¶ … Perfect Position Determining My Perfect Position

This essay discusses determining my perfect position, one where I would be an effective, competent and successful leader, by using leadership theories and self-assessment. The ideal position for me would be working as a director at Jewish Vocational Services (JVS). JVS is a non-profit organization that helps to transform people's lives by building skills and finding jobs, and in so doing, achieving self-sufficiency. While JVS services are open to all, they are especially strong in working with young people and adults with disabilities, with members of the transgender community, older workers and members of the Jewish community (JVS, 2010). Between considering relevant leadership theories and my self-assessment scores, I believe a position at this organization would be ideal for me.

Reviewing leadership theories gives me insights into my leadership style that helped me determine my perfect position. Behavioral theories such as those that focus on task and people orientation are helpful because they make it easy to identify types of jobs in which I could be successful. While I possess some of the core traits that trait theory of leadership identifies, such as charisma, self-confidence and flexibility, trait theory seems too generic and subjective to provide a well-defined leadership model. Given that there is also disagreement over which traits are most important for effective leadership, I find that there are other leadership theories which are more helpful in determining which traits I should work to develop and which traits I should apply because I already have them.

Fiedler's contingency theory is...

Fiedler's theory argues that effective leadership depends not just on the style of leading, but also on control over a situation. Fiedler's theory also argues that for a leader to be successful, there must be a good relationship between the leader and group members, that tasks must be clearly defined with specific goals and procedures, and that the leader must be able to hand out rewards and punishments. Shortcomings with the Fiedler theory include the subjectivity of its least preferred co-worker scale, nor does it really help when a task is not well defined (Leadership-Central.com, 2012). Cognitive resource theory also is not particularly relevant for me, because it depends so much on the definition of intelligence, and likewise how one defines and measures stress.
Intuitively, path-goal leadership makes more sense and resonates with my leadership style. I believe a good leader is one who understands that people are motivated when they know what's in it for them. A good leader lays out a path for his or her people to achieve goals and facilitates their success. But the most relevant leadership style for me is the charismatic approach. My experience has been that people follow other people that they personally admire, as opposed to following someone only because they have external power or authority. Charismatic leaders are good at paying attention to their environment and reading the concerns of individuals, and then adapting their actions and words to suit the situation. This is the basis for their success.

The self-assessment instrument scored my leadership style as 9 for people-orientation and also…