Running Head: STUDY OF PERSONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE

Study of personal leadership style

Manoj Desai
western governors university

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Study of Personal Leadership style

A1.Seven Habits Profile

A1a. Reflection on Seven Habits Profile
Category 1-Emotional bank account
As we know this category is compared to our bank deposits. In other words like our bank
deposits, deposits of trust help get over issues like miscommunication etc. we may face in our
dealings with others. Trust built with others over a period of time act like bank deposits which
act like cushion.
There are some ways a trust can be built Kindness and consideration for others, keeping
commitments and Personal integrity.
Looking at the score I am reasonably good in showing empathy towards my colleagues and I am
good in honoring commitments. But there is some improvement to be done to improve upon
personal integrity levels.
Category 2-Work Life balance
I give due importance to both work and personal life and keep a nice balance between the two.
Vacations are planned taking into account the school calendar and also activities are put on
calendar for childrens sports.
Category 3 Be Proactive Effective leaders are those who rather than reacting to external forces make decisions to bring
out change things that will improve things. Being proactive means assessing the situation and
developing a positive response for it. I am aware of this quality and act accordingly. I try to break
down the problem in various components first and then categorize them into components under
my control and those out of my control. Obviously those problem components that are within my
grasp I chart a course of action. For the components that are out of my reach I try to figure out
who can best address the problem and chart further course of action.
Category 4 Begin with end in mind
This is also related to the next category and also explained it there. It all boils down to having a
clear understanding of the end objective of the task in hand. This means having a clear focus of
things to accomplish. This further gives clarity on having an action plan. As also elaborated
further in the next point I prioritize my work and focus on what needs to be done first. This I can
do only after I have a clear vision of the end result.
Category 5 Put first things first-

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Apart from being proactive it is necessary to prioritize your tasks. This way we can focus better
and achieve great results. Every week broadly I classify which activities should be completed
first and cant wait and which activities can be taken later. This is kind of ABC classification of
activities A being the topmost important activity and C being the lowest priority. This helps in
time management.
Category 6 Think win-win
It means an endeavor to arrive at agreements which are beneficial to all and mutually satisfying.
The concept is simple that it is difficult to buy support for an agreement unless all the parties to
the agreement find something beneficial in it. I have observed that both in personal work
situations I try to resolve conflicts by bringing the parties to the table and getting them to agree
on most common points. It is not easy and there are situations where I find that I should celebrate
success of other teams/team members.
Category 7 Seek first to understand
This is part of good communication habit. It essentially means couple of things be a very good
listener first and secondly try to understand the problem or situation first before arriving at the
conclusion. As sometimes we have preconceived notion or ideas and that generally prevent us
from arriving at the correct diagnosis. I have over a period of time developed patience and
evolved to be a good listener and try to look at things from other persons perspective as well.
This also helps as well in effective interpersonal relations.
Category 8 Synergize
It simply means that if we pull together efforts of the team in one direction then we achieve
better results.
By setting regular personal and group meetings I strive to have regular interaction with the team
and encourage them to express their opinions. I have however observed that I need to do more on
this. Setting up meetings across the multiple teams and also setting one on one with team
members will make me understand more of my team members. In typical I.T project which
involves teams from multiple disciplines it becomes more important to harmonize and iron out
any miscommunications.
Category 9 Sharpen the saw
It is how much you invest in your wellbeing and your relationship with others. Although I do
invest some time in to look after my physical habits eating, sleeping and exercising. A lot needs
to be done as I find myself inconsistent in my behavior. I do take time outs to spend quality time
with family and friends.

