Leadership Philosophy Reflects the Values,

Leadership philosophy reflects the values, ethics and virtues that guide one's actions as a leader and one's approach to the task of leading an organization in general (Leboeuf, 1999). I believe the leadership philosophy that should guide my behavior is that empowerment of employees is the best means of demonstrating leadership. Hiring good people, training them well, and giving them the resources they need to succeed are the most important tasks for a leader in my view. The idea behind leadership is not that leaders perform tasks well, but that they can inspire large groups of others to perform tasks well. I feel that intrinsic motivation is a more powerful form of motivation than extrinsic, and as a leader I can be most effective by tapping into the intrinsic motivation that good employees have.

In keeping with this underlying philosophy, I believe that a great leadership should have five characteristics. These are organizing, talent recognition, resource allocation, communication skills and flexibility. I believe in the contingency theory of leadership, in that the best specific leadership actions are determined largely by the situation. Not only do situations differ, but so do employees. Therefore, communication skills are essential, as they will ensure that all employees are capable of understanding what is expected, no matter what the circumstance. Beyond that, I believe that identifying problems and opportunities, and finding the resources within the organization to address those problems and exploit those opportunities is an essential component of the leadership role. Performance of tasks is not a critical leadership role -- ensuring that when others attempt to perform tasks that they succeed is a key component.

3. The leadership development plan should have a number of different elements. While some leadership traits are inherent in a person, most of what would be termed leadership skill is learned, which places learning at the forefront of my five-year plan (McCall, 2010). The first step is to find a leadership position, either in my educational career or in my job. Career assignments in general should be focused on leadership skills, either by taking on roles that put me in charge of more people, or by taking on roles that are more challenging in their nature. The second element will be skills. In the self-assessments, I identified that I am not especially accomplished at motivation. As such, I believe that I need to work on this aspect of my leadership. This will be accomplished through study of motivational materials, so that I better understand the principles of interpersonal motivation. The third element of my plan will be to find a mentor. Mentorship is important because it provides valuable feedback about my leadership objectives, and my progress towards those objectives.

The fourth element of my five-year leadership plan is to establish a clear timeframe and guidelines, along with performance measures. It is important that I have a clear sense of where I want to go in these five years, and what success will look like. The measures should be quantifiable, and should be continually evaluated and adjusted. The fifth element of my five-year leadership plan is to find myself in a management position. Taking on leadership roles within low-level positions is an important first step, but by the end of the five-year plan I want to be in a management position, characterized not only by staff but also by a budget. At this point, I believe I would be in a position to implement another five-year plan.

4. Three steps to undertake right now relate to my five-year plan. The first is to begin taking courses about motivation or communication, in order to improve my skills in these areas. The second will be to ask my supervisor at work to provide me with a project that will allow me to show some of my leadership skills. I may need to suggest a project to the supervisor, so I will be prepared to do that. The third thing will be to write a detailed vision of myself in five years. This will be used to help guide the decisions that I take over that period to make myself a better leader. Each of these three steps can be undertaken immediately, and they all build towards the final objective. A target date can be set for each of these -- the first within two months, the second within two weeks and the third within two days.