Contemporary Leadership and Management Theories

Introduction

Leadership theories are designed to identify the factors that predetermine the making of effective leaders. Theories focus on specific character traits and competencies that are necessary for individuals to acquire or facilitate their leadership skills. First, the Behavioral Leadership Theory (BLT) is focused on leaders’ behavioral patterns that, if followed or copied, might be simulated by others to improve leadership outcomes (Northouse, 2021). According to this theoretical framework, it is possible to develop successful managers through teaching rather than relying on their innate characteristics. Leaders’ performance is at the center of BLT; this approach implies that observing a leader’s actions clearly illustrates the level of effectiveness of their leadership style. The conduct learning hypothesis prioritizes behavior over personality characteristics. In accordance with this approach, the patterns of leadership behavior might be categorized into distinctive leadership styles (Northouse, 2021). However, apart from BLT there are many other leadership theories that focus on things such as people, tasks, change, or other elements essential for a leader.

The contingency leadership theory, which is also referred to as the situational theory, holds that the context in which a leader functions should be prioritized. According to this theoretical approach, it is essential to evaluate the outcomes of success or failure achieved by a leader in a particular environment (Northouse, 2021). In other words, the situational context predetermines the efficiency of a leader’s performance. Thus, the setting and operational environment of a leader are more important than the character traits they possess. Ultimately, leaders with effective management styles are capable of adjusting their leadership toward the requirements of their context (Western Governors University, 2020). In addition, according to this theory, when choosing an effective leader, an organization should take the circumstances into consideration since different leaders fit different contexts. There are several examples of other situational theories, which include the Situational Theory of Hershey and Blanchard, the Path-Goal Theory of Evans and House, and Fiedler’s Contingency Theory.

Another theoretical framework is transformational leadership (TL), according to which the subordinates of a leader are empowered to improve their lives independently. Individuals following the TL principles are prone to demonstrate initiative, enthusiasm, and inspiration (Western Governors University, 2020). These managers are actively involved in the operations while making sure that every follower performs to the best of their ability and makes progress. TL was first introduced by James Burns, who was an expert on leadership and a biographer (Cherry, 2022). He stated that when “leaders and followers make each other move to a greater degree of moral and motivation” (cited in Cherry, 2022, para. 5). Such an approach to leadership is empowering and based on the prioritization of improvement.

After TL, Bernard Bass expanded the concepts introduced by Burns and presented an alternative approach to leadership, which is called Bass’s Transformational Leadership Theory. Bass claimed that transformational leadership’s core idea is the relationship between a leader and their followers (Cherry, 2022). Bass’s Transformational Leadership Theory holds that followers of TL leader consider them trustworthy, respected, and reliable. The researchers found that employees’ stated levels of well-being were higher when they perceived their employers to have higher degrees of TL (Cherry, 2022). Even after the researchers took into account variables associated with well-being, like work-related stress, education, and age, the effect remained statistically significant.

There is a clear link between strategy and leadership, as leaders are the ones who execute the strategy of the firm. There is a building block description of strategic management. The resources that are available to an organization are gathered here. In order to best decide how they may be used to achieve goals, organizational capital, financial, marketing, human resource, and other functions are analyzed. Policies and procedures to direct activity are the outcomes (Northouse, 2021). It is extremely simple to assert that strategic management creates a path that can be taken.

Strategic management does involve leadership because to create a plan of action, a leader gathers various collectives inside a company (Northouse, 2021). They are expected to use communicative skills and persuasion strategies to instill the understanding among the followers that each of them is a stakeholder in the organizational performance. They are the ones who lead the way down the road that strategic management planning has indicated.

Having the ability to unite people makes leaders crucial to the task of strategic management. This does not imply that executives behave without regard to the strategic plan. In actuality, leaders heavily rely on what has been decided and also on the individuals who have been given various jobs (Northouse, 2021). A strategic plan provides a feeling of direction, which is the main justification. Visionaries can be leaders, but without something tangible, their ideas are little more than fluffy air. Individuals in leading positions might have much influence over the end objective, however, when trying to achieve it without a plan would be complicated and confusing. Developed tactics will also give any leader essential tools. The followers should be motivated through the use of benchmarking and step-by-step goal achievement. Leaders make an effort to solve issues. A leader will be informed of issues that need to be resolved as well by those very same performance indexes. Strategic management, incidentally, is a dynamic process. It is not something that has been deeply engraved in stone.