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A2a. Personal leadership strength

For evaluation of both strength and weaknesses I am going to use Situational Leadership as
scholarly leadership theory.
Brief overview of Situational Leadership Theory The main point of Situational leadership
theory is that leader should adapt his leadership style based on the situation. The theory
introduces a variable factor called follower readiness that has influence in the leadership style. In
other words each follower has a different level of readiness and that in turn depends primarily on
2 factors Willingness ( level of confidence, motivation etc.) and ability ( technical competence
or ability.
According to Hersey and Blanchard who are proponents of Situational model, 4 leadership styles
can be developed

Directing style When followers have low confidence and have low ability
Coaching style When followers have high confidence but are low on ability
Supporting style When followers are low on confidence but moderate on ability
Entrusting style When followers are high both on confidence and ability

Strengths flexible approach/ability to delegate

http://yscouts.com/10-situational-leadership-characteristics/
Flexibility- One of the important characteristics of situational leadership theory is that there is no
single best type of leadership. In order to be successful leader one has to adapt his style
depending upon the organizational values and also on maturity of followers. In other words
flexibility is the key characteristics of Situational leadership theory.
Following example shows how much flexibility I demonstrate in my approach at work place:
1. Some team members in the team I am leading are short on job experience. In their case I
devote more time with them explaining how to do the job. Directions are very detailed in
this case.
2. Some team members who are well experienced in the job I give a broad outline and step
back to allow them to perform the tasks.
3. A more case to case approach is adapted in solving the problem

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Participating
The situational leader may encourage a team to become more independent and delegate more and
more of routine decisions. Although more complex decisions are still handled by the leader there
is increasing participation of followers in decision making process.
1. I take inputs from my team leads in performance improvement measure.
2. Goal setting for various teams is also collaborative exercise so that goals are more
tenable.
Directive
Situational leadership is more inclined towards directing in certain cases where followers are
not properly skilled or trained.
My work instructions are quite detailed in cases of new recruits or members who dont have
relevant job experience. The instructions are quite detailed enough about how the task to be
performed, steps to undertake if things dont go exactly as planned etc. Meetings are quite
regular with such members and tasks are monitored regularly.
Courage
Another attribute of situational leadership is courage. This is because unlike most other
leadership styles Situational leadership styles emphasizes flexibility in approach. This requires
courage.
Many times I had to change my approach towards my team handling. There have been instances
where I mistakenly gave too little attention to a project resulting some missed deadlines. This
lead me to think that I need to change my style and be more assertive and directive in my
approach. This was not easy as the team members were not prepared for being
directed/supervised.

A2b.Weaknesses
http://engineering.ucsb.edu/~tacy/capstone/leadership/my_leadership_style.pdf
Dependence upon judgment
Situational leadership requires making judgment on the task knowledge of followers and human
behavior assessment. In order to adapt leadership style first we need to have correct
understanding of the situation. For this we have to make some judgment calls. And his may not
be accurate all the time. Both over and underestimation can be detrimental in achieving goals.

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There are situations where I had overestimated ability of the team members and delegated too
much responsibility to the team resulting in some wrong decisions and project overruns.
Over delegation
Situational leadership requires the leader to adjust his leadership style according to the situation
both of the followers and organization. This requires exercising correct decision on delegation of
authority to the team. Delegation is useful in cases where the followers have attained a level of
technical expertise and maturity.
In some circumstances I had overestimated the capability of the team resulting in over delegation
of the authority to the team. Over delegation coupled with limited monitoring resulted into
project overruns.
Short term view
One weakness observed in situational leadership is that it requires leader to constantly adjust his
leadership style according to the needs of the situation. This requires leader to be focused on
short term goals and sometimes that may lead to inconsistency and lack of trust in leadership.
With many projects that I need to lead from time to time involving many team members I
constantly need to shuffle in my approach to the team. The adjustment process is painful at times
and confusing as well. Sometimes faced with lack of adequate data I end up making decisions
based on the spot and not based on any long term approach.

A2c.Recommendations
Example of Situational Leadership theory
Situational Leadership theory
The main difference between situational leadership theory and other leadership theories is that
while other theories focus more on what a leader should do and shouldnt do, the situational
leader adds the dimension of the followers which the leader is trying to influence. In other words
followers are also very crucial in the success of leadership. The situational leadership advocates
that a leader has to change his style based upon the situation of the group or organization he is
leading. Situational theory demands leader to be flexible. Different approaches are possible
within situational leadership theory and essentially we need to have knowledge of the situation to
choose the right mix.
Here are some recommendations for my leadership style based on Situational Leadership theory.

