The results of the assessment show that the strategies I would
tend to employ in the various situations fall into the S3 category. Over half of my responses showed that I have
a high people focus and a low goal focus (Obolensky, 2014). In my case, I have a tendency to trust those
who are under my command and offer only limited support. I prefer to allow my followers to find the
solutions on their own (Obolensky,
2014). The results of this
assessment have allowed me to examine my own leadership style and behavior and
also see how this perspective has changed during the course of this class.
Over the past six weeks my thinking has changed as I have become
more conscious of my own leadership styles and the strategies that I would
employ. The difficulty in honing more
complex adaptive leadership qualities is that I have never been in a leadership
position. I can say that my innate
behavior leans towards more polyarchical leadership since I prefer to allow
those who surround me to have autonomy. In
my day to day interactions with family and friends, I prefer to allow others
the opportunity to offer solutions. With
that said, the fact that my assessment reflected the use of more S3 strategies,
it clearly points out that I still have some need to control the situation. Reflecting on the assessment, I can admit to
having a need to be in control, especially in situations that directly affect
me. I may allow others the autonomy to
discover solutions but not without me looking over their shoulders to make sure
it is the correct solution. I attribute this
to my own insecurities and the fear of making mistakes. It is less about lack of trust and more about
fear of failure. If anything, the
assessment has opened my eyes to the need to check my own behaviors and fears
and learn to avoid the risk of influencing my leadership styles with my own
fears of failure.
The significance of this in my own future leadership goals is the
understanding that I need to change my behaviors and perspectives if I would
like to exert strategies that fall more into the S4 category, which is
considered the best strategy for leaders (Obolensky, 2014). In order to find the “Wu-Wei” that Obolensky (2014)
speaks of, there should be a balance between management and leadership. As a manager you are keeping an eye out and
as a leader you are offering support. It
is a delicate balance that needs to be struck to practice Complex Adaptive
Leadership (Obolensky, 2014). Heifetz and Laurie (1997) explain that “adaptive
work is required when our deeply held beliefs are challenged” (p. 124). In my case, there needs to be a conscious
shift in my own behaviors and also how I react to my environment. My own fear of failure blinds me to the pool
of resources that are available to me by those around me, whether it be family,
friends, colleagues, boss, etc. The key
is to use the “collective intelligence” (p. 124) as a ways to finding solutions (Heifetz & Laurie, 1997).
The results of the assessment also helped me to re-evaluate my
expectations in a leadership role. The
need to prove myself sometimes blinds me to the expectations others have of me.
I project my own expectations of myself
on others and therefore try to exert more control. The realization of this helps me to remember
that I need to focus on discovering the objectives of the task at hand and the
realistic expectations to make that happen. Sometimes getting caught in the need to
succeed, I lose focus on why I am doing the job in the first place. I have a clearer perspective of my leadership goals. By changing certain aspects of my behavior and
setting clear goals and expectations for myself will hopefully assist me in
moving towards the practice of complex adaptive leadership.
References
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