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REFLECTION PAPER
Reflection Paper: Leadership Skill Development/Improvement
Skill Improved
The skill that I sought to improve is the ability to delegate. From the onset, it would be prudent to note that as Sostrin (2017) indicates in a Harvard Business Review feature, those who wish to be great leaders must learn the art of delegation. This, according to the author, is more so the case given that leaders cannot personally attend to all the tasks and responsibilities associated with leadership. In essence, delegation could be perceived as the ability to assign authority to other persons for the execution or performance of certain tasks or roles (Hartley and Benington, 2010).
I have always found it difficult to permit other persons to execute certain tasks and/or give them authority to act on my behalf. I consider myself a perfectionist. This desire to ensure that various activities are done right has always kept me from trusting others enough to distribute certain tasks to them. Further, my approach to leadership has been rather hands-on. This is to say that even when I permitted others to perform certain tasks on my behalf, I found it difficult to detach from active involvement in the performance of the said tasks.
Activity/Description
To enhance my ability to effectively delegate, I selected and engaged in two activities. These activities are; consulted available resources/literature on how to engage in effective delegation of roles and tasks, and reached out to a mentor to guide me on principles and practical concepts of delegation. These activities have been discussed in greater detail below.
a) Literature on Delegation
To begin with, when it comes to perusing available resources/literature on effective delegation of tasks, I was largely interested in finding the various tips and strategies that could be deployed in efforts to become more effective in delegation of tasks. This, I reasoned, was an effective approach in this endeavor owing to the fact that there are business leaders and authors/researchers who have in the past explored the effective strategies and approaches needed to succeed in delegation. In one such resource, Kegan and Lahey (2009) point out that to delegate responsibilities in an effective manner, leaders must first identify personal factors that get in the way of delegation of tasks. On this front, the authors recommend that leaders ask themselves: what personal habits/behaviors could be stalling my efforts to delegate? It is after identifying the said personal habits/behaviors that one should engage in deliberate efforts to ensure that they no longer get in the way of effective delegation. In my case, the identified traits were an inclination towards perfection and tendency to engage in micromanagement. I addressed these by seeking to ensure that I communicate in an effective manner with subordinates...…identify the right persons for the performance of various tasks. This is crucial so as to ensure that tasks are entrusted or distributed to those who are best suited to effectively execute them. In essence, this helps ensure that efficiency or productivity is not adversely impacted by delegation. I have also identified that for delegation to work, there is need to embrace an open door policy in the sense that employees can freely consult on matters of relevance to the assigned tasks.
Plans to Continue Improving Skills
First, I will actively practice the assignment of authority to subordinates and team members. This way, I will find it easier to entrust work to others going forward. Secondly, to further refine my skills on this front, I intent to mentor others who find it difficult to entrust the performance of various tasks to others. I could either mentor others within the context of my own workplace or across various leadership platforms, i.e. by offering to speak in leadership forums on this particular subject.
Personal Reflections
In the final analysis, it would be prudent to note that I have found this to be a worthwhile exercise. Thanks to delegation, I was able to free up my time to perform other more crucial tasks effectively enhancing my overall productivity. As a result, I was able to avoid burnout and found my roles…
References
Barr, J. & Dowding, L. (2019). Leadership in Health Care. SAGE Publications.
Hartley, J. & Benington, J. (2010). Leadership for Healthcare. Policy Press.
Kegan, R. & Lahey, L.L. (2009). Immunity to Change: How to Overcome it and Unlock Potential in Yourself and Your Organization. Harvard Business Press.
Sostrin, J. (2017). To Be a Great Leader, You Have to Learn How to Delegate Well. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/10/to-be-a-great-leader-you-have-to-learn-how-to-delegate-well
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