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Ethan Thomas

Professor Lauren Brengarth

BA 3500

September 5,2019

Leadership Style Reflection

In a leadership role, it is easy to look at weaknesses and shortcomings, but in order for
someone to reach their potential as a leader they must understand their strengths. I am
currently serving in a leadership role at the Mizzou Christian Campus House. As a leader, I co-
teach in a small group, participate in intramural sports teams and I am active in different
outreach events. It is really easy for me to see what areas that I need to improve to be a better
leader, but when I focus on my strengths, I am the most effective.
As I look at the results on the Harvard Business Review Leadership Style Test my top
leadership style is provider with the supplemental styles of producer and energizer. The
weaknesses that are outlined are consistent with the ones that I have identified such as
struggling when members of my team suggest high amounts of ideas and creativity without
regard to long-term results. The areas that the results say I am likely to strive in are also
accurate with situations when there’s not a lot of buy in from others, however I still am able to
be productive and still provide for the team. The insight that I received is helpful in my growth
as a leader but personal reflections and tests aren’t always accurate. I felt that a strength of
mine can be flexibility with people, but a very important weakness that was missed is being
able to discern in certain situations when or when not to step up and be steadfast in my ideas
and methods and when to allow another person to accomplish the task.
Currently I am able to use my strengths to get a very diverse group of people to be
involved and enjoy an event by energizing the atmosphere and by making sure that people’s
needs are met for them to feel comfortable and connected. The new style of leadership that
the book describes is the theory that best reflects my leadership style, as the new style is less
about the leader being a powerful and commanding head but instead the leader draws more
attention to what the goal is and not themselves. Brook Manville’s insight really resonates,
“Heroic self-love is one of the deepest mistakes any leader makes today.” The flaws in the old
style of leadership is represented in Manville’s quote. The opposite of heroic self-love is the
sense of being connected to the team and that is very important because it allows leadership to
inspire and encourage everyone.
The new style leadership pushes me to look to the future, specifically my job after
college, where my leadership role will not be one that is because of my rank in the company
but it can by my attitude and work ethic with my peers. Kimberly Fries from Forbes put it best,
“True enthusiasm for a business, its products, and its mission cannot be faked. Employees can
recognize insincere cheerleading from a mile away.” As graduation approaches in the next
three semesters I need to use methods that I am not used to using to gain experience, so as I
plan an event, I will ask for different perspectives of how to approach the planning and
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execution of the event. Using someone else’s perspective in a low risk environment will
hopefully make it easier to do the same in a high-risk environment. The other perspective might
be allowing highly creative and innovative ideas to work in the planning of events and not
disregard them due them being more creative and innovative than I am comfortable with.
Using other perspectives and allowing more creative and innovative ideas to play a large role in
planning are two things that I hope to allow me to grow as a leader before graduation. Post-
graduation I hope that when I can avoid problems with highly creative or even just another
leader that feels that their way is the best way for the goal to be accomplished.
The ability to use the upcoming three semesters to address my weaknesses as a leader
will make the transition to a different stage of life easier. Confirming my strengths is an
important part of understanding who I am as a leader.
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References:

Fries, Kimberly. “8 Essential Qualities That Define Great Leadership.” Forbes, Forbes
Magazine, 23 May 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlyfries/2018/02/08/8-
essential-qualities-that-define-great-leadership/#66d484d43b63.

Manville, Brook. “Why Leadership Can't Be All About You.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 30 July
2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/brookmanville/2019/07/28/why-leadership-cant-be-
all-about-you/#3f4223a3ae72.