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Leadership Development Plan

Prem Srujalkumar Gandhi

Graduate School, New England College

MG5125: Leadership and Change in Organization

Dr. Kimberly Metcalf

August 14, 2022

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Current Leadership Skills

This leadership development plan is based on the self-assessment of my leadership

skills at my workplace. I have discussed two leadership theories and explained their benefits to

me with examples.

My Leadership Style

Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to

achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2015). I personally relate the most to Transactional

Leadership. It focuses on clarifying employees’ roles and task requirements and providing

followers with positive and negative rewards contingent on performance (Kinicki, 2021). I

identify with this leadership style because of my work environment. My work revolves around

the planning of engineering and construction activities and their subsequent progress of it. It is

very task oriented with not much room for any grand vision.

Leadership Theories to Improve Leadership Skills

Theory 1 – Transformational Leadership

Summary: A leader who motivates people to transcend their personal interests for the

good of the group is a transformational leader. Transformational leaders motivate their followers

to look beyond their individual and personal interests and focus their efforts for the sake of a

greater purpose or a larger community. The transformational leadership model goes beyond the

traditional transactional approach to leadership explained above (Bateman et al., 2019).

Application: Transformational leaders lead by using their charisma, giving individualized

attention to their followers, and raising awareness about the problems and solutions. I would

apply these leadership skills to bring a change in reporting procedures between contractors and

owners. There is a sense of distrust between contractors and owners while reporting incidents

and work progress as the industry is very litigious.

Positive Outcomes:
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1. Higher transparency between contractor and owner on the project progress.

2. Better communication between contractor and owner leads to greater participation

and cooperative engagement in the project.

Theory 2 – Shared Leadership

According to Marshall Goldsmith who writes in the prestigious HBR- shared leadership

involves maximizing all of the human resources in an organization by empowering individuals

and giving them an opportunity to take leadership positions in their areas of expertise

(Goldsmith, 2010). Sharing power and influence among a set of individuals, instead of

centralizing it to a single individual is the core of this model.

Application: At my monthly trade clusters meeting, we address project modifications and

improvements with professionals coming from a wide variety of backgrounds. This model can be

highly effective in managing our hospital’s design process. The leader of the team can be

rotated to the person who has the required knowledge, skills, and abilities for the problem at

hand.

Positive Outcomes:

1. Manage the project modifications while staying below the university’s target cost and

target opening date.

2. Better team task performance. Teams who shared leadership gained better leverage

through harnessing the diverse knowledge, skills, and ability of each team member

(Chiu et al., 2016).

Leadership Assessment

This section is a self‐assessment in which I reflect on the key tenants of my leadership

style. Further, I ponder on the shortcomings of my leadership style and develop actions to

overcome those shortcomings. This personal development plan will serve as a road map and a

guiding tool that I will follow to improve my leadership skills.

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Authentic Leadership Assessment

Self-Awareness: My score is 16 out of 20 - a high score. I am well aware of my strengths

and limitations and I do seek feedback to improve my understanding.

Internalized Moral Perspective: My score is 17 out of 20 – a high score. I have a strong

sense of belief and core values that guide my actions and resist group pressure if in conflict.

Balanced Processing: My score is 12 out of 20 – a low score. I do listen carefully to

others’ ideas however I need to seek the opinions of more people.

Relational Transparency: My score is 8 out of 20 – a poor score. I have to be more open

about my feelings and stop presenting a false façade. I do accept my mistakes.

Development Area #1 - I need to stop emphasizing my opinion on others. This will help

me connect with others and consider their concerns.

Positive Outcomes

1. It will increase the harmonious relationship between me and others.

2. It will help me see other innovative ways to solve problems and disputes.

Development Area #2 - Start sharing my emotions more often to become better at

managing my emotions. I will use a “wheel of feelings” after any major changes and consciously

let people know how I people about their decisions so that they can accommodate my concerns.

Positive Outcomes

1. It will build a sense of trust between me and others

2. Others will see me truly as the person I am.

Emotional Intelligence Assessment

Self-Awareness: My score is 38 out of 50 - Strength. I am well aware of my own temper,

stress, emotions, and anxiety. I have no issues in letting go of my anger.

Managing Emotions: My score is 22 out of 50 – Developmental Priority. I may be aware

of my emotions but I am not good at managing them to get along with people and do my tasks.
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Motivating Myself: My score is 36 out of 50 – Strength. I can motivate myself and

prioritize my work and fulfill deadlines. I take on difficult tasks and delay my gratification.

Empathy: My score is 28 out of 50 – Need Attention. I need to improve my skills to

understand others' perspectives and problems. I can understand if others are unhappy or

difficult toward me. I also understand when I am becoming a difficult or unreasonable person to

others.

Social Skills: My score is 27 out of 50 – Need Attention. I can make solid relationships

with my colleagues and work with their differences by asking questions. I also like having a

variety of work colleagues and enjoy meeting them. I do need to improve my listening skills and

stop interrupting others’ conversations.

