Self-assessment Results
I scored 55, which is considered an excellent. My greatest strengths (in which I scored highest) include the ability adapt to change; regulate my feelings effectively to avoid affecting productivity and performance; a focus on the broader objectives; and interested in planning the future. Further, I seem to have an affinity for learning what people require from me and helping them to be successful. I firmly believe that continuous learning and self-perfection is superior to acquiring new skills. However, I have average confidence in my ability to succeed and I tend not to expect too much of my colleagues. Similarly, it appears that I often get upset/worried in the workplace. While I did relatively well, I realize that 55 is still low given the highest score in this exercise is 95. Even most importantly, the broad nature of leadership as a concept and a practice means that there is so much to learn in order to be effective as a leader. I must work on perfecting areas in which I came short. Particularly, I am looking to get as much exposure as possible, by affording myself opportunities to practice my leadership skills.
Reflection
I have always fancied myself as a good leader, and prior to taking this test, I expected that I should post a perfect score, even though I was not quite sure of my unique traits. This test opened my eyes to this. I must admit that I was slightly surprised by the questions and even more, by the results. I thought I have always been self-confident and positive, and I knew these qualities should always help put myself out there. However, I was surprised by some of the qualities evidenced by the results, particularly emotional intelligence, my vision for the future, ability to motivate and model people to achieve the set goals. I never thought too much about emotional intelligence even though my past reading about it revealed that it is extremely critical to being an effective, and possibly good leader. My average score in this area made me feel slightly inadequate, and I thought this may contribute to low/average ability to model, support, stimulate, and inspire others to do achieve the set goals (even though the results did not say so). At some point I wondered whether the test that I took was accurate in assessing the said qualities, but then the scoring ranges, and the interpretations of the scores made me understand that being an effective or even a great leader is not necessarily equal to getting a perfect score. It is about understanding my strengths and leveraging them to achieve my goals, while at once improving on my weaknesses.
Strengths and Opportunities
According to the test, my strongest leadership qualities include self-confidence, a positive attitude to issues, ability to offer a compelling vision for the future, and motivate others to achieve set goals. In all these areas, I scored above average. I also have acceptably high emotional intelligence, and thus I should find it relatively easy to help set goals (vision) and motivate/model others to work towards the fulfillment of the same. Other than getting the best of people, the fact that I am a positive person means that I have a strong and realistic understanding of challenges such that they never distract me from pursuing the set goals. I should always be able to make the best of uncomfortable situations. The areas, in which I came short, also represent the best opportunities for me to become an even better leader. These include the effective management of performance, provision of support/stimulation, and emotional intelligence. While my performance in these areas was acceptable, I feel these areas are overly important for me as a leader and indeed for any other leader. As I have indicated above, while all these qualities are critical, I think none is more so than emotional intelligence. According to Goleman (2009), emotional intelligence (self-regulation, social skills, empathy, motivation, empathy and self-awaress) is a tool that allows a leader to create and leverage power over other people. Effectively, by enhancing my emotional intelligence, I should be able to fashion psychological contracts with other people, which I can then use, to support out shared interests.
Becoming an Effective Leader
This test confirmed my belief that leadership is acquired, and that I, like anyone else, can become a great leader. The simple questions and their implications on varied leadership qualities had the effect of demystifying leadership from being a function of fabled qualities like charisma, vision, courage, and other traits. Instead, it has not only shown me that I can build leadership abilities brick-by-brick, but also, highlighted the areas that I need to improve in. Effectively, rather than trying to better myself by trying to improve on everything, as I have often tried, and predictably ended up focusing on areas that I am already strong in, I now have clear targets. The test has also helped me appreciate the fact that leadership is both broad and diverse with so many to learn, which is why continuous learning and self-improvement are critical to becoming a great leader.
References
Goleman, D. (2009). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Boston: A&C Black.
Mind Tools Ltd. (2016). How Good are your Leadership Skills? Retrieved Jan 20, 2016
