Personal experience and reflection on effective leadership

Every leader good or bad, in their road to become a leader has been at least one day in a lifetime, a
follower; in other terms, they have had the chance to evolve directly or indirectly under the leadership of
somebody else. It becomes de facto, a must in the leadership development process of anyone who intends
to become a leader.
Before being elevated, de facto or de jure, to a position of leadership and to be able to lead a team, each
leader has probably had the chance to evolve under the immediate or indirect responsibility of another
leader or manager. What indeed, offered to all potential or future leaders the noble opportunity to develop
as an ideal, a subjective or objective way through the expectations that he could have had from his
leader, certain characteristics, or qualities to have and attitudes to adopt to become a good leader in
terms of exemplarity, integrity and so one.
Throughout and independently of ages, generation after generation, the leadership development concept
has become a crucial need and constant factor to the effective and sustainable change to which the entire
world is aspired. Leadership is the mechanism of being the change instead of hoping the change, to be
the right influence instead of waiting to be influenced by somebody else, to make decision and take
actions when everybody is waiting for authorities from the State and powerful people to address their
immediate needs in their home communities, is the fact of being an influencer, not a controller.
Thus, in a structured and structuring approach to combine experience with knowledge; rather theoretical,
the need for increasing his capacity of leadership arises as a goal. Leadership capacity facilitates the
consolidation of the acquired experience of leadership, but also, the transmission of the latter as values
likely to facilitate the development of future leaders capable of influencing companies, organizations,
institutions, and political environments. Hence, the need to experiment with certain styles and models of
leadership that are in line with the realities of his intervention area or work environment.
There is one conclusion I have made during my leadership development process is that: leadership is not
just for the elite. It’s not a matter of age or position but the ability to influence somebody’s life and show
him/her the way. And as a matter of fact, in every single situation of life there’s always an occasion, an
opportunity for leaders to emerge and this, independently of where that brilliant idea and initiative may
come from, whether from the boss or the housekeeper, it’s still called, LEADERSHIP; because,
leadership is fixed in its essence, not in its mode of operation Whatever our age, our role in life, whether
we oversee a business of several thousand people or responsible for a small team, certain situations
require leadership. When our job or business faces a huge setback, there must be people who lead the way
for growth. When a difficult situation breaks out in our family, it takes at least one person to stand up to
gather. And it’s not always the people at the top of the chart. This is one of the evils of our society: to
always wait for the solution from above. We are all responsible. And, this is where leadership by example
takes its place, because leadership is influence not controlling people.

Also, it’s important to mention that Leadership development process is not a one-way road, there is an
alternance constant for, sometimes you can be a leader and other times a follower. And the fact is that, in
both cases, our attitude is decisive, because even in the position of follower, we will have to exercise and
perform some leadership skills.

SOME LESSONS LEARNED FROM MY LEADERSHIP JOURNEY

Over the course of my whole life, and professional career, as well, I have had to experience many
leadership styles from which I have learned many things which, along the way, have shaped my
characters and have therefore sharpened my sense of leadership.
Where I work, I share my position with an excellent colleague, he is a proven professional with proven
know-how. He has certain character traits which in my opinion, should be considered as real assets in the
exercise of his duties even his leadership development. Among the behavior traits that makes him
particularly effective, the most noticeable and obvious are:

 Integrity:
He believes that honesty and integrity are the cornerstones of any sustained success. He’s loyal,
committed and dedicated hard worker. And also, He’s trustworthy. In fact, in the exercise of his
functions, he defined himself as objectives, some key principles such as his commitment and his
complete dedication for his work but also his behavior is imbued with certain core and
unshakable values likely to convince others of its leadership potential. He is generally open,
sincere and adopts a logical behavior capable of inspiring confidence, loyalty and dedication
within our team.

 Willingness to take risks:

He is tenacious and no longer afraid of taking risks or making mistakes and He’s not a
procrastinating person. Generally, when he decides to venture out, he does so in a thoughtful
way by evaluating his options and alternatives carefully while avoiding, as much as possible,
being prey to the syndrome of "paralysis of analysis" or procrastinating. Also, he always learns
from his mistakes and comes out resolved and ready to face new challenges.

