Leadership Qualities

Leadership Qualities

The article "Leadership Qualities" was very interesting, it talked about

traits that will help identify whether someone is capable of learning to

lead. While reading this article I did a self-assessment on myself to see

if I possessed any of these traits. There was one trait that described me

perfectly; A willingness to take responsibility. There was also a trait

that I did not agree with; Practical ideas. The article made me even think

of traits that I wanted to have more of; Mental toughness. Reading this

article really enlightened my thinking as to what I have to offer as a

leader.

Responsible should be my middle name. While growing up being the middle

child I still had more responsibilities than my older brother. I used to be

the child that my mother called on to baby-sit my younger siblings. I have

always been deemed very mature for my age, so when I became pregnant my

mother never had to worry about me because she knew I would be okay. Now

that I am an adult I like to be in charge of everything. I like the

complicated tasks that are very difficult to do in such a short period of

time. If there were any other traits in the article, a willingness to take

responsibility describes my character to the bitter end.

I did not agree with the trait; Practical ideas. I did not find this trait

very desirable because I believe a person that is original can be a good

leader. An original person may have a lot of different ideas to bring to

the table. In my opinion an original person is the most realistic person to

have; they say when they have made a mistake. I consider myself to be an

original person and I bring fresh new ideas to the table. People with

practical ideas make good leaders because they do not always follow status

quo.

The final trait that caught my attention was; Mental toughness. This trait

caught my attention because I think I need work in this area. When I come

with an idea it takes me a long time to prepare myself for the criticism of

others. I don't like for other people to bash my character just based on an

idea that I have presented. I do not consider myself to be a weak person I

just need to be able to take criticism better. One thing that I can say

about myself is after I have been criticized I don't get discouraged; I try

harder to make my idea accepted. Mental toughness is a trait that I really

need to work on.

Leadership Qualities helped me to see some of my good traits while also

seeing those that I need to work on. In order to be a good leader I must

first try to fix my bad traits and perfect the good. I have a lot of work

to do if I want to be the CEO of a company.

Leadership Test

Upon taking Steve Sullivan's "Leadership Test," I learned that my

perception of leadership is different. The first question I had a problem

with was number two; Leaders should treat everyone equally. I put true for

the question but the computer said the answer was incorrect. The correct

answer was false, "Leaders treat everyone fairly." The way the question was

worded was very tricky because I believe that treating everyone equally

means treating everyone fairly.

The second question I disagreed with was question number four; the first

step in turning around a failing organization is to analyze the situation.

I put true for the question but the computer said the answer was incorrect.

The correct answer was false, "The first step is to get people excited about

their future. Analysis does not create excitement." I disagree; I believe

the first step is to analyze the situation so that you can motivate the

staff to do what is needed.

I accept my overall grade of seventy percent on the test. Even though my

answers were incorrect and against my beliefs, it allowed me to view

leadership in another way.

IT Quiz

The Computerworld IT Leadership Quiz told me so much about my leadership

style. My leadership style is The Strategist. As a Strategist I am a

system thinker who establishes a method for achieving a vision while

maintaining a vision of the big picture. This means that I am a person that

likes to have thorough details of how I got to the end so that when I am

finished I will know exactly how I got there. I like to make such that I

take good notes so that when the test comes I will know what is being