A511.2.3.RB_GowensBrianne_Reflecting on Leadership Traits

A511.2.3.RB_GowensBrianne

MSLD 511 MOD 2_A511.2.3.RB - Reflecting on Leadership Traits

One of the things I am looking forward to most over the next several weeks is better understanding my own leadership style. As a part of that investigation, I realize how important it is for me to acknowledge not only my strengths, but also my weaknesses. Stogdill (1948, 1974) explained that possessing certain leadership traits is only part of the equation (Northouse, 2016). The other part of the equation, suggested Stogdill (1948, 1974), is the situations in which a leader portrays those traits (Northouse, 2016).  I believe the foundation of my ability to lead is the possession of two main leadership traits: 1) determination, and 2) sociability. 

Persistence, initiative, and dominance are some of the key signs of a determined leader, and these are all qualities I feel comfortable owning in my leadership roles (Northouse, 2016). When I am given a challenging project or special assignment, I take it extremely personally and I will sacrifice a lot in order to complete the project. Recently I was given a leadership role for a special project within my organization and I knew it was going to be a real challenge because it was a project I knew very little about and it came with visibility from upper management. I worked a lot of un-paid overtime, sacrificed time at home with family, and even took a break from school when I was assigned this project because I was so determined to prove that I was the right person for the job. 

Determination is a leadership strength, but it has proven to be a weakness of mine as well. Sometimes I am so determined, to reach the outcome I envisioned in my mind, that I have a hard time switching directions and responding to change. I am very process driven and organized and I like to have a long-term strategy for any project i’m leading. This structured approach has helped me succeed on many projects, especially when i’m working with a team that needs a little extra direction. This structured approach has also hindered me as it really interrupts my focus and strategy if something does not go as I’ve planned.

Quite different from determination is the leadership trait of sociability. At first glance, sociability may seem like an easy trait to claim, but I don’t think that’s true. Having the ability to give good presentations or speak in front of executive management doesn’t necessarily mean you have good sociability. I have worked very hard to show sociability throughout my career, which has given me a reputation amongst my colleagues for having a friendly and open demeanor. Sociability is an important leadership trait because it helps facilitate a trusting relationship between a leader and his or her followers. Followers may be more likely to trust a leader with sociability because “they are sensitive to others’ needs and show concern for their well-being” (Northouse, 2016, p. 26). I work on sociability by taking time out of my day to visit with people about topics that are not necessarily work related. I also make a very conscious effort to make eye contact with everyone I pass in the hallway and greet them with a smile, even if the smile isn’t returned. 

Although I have identified two leadership traits that resinated with me while reading Northouse’s (2016) text, I realize there are several traits that I need to continue to build in order to make myself a better leader. I am looking forward to exploring these in more detail in the coming weeks.

References

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishing. 

MSLD 511 Module 1 - Two-Way Street

A511.1.3.RB - GowensBrianneL

In each of the readings this week, authors used the word influence to describe the relationship between a leader and his or her followers. Northouse (2016) described influence as the ability for a leader to affect the actions of the people around him. 

I have had the privilege of working with many great leaders during my career at two different companies, and a few of these leaders were even great managers as well. My current manager, Kate, is one of these leaders that has inspired people and influence them to work with her to accomplish organizational goals. Although Kate frequently influences me to work towards certain workplace initiatives, I believe I have influenced Kate as well.

Last year, I was assigned to work an integration project for an acquisition Boeing had completed. For the first six months of integration, I supported the acquired company with occasional phone calls and many, many emails. Travel was allowed very selectively in my group, but I knew that the only way I was going successfully meet the integration timeline would be holding a face to face meeting with the acquired company. 

In order to obtain the support of my leader to travel for a face to face meeting, I had to gather information about what could be accomplished face to face that had not yet been accomplished with phone and email meetings. To influence my leader to not only approve my travel, but also to support my onsite meeting agenda, I used a combination of expert power and information power (Northouse, 2016). With expert power, I explained details about the acquisition to my leader that that no one else in the organization knew. I had to prove to my leader that I was the expert on this integration activity and show that even the expert reaches a certain stage where phone calls and emails aren’t enough. I built a detailed PowerPoint presentation, which outlined everything that needed to be accomplished during the onsite meetings and painted a picture of what success would look like at the end of the week. Once I was able to prove to my leader that I had competence in the subject matter, she became open to hearing more about my request for travel.

Next, using information power, I reminded my leader of all of the open questions we had not yet gathered answers for about the acquired company. Although I had been working with the acquired company for nearly a year, there was a lot of missing information about the company’s customer base, contracting activity, and work environment. I advised my leader that the best way to obtain this information was by seeing for myself with an onsite meeting. In this case, the desire of my leader to answer the open questions provided the information power that I needed to influence her to support my travel plans.

Appropriate use of power was a key element in influencing my leader, but I also focused on aligning with my leader on our attitude towards reaching a goal that had started off as mine alone and influencing her in the process to change the way she the viewed what is “desirable, possible, and necessary” (Zaleznik, 1976). My goal was to complete integration of the acquisition so that I could move on to a new project and hopefully gain additional visibility in the organization. Kate’s goal was for me to complete integration of the acquisition because completing integration would expedite the company’s ability to grow revenue. Although our motivation for completing the goal was different, I was able to influence my leader to  support my travel because I gave her the confidence that supporting me would get us to a result that we both desired.

References

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishing. 

Zaleznik, A. (1977, May). Managers and leaders: Are they different? Harvard Review, 67-78.