STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

What is your dominant Leadership style? What are your salient features which supports this leadership style? Describe your Leadership competencies.

I believe that I am a strategic leader. The reasons are as follows: Autonomy - I have always believed in autonomy. From childhood, I have always believed in freedom to do things my way. The best example for such a thought process would be that my father denied any financial assistance to me to buy a motorcycle. As I wanted one, I worked part time to get the necessary sum. For that I have worked in caf coffee day as well as online. After getting the money, I went on to buy the said motorcycle. My father was a bit displeased but proud that I went to get what I wanted even though I was a mere student then. Unemotional Decision Making In my opinion, a logical and rational approach is always the best way to arrive at conclusions. In doing so, in my opinion, the most sensible decisions are taken with an emotion free mind. If human emotions come to play, then the decision making process gets hampered by emotions like anger, malice, envy, love, hatred and subsequently, confusion follows. It is always wise to take decisions not influenced by emotions but by sound logical reasoning and rational thought process. Predictability In order to arrive at the said conclusion, one must have a set of data, information to forecast or predict the outcome of events. I always put an emphasis on the data and information at hand before making a decision. It always supplements the decision as well as points out any anomalies that might escape my notice. I have always planned a trip with taking traffic volume, time, weather conditions, road conditions, availability of fuels dumps and food and other such things which might become a problem and it has saved my skin a lot of times. Lack of Spontaneity It will be correct for me to say I am not a very spontaneous person. I do not come with bright ideas but have to think of the possible solutions at hand provided by other people. This is a big asset as many ideas which are deemed impossible, can be made possible by the use of correct strategies. Bluntness My advantage and sometimes disadvantage has always been the fact that I have always been open and straightforward in my thoughts, actions and speech. I believe that a clear mind and to the point statement always helps in solving a problem by half. Sometimes, this straightforwardness has been a liability to me. There are some incidents where such an attitude has got me into trouble. But then, it is always better to be aware of the things clearly then to be clouded by doubts. Clarity of thought always helps to narrow the objectives and clarity of speech communicates the necessary actions to be taken. But sometimes it is at the expense of someone getting hurt.

What are the negative aspects of your leadership style that you need to overcome so that you become a great leader?

I sometimes tend to believe that to get a job done it is up to you to complete it. This attitude has not been an asset to me many a times. Such a thing has lead me to take additional responsibilities which are not mine. I sometimes get the feeling that I could have done a better job at presenting the idea or topic if somebody else is delivering it. Hence, I should leave this attitude instead and learn from the mistakes of others as well as mine of what not to do. Sometimes my bluntness has affected the sentiments of others and often I had to apologise to them for being so straightforward at describing the situation. What I need to learn is to break the situation and control my speech to describe a situation while avoiding to hurt the sentiments of others.

Identify the dominant leadership styles of your parents with reasons why you have attributed these styles to them.

My father is a moral leader. He is a retired government servant and throughout his life he has always worked by the book. Sometimes he is a tough nut to crack. He has his own values and principles which are based both on morality and ethics. He has never compromised on his values in his work life or professional. He has always worked to improve himself and others and still after retiring, he has tried to improve the way of living. It would not be wrong to say that he has been a great influence in my life to become the person who I am. He has always focused on the details and Nitti gritty of the work. He has worked hard and laboriously to give us comfort and happiness. My mother on the other hand is a customer service leader. She has always been the positive thinker and motivator of the family. In a crowd, she is the interactive communicator who always encourages the silent ones to speak. She has always given personal attention to every little thing that was assigned to her. She is very energetic and even though she is getting a few grey hairs, she can still host a party for some 50 odd people at a very short notice.

After knowing your style and your parents styles, what can you do to improve your relationship and communication with them?

With my father, I have to be very honest and direct because he appreciates it. He always wants to know the details and to hide anything is only going to disappoint him. He values ethics and morality and so while taking a decision, I have to see that they do not violate any ethics and moral values. He appreciates reformation for the good and even though I may committed some mistake, it is best to own it up to him and reform for the good. He encourage neatness and order of things. My Mother on the other hand is a helper. All she needs is to be noticed and thanked for the many things has done. She always helps others and it would not be wrong to say she wants people to depend on her. It is always assuring to know that she has got your back.

Knowing your leadership style, what kind of a profession will make you happy and give reasons for your choice.

According to me, the best jobs suited for me would analytical jobs which have a lot of information as well as favors unemotional decision making capabilities. The best jobs suited for me are disaster management, decision maker for companies in troubled times, analysts and strategy formulation teams, be it finance or marketing. But the leader is a person who is known to mould and adjust to any conditions. Thats why they are leaders. So I guess, the best jobs are the ones where I get to work and effectively utilise my skill set for the better and improvement for both the organization and personal fields.