Summative Reflection

In order to complete my Entrepreneurial Leadership Assignment Two, I completed a web-based

Blog, that was created using weebly.com. My blog page demonstrates self-audit material that has
been used in relation to Entrepreneurial Leadership capabilities. Following such material, three
smart leadership development targets were set to demonstrate pro-active self development,
through producing a record of such set learning activities.

By setting self development targets I was attempting to develop my leadership capabilities through
professional learning in order to improve my employability.

The targets I had set for myself were:

1) To gain the required managerial knowledge in order for me to be prepared for the interview
process once I have completed my degree.

2) To develop my skills proactively.

3) To understand and learn leadership skills and theories that can then be used to practise in the
physical working environment.

As defined by Kolb, Experiential Learning is a particular form of learning from life experience.
(Kolb, 2015:18)
With regards to developing my leadership capabilities, I have been able to successfully complete
set tasks (such at attending budgeting meetings) in order to understand the key responsibilities and
skills required to not just lead a workforce, but to also successfully promote a business. Also,
through shadowing the manager at my work placement, I have been able to understand the
importance of ensuring employees are content in the workplace and feel as if they can approach
you with any concerns regarding the work place. I feel that the use of reflection regarding my work
placement has allowed me to further develop the key leadership skills I have practised at my
placement to ensure that I use such factors in the future, when employed.

Also, through attending a Bentley Motors ltd networking event, I have successfully been able to
network with many entrepreneurs and directors to discuss the key skills in which they believe are
required to be an effective leader. Through discovering such information, I have learnt that I must
ensure I remain confident, and have passion for my work which shall maintain staff motivation.

Bonwell and Eison (1991, cited in Seel 2012:79) state that the characteristics of active learning
include more than talking, listening, writing and reading.

In relation to developing my skills proactively, I have been able to successfully improve by written
communication through completing the Writing Project (a programme provided by University) that
develops students writing skills.
The key importance of attending the Writing Project was to ensure that I could write in a formal
manner more effectively to ensure I can successfully communicate to employees/ potential
employers to a professional standard that shall be required with regards to my future prospects of
potentially becoming a manager. As such an opportunity was provided by the university, I believed
through active learning, attending such a course shall provide me with the necessary guidance to
achieve my target, by improving my written communication.

To also further develop my understanding of managerial capabilities, through practise of becoming

a Student Representative, I am provided with the responsibility to ensure that my peers feel
motivated and content within the faculty. If not, I provide the opportunity for peers to confide in me
to discuss subject concerns that I can forward to unit leaders in order to improve the student
experience.

Through researching Leadership Theories, I have been able to successfully research and analyse
multiple theories to determine which skills I must develop and which must be considered to
understand how to not just lead a work force, but to communicate effectively to employees.

Prior to completing my blog, I knew that if I were to be a leader, I wanted to be able to successfully
communicate to my workforce, regarding future projections that have been set by a company.

Following such communications, I have always wanted to ensure that in the future I can be a leader
where if any employee wishes to discuss an issue, they can openly.

Through independent research, I have been able to critically analyse many leadership styles (such
as autocratic and democratic) to determine which I feel would be most effective to use in practise.

As I have became aware of the importance of leadership styles (as read from Moynihan and Titley,
2001), I have determined for the future that I must adapt the characteristics of an Autocratic Leader,
to ensure that employees feel as if they are part of the decision making process, and ideas and
future targets can be discussed with the workforce, rather than me (being the manager), making
the decisions alone (as a Democratic Leader would).

By completing such activities set, I believe that this section within my blog has been successful, as
I have been able to develop my professional growth through physical practise and learning new key
theories.

Entrepreneurial Leadership is central to my personal growth (being capabilities and skills) and is
the prime factor of reflection. This is because, if I can successfully determine the key skills required
to become an effective leader and can fully understand the importance of leadership through
researching key theories, I can further adapt my skills to use in the future.
As stated by Gibbs (1998:15) ''It is not sufficient to simply have an experience in order to learn. By
this, without reflecting upon this experience, it may quickly be forgotten. Such feelings that emerge
from reflections can be generated. Such generalisations enable new situations to be effectively
tackled'.
'Experiential Learning involves a cyclical sequence of learning activities, which has six stages.
From such reflections it can be determined, if the situation arose again, what would you do?'
(Gibbs,1998:15)

Throughout my blog, I decided to use Gibbs reflective cycle throughout in order to fully understand
and further evaluate actions that I have taken to determine its success, and to also question if I
would have changed anything if the issue was to arise in the future.

Reflection is important for learning as suggested by Schon (1983, as cited in Heyler, 2015)
reflecting on achievements can empower an individual to make intelligent decisions about how
operate with their learning needs. Working towards becoming reflective enhances what a worker
can bring to their job role, as well as the development of their future career plans.

