PGBM141 Professional Management and Leadership Assignment
Task 1: Reflection on the leadership and management
Introduction
The following studies a reflective review of my ambitions as a leader in the near future. The study would reflect upon a number of aspects that include my own personal analysis that would help me in identifying my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and the areas that require development. Furthermore, the study would also implicate how I wish to set my goals in order to achieve my objectives as a leader in the future.
Apart from that, the study would also analyse my personal objectives in terms of short-term goals that I am willing to achieve medium-term goals as well as long-term goals. Based on these aspects the study has been segregated into three sections implicating upon the free areas that would help me in the development of my personal development plan for the future
Part 1: Personal analysis
In order to come up with a personal development plan, it is essential for me to analyse my personal traits, qualities and the different areas that require development. Hence, the following are some cues that help me to analyse my personal attributes that can help me to become the leader I wish to be in future.
Strengths
- Communication
Communication is one of the key strengths that has always allowed me to achieve my objectives in the past and I believe this has also helped me to learn quite a lot of things. With the help of communication, I believe I would be able to communicate with my subordinates in a more appropriate manner as well as with my seniors (Howard, 2019).
Effectivity in terms of communication skills has helped me improve my productivity as well as my peers who have been pursuing a career alongside me. As a result, I believe that with a little improvement to my existing communication skills I can achieve better results as well as create better relationships with the people who would work then feature. Additionally, I can also reflect upon the fact that with the help of appropriate communication skills my problem resolving capabilities would also benefit
- Leadership
Leadership is another strength that I possess which has already helped me to achieve several objectives during my course of MBA. My leadership skills have not only helped me to be allowed in the team where I have worked to achieve their objectives but has also helped me to understand how to operate with a group of people (Maharaja, 2018).
- Problem-solving
My problem-solving capabilities is another strength that I guess has often helped me to resolve critical issues while pursuing my MBA. As a result, I believe this ability of mine, would also help me in future as I evolve myself into an effective leader in an organisation.
Opportunities
In terms of opportunities, there are several ways to enhance the leadership qualities that can help me in achieving all my goals. In this regard, I have considered that I would adopt transformational leadership as this aligns well with my objectives in future (Ekaterine and Natalia, 2017).
Moreover, based on the case studies of another successful leader it has been seen that the most innovative and leaders in the present generation adopt transformational leadership for instance Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. By studying their cases, the way they lead their organisation, I have been greatly influenced, and this has to some extent, influenced me to adopt and transform my leadership as a transformational leader.
One of the key attributes of transformational leaders that have greatly influenced me is that they work alongside their employees and have a highly charismatic approach. Transformational leaders also have the ability to influence the activities and behaviour of their subordinates, which ultimately help them to achieve the objectives of the company (Carbonie et al., 2018). That is why I believe developing myself into a transformational leader would be most appropriate for me in terms of my long-term goals.
Areas of development
In terms of areas that require development, for instance, the weaknesses that I have, have held me back quite a few. In order to overcome these threats present in my personal traits and overcome the professional obstacles, I would like to develop and work upon other contingency theories of leadership.
The contingency theory of leadership implies that there is no particular leadership style; however, a leader needs to adapt to the situation and come up with solutions that help them in becoming a contingent leader (Macnaughton et al., 2019). I believe in placating up on the contingency leadership theory would help me in getting my midterm goal that is aimed towards getting a job in a reputed organisation as a marketing manager and develop accordingly.
Weaknesses
I have already mentioned my strengths and the areas of development that can help me to improve myself as a leader in the future; however, there are also weaknesses that I need to focus on.
Analytical skills
My analytical skills have proven to be one of my greatest weaknesses, which has been present due to the lack of critical thinking abilities.
My critical thinking abilities are not at par with my peers and I need to focus upon its development so that when I become a leader my analytical skills help me to achieve the objectives and goals of the organisation (Ambrozová and Koleňák, 2017). The presence of analytical skills in a leader is quite necessary and allows the leader to make versatile decisions based on different situations and scenarios. With the help of analytical skills, complex situations can be dealt with a much simpler approach.
