My Development as a Leader

“I want to be just like her.”

I still remember my first experience when I was filled with admiration and awe while I was watching television. Mulan took upon herself to serve in the war to protect her elderly father from being enlisted as he was the only man in his family. Disguised as a man, she trained and fought through the hardships of war, eventually serving a distinguished military role and was honored by the emperor.

Figure 1 Mulan climbing up a pole in order to prove her worth. Image taken from historycollection.com

Despite it being a 1998 Disney animated rendition of the Ballad of Mulan, a woman in a man’s battlefield was foreign to me—even though her identity was revealed and many of her comrades became skeptical, Mulan did not waver and remained strong to her cause, which enabled her to lead her close comrades during the most crucial time of need to save the emperor.

Fast forward to today, leaders can be found in many different areas in life. Whether it is a CEO of a company or a group leader for a small team, leadership skills can be practiced across all levels of managing positions.

What makes a great leader?

The idea of a leader can be discussed in an abstract sense of someone who has strong persuasion; however, a more holistic way of elaborating would be a relationship when one person can influence the how others act and/or behave (Mullins, 2016, p. 314). There are many ways to examine managerial leadership, yet there are multiple variables that enable one to be a strong and effective leader. Psychologist Daniel Goleman found that effective leaders are distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence (EI), and EI is made up of five key elements:

Figure 2 Five Components of Emotional Intelligence.
Retrieved from hbr.org/video/5236216251001/what-makes-a-leader

Throughout one’s leadership journey, one must be able to balance and manage these five areas to gain higher emotional intelligence. During the pandemic, many find themselves navigating through times of psychological, physiological, and financial stressors (Greenwood & Anas, 2021). Having high emotional intelligence enables one to be less affected by their emotions in times of pressure, and people with high EI tend to have stronger and more positive relationships with those around them (Neale, 2020). Moreover, based on the World Economic Forum in 2016, the industrial revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) has brought rapid change in every industry with its technological advances, and the top 10 skills to thrive in the era of IR4.0 includes emotional intelligence. Many have accepted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will automate tasks in various industries and cite concern regarding the impact on human jobs (Marr, 2020). With rapid change in our current generation, it is important to maintain the emotional wellbeing of ourselves and the people around us.

In the book, First, Break All the Rules, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman from the Gallup organization, the Gallup Organization surveyed over 80,000 managers in 400+ companies to receive feedback on how great managers perform under a variety of situations. According to Gallup’s study as cited by Buckingham and Coffman (1999), there are three characteristics that great managers share when it comes to their approach on feedback:

1. Constant feedback—as a manager, a constant part of their interactions with employees included performance feedback meetings, and these meetings varied in frequency depending on the needs and preferences of their employees.
2. Brief review of past performance—in the beginning of every session, a good manager will go over past performance of said employee. This is not to criticize or evaluate their past performance, but to allow the employee to see themselves from a different perspective and understand their style of working. After review, the focus would be shifted to how the employee can work productively and effectively in the future with their style.
3. One on one feedback—lastly, great managers made an effort to provide feedback in a one-on-one setting, in order to allow each individual to understand and build upon their natural strengths.

Despite these three points in common, Buckingham and Coffman infer that it is not recommended for current managers to change their natural managerial style to a standardized and effective management way but instead to capitalize on their own approach to management (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999).

In many ways, becoming conscious and aware of the people that we lead may help us better understand the needs and the motivation factors that drives people to achieve. In 1943, Maslow explains that people are motivated by the desire to achieve their needs, and these needs can be separated into the following categories:

Figure 3 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Retrieved from Mullins, 2016, p. 229.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory of motivation that explains that human needs can be segregated to five different categories, and these categories are structured in a pyramid shape to imply that the basic and physiological needs must be adequately attained before addressing the higher-level needs. This theory is a valuable approach of thinking because it gives a perceptive insight to human nature, reveals human motivation, and is relevant in all fields of life. However, Maslow’s theory also comes with its limitations—due to every individual having different circumstances and needs, the model lacks empirical data and cannot be measured accurately. Moreover, the theory is bounded to specific cultures and does not take into consideration of culture differences worldwide. 

In order to connect an individual’s physiological and psychological needs to the workplace, Herzberg developed a model which shows the relationship between growth factors and maintenance factors to motivate employees.

Figure 4 Herzberg’s two-factor theory, developed by Fredrick Herzberg in 1959.
Retrieved from Mullins, 2016, p. 233.

