and competencies, which turn into outcomes. These
outcomes include effective problem solving and performance. Skills

model perspective began in the early 1990's from researchers trying to

develop a theory for leadership based problem solving. The overall
point of the Skills approach is based on a leaders skills and abilities.
Situational leadership theory says that leaders must adapt
leadership style to the needs of employees. To be an effective leader
requires a person to adapt their styles depending on different
situations. To decide on which leadership style a leader should use, he
must get to know his staff, evaluate them and choose accordingly.
Situational leadership is split into 4 different styles: S1 high directivelow supportive, S2 high directive-high supportive, S3 high supportivelow directive, S4 low supportive-low directive. There are also
development levels which include D1 being not developed but high in
commitment, D2 some development but low in commitment, D3
moderate to high in development level but lack commitment and D4
high development and high motivation. For situational leadership to
work the leader must access the situation and apply whichever
leadership style he feels fits.
Path goal theory explains how leaders motivate subordinates to
accomplish designated goals. Path goal focuses on relationships
between leaders style, characteristics of subordinates and the work
environment. The basic idea of path goal theory is subordinates have a
path, which usually has an obstacle, or obstacles that come in between
them and their goal at the end of the path. Leadership defines goal,

clarifies the path, removes the obstacles and provides support for their
subordinates. Leadership behaviors, subordinate characteristics and
task characteristics lead to motivation, which in time leads to the goal
or productivity. Type of leadership behavior = different kind of impact
on subordinates motivation. The leadership behaviors discussed in this
chapter are directive, supportive, participative, achievement oriented.
Authentic leadership theory focuses on whether leadership is
genuine. There is an increasing interest in recent times due to social
upheavals. People are longing for trustworthy leaders. Authentic
leadership is based on self-concept and how self-concept relates to
actions according to Shamir and Eliam. Relies on the life-story of a
leader and followers need to affirm leaders legitimacy. According to
Avolio and Gardner in the chapter they say leadership can be nurtured
and develops over a lifetime, it can be triggered by major life events.
This theory says leaders and followers create leadership together.
Leaders need to obtain "buy in" from followers; leaders create change
when they adapt their message to the followers values. The "Authentic
action wheel" includes meaning, existence, resources, mission, power,
and structure. Some authentic leader characteristics are compassion,
passion, behavior, consistency, and connectedness. Some strengths of
this theory are it fulfills societies expressed need for trustworthy
leaderships; it fills a void in an uncertain world. Provides broad
guideless for those who want to become authentic leaders, both

practical and theoretical approaches provide a map. Some criticisms

are the theory is still in formative stages so concepts in the practice
approaches are not fully developed or substantiated.
Team leadership theory focuses on group leadership, group
dynamics, human relations and team-based leadership. This theory
focuses on the function of leadership to help the group accomplish
their goals. Observing and analyzing the group and taking necessary
action. A team leader is created to analyze factors that contribute to
the groups effectiveness. This model provides leader or designated
team member with a mental road map to help diagnose team problems
and take appropriate action to correct team problems. Leadership
behavior is seen as a team based problem solving. Hills Model for team
leadership shows a chart that explains leadership decisions works in
conjunction with team effectiveness. Both effect internal leadership
actions and external leadership actions.
Assessments
For the assessment for skills theory, there was a set of questions
you had to answer. Each question had a 1-5 answer (1 being not true,
and 5 being very true) once you finish answering the questions there is
a list of questions you add together. The sum of those questions lets
you know the score for each skill (technical, conceptual and human).
Once added, it tells you which leadership strengths are high and low
for you individually. After completing the evaluation my scores ended

up being high(24) in technical skills and moderate in both human(18)