Teamwork
Even though my communication skills have been quite effective, my teamwork has not been as effective as others have. As a result, I believe there are quite a few areas of improvements that I can include to resolve a weakness of mine. I need to work alongside other individuals in order to improve my teamwork capabilities.
Effective leaders have always been seen as utilising teamwork capabilities to drive performance and productivity within their team (Kubyshko et al., 2018). As a result, I believe if I do not resolve the teamwork from my weaknesses, I would not be able to effectively achieve my midterm and long-term goals.
Networking
The ability to network and connect with other stakeholders especially the ones who work outside the organisation is another weakness that I possess. During my course of MBA, I have not been in touch with other individuals pursuing MBA from other colleges or Universities and this has greatly affected my networking capabilities.
Moreover, my communication skills are quite effective; however, I do feel assistant when it comes to communicating with others who are not a part of my course or class. I believe that improving my networking skills would effectively help me in becoming a better leader in future and would help me to connect with external stakeholders for the improvement and growth of the organisation where I work.
Part 2: Setting goals
What do I want to learn?
There are a number of things that I wish to learn, that can effectively help me in becoming a successful leader and help me to achieve my midterm and long-term goals. I want to learn how effective leaders lead their teams and Organisation and in order to do that I need to learn and develop critical thinking abilities.
Furthermore, I also wish to learn how to manage teams and become a more charismatic leader, which can help me develop myself as a transformation. Apart from that, I also wish to learn how to become more influential as a leader as this would play a major role in order to serve my long-term objectives (Altunbay, 2018).
Furthermore, I also wish to learn several technical skills like the basic knowledge of computer software that are necessary for leaders who manage several individuals under them. Adding to that it is also necessary for me to learn how to network with external stakeholders as this can effectively help in expanding the organisation to new markets and communicate with suppliers.
What do I have to do?
In order to achieve my objectives, I need to come up with a personal development plan that includes a number of different courses and training programs that are aimed towards achieving my goals as a successful leader. I would like to receive training in terms of personal development, which can help me in improving my communication and teamwork capabilities.
In order to do that I would need to work alongside my pairs so that I can effectively learn how to utilise team-working skills. Furthermore, I also need to study the cases of different leaders who have successfully managed their organisation and are continually doing so in order to gain better insight and knowledge from their management skills (Zhou, 2020).
Group activities can be very beneficial in order to improve problem-solving and analytical skills and in this regard, activities like brainstorming can be very beneficial to increase the ability to identify solutions for a particular problem. I believe such practices and activities can effectively help me achieve my goals in the near future.
Requirement of support and resources
Different types of resources are required by me in terms of complying with goal establishment with regards to my personal objectives. I am looking to enlarge my credibility as a marketing operational head in my desired company. In this regard, I will look forward to obtaining valuable support and resources from my university.
The university guidance and MBA courses are accounted for the prime resources in this context. Apart from that, I will also look forward to considering different secondary sources of information to empower my leadership and management skills as required for my professional and personal growth.
Moreover, a greater attention will also be provided by me towards different books and journal articles written by different authors about leadership and management skills empowerment. These direct sources will be considered by me as an integral part of developing my leadership and management capabilities.
Along with this, evidence-based support will also be emphasized by me in terms of critically intercepting the leadership skills of renowned business leaders. This attribute might encourage me to undertake a strategic evaluation with regards to arranging my leadership and Management concerns while serving for an organisation in the desired post.
Measurement of success
In terms of measuring my success with the established goals, I would like to consider my own accountability and credibility concerning the requirements of the professional field. My ability to motivate the subordinates, generation of situational awareness for considering accurate action-oriented judgement and others could be intercepted as an integral part of critically measuring my success.
Moreover, I will also intercept my critical thinking ability based on which the concept of situational awareness will be evaluated by me. Wechsler et al., (2018) stated that critical thinking aspects might benefit me by considering both the positive and negative consequences of a situation.