Strategic leadership and management are also critical in delivering a competitive advantage. Indeed, at different development stages, conventional strategic planning processes are developed in similar patterns in competing firms (Northouse, 2021). Such a development consists of four stages that follow one another in a linear manner, implying the gradual improvement of the previously achieved outcomes in each consecutive step. The issues that are clarified throughout this process entail problem ad solution identification, preparation practices’ direction, the extent to which leadership is prepared to make strategic decisions, as well as the evaluation of the implementation stage’s effectiveness. The majority of business entities are prone to easily detect strategic planning determinants through the framework of annual financial statements and budgeting reports, in which numerical data vividly illustrates the problems and improvements. For that matter, specific practices are used to determine the scope and volume of costs and budget requirements. Given the complexity of the tracking and monitoring tasks within the context of financial performance, specific information systems are being used.

No single manager might be able to process the data on the number of products and markets served, the degree of technological advancement needed, and the complexity of the macroeconomic factors. The complexities of large organizations require transparent documentation of Phase I strategic practices. Thus, to identify strategic goals and plan for their achievement, large volumes of data should be effectively processed at the initial stage of development.

Modern leaders face a plethora of challenges due to the challenging nature of the business environment. These challenges include workforce shortage, globalization-based mobility of employable populations, and overall economic globalization. Some of the most significant issues of the next ten years are the competition for talented individuals and businesses today (Northouse, 2021). Managers of organizations search for opportunities to boost profits whenever they want to make better use of the organization’s current resources. They are attempting to make use of even the waste. Therefore, one might estimate that the majority of individuals inside the organization simply utilize their talent, which might be one of the causes of businesses’ loss of money.

The complexity of today’s world has produced various hurdles for company executives. For example, interacting with people with different cultural backgrounds and viewpoints is a major issue for managers and corporate leaders. On the other hand, the development of technology has made it easier to engage with the outside world while simultaneously fostering a lack of responsibility as a result of external problems that have emerged and still do. Additionally, transformational challenges force corporate leaders to address the psychological aspects of their jobs (Northouse, 2021). They are all connected to the difficulties of the current business environment. As a result, business executives should establish a plan that includes individuals with different backgrounds and viewpoints, places them in relevant roles, and permits rapid technical development. The psychological strategy for motivating employees to transform a firm should be a major component.

Overall, the concept of leadership depends on the context of operations, followers, and the individual in the leader’s role. A leader, subordinates, and the situation are the three components that people and leadership researchers use to explain leadership from their points of view. Researchers claim that while describing leadership, studies may also integrate parts of three leadership attributes. This definition is based on all of a leader’s responsibilities. The act of inspiring a subordinate to act in a desirable manner is known as leadership (Northouse, 2021). A person’s ability to manage or inspire other people, groups, or entire institutions – the art of inspiring a group of people to work together toward a common goal—is both a research field and a practical talent.

At my workplace, the majority of managers, including the CEO, are transformational leaders. This has become apparent when recently we had to transfer to a new communication system, which would require all employees to use a calendar and an online conference tool for meetings with employees outside the office. It was a necessary change since, previously, people were using different tools, and it would make it difficult in the future to have a uniform system. Since strategically, the leadership has declared that we will be expanding and there will be many new employees, the second decision was to ensure that all departments use the same communication tools. This required training and adjustment; however, despite the stress, the transformational approach of our leadership has made this change more pleasant.