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Use more authority

Situational theory demands the leader to be flexible in approach and not have a fixed leadership
style. What it implies is that it is important to exercise more authority in certain type of
situations. In those cases it doesnt help to leave the matters in the hands of team members. This
is necessary in some situations where the project or group you are leading is going aimlessly.
That could be because of lack of experience of the team members or change of situation. In those
circumstances I need to use more authority sometimes to clearly define roles and responsibilities
of each team member and also clearly lay down objectives.
More coaching to team members
In some situations it is absolutely necessary to act as a coach to team members. I have observed
that not all team members have same level of technical skills and competencies. In such cases I
have to work closely with such team members and need to get involved more in their execution
of work. Also regularly monitoring the activities becomes important and so also giving regular
feedbacks.
More delegation
As opposed to coaching in this case where I have seen the team members have high level of
skills and well experienced for the tasks they are assigned to, I need to delegate more authority of
decision making to the team. With less involvement in their tasks frees up more time that can be
utilized in other activities.

A2d. SMART Goals

Effective DelegatorOne of the immediate short term goal I have zeroed upon is to be an effective delegator within
next 3 months. Delegation is an extremely important tool at the disposal of a leader that helps
free up time and allows him to focus on other key activities and ultimately help him empowering
his team.

Identify 3 projects I will be leading where I can practice delegation skills. To complete
this task in one week.
List out all the activities within my scope in next 3 weeks.
Identify and list out team members who will be assigned to these projects. Make a skill
matrix of the team members. This task is targeted to be finished in next 2 weeks.
In next 4 weeks assign the activities to the team members depending upon the skill level
of the team member and complexity of the activity. Establish clearly the results expected
under each task and communicate it to the team members.

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Identify and arrange for training where necessary to the team members.
Establish monitoring mechanism set up team meetings, 1:1 meetings.

Effective Communicator
My second important goal is to become effective communicator and especially develop and
improve upon public speaking skills in next 6 months. This is especially important as it will
improve upon my overall communication skills as I am more and more required to address larger
teams.
I have following strategy to achieve this goal. I am planning to give 4 presentations in the next 6
months. The preparation for the presentations will involve following important steps:

Identify the key topics and information that I am going to present. The information
obviously should be relevant to the members in the audience. This exercise must be
finished in 4 weeks.
Create presentations on the topics identified in step above within next 4 weeks of the
completion of step above.
Deliver the presentations to the team members 1 each in next 4 months.

A2di. Specific ActionsRecommendations for effective delegation - I will recommend following 2 actions for
achieving desired results under Effective delegation.
1. Identify the task and identify the person
Before we begin the process of delegation following key questions need to be addressed.
Which tasks need to be assigned
To whom it should be assigned
How much need to be assigned
When to be assigned
Task complexity and skill level of the person and also availability of the resource play important
role in task assignment. Following thumb rules will be applied in task allocation. Team members
with lesser experience and technical capabilities will be assigned simpler repetitive tasks. Such
tasks require less monitoring and hence can be assigned to a team member who has lesser
experience. A more complex task can be given to experienced team members. As said before
both availability and capacity of the resource have an impact on the delegation.
2. Clearly lay down outcome and duration of each task and make sure they are communicated
clearly to the team members. Impact of missing the deadlines is also need to be informed.At
this stage training needs if any need to be identified and addressed.

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3. Set up monitoring mechanism to review the work. This can be in the form of team meetings,
one on ones with team members and reports.

