That is what I am looking for in terms of career progression.
In addition to all these leadership aspects, the challenge of staying patient in the midst of corporate cultures that over time have learned to be myopically focused and often slow-moving, resistant to change. The greatest long-term challenger of any leader is in initiating and sustaining long-term change in their organizational cultures (McGuire, Rhodes, Palus, 3).
Realizing that if and when I get into a managerial position within any organization, there will no doubt be times when I will want to change the culture and see opportunities for it to become more efficient, more streamlined and market-focused. I'll have to develop my patience as a leader specifically for these circumstances and concentrate on finding incremental approaches to bringing lasting, positive change into the organizations I will become a member of during my career. Resistance to change has forced many a manager to become frustrated, lose focus and abandon their objectives (Drucker, 59). This has direct implications for managing ones' career throughout the times when being impatient and even impulsive could lead to incorrect or even faulty decision making. Of all leadership attributes this is the one I need the most assistance with developing more effectively. Learning how to first size up a culture and then determine what I can or cannot change is going to be critical, and developing the patience during this process is going to be very important.
While I have yet to manage anyone, I would like to also pursue the skills necessary to excel at transformational leadership (Marques, 650). This is a unique skill set that seeks out the innate strengths and talents of others and works to maximize them. Transformational leadership is a skill set I aspire to in my career as it would give me the ability to serve others and strengthen them, and in so doing, create strong teams. From the stronger teams, more can be accomplished,...
As with other leadership skill sets, this one appears to be highly valuable both as a working professional and leader in any field or organization.
Conclusion
The bottom line of using my known leadership skills to develop my career begins with getting more experiences to determine which of these skills I value I may have yet not have discovered. Of the ones known, using developing greater EI and prizing credibility are critical. Of these two aspects alone, one's reputation in a company and an industry quickly become known. Instead of trying to portray myself as important or worthy of promotion, leadership is about being humble and being more focused on the team accomplishing the goal together. There's nothing glamorous about being the head of a group or department, it is a calling to serve those on the team and assist them in getting to their goals. In that responsibility and the empathy, transparency, trust and ability to motivate is what being a leader is all about and what a successful career is based on.
References
Peter F. Drucker. "What Makes an Effective Executive" Harvard Business Review 82.6 (2004): 58-63. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest. 21 Jul. 2008
Ann Gilley, Pamela Dixon, Jerry W. Gilley. "Characteristics of leadership effectiveness: Implementing change and driving innovation in organizations"
Human Resource Development Quarterly 19.2 (2008): 153. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest. 22 Jul. 2008
Robert F. Hurley. "The Decision to Trust." Harvard Business Review 84.9 (2006): 5562. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest. 21 Jul. 2008
Joan F. Marques. "Leadership: emotional intelligence, passion and... what else? " the Journal of Management Development 26.7 (2007): 644-651. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest.21 Jul. 2008
John B. McGuire, Gary Rhodes, Charles J. Palus. "Inside Out: Transforming Your Leadership Culture." Leadership in…