Performance Management as a Strategic Tool

One of the most effective strategic tools for monitoring and assessing employee conduct is performance management. It is designed to cultivate a workplace environment in which staff members are capable to perform to the best of their capabilities, achieving high results in an efficient and effective manner. Employees’ performance excellence might be significantly improved, and their work outcomes facilitated if a company utilizes performance management tools. One of the fundamental principles of performance management is the vision of each employee as a structural constituent in a larger organizational structure (Northouse, 2021). Thus, performance management tools allow for cultivating an atmosphere of transparent performance expectations that foster responsibility and excellence.

Using a well-planned performance management initiative, managers can disseminate expectations, goals, and career development objectives among the employees while clarifying the fit of an individual within the company’s strategic goals. Indeed, performance management typically establishes how an individual is viewed within the context of the whole organization (Northouse, 2021). The absolute performance standard is the theoretical goal, which, in practice, is almost unreachable. Traditional performance management approaches include goals, objectives, and milestone setting and evaluation. In addition, they are designed to measure performance and define what constitutes effective performance. However, performance management transforms every interaction with an employee into an insightful learning experience rather than the prioritization of outcome appraisals.

Managers might implement solutions that will help employees perform better at goal achievement by adjusting workflow, offering new strategies, and integrating other solutions enabled by performance management tools. In such a manner, a firm is capable of meeting its goals and performing excellently. For instance, the manager of a sales department assigns staff members goals for revenue that they must achieve within a particular period of time. Using such an approach, a leader might advise salespeople on how to approach their job, which is not limited to a mere reference of numerical data.

An accountable, transparent, and engaging workplace organized under the influence of performance management might facilitate communication strategies in a company. Due to the explicit rules created by performance management, employees are better informed about the requirements of their performance. When goals and expectations are clear, the performance burden does not cause much stress. Leaders do not have to struggle with approaching their employees when discussing their poor performance, while workers have a clear vision of what the scope of their practice is. They probably already know whether the system is working properly.

There are software systems for performance management; however, the templates are frequently customized for a specific company. But there are a few elements that are present in all successful performance-management strategies. Employees’ actions are aligned with company’s vision, mission, and goals via leaders’ communication. Employees need to understand how their goals contribute to the company’s overall success. Establishing measurable performance-based expectations is one example of performance management. Employees should be able to influence how success is measured. Expectations cover outcomes, the goods and services an employee delivers, activities, processes, and behaviors, as well as attitudes and values displayed by an employee while at work. The next stage is to formulate exact job-performance outcomes. For example, leaders are responsible for defining plans for career development. Supervisors and employees should collaborate to determine the responsibilities of a position. Employees should make decisions about the kinds of new things they learn and how they might use their knowledge to the company’s advantage. Recurring assembly happens when managers and employees should actively participate all year to evaluate success instead of waiting for the yearly review.

Examples. Leaders devote a significant amount of time to team member evaluation. They evaluate their performance, communication abilities, and outcomes regularly. Effective leaders also take the time to assess their performance and look for ways to get better regularly. This means that leaders must evaluate their employees and critically self-assess personal leadership capabilities. Large companies, for example, Apple, use leadership assessment strategies to routinely assess the qualities of their management (Ohio University, 2021). Making personal leadership evaluations a regular element of your company reviews is vital since they are just as significant as business and team assessments.

Although important, leaders shouldn’t just give comments at employee check-ins. For certain feedback to be timely, certain issues must be immediately rectified. For instance, if a leader sends an essential email to the team and it is unclear, the leader needs to be made aware of this as soon as possible so that communication can be improved and the message comprehended. However, the substance of the email will continue to be misunderstood and impact the desired results if no one on the team feels comfortable expressing their misunderstanding and providing feedback. The company’s culture needs to value open communication so that opportunities for input are commonplace. Make it possible for workers to contact you with any concerns.

Equality and Diversity Challenge

Diversity in the workplace is a vital concept in the modern world. The term “diversity” refers to a set of individual differences within a given organization (Baker et al., 2021). In particular, diversity includes such specific categories as race, gender, ethnicity, age, education, social status, and others (Baker et al., 2021). Many contemporary organizations have already implemented diversity-based interventions aimed at facilitating the representation of multiple populations in their workforce (Baker et al., 2021). Ultimately, diversity management provides a solid basis for ongoing research in the field of organizational sciences. Particularly in cross-cultural contexts, when employees from various cultural origins work together and managers face the difficulty of managing employees with distinct values and interests, it is crucial to develop a deeper awareness of workforce diversity and its management. The most critical thing that helps foster equality and diversity is leadership.