and conceptual(17).
For the assessment at the end of the chapter of situation theory,
they give you 4 situations and you have to answer them accordingly.
There were 4 answers to each question of how you would handle each
situation in detail, you had to select one of them and then choose
which developmental level was used in each question. After answering
the questions and looking at the scoring interpretation, 3 of the 4
questions I answered matched.
For the assessment at the end of the chapter of Path Goal, there
were 20 questions you had to answer. Each question was a behavior
you had to answer; the answers were from 1 to 7 with 1 being never
and 7 being always. There is a scoring section that explains how to
sum up your answers. You have to reverse the scores of 4 questions,
and then sum of 5 questions each for Directive style, Supportive style,
Participative style, and Achievement-oriented style. Common scores
vary depending on the style. My results I got a high score (28) on
directive style, a common or medium score on supportive (30), an
above average score on participative (24) and a high score on
achievement-oriented style (28). According to this assessment I should
work on my supportive and participative leadership behaviors.
For the assessment of Authentic Leadership there was a
questionnaire at the end of the chapter. Each question contains items

about different dimensions of authentic leadership. The answers to

each question is from 1-5 (1 being strongly disagree and 5 being
strongly agree). After answering the question there is an answer key
that explains to add 4 questions for each category (self awareness,
internalized moral perspective, balanced processing and relationship
transparency) to get your answers. I scored high in self-awareness
(17), internal moral perspective (18) and balanced processing (16) ; I
scored low on relational transparency (13).
The self-assessment for team leadership at the end of the
chapter was a questionnaire about a team or group you have been on.
There was 13 questions you had to answers from a scale of 1 to 4 (1
being false, 2 being more false than true, 3 being more true than false,
4 being true) This assessment was different than the rest because the
scoring wasn't a point total instead this assessment gave you open
ended answers to discuss with your team members. For instance if a
score is false, your team can figure out a way to change it if need be. I
used my hockey team as the example when I completed the
assessment, from the assessment I noticed my team could use more
communication as well as accountability. A lot of my teammates are
afraid to speak up or to change things up.
Self Analysis
The skills theory I think is more realistic than the trait theory,
which is why I picked it. I think people can always learn and perfect

any skill or ability. I also think leaders are not "born" they can be
developed over time. The evaluation said I have high technical skills
and moderate human and conceptual so I maybe I should work on the
last 2. I work as a lead staff for parks and this theory made the most
sense when comparing it to my job compared to trait theory. All my
staff work on their skills and abilities during the year and I have seen
an improvement since they have been hired. After taking this
assessment I know what I need to work on to improve my skill and
abilities I already knew I was strong in the technical area but I must
continue to get better in everything else.
This theory allows leaders to get to know each staff member
individual to understand which leadership approach should be used for
each individual or situation. I feel this is very important in recreation, I
work in the field and think I use this theory not only for each staff but
also for participates. People are motivated in different ways and react
differently in every situation. It's good to get to know whom you are
working with to understand more about that person and what
motivates them. After taking the situation assessment I think it's a
good way to train you with questions like that and learning which
development level and approach would be the best result. Continuing
to move through my career path through management I think I will
continue and use this theory more and more.

Path goal theory as a leadership is most similar and realistic to

the leadership I use in life. Everything we do has a goal and usually has
an obstacle in the way. As leaders we have to find a way to get around
those obstacles as well as help our subordinates get around theirs as
well. This happens in recreation all the time whether its budget wise or
a problem that comes up running your activity/program. We must find
ways to adapt or solutions to problems that come up. After taking the
assessment I see that I need to work more on my supportive
leadership as well as participative leadership. I think I many be too
directive at times and want to try to make myself a better-rounded
recreation professional.
This theory is about how "real" a leader is. I think this theory is
really important because no one wants to not be authentic. It is much
easier to tell when a leader is being authentic and when a leader is
not. People tend to follow people who are authentic and real. This
theory explains people have the capacity to become authentic leaders,
it is a lifelong process and I agree with that. People can work on their
leadership skills as well as become more authentic as their life goes
on. My results on the assessment I got high scores on 3 of the 4, I
want to continue to work on all the categories but I got a low score on
relationship transparency. I think I could definitely be more open with
people, I sometimes keep my feelings in because I don't want to open