Herzberg’s theory of motivation argues that there are two main factors that an organization can use to influence motivation in the workplace, which are motivators and hygiene factors. Based on this model, there are four states that an organization:

1. High Hygiene and High Motivation: the ideal situation where managers should strive for, where all employees are motivated and satisfied with their administration.
2. High Hygiene and Low Motivation: a state where employees have few grievances, but they are unsatisfied with their work.
3. Low Hygiene and High Motivation: the situation where the work is interesting and exciting, however the pay and conditions of work may be less competitive compared in the same industry.
4. Low Hygiene and Low Motivation: a state where employees are not devoted to their work and have many grievances at work as well.

The two-factory theory enables team leads and managers to improve motivation at work by focusing on eliminating job hygiene stressors and boost work satisfaction and productivity.

To further evaluate on how I can enhance my performance as a leader while tying with the above aspects on leadership and management, I have decided to take a few personality tests and surveys from friends and colleagues to better understand how others view me as an individual.

Myers Brigg Type Indicator: 16 Personalities Test

Figure 5 My personality test summary and breakdown. Taken from https://www.16personalities.com/profile

Figure 6 https://www.16personalities.com/infp-personality

The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a test designed to identify a person’s personality type, strengths, and preferences to allow one to further understand and explore their own personalities. Based on the MBTI test, I resonated with the INFP-T personality type, which was categorized under “Mediators” in 16personalities.com.

Based on 16personalities.com, Mediators may be more sensitive to others and have more profound emotional responses to those around them, They also carry themselves as idealistic and empathetic, and also have the following strengths and weaknesses:

Figure 7 Mediator (INFP) Strengths and Weaknesses. Retrieved from 16personalities.com.

Johari’s Window

Figure 8  Johari Window of myself based on 15 others view.
Retrieved from https://kevan.org/johari?view=lynnseak.

In order to further understand how others view me as an individual, I was able to ask my course mates and colleagues to assist in filling up my personal Johari’s window. As a result, I found that many people view me as a Friendly and Caring person, and there were many other aspects that many viewed me that I was not aware of, such as being Confident, Helpful, Knowledgeable and Organized.

Team Member’s Evaluation

Figure 9 Evaluation from team members based on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership framework. (Kouzes & Posner, 2017) Chart constructed by author.

As stated by Kouzes & Posner, leadership is not about personality, but about behavior (Kouzes & Posner, 2017, p. 13). Based on the feedback from my groupmates through the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership framework, I found that my lowest attributes include inspiring and challenging others to grow as individuals. This is not a surprise to me, as I often find myself engulfed in my own work without being attentive to others.

Personal Development Plan

From my personality test from 16personalities.com, I was surprised that after many years after taking the test in 2016, many aspects of my personality has shifted from being a Campaigner (ENFP-A) to a Mediator (INFP-T). The introverted aspect of my personality may have grown throughout the years of graduating university and working; however, I believe that this is aspect has actually led me to become a more tentative listener when others actually come to me for assistance. Moore states that introverted leaders can be better managers for their extroverted employees, as they are more apt to listen actively and intently (Moore, 2021).

Figure In 2016 when I first took the MBTI test, I was categorized under the Campaigner (ENFP-A) personality type.

However, after surveying the results from my Johari’s Window, many others also show that they are not aware of the introverted aspect of my personality. This can be interpreted as that I still carry myself as an outward person when I am with others, yet when it comes to a one-to-one setting, I am more engaged in conversation and will offer more feedback and assistance.

Figure 10 SWOT analysis of myself.

While trying to come up with a personal development plan, I decided to do a SWOT analysis of myself to find an effective direction to work towards using what I know about myself. Through the SWOT analysis I am able to better identify the strengths and opportunities I can use to my advantage, while working on my weaknesses and avoid the threats that may affect my performance as an individual. As stated by Goleman, effective leaders are distinguished by their high level of emotional intelligence, and I would like to cultivate my five components of EI through being more self-regulated as sometimes I can be easily overwhelmed by my emotions. I have decided to become more self-reflective on how I carry myself as an individual, and observe how I make others feel when I engage with them. Moreover, from the evaluation of my team members based on the 5 practices of exemplary leadership, I found that I will need to work on more outwardly to inspire and challenge others in order to bring out their full potential. With this, I have decided to be more engaging and approachable as a person in bigger group environments, so I will be more proactive and comfortable in a public speaking setting.

Figure 11 My personal development plan for the next five years in my current work setting.