The most critical element of any organization is its leadership, but owing to the interplay of such factors as globalization, technological advancement, and diversity management, it is becoming more challenging. With the increase in the demand for knowledge-based companies, management and the workforce must increase the effectiveness of workplace learning and workforce development. Effective world leaders should be aware of the expectations the world anticipates them to meet and how to fulfill them (Stenhouse, 2021). HR specialists are ready to make aggressive moves to facilitate the role of firms. It is essential for leaders to address diversity in accordance with cross-cultural leadership trends in order to sustain their influence potential (Stenhouse, 2021). They should create and maintain effective leadership strategies to impact long-lasting change.

Recognizing, appreciating, and appreciating differences between people based on factors a number of factors, including age, race, ethnicity, and others, is one approach to describe diversity. For instance, in American firms, representatives of many races and ethnicities collaborate, or in some organizations, some physically impaired individuals contribute to research and development because of their cerebral brilliance (Stenhouse, 2021). Given that the entire world has been transformed into a single large market where parties exchange resources, we can simply determine that these are all effects of globalization. In today’s interconnected world, organizations are incredibly diverse and complicated. To comprehend it or how an organization operates, we must examine the people who work there, their methods, and the contributions their backgrounds make.

As stated above, business entities are expected to employ a diverse population of workers. Using this diversity to produce positive results for individuals and organizations is crucial. Since diversity is a significant contributing factor in achieving higher levels of employee productivity and organizations’ competitive advantages, businesses should prioritize diversity as well as find solutions to celebrate inclusion in their workforce (Stenhouse, 2021). Employees that feel included in the workplace have higher “trust climate” and relationships with the organization (Stenhouse, 2021). Understanding and embracing the multicultural environment is crucial in today’s globalized society, both at work and in the marketplace.

The benefits of diversity management in the workplace include enhanced productivity, increased creativity and problem-solving, recruiting and retaining talent, aiding in the development of communication between employees, and growing market share and the proportion of varied clients. The goal of diversity management policies and initiatives is to make an organization inviting to those groups that, historically and currently, have not had access to employment in general or higher-paying occupations in particular (Stenhouse, 2021). Leaders must have a part in managing diversity in the workplace and often encounter difficulties in doing so.

Research on the impact of leadership and its link to diversity and equality has been done in recent years. Leaders excessively encounter the challenges of decision-making, performance excellence, and the efficient use of time resources (Stenhouse, 2021). They frequently struggle to inspire people to act wisely and diplomatically. It gets harder for the leaders to coach and mentor the other workers. It’s challenging to be a team leader. Leaders must always make changes according to the principles to adapt to the dynamic changes brought about by globalization (Stenhouse, 2021). Thus, world leaders working in diverse organizations encounter significant obstacles when completing the tasks mentioned earlier.

Leadership performance is essential for managing people by directing and adjusting their actions. Leadership can be put into practice by offering advice and direction to subordinates while plans are being carried out. They must develop a strategic plan that transcends the vision of diversity as an immediate element of organizational culture (Janssens and Steyaert, 2019). The stance of a company’s leader is more significant than any other factor since employees are more likely to follow the diversity-based ideology if the leader’s position is transparent and supportive of diversity. In general, workers concur with the values that their leaders uphold. Additionally, workers frequently emulate the benchmarks set by their superiors.

Organizations nowadays must constantly adjust since they operate in a very dynamic and competitive environment. However, the majority of change initiatives fall short of the desired outcomes, and this is mostly due to people’s mindsets (Janssens and Steyaert, 2019). Change may be welcomed by certain individuals who see it as an opportunity to gain advantages and elevate their status within the business; on the other hand, it may also be viewed negatively by others who see it as a danger. People are believed to be resistant to change under the latter scenario (Janssens and Steyaert, 2019). This reluctance may be a result of their failure to modify their behavior, abilities, and dedication to meet the new standards; they may lack the aptitude for change.

