Personal Narrative: My Leadership Style

In this paper I will speak of my leadership experiences as well as how my particular leadership style will continue to enhance and shape my role in the culture of the organization which I serve. Over the course of this class we have learned the skillsets (hard vs soft) as well as characteristics traits which make a great leader. Through the assignments, interactions with discussions boards, and group projects I have been able to determine what leadership theory I am best associated with. As discussed in chapter fourteen, the theory which best fits my leadership style is The Path-Goal Leadership Model. According to our textbook Management: A Practical Introduction by Angela Kinicki and Brian Williams, Robert House created and redevised this

situational approach to leadership “which holds that the effective leader makes available to followers desirable rewards in the workplace and increases their motivation by clarifying the paths, or behavior that will help them achieve those goals and providing them with support. (Kinicki & Williams pg. 459) Under this approach this ideal the leaders provides direct instructions and provides clear instructions for employees to be successful in daily task and responsibilities.
In our text, if gives a breakdown of The Path- Goal Leadership Model, and eight leadership styles that falls under this theory. The eight categories according to the text are “ path- goal clarifying, achievement oriented, work facilitation, supportive, interaction facilitation, group – oriented decision making, representation and networking, and value based” (Kinicki and Williams pg.460) This theory covers many aspects of leadership which are important to the constant changing needs of leadership management. The first leadership styles speaks of clearly stating goals and providing direct instructions on how those task can be completed successfully. The second style of leadership focuses on setting goals which challenge, which encourages employee excellence and pushing their abilities to become more confident in every task they manage. The third leadership style direct concerns how to assist employees with efficiently planning, and organizing their task, and also provides mentorship and feedback to assist employees with being confident in decision making process. The fourth leadership style primary function is to understand everyone is equals and should be treated as such which would be reflected in everyday interactions. The fifth leadership style works in conjunction with the fourth leadership style and promotes interaction and collaboration and teamwork. The sixth leadership style builds from the previous leadership style in regards to teamwork and collaboration and the decision making process. This promotes individual contributions in a group setting or group project, and everyone providing opinions and feedback. The seventh leadership style focuses on creating positive relationships in the workplace and across different departments by being present for company functions and current with changes in organizational leaders. The final leadership style focuses on displaying the vision and mission of the organization with every task and project completed.
Though there are eight leadership styles that fall under The Path- Goal Leadership Model, I can honestly state I have not mastered every form, however there are a few that I know I have implemented in my current position in my organization and there are a few which I plan to implement in my future leadership styles.

The leadership styles I have implemented and used in my current position are the following: path-goal clarifying, achievement oriented, work facilitation, supportive, and interaction facilitation. (Kinicki and Williams,

p.460)
In my current position, I practice this model of leadership by providing support and clear instructions to fellow colleagues for projects and task. In my current position I am a project specialist who focuses on implementing new clients as well as tracking and analyzing our system to confirm employee files with changes or updates are currently passed over to the vendor or carrier. With the position comes the responsibility of being a form of support to colleagues with assisting them with creating valid spreadsheet reports, creating stats for each month, and providing clear instructions to avoid errors in the work. I have created training guides, procedures and processes with detailed step by step instructions which include screenshots with the instructions. I have found in the past adding screenshot helps my colleagues more efficiently navigate the system, and know what things to look for. Additionally, when reviewing their work there seem to be fewer errors since they have a more detailed guideline of expectations and steps to complete task successfully. Furthermore, I find as a leader I have less individuals coming back with questions or concerns because they are able to quickly view the resources (guides I have created on SharePoint library system) and most times resolves concerns before having to reach out to me. Also as one of my responsibilities I am in charge of assisting with new hire training as helping employees under their task expectations and how to schedule their work accordingly to avoid any projects or assignments being missed. I also assist them with setting up goals in our review system and placing a step by step outline of how they can reach those goals.
Though I have gained much experience in this leadership model there are still aspects of the model which I can improve upon to become a great leader.

In the Harvard Business Review article, The Focused Leader by Daniel Goleman speaks of leaders who can use their “gut feeling” to draw more resources and make more accurate decision making resources. (Goleman, 2013) Now after reading this article the first time it did not seem as relevant to my own personal leadership as I thought it would be or to the model in mind. However, recognizing my own inner voice in leadership is imperative for me to provide such skills, encouragement and mentorship to other colleagues and boost give them the boost of confidence they may need. The article states “Executives who can effectively focus on others emerge as natural leader regardless of organization or social mark”, meaning once you can focus on what you know and be confident in your decision making process an natural leadership role will automatically progress. As a woman in the healthcare administration field, I rarely see woman in upper management or leading projects, or mergers. So it’s imperative for me to confident in my decisions and leadership making skills. Additionally the article speaks of the importance of building relationship and networking between different department and leaderships within in the organization. (Goleman, 2013) This is one area which could work on and building relationships with other leaders and creating a

overall networking opportunity with other leaders.