Development Area #1 - I need to improve my social skills. I will focus on becoming a

better listener by focusing on listening to respond - not reacting. I will not interrupt them and

hold the questions until they are finished saying their part. This will make me understand my

colleagues and subordinates in a better manner and I will be able to incorporate their

perspectives in the decisions I make.

Positive Outcomes

1. It will help resolve conflicts when I or the other parties are being difficult with each

other.

2. It will help me build more knowledge.

Development Area #2 - I need to be better at managing my emotions. I will focus on

understanding how I feel and how to reframe those feelings to aid in my work and interactions. I

will use a “wheel of feelings” after any major changes and consciously put efforts to normalize it

before jumping on my work. This will make me understand myself better and help me focus my

energy in the right places.

Positive Outcomes
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1. It will reduce my stress.

2. I will be able to deal with difficult people in a better manner.

Personal Leadership Philosophy

This section is based on the lessons learned on leadership from this course and its

various readings, videos, and assignments. The premise of the section is to elaborate on my

leadership philosophy and explain the philosophy’s application to organizational change.

My leadership philosophy is based on perseverance and determination. This gives me

the energy to press ahead in my darkest time. I have built traits around it to make me an

effective leader. These traits are patience, confidence, and optimism. No traits can ensure

leadership success, certain characteristics can help improve leadership effectiveness

(Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1991).

Patience: - A leader has to understand that completing objectives and achieving goals

take time to actualize. Patience is a virtue in my leadership philosophy. Rome wasn’t built in a

day - understanding this adage and having the ability to stay calm in face of distress and

uncertainty is the most essential asset in my personal leadership philosophy. As pointed out in

an HBR article, leaders shouldn’t “confuse operational speed -moving quickly- with strategic

speed - reducing the time it takes to deliver value” (Sluss, 2020).

Confidence: - A leader needs to be capable and believe in themselves before anyone

else can believe in him. If they are to lead others, self-confidence is crucial for many reasons. A

leader’s role is challenging, obstacles, nay-sayers, and setbacks are anything but inevitable.

Belief and confidence in oneself allow a leader to overcome obstacles, make decisions despite

uncertainty, and instill confidence in others.

Optimism: - Often misunderstood, optimism is far more than looking on the bright side. It

is not just a sunny disposition on the outlook of decisions. Optimistic leaders are the ones who

do not blindly believe that everything will work for the best. They consider the facts and check
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the evidence against their optimism. McKinsey outlined the skills needed by a leader in crisis –

one of them was “bounded optimism” (Brassey & Kruyt, 2020). Bounded optimism is about

mixing confidence and hope with realism. Leaders can lose credibility by displaying excessive

confidence or by providing simple answers to difficult problems in spite of obviously difficult

conditions (Brassey & Kruyt, 2020).

Application for Organizational Change – Transition to Flexible Work Policy

To bring a change in work hours policy to make it flexible for employees’ interests and

retain talent, traits such as confidence, optimism, and patience will be essential based on my

leadership philosophy.

The current construction industry is facing a labor shortage which will be worsened by

the impending crisis due to waning interest to work in trades. As per Associated Builders and

Contractors – one of the leading trade associations for construction contractors – the

construction industry faces a workforce shortage of 650,000 in 2022 (Associated Builders and

Contractors, 2022). To address this issue - I, as a leader, will need to bring some changes in

work policy to retain existing and attract new talent.

I will need confidence in my abilities to implement new policies. The old generation of

construction sector managers does not believe in flexible work hours. I will need to have

optimism about my subordinates' behavior to serve the company’s interests to bring this

change. It should be kept in mind this will not be just a change but rather a transition. Change is

situational and temporary but the transition is a psychological process individuals go through to

accept the new situation (Bridges, 1991). This psychological process takes time and that needs

patience. Therefore, I will need to have the patience to wait for the results to show. If

implemented correctly, they will lead to higher employee productivity and retention.
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References

Associated Builders and Contractors. (2022). ABC: Construction Industry Faces Workforce

Shortage of 650,000 in 2022. Associated Builders and Contractors.

Bateman, T. S., Snell, S., & Konopaske, R. (2019). Management: Leading & Collaborating in a

Competitive World. McGraw Hill.

Brassey, J., & Kruyt, M. (2020). How to demonstrate calm and optimism in a crisis. McKinsey &

Co.

Bridges, W. (1991). Managing Transitions - Making the Most of Change. Reading, MA: Perseus

Books.

Chiu, C.-Y., Owens, B., & Tesluk, P. (2016). Initiating and utilizing shared leadership in teams:

The role of leader humility, team proactive personality, and team performance capability.

Journal of Applied Psychology, 101, 1705-1720.

Goldsmith, M. (2010, May 26). Sharing Leadership to Maximize Talent . Harvard Business

Review: https://hbr.org/2010/05/sharing-leadership-to-maximize

Kinicki, A. (2021). Organizational Behavior A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach. New York:

McGraw Hill.

Kirkpatrick, S., & Locke, E. (1991). Leadership: Do traits matter? Academy of Management

Executive, 5(2), 48-60.

Northouse, P. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Sluss, D. (2020, September 02). Becoming a More Patient Leader. Harvard Business Review.

https://hbr.org/2020/09/becoming-a-more-patient-leader