Organizational Strategy and Change

Stable growth and predictable goal achievement are highly prioritized by contemporary managers while exposing them to significant challenges. Thus, organizational change becomes obstructed; however, since firms currently function in a competitive business environment, change is the only reality that should be constantly anticipated. Maintaining the status quo through rigid structures is no longer a winning strategy for organizations. The purpose of this article is to explore how change affects an organization’s operations and strategy. This is accomplished by defining change, discussing different types of change, external drivers of change, and how change initiatives are viewed as positive or negative. A change in an organization’s current status to enhance performance is referred to as an organizational change.

Improvements to an organization’s procedures and processes, reorganizing the operational hierarchy, or making significant modifications to the organization’s systems are a few examples of this type of change. This suggests that organizational transformation makes an effort to enhance its effectiveness, either temporarily or permanently. Thus, the shift must follow instructions and try to accomplish a set of goals and objectives. A clear strategy and resource allocation mechanism are needed for the change process to be implemented and the desired state/outcomes to be achieved.

A minor or substantial change can affect an organization, and a change effort might affect a small or major area of the organization. Examples of simple changes include office relocation or termination of a product manufacturing. This distinction between small and large is arbitrary since what appears small may be viewed as enormous depending on the organization’s size. Structural and strategic change is also important; changes can be categorized depending on the organizational level affected by the change process. The character and culture of the organization change as a result of strategic change, which impacts the entire organization. A shift in the organization’s values, assumptions, and beliefs, which direct the organization’s strategic procedures and operations, is an example of such a transformation.

A change like this may be transformational and rather challenging because it affects many individuals, structures of an organization, and procedures. An organization’s processes and techniques must alter due to structural change. For example, the alteration of a firm’s reporting system in a marketing department may impact a small segment of the organization, such as a department. On the other hand, such a transformation might lead to consecutive changes throughout the organization.

Next, the reason for the change must be considered since different sorts of change are possible: Improvements to assessment practices in educational institutions are examples of developmental change. Transitional change refers to a gradual change in an organization’s state, such as switching from manually generating academic performance reports for students to automatically generating them in order to keep up with trends. Transformational change refers to a significant improvement in an organization’s systems and operations. Maintaining stability and establishing a particular level of predictability are the goals of planned change. This demonstrates that people will fight against change at all organizational levels. This tendency is justified by the continued perception that change is destructive and might have adverse outcomes that should be avoided. and has unfavorable effects. Emergent change occurs during a period of time when a firm needs to prioritize resilience and flexibility, which ultimately contribute to the organization’s readiness to change without significant efforts from stakeholders.

Political and environmental concerns might be the external uncontrollable triggers of organizational change. Therefore, experts and management should integrate the external environment’s influence on the development of a firm due to the risks it might bring (Northouse, 2021). To exemplify several political determinants impacting change in organizations, one might refer to government policies, legislation, trade limitations, environmental laws, and other procedures. For example, the Trump administration’s cut on Chinese produce limited the exportation of goods and jeopardized the performance of Chinese companies, necessitating their changes. The operations and competitive strategies of a number of organizations related to operations in the United States of America should take into consideration that the changes in the US legislation might have a significant impact on their ability to operate under the previously used terms.

Similarly, organizations cannot sustain strict structures in places like Libya and Syria, where extreme political unpredictability exists. They must acquire resilience and flexibility, which allow for an emerging change in their operations and strategy. An organization’s profitability and overall financial performance are influenced by economic variables, including corporate taxation, inflation, and foreign exchange rates. Exchange rates are volatile due to economic unpredictability, particularly during presidential elections and major political initiatives like Brexit. Depending on whether foreign exchange fluctuations are in favor of or against individuals and organizations, this volatility causes them to either lose or gain economic value. Due to the uncertainty and volatility of exchange rates, organizations are forced to be flexible and embrace emergent change by using emergent strategies and operations. Otherwise, adhering to planned adjustments and process can result in a situation called strategic drift, in which the organization’s operations stop being relevant to the current competitive environment.

