My leadership portfolio: Self- assessment Quiz 1-2– a record of leadership experiences I had in the past and now.
Held a formal leadership position, such as vice president, department head, manager assistant manager, team leader group leader, or project manager)
Seized the opportunity on the job to take care of a problem, although not assigned such responsibility
Headed a committee or task force
Was editor of a campus newspaper or section of the newspaper such as sports
Organized a study group for a course
Organized a charity drive for a school or religious organization
Organized a vacation trip or friends or family
Organized a group of friends to help out people in need, such as physically disabled senior citizens
These questions must be answered in the three page summary:
Q: What I learned about myself in terms of leadership abilities/skills
I am a transformational and servant leader with strong task orientation. I used to be personally proactive. I have about average tendencies toward being proactive. To enhance my success I need to have more fun in life, I might attempt to become more proactive. I have a strong task orientation and I do not have a transformational leader.
Q: How the information I obtained has changed over the years based on what I may have thought my leadership style was compared to now.
I go home, to school and work. At work I get coffee, office supplies, work orders and make sure the travel process is moving forward.
Q: How I can use my leadership skills/abilities to seek out opportunities or make changes in my current organization.
Continue to seek other opportunities that would allow me to join and meet people that want to help the community.
Task-related personality traits
Self-assessment quiz 2-3: My tendencies toward being a proactive personality, page 48
Book: Proactive personality – Leadership is often perceived to mean about the same thing as taking the initiative. Imitative, in turn, is closely related to bring proactive, or crating or controlling a situation by causing something to happen, rather than reacting after the even happens. According to is original research-based definition, a person with proactive personality has a relatively stable tendency to effect environmental change. Proactive behavior usually stems from proactive personality and refers to self-initiated anticipatory action with the intent of either changing the situation or one’s own behavior attitudes. An effective leader therefore often has a proactive personality, and there exhibits proactive behavior.
I plan carefully for things that might go wrong
If I see something that is broken, I fix it
I have been told several times that I am good at taking the initiative
I think that having a home security system is a good investment in money
I look around for good opportunities that would help me in my career or personal life
It is a good idea to start saving or investing for retirement at the beginning of your career
I began projects and tasks by myself, without requiring prompting from somebody else
I set my own goals rather than have others set them for me
I readily express my opinion about the effectiveness of a work process
I regularly take positive steps to increase the chances that I will stay healthy and physically fit
I am quite innovative both in work and personal life
Leadership self-assessment Quiz 3-2: see attachment – Dual Level Transformational Leadership
Book: A transformational leader is one who brings about positive, major changes in an organization. May charismatic leaders, however, are not transformational. Transformational leadership focuses on what the leader accomplishes yet it still pays attention t the leader’s personal characteristics and his or her relationship with the group members. As mentioned previously, the transformational leader helps bring about major positive changes by moving group members beyond their self-interests and toward the good of the group, organization, or society. The essence of transformational leadership is developing and transforming people. As a result, the organization is transformed. In contrast, the transactional leader focuses on more routine transactions, rewarding group members for meeting standard (contingent reinforcement). Extensive research by Bernard M. Bass indicates that the transformational-versus-transactional distinction has been observed in a wide variety of organizations and cultures.
Leadership Exercise 4-2 – Clarifying your interpersonal work values
Books: Servant leader serves constituents by working on their behalf to help them achieve their goals, not the leader’s own goals. The ideal behind servant leadership, as formulated by Robert K. Greenleaf, is that leadership derives naturally from a commitment to service. Serving others including employees, customers and community is the primary motivation for the servant leader. A study with CEOs found, not surprisingly, that narcissism as measured by a personality test is negatively related to servant leadership. A servant leader is therefore a moral leader. Servant leadership has been accomplished when group members become wiser, healthier, and more autonomous
Place service before self-interest
Listen first o express confidence in others
Inspire trust by being trustworthy
Focus on what is feasible
Lend a hand
Provide emotional healing
Acts a role model for other organizational members to emphasize service
Having respect for the dignity of others
Ensuring that others have interesting work to perform
Earning the trust of others
Earning the respect of others
Giving others proper credit for their work ( a big one)
Inspiring continuous learning on the part of each members in our group, myself included
Helping others grow and develop
Inspiring others to achieve high productivity and quality
Developing the reputation of being a trustworthy person
Avoiding crating intense job dissatisfaction for any work associate
See personal statements to elaborate on your perception of my work environment.
My current work environment: Leader’s turning a blind eye
Improper Conduct Post-Employment
To this point, much of the discussion has focused on unethical activities by public officials while in office. Another developing area in the study of government ethics, however, focuses on the conduct of public officials as they make the transition from the public service to private employment. There are many potential issues here, ranging from conflict of interest, to improper use of confidential information, to bribery and influence peddling.
Prior to leaving office, for example, a public servant or elected official may grant favors to certain individuals or groups as a means of securing future employment. (happens all the time). Again, the basic concern here is the impartiality of the public official in the performance of his/her public duties. The desire to secure future employment may lead the public official into a conflict of interest situation, or, in more serious cases, into situations of bribery or influence peddling.
Another concern is the activities of government officials once an individual is in the private sector. Former officials may take advantage of information s/he obtained in performing his/her public service duties, information that is unavailable to the general public. Such individuals may have confidential information about a future government policy; this information could offer the former public servant a distinct advantage in the marketplace with respect to investing, for example.
Former officials may also use their connections to gain preferential treatment or privileged access to government after leaving office. This is particularly worrisome if the former official joins a private lobby group and is able to use his/her connections to gain unfair advantages for others. Many countries, in fact, enforce a “cooling down” period in which former government officials are required to wait a period of time after leaving office before becoming a private lobbyist. This is not unlike the practice followed by individuals who have worked, in private enterprise, with a particular firm, and then left that firm to ‘set up shop,’ either with another company or independently. Often there is a moratorium on working with particular clients, or with a given industry.
Immoral Conduct by Public Officials
One of the more controversial areas of government ethics is the personal moral conduct of public officials. This would cover issues such as sexual harassment, discrimination, drug abuse, and extra-marital affairs. The underlying concern here is whether the public servant or elected official is a person of good moral character and worthy to hold public office.
Many countries prohibit some forms of immoral conduct, especially those directly linked to the performance of one’s public duties. For example, public officials are often expected to treat co-workers and subordinates with a certain level of respect, and are prohibited from engaging in certain activities such as sexual harassment or discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion, or sexuality. Public officials are also often expected to be honest in relations with superiors and the public in general. Lying by a public servant can often be grounds for dismissal.
Regulation of other forms of immoral conduct, in particular those that do not have a direct link to one’s official duties, is a much more controversial topic. In many countries, public officials are expected to adhere to high moral codes in all aspects of their lives. Even in Western democracies, voters often hold elected politicians to high moral standards. Some may argue, for example, that persons whom engage in extra-marital affairs in their private lives or who have had past drug abuse problems have poor moral character, and cannot be trusted as public officials. On the other hand, it could be argued that judgment of public officials should be limited to their professional qualifications and work, not their private lives. This view would hold that public officials have a right to a certain level of privacy in their personal lives, and should be allowed to withhold some aspects of life from the public record