up and let people know how I am feeling, I need to work on that as well
as admitting mistakes I make.
Team leadership theory allows members to pick a leader and
then allow them to analyze the team and figure out what changes need
to be made. The leader should build relationships with members to
become more effective. Every team needs a leader. My assessment
test I used confirmed what I believed about the hockey team I am on. I
think team leadership is used a lot in recreation because recreation is
in close conjunction with sports. Almost every sport is a team sport in
recreation. When working in recreation for the City of Long Beach you
must be a leader for the sports team you coach, find ways for the team
to be more effective, and focus on weaknesses and strengths of team
members. Each group or team should have a goal they are trying to
accomplish and the leaders job is to observe and analyze the team and
take action to accomplish the goal at hand.
Overall Self-Analysis
When I take an overlook over all 5 of the analysis done, I
noticed that I got high scores in technical and human skills but lower in
conceptual. I think this has to do with the fact that I work with the
public in all my jobs and have deadlines, before this year I didnt have
much work with paperwork most of it was dealing with relationships,
coaching, and team building. I think overall the more experience I get
working on the paperwork and task side of recreation my overall skill

and leadership theory will continue to develop and I will become a

better all-around leader. I think everything I do is authentic; I try to be
as real as possible without going past the boundaries. A lot of my
supervisors have said I have an old school style to my leadership
because I will say what needs to be said even if people are afraid to
say it, especially at meetings, if something is not working I will speak
up and hold people accountable.
I scored high in supportive and directive, my first boss that hired
me was very directive, my boss now is very supportive so now as I
have been promoted I think I have taken a little bit of both and I try my
best to incorporate both styles into my leadership. I scored medium in
participative, I am not sure why this is, I feel like I do participate as
much as I can but maybe this can be something I can work on more. I
scored high on achievement-oriented style, I like to have a goal and I
like to know I have reached it. I have a lot of deadlines at school as
well as my 2 jobs and those dates help motivate me to do all my work.
I think this is a strength of mine, my supervisors have told me I work
well under pressure.
With new staff and volunteers I would say the assessments are
true because I am very directive, that is just the way I train I feel like it
is the fastest most efficient way to teach new staff or volunteers. Once
staffing is more in-depth with the program, staff, kids etc. I definitely
become more of a supportive style. I think it depends situation to

situation and staff to staff on how which leadership style you should
use, getting to know staff personally to know what works best is huge.
Comparing the chapters and assessments I would say I have a
strong authentic background; I always follow what is right and wrong
regardless of the situation. I have a strong moral and I like to teach my
children I coach or mentor to be the same way, it is a very important
trait to me. A lot of the kids I work with are from low-income areas so
teaching human morals is huge for me and is a huge part of my
leadership style.
I think my weaknesses looking overall are human conceptual, I
definitely need to work and get more experience on creating and
articulation a vision and strategic plan for my job. I have an outline but
sometimes I forget what the goal is because I am too focused on either
winning or another goal at hand. I dont have much experience in toplevel management jobs so hopefully I work on it before I graduate.
Another weakness of mine I noticed through the assessments was
relationship transparency. I hold my feelings in usually and used to be
afraid to admit mistakes, I have recently worked on that and I think I
am getting better but there is stillroom for improve. I have weakness in
trusting people, not only as a person but trusting people to finish work
that I may be in charge of, I like to be hands on but its hard for me to
let others do the work. I like to do work myself to know it is done
correctly; I need to learn to trust people more often. I originally worked

with only 2 other staff now at my new job I am working with 15+ so it
is an adjustment I have been making.
In conclusion I think any recreation professional should be
able to know all the theories as well as be able to tell their strengths
and weaknesses not only to use their strengths but also to continue to
work on their weakness as they continue their career goals. Skills,
authentic, path goal, situational and team theories all have their
strengths and weaknesses but I think all are relevant to the
professional and team field today. Everyone should work on their
leadership regardless of what they believe is the best theory. We are all
trying to become better leaders and these theory summaries as well as
assessments give you the tools you need.