Discussion : Your Leadership Profile
Do you believe you have the traits to be an effective leader? Perhaps you are already in a supervisory role, but as has been discussed previously, appointment does not guarantee leadership skills.
How can you evaluate your own leadership skills and behaviors? You can start by analyzing your performance in specific areas of leadership. In this Discussion, you will complete Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment. This assessment will identify your personal strengths, which have been shown to improve motivation, engagement, and academic self-conference. Through this assessment, you will discover your top five themes—which you can reflect upon and use to leverage your talents for optimal success and examine how the results relate to your leadership traits.
PART A
To Prepare:
Post a brief description of your results from the StrengthsFinder assessment. Then, briefly describe two core values, two strengths, and two characteristics that you would like to strengthen based on the results of your StrengthsFinder assessment. Be specific.
MY TOP FIVE STRENGTH BELOW
RANK
STRENGTH
1
Learner
LEARN MORE
STRATEGIC THINKING
People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
2
Achiever
LEARN MORE
EXECUTING
People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.
3
Arranger
LEARN MORE
EXECUTING
People exceptionally talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to determine how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.
4
Individualization
LEARN MORE
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
People who are especially talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.
5
Focus
LEARN MORE
EXECUTING
People who are especially talented in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.
PART B
Respond to at least two of your colleagues BELOW by making recommendations for how they might strengthen the leadership behaviors profiled in their StrengthsFinder assessment, or by commenting on lessons to be learned from the results that can be applied to personal leadership philosophies and behaviors.
PEER RESPONSE 1
After completing the StrengthsFinder assessment instrument, the report revealed that my top 5 themes are Includer, Relator, Positivity, Achiever and Focus. As in Includer, the results showed that I do my best work in the evening or after midnight. I find this to be very true because I am often up late getting things done. That is when I find the most peacefulness. It also says that I usually find qualities to appreciate in most people that I meet. I also believe that this is true because I believe that people come into your life for a reason, season or lifetime and I feel that a positive each person that we meet we can take a positive trait from each of them.
The Relator characteristic reports that I enjoy close relationships with others and find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal. I tend to have friendships where we hold one accountable, which ultimately drives us to achieve the goals that we set out for ourselves.
As a person of Positivity, I am very generous with praise, quick to smile and always lookout for the positive in all situations. I do take every situation and look at the bright side of it. I am on of celebration and believe that everything should be celebrated. It also states that “somehow you can’t quite escape your conviction that it is good to be alive.” I am firm believer of that, because with everything that we have been through with the Coronavirus situation, we still stand as front-line care givers and are still striving to do well in school and I am ever so grateful for that.
As the Achiever, this helps explain my drive. I do believe that we all should strive to reach our greatest potential. With this quality, I do believe that something should be marked off the list each day and each day begins at zero. I do feel that if nothing gets done, then I have failed for the day. I have to stop being so critical and relax and live a little more without pressuring myself so much. In the end, I do believe that each day should begin with a set of goals or a list of things/tasks to do.
The final strength is Focus. This strength aligns with the strength of Achiever as Focus always has to have a goal in wanting to know “where am I headed”. This is true because I believe that you should always plan. With this plan, it allows me to prioritize and stay on target. I am the one who keeps everyone on tasks. My Focus reminds everyone that if something isn’t helping you achieve your goals, then it must be eliminated.
In conclusion, I feel that these results relate to my leadership traits by of way of setting goals. I do praise my team all of time. When nurses are given praise, it inspires us to continue to do well. I approach each situation with positivity and I allow the team to provide suggestions on how we can make our unit better. I include their thoughts, feelings and consideration for making changes.
References
Rath, T., (2017). Strenghtsfinder from Gallup. Discover your Clifton Strengths.
Clifton, D. (2017). The Clifton Strength Assessment. Retrieved from:
https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/strengthsfinder.aspx
PEER RESPONSE 2
From the beginning of educational, vocational, and career guidance ‘a clear understanding of yourself’ has been considered as crucial for making a ‘wise choice’ (Rossier, 2015). I always enjoy taking surveys or assessments such as this; personality surveys/assessments displaying character strengths and weaknesses, and no matter how many different surveys or assessments I may take, I always learn something new about myself. I almost wish I kept all the surveys I’ve ever taken to see how much I have changed over the years. The Gallup assessment was designed to identify your strengths so that an individual can see where they strive and where they might need some more development; knowing what your leading themes are is the first step to turning them into strengths (Gallup, 2017).
This assessment, my top five strengths are: empathy, consistency, harmony, positivity, and includer. I really wasn’t surprised by any of these traits, I think it describes my strengths pretty accurately. I was glad that I got strengths in three out of the four categories, those being executing, influencing, and relationship building; I was concerned that I did not have any strengths in the strategic thinking category, that is something that I am going to have to work on.
Two strengths that I would like to work on is empathy and harmony. Working in nursing, and being part of the ever-changing world, empathy is something that continues to be a necessity. Seeing the world through the eyes of others and understanding their point of view is required to truly see the world as they do, to care for them in a whole different way. I am very empathetic when it comes to my patients and individuals in my life, but it is a strength that can always develop more. I would like to also strengthen harmony, as to not decrease my own views to keep the peace; I never want to diminish my thoughts, beliefs, or opinions to make sure that there are no arguments.
Two characteristics and core values that I would like to straighten are self-assurance and consistency. I always second guess myself, my abilities, my thinking, my strengths; I hope to strengthen my self-assurance and have more confidence in myself so that I can apply my other strengths to help myself and others. I would also like to stay consistent in my beliefs, my opinions, and my thoughts. I am not consistent with these attributes because one of my strengths is harmony, decreasing my thoughts, opinions, and beliefs to avoid any confrontation.
Nursing is a profession in which communication, empathy, reliability, and attention to detail are essential, yet difficult to measure, in a potential employee (Cupit, Sukal, 2015).Working on the trauma floor I know that I am very empathetic to my patients, I am also a charge nurse on my floor and people look to me to help them deliver care to their patients. Staff members also look to me to help keep the peace between patients and nurses, and coworkers. I include every nurse in any plans that are made, both inside and outside of the hospital along with always staying positive. Staying positive is probably the most difficult where we work, but I always remind the staff that it could be worse, we could be a patient in the bed.
Cupit, T., & Sukal, M. F. (2015). Does Personality Matter in Nursing?: Assessing Suitability as Well as Eligibility When Hiring. Nurse Leader, 13(4), 44-47.
Gallup (Ed.). (2017). CliftonStrengths for students: Your strengths journey begins here. Simon and Schuster.
Rossier, J. (2015). Personality assessment and career interventions.