Laura Laird

Sherine Smith
EDA 612
Leadership Survey

Leadership Survey

“Do as I do, now.” For too many years if I had to break down my leadership down to

five words the previous would describe me to the point that it still makes me cringe. As a pace

setter, for many years I expected the same excellence and conscientiousness that I have to that of

everyone of my team. I have worked very hard over the years to become more of a coach. Once

in education, it was easier to see what was needed with my staff as with a class to, with, and by.

Yet the very first sentence of my results had my most dreaded sentence to me as a leader. I

know that I am driven to achieve all goals, projects and deadlines and all at best level that I can

get them done. What I don’t want however is for my team to think that is all I care about or that I

expect them to do everything that I do.

“Come with me.” The second area mentioned was authoritative. I like that in this version

it included empathy. Being responsible for leading a vision there are conflicts and sometimes

there are times when a decision needs to make, the vision and plan to get there and of course

being part of the team and helping achieve the goals, projects and deadlines. When I learned to

slow down enough from the pace setting, this became much easier to approach. I had to learn to

listen to develop more collaboration. This is when I really started to see the team as valuable

individuals both professionally and personally. I noticed that this also made me more

approachable. People started asking for more advice or help.

“Try it.” Coaching was the third well developed area according to the quiz. This one I

was so excited to see. I feel like over the years I have become a much better coach. I am enjoy

developing others. It is even better if they think they are doing it all on their own. When I first
started to truly coach, I realized that it took much more time, requiring me to change my

schedule so that my focus time is before or after the time the team so that I can be in the moment.

I also realized that the mutual trust built ended with better results for the individual, team and

organization. I could be more comfortable with delegation at this point and knew the strengths

and areas of growth of the team.

Two areas that were fairly well developed that stood out to me are the affiliative leader

and democratic leader. Affiliative leaders know, “People come first.” The democratic leader

values and is constantly asking what you think?” I purposefully did not break these out because

for me I believe they are tied together and are solidly in my leadership style due to COVID-19.

Now that we are over a half a year into a pandemic our team has been impacted personally and

professionally. Early on I would say I was showing the team what needed to be done and how to

do it. Now there is not a single day that I don’t ask people on the team, how are you? What do

you need, how can I help? It is a difficult time for everyone, and we need to make sure that we

are there for one another. The other thing I ask every day is what do you think? The team is

creative and some members very experienced and their input is needed to that we can continue to

educate children, streamline processes and jump hurdles of distance-learning together. I believe

that now that I have made this leap of faith so to speak that the benefits to the students, all of us

and the organization has been immense. I know enough about myself that I will always be

driven to want to achieve all projects, goals and deadlines put before me. What I think I know

now is there are many ways to make the drive and each one is essential to keeping the team

together, growing in strengths, and achieving personal and professional victories .

What Sort of Leader are You? 10/25/20, 1:31 PM

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What Sort of Leader are You?

Your Leadership Styles

Based on the answers you gave your leadership style mix is:

Well developed styles: 3

Styles that need some further development: 3

Styles that need a lot of further development: 0

Overall, you have a good mix of leadership styles and the potential to be a well-rounded, effective leader. There is however, always
potential to further improve your leadership styles.

See our page: Developing Your Leadership Style (https://www.skillsyouneed.com/lead/develop-leadership-style.html) for more
information.

Your 3 well-developed leadership styles are:

Pace-setting leaders expect excellence and self-direction, and can be summed up as ‘Do as I do, now’. The Pace-setter very much leads by example, but this
type of leadership only works with a highly-competent and well-motivated team. It can only be sustained for a while without team members flagging. Like the
Coercive leader, Pace-setters also show drive to succeed and initiative, but instead of self-control, these are coupled with conscientiousness. Authorita‐
tive leaders move people towards a vision, so are often described as ‘Visionary’. This style is probably best summed up as ‘Come with me’. It is the most useful
style when a new vision or clear direction is needed, and is most strongly positive. Authoritative leaders are high in self-confidence and empathy, acting as a
change catalyst by drawing people into the vision and engaging them with the future. A coaching leader will develop people, allowing them to try different ap‐
proaches in an open way. The phrase that sums up this style is ‘Try it’, and this leader shows high levels of empathy, self-awareness and skills in developing
others. A coaching style is especially useful when an organisation values long-term staff development.
You have 3 fairly well-developed leadership styles, these are:

Coercive leaders demand immediate obedience. In a single phrase, this style is ‘Do what I tell you’. These leaders show initiative, self-control, and drive to suc‐
ceed. There is, of course, a time and a place for such leadership: a battlefield is the classic example, but any crisis will need clear, calm, commanding leader‐
ship. This style does not, however, encourage anyone else to take the initiative, and often has a negative effect on how people feel. An affiliative leader values
and creates emotional bonds and harmony, believing that ‘People come first’. Such leaders demonstrate empathy, and strong communication skills, and are
very good at building relationships. This style is most useful when a team has been through a difficult experience, and needs to heal rifts, or develop motivation.
It is not a very goal-oriented style, so anyone using it will need to make sure others understand that the goal is team harmony, and not specific tasks. It is prob‐
ably obvious from this that it cannot be used on its own for any length of time if you need to ‘get the job done’. The democratic leader builds consensus
through participation, constantly asking ‘What do you think?’, and showing high levels of collaboration, team leadership and strong communication skills. This
style of leadership works well in developing ownership for a project, but it can make for slow progress towards goals, until a certain amount of momentum has

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