I am a regular volunteer at our local church and was recently elected as the leader of the teen group. It was a group of teenagers from different backgrounds and cultures who devoted some of their holiday time to being involved in church activities such as sports, choir, and community activities. My main task as the leader was to ensure that these activities were carried out as planned and all the goals had been reached. I also buy pre-written articles that all members were on the same page and offered direction and guidance to the group members. My followers were members of the teen group and they were 20 in total, not including myself. They were similar to each other in that they were in the same age group and also all grew up in the church. This meant that they had similar worldviews and perceptions. My leadership experience was overwhelming in the beginning, but got easier as I got more experienced. This is in relation to the skills approach theory and transformational theory that suggest that being a good leader involves qualities that anyone can learn and also be a source of motivation. Being a strong and effective leader is a combination of personal traits and learning while on the job.
Skills approach theory suggests that the necessary traits for leadership can be acquired by anyone because results determine a good leader and not the personality. Knowledge and skills necessary for leadership can be acquired and used effectively to achieve goals. They can be categorized into human, technical, and conceptual skills. I demonstrated the human skills as well as the conceptual skill. When making decisions on how to carry out activities and setting schedules for choir practice or community activities, I was aware of the different types of people and what each person can be able to do well. This meant dividing the group into sections especially when there were coinciding activities. I selected members of each group carefully and was aware of those who could work together in a community setting. The choir members that I chose could be able to sing well in the church and also work together harmoniously. I also demonstrated conceptual skills where I made decisions and goals that were beneficial for the future of our group. This involves participating in national choir competitions and also volunteering with organizations such as the Red Cross. I often communicated these visions to my group and also ensured that all members were working together to achieve these goals. I did not demonstrate the technical skill of the skill theory approach. I did not have knowledge about the choir and how to make their singing better in church, and I appointed a choirmaster who had a degree in music. I also had no specific knowledge of what community organizations need to be efficient in terms of finances and networking. I was unable to get an organization to offer financial support that would have enabled the team to participate in community activities and donations, and I relied on the personal generosity of my followers. According to this theory, I was a good leader because I demonstrated the bulk of the traits that made a strong leader. I only struggled with one out of three leadership traits. However, I could have done more research on how to network with other organizations and also learned more about music and its technicalities.
Transformational leadership theory states that leaders go the extra mile to ensure that their followers achieve more than just the bare minimum. The leaders regularly promote their visions to motivate their followers to achieve goals at a high-performance level. The factors required for this theory are motivation skills, intellectual stimulation, influence, and individualized consideration. As a leader, I demonstrated inspiration and intellectual stimulation, idealized influence, and failed to demonstrate individual consideration. As a leader, I consistently reminded my followers of our vision as a group and how achieving it would set us apart from the crowd. I was energized every time I spoke about our vision and this transferred to them and they became as enthusiastic as I was. I demonstrated intellectual stimulation as I often had interactive segments where members would contribute their ideas more creatively. If the ideas they presented were more sensible and effective than my own or old ideas, I would quickly implement the new ideas and get rid of the old ones. In idealized influence, I was an example of the habits I encouraged such as enthusiasm and also kindness to each other. I often encouraged ethical behavior and also respect among every member and I treated all of them with kindness and respect. This in turn made my followers respect me and they aimed to mirror these traits. I sacrificed my holidays to arrange for community interactions and sometimes offered personal financial support to arrange for group transport. This was in cases where the personal contributions of the followers were not adequate for food, transport, and communal activities. However, I did not demonstrate individualized consideration and failed to offer rewards to the creative followers. I put all the followers under one category and did not offer any mentorship to those with different skills and talents. According to this theory, I was a good leader because I had the majority of the traits that make a transformational leader, even though not in the full realm. However, I could have been more of a mentor and offered rewards for outstanding follower performance, and also had a clearer vision that would motivate and inspire them more.
Conclusion
My leadership was effective and yielded good results. It was a combination of personal sacrifice, people skills, problem-solving, and motivating my followers. My strengths are people skills and intellectual stimulation. This means that I am aware of people’s behavior and set them up with tasks that promote this behavior. I am also good with mentally stimulating my followers and also motivating and inspiring them. This has in the past led them to go above and beyond to achieve goals and objectives. My weaknesses are technical skills and offering no appreciation for well-performers. I would excel in a situation where followers are lacking in morale and need their leader to inspire them. I would struggle in a situation that requires followers to be personally recognized and promoted or feel appreciated. I am trying to work on my technical skills for a position and I am trying to improve this by taking online courses related to organization and community work.
