I enjoyed to have questionnaires to assess my trait and style of leadership.
The results I obtain are not surprising very much, but it is interesting to break the each traits which we need for leadership into numerous data and view myself characters objectively. To my surprise, the evaluation from others and myself still has the almost same trend.
According to Northhouse ( Northouse, P. G. ,2019) is some of the most important traits for a leader is intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability. I have believed self-confidence and determination which are the weakest for me are more important among these traits, which I believe my most weakest points as a leader. In fact, the questionnaires, it revealed that my two weakest points are self-confidence and determination. And different from the samples, my overall of self-rating is much lower than any other people’s rating.
However at the same time, the questionnaires show consistently my strength is building relationship with people. I noticed I am very sensitive my and other people’s emotion. I think it relates with my personal trait that I am not a confident person which I thought my weakness. I feel interesting that my weakest traits as a leadership strengthen my emotional intelligence at the same time, which is stated to be the most effective traits in leadership. I have been struggling to build my self-confidence but now I think because I am not confident, I am good at responding and supporting other people, and in my reflection, I was good at team management with my high supportive leadership style.
Through these questionnaires, it revealed I am imbalance as a leader in terms of skills approach and behavioral approach. I would improve my self-confidence and determination to gain more conceptual skill,task-oriented behavior for being a better leader.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hiromi,
I appreciate your thoughtful self-reflection on your strengths in emotional intelligence and the areas where you want to grow, such as self-confidence. Ideally, knowing you have strong abilities in relationships building, empathy, and emotional support of others will contribute to your self-confidence. Do you see many examples of leaders who demonstrate the emotional intelligence that is your strength?
For example, I find Brene Brown is a model for me, as she has focused her scholarly research on vulnerability and authenticity in leadership — two aspects of leadership that are often neglected in the scholarly research but align clearly with my values. I am so grateful to her for leading the way in showing there is space within academic research to explore these concepts — and that there is a hunger in the world for leaders who demonstrate authenticity and create spaces where they belong.
Here’s to you and your emergence as a leader as you realize that the strengths you have in emotional intelligence are important qualities in a leader!
— Leadership Prof