PEOPLE, CULTURE &

CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
ASSIGNMENT 3-SELF REFLECTION PART 2

BY: SYED SOHAIB HASAN

The following self-reflection essay is based on the course I undertook to study” People, Culture and
Contemporary Leadership” whereby I attempt to understand my personal identity, leadership skills and
style with the help of self-evaluation tools in the context of relevant concepts and theories .The
discussion entails a critical examination of the results of the assessment tools and suggestions in areas of
my own leadership development that would be beneficial in my career.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Insights from psychological tests such as Global EI Test (GEIT), based on Daniel Goleman’s model of
emotional intelligence [ CITATION Gol02 \l 1033 ] is one of the ways to help reflect one’s capabilities in
the four quadrants: Self-awareness, Self-management, Social-Awareness and Relationship Management.
According to Goleman, emotional intelligence entails identifying, understand and managing one’s own
emotions and influence other’s emotions[ CITATION Dan02 \l 1033 ]. Unlike IQ that does not change
much despite experience and education, what fascinates me about emotional intelligence is that it is not
genetic but rather a learned capability and emotional competencies can be acquired and boosted over
time with self-knowledge and effort. My score for each quadrant out of 10 is 8,8,8 and 7 respectively. A
high EI score is reflective of leadership effectiveness and is ‘the strongest predictor of leader’s
performance.’[CITATION Lan19 \l 1033 ]. My score of 7 in the Relationship Management quadrant as
well as my score of 72 in the self-assessment quiz “My approach to Motivating others” indicate an area
to work on. I am aware that my ability to influence, guide, and provide feedback is hampered due to
ineffective communication. In “self-portrait of my communication effectiveness”, only six statements are
true for me, highlighting the need to work on becoming an effective communicator. Knowing that I face
difficulty in articulating my views, I feel it is essential to have effective and appropriate communication
skills so that my ideas are not misjudged, and I am understood by everyone. Communication is one of
the competencies in the social cluster of Goleman’s model of emotional intelligence [CITATION Jad14 \l
1033 ].Working with a diverse group of individuals in the organization, I want to be able to engage and
explain my thinking clearly during discussions and meetings .. It is going to supplement my confidence as
I assume leadership roles in the future where I will be required to instruct, train, and manage large
teams. Moreover, enhancing my communication skills will help me offer valuable feedback to my team
members. To this end, I intent to enroll myself in Communication Skills Training course available at
www.udemy.com as a starting step and listen to motivational TED talks to improve my ability to
motivate others.
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

Strategic leadership is the ability to analyze the details of information available and extrapolate to see
what lies in the future while maintaining stability in the present. Strategic leaders are flexible, and
empower others to create strategies and foster positive relationships with them [ CITATION Cra19 \l
1033 ]. I discovered that strategic leadership takes a holistic view to anticipate threats and opportunities
and align their strategies accordingly. It appealed to me as it resonates with my personal style of
management as I am very particular about identifying and setting my personal and professional short
term and long-term goals followed by detailed planning to achieve them through a lot of study and
research based on others’ experiences. I am constantly sorting priorities and ensure minimal dead time
in my daily routine. However, I learned that I need to incorporate the missing element in my strategic
approach which is identifying threats and opportunities beforehand rather than dealing with them as
they appear .

A short leadership self-assessment quiz “Are you a strategic thinker?” where I scored 53 points to one
of my strengths, that is strategic thinking. I realize how I like to keep my thinking stretched for future
and staying determined to accomplish my goals like leaving behind the comfort and family to secure a
foreign degree despite the obstacles. The results Myers Briggs’s personality test suggested that I am
ESTJ:The Guardian. The acronym represents Extraversion, Sensing, Thinking and Judging; the latter three
reaffirming how my decisions are based on logical facts and information and why making plans is
important for me. To enhance my strategic thinking, I am keen to develop my observation, research and
analytical skills that would help me in problem solving and decision-making process in leadership role.
Simple practices such as making quick notes, using applications such as Google calendar and My Daily
Planner, regular reading of books and newspaper and knowledge and application of Microsoft excel can
help me stay focused and deduce rational solutions based on my area of expertise. In addition, studying
models such Michael Porter’s five forces, SWOT, and PEST analysis to perform detailed company and
industry to expand my analytical mind.

STRENGTH-BASED LEADERSHIP

Finally, strength-based leadership theory [ CITATION Rat08 \l 1033 ] is focused on striving to build one’s
strength rather than fixing weaknesses to achieve growth. Positive self-awareness is derived by investing
in one’s strengths. Throughout my life, I have been advised to identify my weaknesses and find ways to
overcome them to achieve success. However, strength-based leadership theory negates the
conventional wisdom and I found it rather satisfying that instead of mending what is broken, it works on
building and improving aspects that are already functional. As I self-reflect, I realize conflict
management as one of my core competencies. Because I am perceived as trustworthy and empathetic
as I easily build relations with others, a lot of my friends and colleagues come to me to seek personal
advice or discuss their disputes and conflicts. I took an online conflict management style quiz and
identified collaborating as my most preferred strategy[CITATION Reg06 \l 1033 ]. It involves seeking a
solution that satisfies conflicting parties and is mostly based on fact-finding and logical approach. Again,
Myer Brigg’s personality test results which showed that I am sensing and judging also harmonizes with
my conflict management style. However, the downside of this approach is that it consumes a lot of time
to come up with a practical solution which appeases everyone. For my leadership development, I feel
the need to become flexible in my conflict management approach by adopting other styles such as
accommodating, competing and avoiding to suit the situational needs. Because I still want to be trusted
as someone capable of resolving conflicts, I look forward to attending a conflict resolution and soft skills
training to become familiar with practical tips to prioritize and resolve personal and organizational
conflicts with different strategies. Further, a formal training course will not only reinforce my leadership
strength but also leave a positive mark on my reputation for a role as a mediator/arbitrator.
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