Leadership Self-Assessment (DRAFT)

Otesanya - Page 1 of 6
LEADERSHIP SELF-ASSESSMENT
Adedoyin Debbie Otesanya (C13858)

Department of Graduate Studies, Crandall University
MM6183-5: Managing Leadership in Organizations
Professor Jeff Carter
October 12, 2024
Introduction
This self-assessment is intended to encourage me to reflect on my leadership experiences
and identify my strengths and weaknesses. Personal leadership reflection is a crucial aspect of
personal and professional development, as it provides insight into patterns and effects that may
previously seem unnoticed and helps build better leadership skills. As part of this self-reflection,
based on what I have learnt in the course, I will describe and evaluate my leadership experience
and successes, or lack thereof, explain how considering ethical issues and other leadership
theories has impacted me, and how adjustments will be made to ensure a better and purposeful
leadership in the future.
Evaluation of my Past Leadership Performance

Leadership Concepts
According to this course, leadership can be categorized using examples of top-down,
bottom-up, servant and authentic leadership. In the top-down method, authority and orders are
taken from a higher authority or higher level of management (Manning & Curtis, 2022). On the
other hand, bottom-up leadership focuses on employees accepting the authority exercised by the
leader and using cooperation and resignation to increase organizational success. Servant
leadership focuses on human rights and provides a good workplace to solve employees'
problems. Servant leadership challenges leaders to build power in others by focusing on the
development of their followers. Authentic leadership is related to servant leadership, as the
leader leads the organization based on moral authority and vision, like Nelson Mandela. People
follow real leaders because they know that they practice and advocate sound ethical leadership
that reflects the organization's values over the long term (Manning & Curtis, 2022). This
emphasis on ethical leadership is a cornerstone of my leadership philosophy and guides my
decisions and actions. I have gone into advocacy before because of pressure due to an honour
conflict between me and what was best for the team.
When analyzing my leadership experiences, a few concepts from this course are worth
highlighting. The leadership model I wanted to practice was transformational leadership, which
is about changing employees for the better. To ensure my team buys in, I strive to create an
inspiring vision for the team that ensures people are working towards the goals (Manning &
Curtis, 2022). However, the concept of empathy in the course helped increase my connectivity
for personal relationships and manage the definition of diverse workplaces (Manning & Curtis,
2022). By combining these theories and concepts, I reviewed my performance as a leader and
applied what I learned to improve my performance as a leader.
Leadership Strengths
As a leader, effective communication is one of my strongest skills. It is very important to
be transparent and involve the team in matters that must be resolved amicably (Manning &
Curtis, 2022). For example, in a recent project, I introduced the habit of holding weekly
meetings, strengthening the team and allowing me to identify problems before they escalated.
This goes hand in hand with the goals postulated for servant leadership, such as listening and
availability to the team (Manning & Curtis, 2022).
Another strength is my good team management skills, specifically building a great team.
As a manager, I support individual contributions to promote teamwork, strengthen morale, and
increase productivity. This type of experience can be categorized as transformational leadership
because when people's interest and enthusiasm are aroused, it can improve employee
performance (Manning & Curtis, 2022).
Decision-making is also one of my best skills, as I can make good decisions after
analyzing all available information. This method increases their buy-in and creates unique
perceptions, making information decisions easier. For example, when formulating a high-level
strategy, I had to coordinate different people so that everyone could prepare a detailed structure
with which they wanted to work. By harmonizing these strengths, I have promoted a good work
culture consistent with the principles of ethical and transformational leadership theories
(Manning & Curtis, 2022).
Leadership Challenges
Currently, there are areas in my leadership role that I find challenging, particularly in
resolving conflict, mainly where emotions are high. For example, when my team members had
different views on the project's strategy, I found it difficult to moderate the team. Such pressures
affect working relationships and productivity, as demonstrated by bottom-up leadership, where
conflicts should be resolved as they arise (Manning & Curtis, 2022).
One of the skills I have also had difficulty with is delegation. I often overload myself
with work or tasks because I think that if I give that job to someone else, they will do a poor
quality job. This was evident during a large initiative where I failed to delegate, resulting in me
simply becoming exhausted and missing deadlines (Manning & Curtis, 2022).
In addition, managing different teams was also challenging as the approaches,
organizational culture, and task execution were different (Manning & Curtis, 2022). This
experience shows that emotional intelligence should also be present in leadership. In the future, I
will apply this to conflict resolution and improve my delegation and team leadership skills to
achieve better results.
Areas for Improvement

My weaknesses are delegation and dealing with conflict situations, which, in most
cases, slows down team cohesion and performance. To work on conflict resolution skills, I have
recommended the following for myself: Assertiveness. One way to be assertive is to listen to
everyone involved and make everyone feel involved. This is consistent with the bottom-up
leadership model, which supports employee involvement in conflict resolution. The idea of a
decentralization and delegation structure will be helpful because it outlines the expectations that
need to be met and dictates how a specific task needs to be done. This acceptable approach
includes a supportive and empowering orientation that reflects the principle of servant
leadership. In this case, I also want to get feedback from my team on how they feel I am leading
them and what I do or need to do more to improve the change. It is consistent with the W.
Edwards Deming Quality System, which calls for open and continuous business improvement
(Manning & Curtis, 2022).
Future Leadership Development

As a result of the self-assessment results, I will make a good plan to improve my
leadership skills by ensuring that I practice S.M.A.R.T. set goals. Based on the knowledge
gained in this course, I will take leadership seminars and classes on emotional intelligence and
conflict management. Another reason for continued self-evaluation is that it will be important for
my growth. Reflecting on situations and asking others for ideas helps identify a student's
strengths and weaknesses. This process approach reflects the foundations of transformational
leadership, particularly the development of personal compassion.
Conclusion
This self-assessment shows that my most developed areas are communication and
interpersonal relationships, and my greatest weaknesses are conflict management and delegation.
In the context of the concepts of transformational leadership and emotional intelligence, it is
important to consider the ethical aspects of leadership constantly. These aspects, along with
resolving conflicts and assigning responsibilities, contribute significantly to leadership
effectiveness. Developing leadership awareness is a crucial activity because it helps leaders
recognize the impact they have on people and properly build and enact change. By practicing
reflection, asking for feedback, and embracing individual change, I can strive for higher
productivity, professionalism, and integrity in my organization and personal life.
Reference
Manning, G., & Curtis, K. (2022). The Art of Leadership (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

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Otesanya - Page 1 of 6

Adedoyin Debbie Otesanya (C13858)

Evaluation of my Past Leadership Performance

Areas for Improvement

Future Leadership Development

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