When addressing social factors influencing firm performance, one should refer to demographic trends, lifestyle changes, and consumer behavior patterns. These affect how much services and goods are demanded by consumers. Adapting to shifting consumer tastes and preferences pushes organizations to adjust their strategy and operations. Without making these adjustments, the company’s goods and services would face more competition, which would leave its current clients unhappy. The whole organization’s existence might be at risk due to these factors. Such an event is more likely to occur in the present competitive context, where social media platforms enable information and false information to spread globally within seconds.

Technological factors include the advancement of the Internet, eCommerce popularization, and new product designs. COVID-19 demonstrated the need to embrace change made possible by technology innovation. The epidemic has shown that online learning methods provide more security, practicality, affordability, and accessibility in comparison to traditional approaches to education. The pandemic has introduced a range of immediate changes, according to which schools and universities have rapidly implemented online-based learning initiatives despite their long-term resistance to such an approach to academic organizations’ functioning. The necessity for integrated learning has forced educational institutions to alter their competitive tactics and business practices.

Strategic Leadership

Strategic leadership is a skill that must be acquired because it is not innate. As a result, learning more about the traits you wish to exhibit will make you a better leader. Without question, good communication is an essential element of strategic leadership. Communication skills are important for leaders because they must be able to successfully convey their vision to their followers in addition to being able to build one that is captivating. The leader’s team’s performance will be more effective if the goals and requirements are presented in a transparent manner to the followers. This team must be in tune with and supportive of your strategic objectives and ambitions to succeed. The concept of communication encompasses an important element of a leader’s competencies: soft skills, such as maintaining an open-door policy and scheduling frequent one-on-one sessions with team members. Other important qualities of leaders include time management capabilities, integrity, honesty, being a visionary, ability to delegate, among others.

Strategic thinking skills constitute a substantial element of an effective leader’s performance, which differentiates a leader from a manager. Simply said, this implies having a goal or vision for where you want to go and working toward that goal. The best strategic thinkers are unaffected by ancillary issues or minute details and instead focus on the big picture. Being able to plan and deliver for the organization may be even more crucial than being personally organized and motivated as a leader. Although they are essential management abilities, the top leaders will also be able to excel in them. Even the best idea in the world is worthless without a strategy to make it happen. Therefore, planning and action arrangement are closely connected with strategic thinking; both are crucial for carrying out your vision and goal. Both managers and leaders can benefit from knowing how to manage and plan projects. To control and prevent problems from occurring, good risk management is also essential.

There are no leaders without followers; naturally, good managers have to instill confidence in their followers. Therefore, leaders need interpersonal and group-working abilities and specific tools to deal with a variety of scenarios. You may learn more about many of these talents on our page on management skills. Many of these skills are essential for managers as well. Leaders are specifically expected to inspire and motivate their followers, both personally and through fostering an inspiring environment. When new leaders start their careers, they must acquire the skill of dealing. Moreover, delegation is a challenging skill to perfect; however, its proper use might enhance team performance through decision-making delegation and facilitated responsibility.

Leadership Assessment Tools

There are various leadership assessment tools available on the internet and other sources. For this task, I have used NHS Leadership Academy and MindTool’s Leadership Self-Assessment Survey (NHS Leadership Academy, 2012). It is a little low-tech and a downloaded PDF, but printing a real copy gives one plenty of time for reflection. The tool is built on a strong leadership foundation, and the questionnaire contains well-thought-out questions. One drawback is that this tool was created specifically for healthcare professionals, and therefore, one must replace one mention of “patients” in the framework’s section on “Service Delivery” with “customers.” Although this tool was introduced in 2012, the assessment method is still useful and provides an assessment of many aspects of leadership. Appendix A shows the results of my leadership assessment based on the NHS test.

