Table of Contents

Introduction

Beginning

This paper will explore the introduction to a particular topic.

Clifton’s Strengths – Reflection

My own form of leadership.

Personal Strengths and Transformational Leadership

Personal Weaknesses Associated with Transformational Leaders

Recommendations to improve personal leadership effectiveness

Short-term SMART goals

Action Plan for SMART Goals Success

In conclusion

Introduction

This is an introduction to the topic.

To lead effectively, it is important to understand how to evaluate your own strengths. Motivation is key to achieving goals as a leader. Leadership styles can be adapted to fit a variety of strengths. Being an effective leader is easier if you know and use your formal leadership style. For most, using one’s strengths to lead comes naturally. To achieve results, weaknesses must be addressed. The purpose is to evaluate and explore my leadership style. To identify and assess weaknesses. And then set up timely goals as a leader.

Reflection of Clifton StrengthsAccordingly, the Clifton Strengths Assessment identifies five signature themes to help improve performance. Clifton Strengths is a test that I did a few months ago and also for this course. My results were quite different when I compared them. My emotional intelligence, professional experience and development have all contributed to the change in my strengths. My findings did not surprise me. In order of importance, command, focus, responsibility and input, my five top strengths are. I’ve always wanted to make a difference. Although I don’t know if this was by nature or a result of my early childhood, I wanted recognition for all that I had done. As a young wife, mother and business owner I flourished. By becoming a young nurse leader, I was able to use my independence and quickly climb the nursing career ladder. Recognition and achievement are very important to me. In my work, I appreciate being rewarded for my accomplishments. My professional life is very rewarding and I love working. I am happy that people like me and respect my work.

I have always taken charge. I am a natural leader. By the time I reached age 6, I had taken on a large amount of personal responsibility. I am confident in my ability to handle situations as an adult. I can control my reactions to things by using command. I have a tendency to make quick decisions. In the event of conflict, I will quickly address it to reach a swift resolution. I do this so I can continue on my journey without looking back. Honesty is a strong value for me. It is important to me that teams have clear expectations and goals, as well as a plan of action. Honesty has always been my top priority. I’ve been called bossy, but I always volunteer first and go all out. I believe that my word is everything. I take my responsibility very seriously. I’m the first one to get involved, but I can be very rigid when it comes to commitments or deadlines. I don’t accept excuses. I will not tolerate loose ends. If I want to accomplish something, I need to do it. Sometimes, I take on a lot of responsibility.

My life is very focused. I create lists and revisit them daily. This is something I do both at home and in the workplace. Always, I try to maximize my efficiency. I’m very proud of the way I manage my daily tasks and time. When I have no goal, I am not productive. I need to be constantly working toward something. I often steer clear of things that do not lead directly to my goals. The fifth strength identified is input. I am well-connected with a professional network and a life experience. Traveling to new places is fun. I ask many questions and am willing to take on challenges. These experiences help me to quickly establish personal connections with others. It’s a great networking tool and icebreaker. This technique makes me feel like I can connect with people. Understanding and exploring each of the five Clifton Strengths – significance, Command, Responsibility, Focus and Input – will help me develop my future leadership plan.

Personal Leadership styleThe definition of leadership which I find most compelling is that it is a dynamic process. It involves mobilizing to achieve extraordinary goals. Everything is always changing. For the company to remain relevant, it is important that goals, projects, and interests change. Teams must work together and be able to adapt to the bigger goals of an organization. This style of leadership has been associated with increased job satisfaction, reduced attrition as well as a stronger team. A transformational manager must motivate the team to achieve personal and professional goals that are aligned with those of the organization. Transitional leaders must motivate their team by gaining the acceptance and interest of employees.

My personal strengths and their relationship to Transformational LeadershipMy own strengths are directly related to Transformational Leadership. We will discuss three things: relationship building, self reflection and honesty. Relationship building is not easy. I take the time to get acquainted with my coworkers and let them know how much I value them. Rolfe believes that the key to transformational leadership is to acknowledge accomplishments and include people in decisions. Using Clifton’s input strength, I can use my experience of building relationships to help me get to understand people. By forming task-groups and committees, I am able to gain trust from individuals and motivate them towards organizational goals. It’s important to make people feel like they’re part of the decision-making and have an ear open to hearing their views (Rolfe).

Honesty has always been my top priority. Leaders have to make tough decisions in order to achieve the strategic plan of the organization, even if they are not the most popular decision among the team. Often, the decision is made for the benefit of the entire organization. Often, the impact can be negative for a group. In order to achieve the best results, you must work with your team in developing a plan. The leader should be open and honest with his team at this time (Rolfe 2001). By being open and honest, you will build trust and encourage collaboration. Team collaboration can be motivated by leader honesty when using the Transitional Leadership style.