 Optimism and Enthusiasm:

Instead of dwelling on problems, he’s always focus on solutions. He’s passionate and always see
opportunities even in the worst situation. looks for solutions and concentrates on rectifying the
situation and making the steps succeed. By the way, when performing his tasks, he always sees an
advantage in any obstacle and has a dynamic optimistic attitude that dissipates any negativity
option. In doing so, he inspires others with his enthusiasm, passion and fervor for and in what he
does.
But he also has some important weak points like some behavioral deviations which he shows in terms of
conscientiousness and professional discipline, namely: some punctuality issues, because he often arrives
late at the office and sometimes without realizing his repeated delays, he takes time-outs during the
working day and also, sometimes, he even used to leave the office before the hour without even talking to
his supervisor because he thinks and used to say that work is not a matter of hours spent at the office but
the performance and results delivered. As embarrassing as this behavior may seem, I find it less flagrant
than certain attitudes adopted by the latter linked to a lack of emotional intelligence and which constitute,
ipso facto, a barrier, or a hindrance to effectively and efficiently develop or exercise his leadership.

Also he has some lack of some leadership traits which could be considered as other weak points as a
leader by somebody. So, we can cite among others:
 - Lack of empathy: A lack of the affinity, this ability to put himself in the place of others
and to bond with them. He also lacks this ability to read between the lines and analyze
the impulse of a professional relationship or situation that can arise at any time in the
work environment. Also, this ability to focus on the positive and neglect the negative and
attitudes and behaviors of self-distrust, must be cultivated and developed.
- Poor communication ability: This problem rather linked to the lack of empathy
mentioned above. He's introverted and refuses to talk about his problems to others for
fear that they won't read his heart. constitutes, in spite his proven and incontestable
competences, a major handicap in his relationship with certain colleagues and greatly
weakens his ability to carve out an important place among the potential leaders of the
institution.
However,r one of the biggest things I have learned is that: in exercising leadership, all models must be
considered. In other words, we must be attentive to and learn from any style and type of leadership
whether it is good or bad because that would help us, at the end of the day, to make better choices when it
comes to deciding which model of leadership to copy, and which one to avoid. And also, we have to be
objective enough to know that just because someone is considered a leader doesn't mean he has to be
perfect. And who is? Nobody!
Throughout my professional career, I had to face many limits or barriers from which I learned a lot and I
adapted myself with the sole objective of expanding my capacity of leaders and to conduct it in an
objective, effective and efficient manner. In the past, the ability to define a clear vision, communicate it
and develop the appropriate strategies for its implementation was a huge barrier for me. But over time I
learned not only how to develop my vision but also how to communicate it effectively and even influence
and inspire people to embrace it. Today, I am a better leader, attentive and very concerned about a job
well done and I would say “too much” sometimes because my biggest problem in the past two years is
being too concerned about the work of my supervisees, and that makes incite me to interfere too often in
their work and to practice what is called:

 Micromanagement:
I am not a perfectionist, but I have a great fondness for excellence. So, sometimes, for the sake of
coaching and ensuring the good quality of my team's work, sometimes I fell without even
realizing it, in micromanagement where I constantly monitor what my team members are doing
and how they’re doing it. What sometimes seems stupid because I had to realize that if they were
recruited or called to do anything, it is because they are qualified and have the competences to
do that. So, giving direction or orientation to them or coaching them, yes; but constantly
intruding on their work is meaningless and unacceptable.
During the study of the leadership module with Empower School and from some research that I had to do
to complete the course, I realized that this micromanagement problem is matter to address and my
resolutions to remedy it are the following:
• Take enough time to align my vision to my team’s scope of work;
• Undertake more capacity and team building activities than monitoring them as I’m used
to;
• Invest more confidence in the work of my team;
• Create more synergy around the team’s work;
• Be clear on my expectations in terms of objectives;
• Better communicate vision, priorities, and timeline
CONCLUSION:
It is interesting to note that whoever is considered a leader is not necessarily a superman with superpower.
He’s above all an attentive, respectful man or woman, concerned about the well-being and development
of his environment, community, team or family.
He is also someone who carries a vision, a project, someone who ultimately provides a sense to the future.
He offers to share, co-build and co-carry out an attractive adventure, bringing challenges. Also remember
that he is trusted because he is exemplary and knows how to trust.
In fact, leadership is not controlling people but influencing and showing them the right way. It creates the
conditions for a powerful commitment of people by reconciling demand, benevolence and power sharing.