Apart from that, my accountability in the professional career will also be measured along with my overall performance. This aspect might provide a concrete understanding regarding my established goals along with my achievements in the professional career.
On the other hand, my internal leadership skills empowerment will also be intercepted to measure my success. In this regard, I would like to consider my team performance along with my individual performance, which might clarify my success in becoming an efficient leader.
The consideration of a systematic arrangement for complying with my professional goals will be critically analysed. This attribute might provide a deliberate understanding regarding my management capability with regards to operating as a departmental head.
The target date for review
The target date for reviewing my success is considered 1 year after the start of my professional career in my desired organisation. However, a periodic review concept will also be undertaken by me every 3 months of the time to justify my leadership and management skills development while serving for a business organisation.
Part 3 Person
al objectives
Short-term goals
The personal objectives will act as a parameter in terms of intercepting my career goal within the professional field along with empowering personal development. With regards to defining my short-term goals, I would like to complete my MBA course with a distinction within the next 12 months.
The prime area of specialisation in this course will enlighten marketing insights for a professional organisation. I am looking forward to obtaining a distinction grade during the completion of my MBA course to enlarge my accountability and credibility in the professional market. This short-term goal might be helpful for me in terms of enlarging my understanding regarding the relational sales and marketing operations that are usually undertaken in an organisation.
However, this MBA course might also benefit me with the prolific management of promotional activities and features with regards to reaching the target audience as an integral part of marketing operations. Moreover, I am also looking to empower my understanding regarding marketing under the lights of a critical thinking attribute. Due to this concern, I will look forward to applying my academic understanding with real evidence in future.
Medium-term goals
The medium-term goals will enlighten the next 2 to 3 years after completing my MBA course in marketing. In this aspect, I am looking to work for my desired organisation Toyota. With the successful completion of my MBA course with distinction in the field of marketing, my medium-term goal is to be recruited for Toyota as a marketing manager.
This is eternally related to my academic course based on which I might be able to empower my professional career with greater success and integrity. In this regard, several additional goals will also be considered by me. These goals are directly related to empowering my leadership skills. However, the trait theory of leadership can be evaluated in order to define my desired skills development as an integral part of my personal and professional development.
Figure 1: Trait theory of leadership
(Source: Chow et al., 2017)
The trait theory of leadership defines those certain traits are produced from certain behavioural patterns of individuals where people are usually born with leadership traits. Different common traits of an efficient leader can be recognised through this theory, which includes trustworthiness and assertiveness, motivational capability and action-oriented judgement, extensive decision-making ability, and critical thinking attributes, flexible communication, and eagerness to undertake responsibility, decisiveness, and others (Harrison, 2018).
However, I have also aimed to empower my critical thinking ability and motivational capability to make myself successful in terms of operating as a marketing manager. Moreover, I had pointed out specific weaknesses with my team working ability, which reflects my poor communication and collaboration aspects. This is also likely to be improved based, on which my accountability as the marketing manager could be enhanced while working for Toyota.
On the other hand, I will also emphasise improving my decision-making skills by enhancing my trustworthiness in front of the subordinates. In accordance with the theory, it can be stated that certain rationales are responsible for the formation of certain behavioural patterns from individuals (Carleton et al., 2018). In this aspect, I will also pay attention to support my decision-making ability with situational understanding.
While ensuring my credibility as a successful marketing manager for Toyota, I will also look forward to obtaining distinctive collaboration skills in order to empower my communication aspects to a fair extent. My analytical and networking skills have not been adequate as per the professional requirements. In this concern, I will look to surpass these mentioned weaknesses with proper analytical and networking ability.
Long-term goals
The long-term goals with regards to my personal objectives reflect to enlarge my professional position from marketing manager to the regional marketing head of Toyota. In this aspect, I will consider the improvement of my management skills based on which I might be able to guide and direct a set of employees working under my surveillance within the organisational marketing department. In order to comply with my defined long-term goals, the administrative theory of Henri Fayol can be considered.
