Leadership and Organizational Development

Introduction to Portfolio: Leadership Theory and Development

This portfolio showcases my development both as a leader and also someone learning about leadership. It contains documents such as my personal philosophy of leadership, my resume, and my personal development, spirituality, and growth as a leader. As well as discussing my personal concept of leadership, it also examines how organizational development, change theory, humor, and the importance of communication within organizations are linked to leadership development.

A variety of leadership theories, including older theories such as systems theories and more recent theories, such as five colors of change theory, are described as part of my journey to better understand leadership theories and to better understand how my personal philosophy can be adapted from these traditional constructs. As well understanding how to apply these theories on a practical basis, the portfolio also examines the spiritual dimension of leadership, and tries to understand how it is essential to developing as a leader. The role of wisdom in leadership is also a critical element of spiritual development, which the portfolio strives to link as part of my journey. Leadership is ultimately “a responsibility of the many, not a privilege of the few,” “collective pursuit of delivering on purpose,” (Todnem, 2021, par.1).

As well as my journey in leadership, the book also discusses my journey in followership, a critical dimension of leadership. Followership means knowing when to critique leadership directives and offering guidance from a subordinate position, when necessary, as well as following the leader when the leader is guiding from a position of strength. “Leaders can inculcate confidence by integrating diverse views and listening; supporting skillful conversations through dialogue and helping others assess their influence and expertise” (Khoshhal & Guraya, 2016, par.3) The portfolio concludes with a peer-reviewed presentation from the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Virtual Summit on humor. My focus on humor in this document underlines the need for leadership having dimensions beyond technical competence and the need for communication and connection between leaders and followers, particularly in the diverse cultural environment all businesses are operating within today. The presentation specifically focuses on transformational leadership, a leadership philosophy founded upon motivating followers with a sense of vision, purpose, clarity, and togetherness that transcends the follower’s immediate, transactional needs.

Humor can be a component of bringing people together in a transformational approach, given it offers a common source of connection between followers, as well as creates a sense of goodwill, fellowship, and makes the workplace a more pleasant and engaging environment. Completing this presentation was very valuable in enabling me to find evidence-based literature to establish what I have always known intuitively, namely that leaders must have a good sense of humor to be relatable to followers.

The expectation of the case study proposed for further research was that humor would foster greater cohesiveness in the workplace, and be a positive force of facilitating greater tolerance of diversity and equity. Structuring a prospective research study was very useful for me in better understanding how theory and practical applications are useful in furthering my understanding of leadership concepts.

I think this portfolio is a very holistic portrait of my strengths and capabilities as an employee and also an effective way for me to explore and reevaluate how I lead, how I follow, and also how I conceptualize leadership in relation to other dimensions of my life, including my spiritual life. It has made me aware of how I can apply theory to practice, and the usefulness of constructing leadership vision and value statements and using different paradigms and constructs to break down leadership elements, rather than seeing leadership as a general concept. Leadership can be a very vague idea, and as a result of the work encapsulated in this portfolio, I now see leadership as something that can be analyzed, studied, and broken down into specific elements.