Discussion 2: Your Leadership Profile Do you believe you have the traits to be an effective leader? Perhaps you are already in a supervisory role, but as has been discussed previously, appointment does not guarantee leadership skills. How can you evaluate your own leadership skills and behaviors? You can start by analyzing your performance in specific areas of leadership.

Discussion 2: Your Leadership Profile Do you believe you have the traits to be an effective leader? Perhaps you are already in a supervisory role, but as has been discussed previously, appointment does not guarantee leadership skills. How can you evaluate your own leadership skills and behaviors? You can start by analyzing your performance in specific areas of leadership.

What is leadership? Many people believe that leadership is simply being able to get individuals to work towards a common goal but leadership is more complex than that. Leadership can be defined in many ways. One definition of leadership is that it is how an individual utilizes influence over other people by inspiring, motivating and directing their activities to help contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the organization. Additionally, a leader is interpreted as someone who sets the direction to influence people to follow that direction and may possess certain characteristics and traits. There are also numerous theories about leadership or about carrying out the role of a leader. After taking this course and reading numerous articles on leadership I have formed a much clearer understanding of what leadership entails and how to become an effective leader in any organization.

It is only fitting that my first assignment while starting my road into leadership is one in which I am required to reflect on myself, my strengths, weaknesses and what that means for me as a leader. At the beginning of this course, I was instructed to use the CliftonStrengths assessment to obtain my top five themes or Strengths and I was quite surprised by how accurate the assessment was with identifying what I feel are my strengths. I have taken different personality quizzes and surveys before but this is the closest description of me so far. This encouraged me to look into the history of this survey and in doing so I learned that the Cliftonstrengths assessment was created by psychologist Donald Clifton to focus on areas where you have the greatest potential for building strengths. This positive approach to personal development is one of the reasons that many people go on to become great leaders. Through this assessment, I learned that my themes are Responsibility, Harmony, Analytical, Arranger and Input therefore to evaluate my leadership I must first reflect on what these themes and what they say about me.

Responsibility means being held accountable for what we think and do. It begins from the inside and moves outward. Only when we take responsibility for our thoughts, choices, and reactions, we can create circumstances within our world. Responsibility is understanding the impact you have on the lives of others. When I think about responsibility I think about committing to whatever it takes to complete a project, keeping the promises you make and being honest. When it comes to my leadership I feel as though this indicates that I have an intense dislike for unfinished work and feel the need to make it right whatever it takes until my commitment is met. I like to work with individuals who share my same determination to get things done and who deliver on their commitments. I think that experiencing the challenges of ownership helps contribute to your growth and development. Additionally, responsibility creates harmony in the workplace.

Harmonious alignment within an organization helps promote goals, vision, values, and purpose to ensure everyone working on the team is pulling in the same direction. Harmony helps makes positive changes, maximize potential and transform relationships. Responsibility and Harmony go hand and hand in an organization. When individuals don't take responsibility it causes discord and the inability for them to get along with each other. It is important to minimize conflict by not taking sides and making them aware of how things are. Emphasize what they have in common. When I think about Harmony I think about seeking peace, common ground and cooperation. When it comes to my leadership I feel as though this indicates that I seek to build a network of people with different perspectives and opinions. I like to resolve conflict without confrontation and to make everyone feel comfortable. I take an open door policy very seriously. I think that leaders must align people for all departments and all work positions for the best effect. It is important for leaders to create a space where people feel like their opinion are truly heard but this cannot be done unless there is harmony between the leaders and their workers.

Of the five themes resulting from my participation in this assessment, I would say Analytical is the most accurate theme for me. When I think of someone who is analytical I think deep and thoughtful. Assessing all of the elements before making a move. Someone who relies on reason to make a decision. Having all the facts is very important. They can think about all of the factors that might affect a situation. I know how to break problems into parts to see relationships or interdependencies. When it comes to my leadership I think that this indicates I am self-disciplined and have high standards of performance personally and professionally. I can systematically accomplish my plans and logically produce predictable results. I can be the voice of logic