I have learned that leadership, like many other things, can be learned and developed as a person matures and accumulates personal and professional life experiences. Although leadership is not limited to those who have certain, innate traits, there are many different skills that can help a leader achieve success. These skills must be developed and fostered through organizational support and a personal desire by the leader to improve. A leader can gain these skills from learning from other leaders. A great deal of what makes a leader successful is the ability to recognize their weaknesses and to want to address those issues. For example, if a leader finds that they are too shy, and tend to lead more by execution and completing goals, it is imperative that the leader take steps to become more “social”, by doing things such as making a goal of speaking to two co-workers per day about non work related issues. Leadership is not exclusive to a certain set of people, but there must be a desire to become a better person and to recognize that there is always room for improvement to achieve success. If a leader wants to become better at what they will do, it can inspire their subordinates to want to do the same, which can make a workplace more dynamic and efficient.
The ability to assess situations is also important to a leader’s success because a leader’s ability to read other people is as important as understanding the organization’s mission and meeting its goals. This means that a leader should understand when a certain method or policy is not effective and know when to make a change. Leading is never easy, or a smooth process, so leaders must be prepared to adapt to an ever-changing environment. This preparation would include having an understanding of what employees respond to, as well as a clear vision of what goals need to be accomplished. In this sense, emotional and social intelligence is very important in reading the situations that can occur in the workplace because subordinates are the key measures of efficiency and success in the workplace.
These thoughts on leadership have helped me in understanding that although I am imperfect as a leader, there is still room to grow and that things will improve with experience as well as the desire to learn. In order to get better as a leader, it is important to take risks and make decisions that are out of my comfort zone. For me, I have tried to step out of my comfort zone by taking steps to get over my shyness, and these steps have helped me greatly in my path to success. One of the important things I have learned about leadership is that a leader must always be open to new ideas and strategies because what might work in one situation might not in a different situation. Learning how to adapt to situations will come in time, as I gain experience in different work environments.