Self-reflection, in the end, is a very powerful strength. Leader self-reflection helps me determine where I am in relation to goals and the strategic plan of an organization. Transformational Leaders visions need to be acknowledged and aligned within the organization. Being able to understand the reconciliation of my current position with that of the organisation will enable me to lead more effectively by using Transformational leadership style. This reconciliation can be used to reduce the difference between my strategic plan and the organization’s to guide the team to the larger organizational goals, not just my own.

With strengths come weaknesses. One of my weaknesses is being perceived to be bossy. Another one is taking on too much responsibility and a lack of structure. A transformational leader is not bossy. Being bossy, on the other hand, is an opposite weakness. Transformational leaders build teams and empower them to bring about change. They also encourage the team to grow in their professional development. Bossiness, however, can be destructive for the leader and his team. Bossiness is a bad thing for the organization. It can demotivate employees and reduce job satisfaction. Transformational leadership requires that you take command, but bossiness is not allowed.

Over-committing myself is something I know well. I am not good at saying no. Transformational leaders need to delegate in order to be successful. They must create teams that are committed to the organization’s goals. Shared leadership, in alignment with Transformational Leadership, is preferred. Micromanaging or controlling the staff will lead to their destruction (Kerfoot, 2013,). The group cannot contribute if you take control of all responsibilities or assume them without delegation. Team synergism can lead to great things. Lack of structure in the team is the third weakness. Kerfoot believes that teams are more successful when they have a structured team. A team structure allows for democratic planning and participation by a group that is close to a Transformational Leader. This is a Leadership Tree that includes both the Leaders and Groups who manage the Vision. Then, it reaches the whole team.

In the future, I will continue to improve my personal leadership effectiveness by implementing recommendations and taking action. The weaknesses discussed above: Bossiness and taking on too many responsibilities are destructive for the Transformational leadership effectiveness. Bossiness does not make me a good leader. To be a leader, I have to join the team. They have to consider me a team member. They must see me as a leader. I must share their values, concerns, and ideas.

Overloading yourself with responsibilities will result in fatigue and burnout. Delegating the work load is essential to improving my leadership effectiveness. It is important to balance work and personal life. I will feel less pressure and stress by enlisting individuals who are energized and accountable, as they work towards the organization’s goals. Leaders use team structures to avoid being overworked and highly efficient. Leaders that are overworked are unable to finish the most important tasks, which in turn affects team performance. It is important to organize and assign tasks in order to maximize team productivity.

Short-Term Smart GoalsSMART targets are measurable, specific, relevant, attainable, and tied to a deadline. I have set two short-term SMART targets to help me improve my ability as a leader. First, I want to build a structure for my team. This is an important piece of the puzzle for a Transformational Leadership Team to achieve organizational goals. By comparing the structure to other leadership structures in my organization, I will be able to measure its progress. This goal can be achieved because the tool will allow for the team members to delegate responsibilities and tasks that are aimed at achieving a shared goal. As a manager, the goal is relevant for me to set expectations about all roles in my team to help them achieve organizational unit goals. This goal will be achieved by October 1st.

Second SMART goal: I want to understand better the work flow of departments so that when I participate in changes within units, I will have advanced knowledge. For this to happen, I need to be with the team and familiarize myself with their processes. By ensuring that the charge nurses in the unit understand the new processes, I can measure the success of my training. This goal is achievable because I’ll spend several hours learning the processes. It is important for my role as Manager of Operation. This goal will be achieved by November 1st.

A team’s performance is largely determined by the structure of their team. I will go to my Director and ask for a copy the umbrella of our Department’s responsibilities. I will talk to her about the responsibilities and lay them out in a tier-based leadership tree, which cascades responsibilities through the chain. The levels will be Director, Manager and two clinical supervisors. There will also be four charge nurses, an educator, and two clinical supervisors. Once the structure has been created, I will meet with my team to inform them about the new structure. After that, I will monitor and implement. It is important that I understand the unit’s processes and can speak about them as a Manager of Operation. To understand the unit processes better, I will first shadow the charge nurse. Then I will work alongside the entire team until I feel confident and can clearly articulate the process. The team will work together with the leadership to ensure success. I will read policies, ask more questions and become familiarized with the unit’s culture.

Strengths are natural qualities. It is important to understand your own strengths in order to become a good leader. It is also important to understand innate weakness and how you can mitigate challenges associated with it. In my Transitional Leadership style, I focus on five Clifton strengths: importance, command and responsibility, input, and focus. To lead others, I am naturally drawn to honesty, self-reflection, and relationship building. In exploring my shortcomings, I learned that my biggest leadership challenge is being perceived by others as bossy. Other weaknesses include taking on excessive responsibilities and lacking a clear leadership structure. Then, based on these explorations of strengths and shortcomings, I’ll work towards two SMART (Short-Term Achievable Results) goals.

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