Recommendation for effective communication - I will recommend following actions for

achieving desired results under effective communication.
1. Identify the content to be communicated and to whom it to be communicated. Knowing
your target audience is very important as that have a huge bearing on what is to be
communicated e.g Information details provided in meeting with top management will be
different than the information provided to the staff members.
2. Mode of communication- Different means of communication can be used depending upon
circumstances. It can be in the form of formal memo to some staff and in some cases an
informal tweet can work as well.
3. Timing and frequency Timing of the information should be kept in mind.It is important to
lay down how many times information should be shared with team. Too many meetings and
email can result in information overload and also dilution of the message. It is necessary to
keep meetings brief and to the point. Also important to keep focus on the agenda and not let
the meeting wayward on side discussions.
A2e.
In the book Leadership theory and practice Peter Northouse explains situational leadership
theory and its influence on different leadership styles. Depending upon the nature of the situation
type our leadership style should vary. It also means that for a leader to be effective he needs to
adapt his leadership style based on the situation. A leader can be both directive and supportive
depending on the situation. This in turn is dependent on competency level of the followers and
their commitment levels. If the followers or the team you are leading have a high level of
technical skill set and highly committed then a more hands off approach can be used.
I typically lead multiple teams on different projects of different complexities. The team
comprises of some members with high technical skills and experience while other team members
are relatively new to both the organization and the task in particular. Also the team members
have different set of expectations and motivation levels. I have to adjust my leadership style
(coaching to directing to participating) based on different set of team members I am addressing.

In Situational leadership, Perception and impact of Power Paul Hersey and K.Blanchard
and Natemeyer have pointed out The keys to situational leadership are to accurately assess the
maturity of the follower and to model behavior appropriately. They advocate four leadership
styles- Telling or directing (S1) is for low maturity, selling or coaching (S2) is for low to

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moderate maturity, Participating (S3) is for moderate to high maturity and Delegating (S4) is for
high maturity. The leader needs to evaluate the job maturity (ability of the employee) and
psychological maturity (motivation) and tailor leadership style accordingly.
Following levels of job and psychological maturity are pointed out M1 (low ability and low
motivation), M2 (low skills and high motivation), M3 (high technical skills but low confidence)
and finally M4 (high skills and high motivation levels).
Accordingly they advocate S1 style for M1, S2 for M2, S3 for M3 and S4 type for M4.
Accordingly the teams I lead have mixed bag of people. Some team members who are relatively
new to the team and to the organization need a bit of handholding initially and they need to be
given a clear set of instructions. The situation theory requires leader to make a judgment on the
skillset and the motivation levels of the team he is leading to. I have observed that in some cases
in the past I made error in judgment. This resulted in overestimation of the capacity of the team
resulting in over delegation. I had to take corrective action and become more involved with the
activities on regular basis. There was close monitoring of the activities. In other words I had to
adapt my leadership style to more Directive style.
In Situational Leadership Theory: An Examinationof a Prescriptive Theory Robert
Vechchio touches issues surrounding testing of Situational leadership theory. One such issue is
the topic of individual versus the group. Vechchio mentions that Hersey and Blanchard also
recognized that when one relates to an entire group (e.g., a teacher speaking to a class of
students), it is the maturity level of the group that is important. He stresses that leader should
behave differently with individual group members than when he interacts with the group as a
whole.
In some complex projects I have lead I have observed that although it has mix of team members
with varying levels of maturity the group as a whole demonstrates a very good sense of maturity
and understanding. Part because there has been good interaction within the team and good
mentoring. This helps my job of managing such a team a lot easier as senior team members of
the team do all the explaining to the junior team members. I can in such a situation apply
Participating leadership style by taking inputs from the senior members into making project
plans.

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B. Sources

Northouse, P. (2004). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed., p. 93). Thousand Oaks,
Calif.: Sage.
Hersey, P., Blanchard, K., & Natemeyer, W. (1979). Situational Leadership, Perception, and
the Impact of Power. Group & Organization Management, 418-428.
Vecchio, R. (2007). Leadership: Understanding the dynamics of power and influence in
organizations (2nd ed., pp. 444-450). Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.

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