Figure 2: Administrative theory of Henry Fayol
(Source: Kaur et al., 2020)
In accordance with the theoretical argument, 6 different functions can be recognised that work in conjunction to develop different principles as an integral part of management skills and abilities.
These functions include forecasting and planning, organising, and commanding, coordinating, and controlling (Godwin et al., 2017). Based on these aspects, different principles can be conceptualised including work division and authority, discipline and unity of command, unity of direction and remuneration, centralisation and scalar chain and others.
As per this theory, the mentioned functions might be beneficial for me to develop my professional and personal growth while serving as a regional marketing head for Toyota. Moreover, the consequences of forecasting, planning and other functions might contribute to me having extensive management capability in terms of accurately directing my subordinates towards the organisational business goals and objectives.
The theory also includes the principle of discipline under the shape of a unity of command where the team members must pay attention to strive for common goals (Edwards, 2018). This aspect is also encouraging for me in terms of enlarging my accountability as a regional marketing head where I might be able to direct my team towards common goals and purposes.
Conclusion
The overall report has presented a deliberate understanding regarding the prospects of personal development with management and leadership abilities. The problem-solving skills along with communication has been my prime strength, which could be enlarged furthermore with a transformational leadership approach.
However, I am lacking proper analytical and team working skills, which reflect my poor communication skills. The personal objectives from my perspective reflect my desire to emerge as a regional marketing head in Toyota by improving my leadership and managerial capability. In this regard, both the trait theory of leadership and the administrative theory of Henry Fayol might be beneficial for me in terms of considering accurate leadership traits and management potentiality.
Task 2: Reflection on business simulation
Introduction
Business Simulations are considered as one of the powerful and effective tools that can be utilised for organisational development and learning activities. Thus, in the following section, I am going to discuss my own experiences that I have received after participating in a business simulation game. The challenges that I have witnessed during the simulation game will also be highlighted in this study briefly. Suitable theoretical interpretation will be considered to analyse my improvement area for future professional as well as personal growth.
Effectiveness of business simulation
Business simulation is found to be utilised widely in the processes of business analysis, education, and training. Gatti et al., (2019) mentioned that gaining effective scores or rank in business simulation games helps an individual to enhance decision making, strategic, market analysis, problem solving and other skills.
Considering this statement, I have perceived that being an MBA student and joining as a marketing leader it is important to develop knowledge and skills regarding, problem-solving, decision making, leadership, communication, and others. Leaders are found to be responsible for tackling any kind of uncertain situation and manage their team strategy that helps in accomplishing organizational common goals.
“Learning by doing” concepts in business environments are found to be effective in terms of bringing valuable learning outcomes along with identifying individuals’ abilities or inabilities accurately (Zulfiqar et al., 2019).
On the other hand, in the present era, employees or students are more preferred to be involved in “multiplayer online games”. The key reason behind this concept is to interact with other colleagues or players either in a competitive or cooperative fashion. This, in turn, helps to share a wide range of knowledge, ideas, and thoughts from which individuals can improve their existing interpersonal as well as professional skills (Buil et al., 2018).
Most of the time, it is identified that an individual whether in education or in a professional field, learn and gain experience gradually by enhancing their skills. Business simulations in this respect are recognised as interactive and hands-on learning experiences that help to enhance participant’s engagements within a specific field of work. In contrast, it helps to enhance an individual’s skills beyond its theoretical knowledge and they could learn how to survive in any kind of uncertain or practical life (Hernández-Lara et al., 2019).
Personal experiences
I have participated in simulation games in order to enhance my problem solving, communication, and decision-making skills. I perceived that these are the key factors to become an effective leader in the professional field. The simulation game was all about developing interpersonal and professional skills by completing scenario-based projects in a group.