As cliché as it is, I wish to be able to achieve a leadership position in the next five years in my career, and I believe that working on myself will be the an effective way to achieve that goal. Since my work is data oriented, it is relevant for me to be well versed in the tools used in CRM to be able to effectively use the programs to further enhance my career. However, as I am currently working with a strong team of seven, I have decided that working on my technical skills while further bonding with my team will be beneficial in the long run to step up as a leader. Through supporting my manager by training the team in aspects that I am well-versed in, my manager will be able to allocate more time in training me in the technical aspects at work.

Figure Leading in discussion has always been terrifying for me, but I have decided to take on more public speaking roles and actively bring out participation from others. Image courtesy of my colleagues.

From Herzberg’s framework, since I am unable to control the most of the hygiene factors in a workplace, I wanted to practice different aspects of motivating my team to strive for excellence by offering multiple senses of achievement during discussion, as well as recognition for overachieving. Empathetic to how my team feedbacks, I will offer one-on-one time to my team to further assist them on things they have difficulty grasping or need more further elaboration. With this regard, I still prefer to lead with a more democratic style of leadership as I am always looking for feedback from my team. Yet I know that my fellow introverted colleagues may not feel as engaged in a group setting, therefore it will be beneficial to adopt a more transformational leadership in the near future.

Despite being a Disney fictional character, Mulan has served as a great inspiration for the young me, and there are still many qualities that I aspire to cultivate now, in terms of her intuitive decision making skills and strong persona. Now, I have looked up many empowering women, including former Microsoft manager turned philanthropist, Melinda Gates. Gates has built her identity around empowering women and girls around the world, and advocating in global health and education (Howard, 2015). Looking up to these women, I believe they also seized the opportunity to grow, therefore I believe that leaders are made, not born. I pursued physics in my degree because I wholeheartedly enjoyed the subject, and now I want to serve as an inspiration for others to pursue their dreams as well. Now working in data science, I can say that I am happy with the pathway I have chosen, and through the feedback from my peers and self-reflection in this blog, I am excited to explore more ways to improve as a leader.

References

16 Personalities. (2021). Mediator (INFP) Personality: Strengths & Weaknesses. NERIS Analytics Limited. https://www.16personalities.com/infp-strengths-and-weaknesses

Buckingham, M., Coffman, C., & Gallup Organization. (1999). First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently (1st ed.) [E-book]. Gallup Press.

Child, J. (1973). Strategies of Control and Organizational Behavior. Administrative Science Quarterly, 18(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.2307/2391923

Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2021/09/19/empathy-is-the-most-important-leadership-skill-according-to-research/?sh=1bd32ed83dc5

Goleman, D. (2016, December 5). What Makes a Leader? HBR Video. https://hbr.org/video/5236216251001/what-makes-a-leader

Greenwood, K., & Anas, J. (2021, October 4). It’s a New Era for Mental Health at Work. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/10/its-a-new-era-for-mental-health-at-work

Howard, C. (2015, December 9). The First Woman Of Women: How Melinda Gates Became The World’s Most Powerful Advocate For Women And Girls. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2015/11/23/the-first-woman-of-women-how-melinda-gates-became-the-worlds-most-powerful-advocate-for-women-and-girls/?sh=e10cad4414a1

Kevan.org. (2021). Johari Window – Lynnseak’s Window. Kevin.Org. https://kevan.org/johari?view=lynnseak

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2017). The Leadership Challenge: How to make extraordinary things happen in organizations. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Marr, B. (2020, May 8). 5 Reasons Why Artificial Intelligence Really Is Going To Change Our World. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2020/05/08/5-reasons-why-artificial-intelligence-really-is-going-to-change-our-world/?sh=72eb87f678b6

Moore, K. (2021, May 26). How Introverted Leaders Can Be Better Managers For Their Extroverted Employees. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2021/05/26/how-introverted-leaders-can-be-better-managers-for-their-extroverted-employees/?sh=6ee5c6b1eb8a

Mullins, L. (2016). Management & Organisational Behaviour, 11th ed. (11th ed.) [E-book]. Trans-Atlantic Publications, Inc.

Neale, P., PhD. (2020, November 30). Emotional Intelligence: Why We Need It Now, More Than Ever. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2020/12/01/emotional-intelligence-why-we-need-it-now-more-than-ever/?sh=61242d3df3a4

T. (2019, October 8). The Real Story Of Mulan and Where Disney Got it Wrong. HistoryCollection.Com. https://historycollection.com/the-real-story-of-mulan-and-where-disney-got-it-wrong/9/