Through setting personal self development targets to improve my entrepreneurial leadership

capabilities, I have been able (through shadowing managers) to develop the skills managers use in
the work place, that I can adapt and practise in the future.
Also, through researching and critically analysing many leadership styles, I can now also compare
such theories within the physical working environment, as I have done at my work placement with
Willow Park Housing Trust.
Completing such analysis has demonstrated that i can successfully conduct active learning by
further reading theories following information discussed within lectures. By doing so, I have learnt
that I can not just study and critique leadership theories, but can also adapt such theories into a
physical working environment.

It was key to ensure I achieved my set objectives in order to fully understand the importance of
Entrepreneurial Leadership which would increase my professional growth by either developing or
discovering new skills, and understanding the importance of effective leadership, through
researching leadership theories.

In relation to Entrepreneurial Leadership, I have discovered that I have the sufficient

communication skills to interact with a vast range of audiences. This skill has been practiced
throughout the completion of my blog as I have networked with many professionals , entrepreneurs
and directors at Bentley Motors Ltd networking event I had attended.
I have also discussed with peers at University any concerns they have regarding their course as I
am a course representative. Following attending a course representative meeting, I was able to
provide feedback to peers. With regards to the feedback, in order to determine how well I
communicated with my peers, I asked many to complete a feedback survey to determine the
effectiveness of my communication and delivery.

The feedback demonstrated that I delivered the feedback effectively, and acted in a professional
manner. The lower scores from such feedback demonstrated that I must improve on my eye
contact when talking to peers. Such information shall ensure that for the future when talking to
individuals (for example at networking events) that I maintain eye contact when communicating.

Throughout the completion of my blog, I have also discovered that I am a proactive learner.
By this, I do not just attend university lectures and make notes regarding the units I attend, but
further, I research further theories through reading online articles and books to both critique and
support what I have learnt in lectures.
Such research I had analysed, as demonstrated in my blog was derived from a book by Moynihan
and Titley (2001), that demonstrated the range of Leadership Styles.

My personal future employability prospects are to become a manager. Therefore, through

completing courses such as The Writing Project, I have been able to develop my written
communication skills, to ensure that I can write in a formal manner, make sure I am aware of the
importance of using the correct formalities, punctuation and vocabulary.
By doing so, I have received a certificate in advanced writing that improves my written
communication.

To conclude, for the future, I wish to become a manager; Therefore, by completing objectives that I
have set throughout this blog, with regards to Entrepreneurial Leadership, I have been able to
develop my professional growth. By this, I have been able to not just learn about the importance of
leadership and key theories, but I have also been able to practise what I have learnt in adaptation
with key leadership skills that are used within my work placement.

As discussed in my blog, I have been approached by the South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce
to attend a six week internship. Once I have completed all of my assignments for the academic
year, I shall be attending my new placement. An objective I have set prior to attending my new
internship is to ensure I attend more networking events hosted by the Chamber. This is because I
feel that by attending further networking events, I shall become more confident when introducing
myself to professionals at such events.
The more confident I become, the more likely I shall approach more individuals at such events. I
could discuss leadership and what skills I have developed to determine if such professionals
believe that I need to improve on particular skills to become a more effective leader.

I believe that the overall experience in creating my blog was beneficial regarding my professional
growth.
I originally was unaware of the form of learner I was, however, throughout completing activities (in
relation to my development targets set), I had discovered that I was a proactive learner. By this, I
have further read into theories discussed in lectures to critically analyse the importance of
leadership theories. Also, I developed my current skills (by attending course representative
meetings, networking events, and the Writing Project), which allowed me to improve the
entrepreneurial skills I already demonstrate to increase my chances of employability for the future.

Prior to completing my blog, I felt anxious as I felt I had a vast amount of work to complete in order
to develop my Entrepreneurial Leadership capabilities.

However, I understood that by completing such work, I could develop current skills I demonstrate,
or even develop new skills for my professional growth.

Through setting self development targets, I became aware of what activities I could complete in
order to meet such set objectives.

By creating blog posts, I have been able to receive an internship opportunity with the Chamber of
Commerce. Such an opportunity occurred as I attended the Universitys CREWE week in which I
attended to develop my skills proactively.

In the future, when completing an assignment, I shall ensure that I manage my work in the same
manner as I had when completing my blog. By this, I broke down the large task into small,
achievable set targets in order to meet the deadline for my work.
time management was a key skill that I had developed when completing my blog. By developing
such a skill, I can tackle new (work related) issues through prioritising tasks to determine the time
that should be spend on each task to meet the greater objective.

In the future (as previously discussed), as I wish to become a manager, I believe that through
completing tasks set within my blog and skills I have developed, I am completing necessary tasks
and demonstrating the necessary leadership skills required to meet such an objective.

In order to meet my level of perception, I must continue to complete set work to a high, professional
standard to ensure that my grades are not tarnished.
I also believe that I must continue to attend multiple placement opportunities to understand and
analyse the various leadership skills demonstrated within various industries.