I obtained the opportunity to lead a team of 10 to complete the given projects within the specified time. During the simulation game, I have recognised my inabilities to manage a team and develop specific goals that would be accepted by all. The key reason behind this incident was inadequate leadership skills. As per Sousa and Rocha (2019), leaders are key players for business organisations as they develop strategic options along with business objectives that help to accomplish overall business goals.
It is identified that within a team different people have their different opinion, though, and objectives. Leaders are responsible to establish commonly shared goals by analysing the demands and requirements of each of their respective team members. In my case, I have analysed that I imposed my perspective along with thoughts upon them due to which team conflicts generated. On the other hand, I have effective time management skills; however, due to lack of leadership skill without analysing the team’s difficulties I forced them to complete the given project within a specified time (Dyczkowska and Dyczkowski, 2018).
Figure 3: Autocratic leadership style
(Source: Dyczkowska and Dyczkowski, 2018)
Communication was another challenge that I faced during the simulation game with other participants. Effective communication plays a significant role in terms of maintaining a suitable flow of information within group members and completing any target goals accurately (Kelly and MacDonald, 2019).
I have analysed that the traits I presented towards my team can be interlinked with the concept of autocratic leadership style. The key reason behind this statement is autocratic leaders are found to make choices and undertake decisions in accordance with their own belief, value, and perspective. They rarely consider the thought or perspective of their teams and this often generates team conflicts and job dissatisfaction.
Figure 4: Situational leadership theory
(Source: Bosse et al., 2017)
Gradually, I realised that instead of depending upon the mentioned leadership style, I can utilise the concept of situational leadership theory. According to Bosse et al., (2017) situational leadership theory emphasis upon the leadership style that could serve as beneficial in terms of undertaking strategic decisions along with developing problem-solving skills.
The concept of situational leadership theory is found to emphasise establishing a flexible and comfortable work environment that enhances job satisfaction. After recognising my lag backs, I tried to improve my areas such as decision-making, communication and leadership skills from the feedback I have received during simulation games.
I improved my communication skills by interacting with team members and enhancing my undertaking skills about the perspective that are being presented by my team members. I gradually improved my decision making as well as problem-solving skills that would serve as beneficial in terms of obtaining professional growth in the future. I would become more participative in teamwork and this would further help me to justify the position as a marketing leader in the respective organization.
Conclusion
In relation to the above discussion, simulation games play a significant role in developing individual’s skills in their professional and personal career. On the other hand, it is identified that most business organisations utilise simulation games as an effective tool for developing their employees’ existing skills and professional knowledge.
Business simulation games have the potential to enhance employee engagement by improving their business acumen, existing skills and others that positively affect overall business growth and sustainability. After participating in simulation games, I have analysed my lag backs along with my improvement areas that could serve as effective in terms of tackling any kind of uncertain business situation effectively.
References
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Appendix: Personal development plan
| Objective | Activities | Priority | Time |
| To achieve distinction as a part of my MBA course | ● Focus upon my curriculum
● Attend all my seminars and group activities ● To participate in group projects and activities
|
High | 12 months |
| To improve my weaknesses identified in my personal analysis | ● Identify courses and follow the development plan to overcome my weaknesses
● Increase communication with peers ● Improve my networking by trying to communicate with people whom I do not know personally or professionally |
High | 12 Months |
| To achieve the qualities of a contingent leader | ● Study how contingent leaders function and adapt their style of management | Medium | 12 Months |
| To improve analytical skills and problem-solving capabilities | ● Increase my analytical skills by improving critical thinking abilities
● Focusing on the empowerment of my critical thinking attribute |
High | 24 months |
| To get a job as a marketing manager in my desired organisation | ● Looks for possible companies with a job opening as a marketing manager | Medium | 2-3 years |
| To successfully achieve my goals as a marketing manager | ● Work as per the direction of the company and motivate my team to achieve organisational goals | High | 2-3 years |
| To emerge with prolific management capability | ● Get promoted in my company by achieving a higher performance level | High | 4 years |
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