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The Library & Information Science Professional's Career Development Center |
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Self-Awareness: the Key to Leading Others by Brian Gray |
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Effective leaders constantly reexamine their own
personality traits, skills, and weaknesses in order to prepare a
successful strategy for becoming a leader. Each situation or work
environment may vary greatly and rely on a different plan of attack.
Several inventories exist that may help leaders categorize their style.
Learning about your inherent leadership style can help develop a
strategy for improving your skills. In addition, a better understanding
of how others react to various situations will help you improve your
communication skills. Management vs. Leadership People do not immediately transform into leaders simply by gaining an administrative job title such as “supervisor” or “manager.” Milan Moravec and Richard Manley developed a list of terms that differentiates management and leadership traits. Their list of contrasting terms has been widely distributed and republished. One method of self-analysis begins by comparing your personal style to this list of contrasting terms. For example, the list notes that managers “administer” while leaders “innovate.” If these two terms represent opposite ends of a management-leadership continuum, where do you fall? Conduct a similar analysis for each set of terms. Your personal skills inventory may fluctuate with changes in your career, education, or responsibilities. Effective leaders take the inventory of their style one step further by understanding the consequences of their actions. Successful leaders will fluctuate between the “manager” style and “leadership” style in order to ensure the overall success of the organization, project, or situation. As a result, successful leaders probably fall in the middle of the scale in most categories. SWOT Analysis Anyone with experience in strategic planning or marketing has probably conducted a SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis provides a summary of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of an organization. An individual may conduct a similar analysis on himself. Begin by listing your leadership skills that are strong and that provide a foundation for your leadership style. Second, list your leadership weaknesses or deficiencies. Opportunities would consist of two categories: chances to improve weak skills and chances to utilize skills you have been ignoring in leadership situations. Threats can include others’ perceptions of your skills or your neglecting to maintain a skill set over time. In order to be efficient and harness the abilities of participants, a leader must first know his strengths. Leaders must constantly improve and look for educational opportunities that focus on personal weaknesses that may inhibit their ability to lead. As a result of a personal SWOT analysis, a leader can develop an educational plan, a personal vision for leadership, and a toolkit of skills. Myers-Briggs Most people are familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test and may even know their “type.” The MTBI provides an additional mechanism for leaders to take an inventory of their personality traits. In addition, the Myers-Briggs provides a framework for leaders to effectively interact with others. By understanding the thought processes of other Myers-Briggs types, a leader can minimize stress during change, can effectively promote a change, and can properly motivate others during a change. Enneagram The enneagram is another psychological test similar to the Myers-Briggs. The enneagram categorizes people into one of nine types. People may be a combination of several types. The “helper,” the “motivator,” or the “peacemaker” are examples of a few of the types. Books about the enneagram also propose methods to communicate with other types, advise how people may progress from one type to another, and describe strengths or weaknesses of each type. I am usually very skeptical of tests that categorize people. I was therefore surprised by my personal enneagram results, and I found the theories to be much more valuable to me than the Myers-Briggs. I am currently reading Type Talk at Work to further my understandings of the relationships as categorized by the enneagram. Conclusion You are probably asking yourself, “Do I need any of this self analysis when I already know my strengths and effective skills?” The answer is a simple “YES!” Leaders need to inventory their strengths and weaknesses. If you rely solely on your strengths, two problems will develop. First, you will utilize your strengths in every situation; therefore, your areas of weakness will become even weaker. Second, your strongest leadership skills (communication, delegation, etc.) may not be appropriate to lead everyone. Not everyone reacts to a leader in the same way. A good leader has a plethora of skills and styles available at his or her disposal in order to adapt to all personality types. Websites Are you a manager or leader? http://www.buildingbrands.com/definitions/08_manager_or_leader.shtml Free online MBTI test: Temperament Sorter II,
Personality Instrument An Example of Using the MBTI Free Online Enneagram Test Works Cited Moravec, Milan and Richard Manley, “Reinventing Leadership,” PM Network, September1995, pp. 15-18. Kroger, Otto, Janet M. Thuesen, and Hile Rutledge. Type Talk at Work, How the 16 Personality Types Determine Your Success on the Job. New York: Dell Publishing, 2002. Brian Gray has over 10 years of experience in the Science & Technology Library at the University of Akron, as either a student worker or a paraprofessional. For the past 3 years, while continuing as a university employee, Brian has helped to run a corporate library which focuses on business information, chemistry and polymers. He will be receiving a MLIS from Kent State University in December of 2004. He is a recent graduate of Library Leadership Ohio 2004, which is a week-long leadership retreat for 30 librarians held every other year. He is a current participant in the Leaders of the Pack Leadership program conducted by the ALA Library Administration & Management Association, and holds committee assignments in both Special Libraries Association and ALA. Article published October 2004 Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in LIScareer articles are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the LIScareer editors.
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Page last updated
10/03/2005
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