Mgmt 2021 Leadership Development Plan

Andrew Stoefen Leadership Development Plan 5 July 2024 My Leadership Development Plan Throughout the past eight weeks of MGMT:9120 I have developed greater awareness of what differentiates a leader from a manager, and how I can exemplify the desirable traits of a leader. This reflection looks to serve as a point of reflection, but also as a future point of reference for myself that covers my current stance on leadership, and the goals I need to achieve in order to get closer to my highest potential as a leader.

Defining Effective Leadership in my Current Context The most important functions of effective leadership in my current work context are developing trust, encouraging the growth and development of others, and finding creative solutions

Without effective visions, my organization and those I lead in the future will fail to innovate and evolve to meet market needs. I recognize that a strong leader is able to not only imagine the future, but communicate that future in a way that affects how people feel and act today. This essential leadership function feels two pronged in that you must be able to think and create the vision, and then find a way to transform this into a reality through others. The second part of that equation is where I struggle in my current context. I am still learning how to influence and implement a vision through others, but through my other course this summer “Strategic Management of Change” with Sue Dustin, I am gaining confidence and tools to help me in this development opportunity. Removing barriers to success for others is an essential function of effective leadership. I have learned these barriers come in many shapes and sizes, but these barriers undermine a leader and their team’s ability to implement ideas with success. In my current context, the removal of barriers to success is lagging, giving me the perspective of someone who wants to drive effective change but is unable. The leader I aspire to be will identify the barriers and do their best to smooth the path forward towards success. Small changes such as identifying and removing redundant

My five core values are Accountability, Curiosity, Warmth, Honesty, and Appreciation. These leadership values provide me with clarity around how I can operate as a leader and give me a framework to communicate my expectations and desires of those I lead. These values make sense given the context of my career and how I have carried myself thus far. I value accountability and honesty because I find it builds trust, and as I discussed before, trust is essential to the success of a team. One of the best compliments I have received in my career was that I am “Curious”, and that made me see the value and gains you get when you stay hungry for knowledge. I also realized how much I value warmth and appreciation, and the impact it has on my motivation. I work much better with people who project warmth before strength, and who are appreciative of the effort I put in. Due to my experiences with each of these values in my current context, I will continue to share with others my values and practice modeling the way I work with behaviors that align with my words. An essential function and value of my leadership philosophy is enabling others to continuously learn, and providing feedback is a direct way leaders can enable and promote growth. Through a group discussion, my team and I identified three key insights to effective feedback. The first was awareness