The second test selected for this assignment is by MindTools and is titled. This test is designed to evaluate a candidate on several basic criteria essential for any leader (MindTools, n.d.). As the survey results in Appendix B show, my leadership skills are strong since I am good at communicating and can typically understand the strengths and weaknesses of my subordinates. However, as this self-assessment suggests, there is always something to improve, and since my score is 63 out of 90, I can work on some of my skills to be an even better leader.

There are some core leadership skills that each leader must possess, and based on the two leadership self-assessments I have completed, I can improve some areas to become a better leader. The action plan below was designed considering my self-evaluation results to help me improve the areas where my leadership skills can be enhanced. The main issues I have identified include improving personal integrity, ensuring that my actions show the employees a good example, time management, and active listening skills.

Action Plan

Based on the leadership assessment from the tests above, I have identified several competencies that can be addressed to ensure that I can be a competent leader for my organization. Below, in Table 1, is the action plan with specific leadership competencies that steps for addressing it. This action plan has specific, measurable skills that allow one to use the outlined resources and determine if the expected outcome, for example, time management, was achieved.

Action chosenJustificationSkills DevelopedStart date-end date
Planning the workload to complete all the tasks: Read the time management manual, and practice using a to-do list with specific tasks, date of completion, and time needed to complete this task.The first assessment in Appendix A shows that I can improve my personal management skills to ensure that I plan my tasks in a way that allows me to address all my responsibilities.Time management
Personal management
September 25th – September 28th
Critically evaluate personal morals and ethics; write down 10 values that are most important for me and write about how I show these through my work.Since I want to improve my personal integrity to be a good role model for my followers, I want to ensure that I have a clear understanding of my values.Integrity
Ability to be a good visionary
September 26th – September 27th
Active listening skills: listen to a youtube lecture on active listening and practice steps from it throughout the next week.An effective leader can provide sufficient space for comprehensive communication built on active listening. Such a leader integrates the opinions of all employees, valuing their experience and potential contribution.Active listening skills
Communication skills
October 1st – October 7th
Communication skills: read a book on conflict management in teams and write notes on it.Communication skills development entails efforts and resources which are aimed at relationship-building, teamwork facilitation, persuasion implementation, and conflict management. One of the most challenging parts of communication is having to resolve conflicts, which is why this skill was chosen.Communication skills
Conflict resolution skills
October 7th – October 15th
Build personal connections and networks within the industry: update the LinkedIn profile and add leaders from organizations in a similar field; join a local professional organization.Professional networks can help a leader stay in touch with the trends of the industry and also get feedback from others on their work or leadership skills.Communication skillsOctober 16th – October 20th
Enhance team leadership skills: join a leadership development program and make weekly evaluations of communication with the team and their performance results.Being a leader of a small team can be challenging. However, it is essential to understand how teams are formed and how they learn to communicate and cooperate with one another to be a successful leader.Team management skillsOctober 20th – November 20th
Table 1. Leadership skills development action plan.

Reference list

Baker, M., French, E., and Ali, M. (2021) ‘Insights into the ineffectiveness of gender equality and diversity initiatives in project-based organizations,’ Journal of Management in Engineering – ASCE, 37(3), pp. 10-15.

Cherry, K. (2022) What is transformational leadership? Web.

Janssens, M. and Steyaert, C. (2019) ‘A practice-based theory of diversity: respecifying (in)equality in organizations’, AMR, 44, pp. 518–537.

MindTools. (2022) How good are your leadership skills? Web.

NHS Leadership Academy (2012) The leadership framework. Web.

Northouse, P. G. (2021) Leadership: theory and practice. New York: SAGE.

Ohio University. (2021) How Apple’s leadership changed. Web.

Stenhouse, R. (2021) ‘Understanding equality and diversity in nursing practice, Nursing Standard (2014+), 36(2), pp. 27-33.

Western Governors University. (2020) Leadership theories and styles. Web.

Appendix A: Leadership Assessment Results

Leadership Assessment Results

Appendix B: MindTools Leadership Self-Assessment Results

MindTools Leadership Self-Assessment Results
MindTools Leadership Self-Assessment Results
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