What type of the leader are you? And how ready are you to lead others?

You don’t lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case (Kesey 2012).

Source: Anderson (2013)

The leader is usually a self-made person who is able to communicate a vision to people, sets direction and inspires them to move the same direction towards the same goal (Anderson 2013). There are particular qualities that belong to leaders: 1) Enthusiasm – which is necessary to have strengths not to give up after every fall; 2) Courage to overcome problems; 3) Belief and Vision – an image of a dream and faith that the goal is achievable (Prive 2009). Moreover, leader takes responsibilities for mistakes even if one of the team’s members made them (Buren 2013). To me, all the above characterizes a good leader.

Source: TechNet Magazine (2013)

Not many leaders were born leaders, most of the times they had to develop their leadership and grew their confidence over the time. During my leadership module, I got to know a lot about myself and features of leadership. For instance, that it is possible to advance ability to lead others through constant development and listening to my peers. To be a leader is a hardworking and sometimes complicated process. Moreover, leaders do not think that someone is obliged to give them something; they take all the responsibility and move only forward for a success. Through personal experience, leaders make conclusions and try to avoid unwanted situations or outcomes (Andersen 2012).

When I think about leader who inspires me, I have a list of them: Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, John Rockefeller, Che Guevara, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandella and many others. All of them from different times and industries but their contribution into society was incredible and valuable. However, if I relate to Oil and Gas industry, I am definitely inspired by Charles Samuel Hunting because he built the whole family business in oil industry starting from very little in 1890’s and being able to communicate his vision to others and lead them (Hunting 2015). Also, I think that Lorenzo Simonelli from GE Oil and Gas has an impressive personality and leadership skills.

Source: Simonelli (2014)

In his talk about leadership he pointed out that development of flexibility of ourselves, being able to adapt to changes quickly and “being a resource” to your team will lead you to success (Simonelli 2014). Lorenzo started his career in Corporate Finance and two years ago was appointed as a President & CEO of GE Oil and Gas (Bloomberg 2015).

From the feedback that I received, it is clear that my core strengths are organisational skills & good time-management (I have a habit of planning and organising everything in advance), clear communication of tasks and actions that have to be taken in order to achieve the within given framework. However, what they pointed is that one of my biggest weaknesses is not being attentive to some (not all) opinions in a team. I had a vision of how things have to be done and it was hard for me to listen or better to accept another opinion and change the structure of the task. Therefore, I have to work on my listening skills and change to democratic approach within teams. Moreover, if I want to become a democratic leader, I have to learn how to improve my listening skills and acceptance of different “right” opinions. To me democratic leadership style is one of the most fair leadership styles. If you gather highly professional individuals and motivate them to speak out and to participate in brainstorming, it will benefit dramatically any organisation (Choi 2007).

To conclude, to become a good leader is a journey and it is achievable through continues learning and improvements. I do not consider myself a good leader just yet because there is a range of skills that I have to train and emphasize. However, I consider that with time and practice, I could lead others wisely and I have a potential to be a good one.

List of References:

Andersen, E. (2012) Are leaders born or made? [online] available from <http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2012/11/21/are-leaders-born-or-made/>  [22 June 2015]

Anderson, A.R. (2013) Becoming A Great Leader Is A Lifelong Quest, But One Well Worth Pursuing [online] available from <http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyanderson/2013/02/22/becoming-a-great-leader-is-a-lifelong-quest-but-one-well-worth-pursuing/> [22 June 2015]

Bloomberg (2015) General Electric Co [online] available from <http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=33255528&ticker=GE> [23 June 2015]

Buren, J.A.V. (2013) Ethical Leadership [online] available from <http://www.uvm.edu/extension/community/buildingcapacity/pdfs/ethical_leadership_factsheet.pdf> [18 May 2015]

Choi, S. (2007) Democratic leadership: the lessons exemplary models for democratic governance [online] available from <https://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/ijls/new/vol2iss3/choi/Choi_Vol2Iss3.pdf>  [22 June 2015]

Hunting (2015) History and Culture [online] available from <http://www.huntingplc.com/about-us/history-and-culture.aspx> [22 June 2015]

Kesey, K. (2012) 100 Best Quotes on Leadership [online] available from <http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/10/16/quotes-on-leadership/> [23 June 2015]

Prive, T. Top ten qualities that make a great leader (2012) available from <http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/> [21 June 2015]

Simonelli, L. (2014) Access GE: What are the most leadership skill that matter today? [online] available from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls4kKd8-OBk>  [23 June 2015]

TechNet Magazine (2013) IT Management: Leadership, deconstructed [online] available from <https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/jj992584.aspx>  [23 June 2015]