Sam Walton once said “Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their

personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” (Sosik, and
Jung, 2018).

Over time, researchers have come up with a myriad of different leadership styles to explain the
approaches used by leaders in managing their organizations. In this blog, I will discuss my
preferred approach to leadership, my learning experiences and the journey to becoming the ideal
leader. I will research the transformational leadership model and include feedback from my team
members about my leadership skills.

My Leadership Brand

I believe the transformational leadership approach is the most applicable model for modern
High-Tech companies because it encourages innovation and ensures that everyone involves gets
a chance to nurture their career. Transformational leaders inspire their team to adapt and work
towards achieving a specific objective. Such leaders can comfortably complete the set goals
because their leadership approach is team-oriented. What this means is that they motivate their
teams to improve the company’s overall performance through various strategies that will
enhance the morale of the employees. Transformational leaders are developmental because they
inspire people to come up with creative and innovative approaches of achieving the shared goal.
Hence, the transformational approach is the ideal leadership style within the High-Tech industry
which is characterized by insistent innovation and very high competition.
Demonstration of Own Leadership Style

I have always been fascinated with the concept of technology and how it can redefine society by
introducing better ways of conducting businesses. The technological industry is arguably the
most successful sector within the current global economy because innovation is the primary
driver of all trade processes. For this reason, I aspire to one day become a leader in the High-
Tech industry and be at the forefront of innovative ideas just like Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs
were. I have tried to incorporate various leadership attributes into my daily life and have
undertaken the role of a leader in my school. I discovered that leadership could be quite
challenging for people who not stick to one design because it breeds miscommunication amongst
the team members. I also found out that a transformational leader must have certain qualities that
the team members would want to match (Hargis, Watt, and Piotrowski, 2011). Some of these
qualities cannot be forced and have to emanate from the individual’s personality. Early
researchers stipulated that transformational leaders are born and not made because certain traits
cannot be taught (Gumusluoglu, and Ilsev, 2009).

The evaluation that Contributed to my Personal Development

Over the years, I have received both positive and negative feedback which has contributed to my
career development. In one instance, I was advised to work on my communication skills and
avoid complicated procedures when giving instructions to team members. Admittedly, this has
been one of my weaknesses, and I hope to improve in the future because if I want to be
transformational, I must be able to communicate the overall goal to my team. One team member
commended my skills in motivating the group, and I immediately felt confident about my growth
as a leader. I got yet another review from my peer who told me that I have a likable character
which makes it easy for me to influence people. In leadership, influence is the most important
feature because it determines whether people will adopt the leader’s vision or not (Sosik, and
Jung, 2018). I have received a wide range of feedback with some negative reviews which I will
use to nurture my leadership skills further.

Development and Skills in the Journey of Becoming a Future Leader

I want to maximize on my strengths and refine my weaknesses to ensure that I achieve my

objective of becoming a great leader. I will continue to use my personality to influence people to
accomplish a set goal. I plan to improve on my communication skills because as Jackson, and
Parry (2011) cite, communication is an integral factor in leadership and can differentiate between
a good and bad leader. I will continue to learn by conducting research and gaining insights from
some of the good leaders I know. I will also attend more leadership seminars to get training on
how to become a better leader. The success of my career is dependent upon my ability to
incorporate what I learn into practice, and I intend to improve my accuracy in this activity. I
believe that one day, I will achieve great success in spearheading innovation in the High-Tech
industry.

References

Gumusluoglu, L., & Ilsev, A. (2009). Transformational leadership, creativity, and organizational
innovation. Journal of business research, 62(4), 461-473.

Hargis, M. B., Watt, J. D., & Piotrowski, C. (2011). Developing leaders: Examining the role of
transactional and transformational leadership across business contexts. Organization
Development Journal, 29(3), 51.

Jackson, B., & Parry, K. (2011). A very short fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about
studying leadership. Sage.

Sosik, J. J., & Jung, D. (2018). Full range leadership development: Pathways for people, profit,
and planet. Routledge.