Leadership Challenge - Pinpoint Management



Practical Problem Solving for Today's organizationsLeadership ChallengePersonal Analysis and DevelopmentBryant Devine5/9/2013Leadership Analysis and Self-DevelopmentHow certain am I of my own conviction about the vision and values?A leader has to be certain that what he is doing is the right thing at the time. I am very certain of my convictions and will pursue the shared values and visions until they are understood. When I was Master of my lodge, I pursued the financial health of my lodge. We were over spending each year and took money out of our investments to pay for our expenses for the year. I put together a budget committee to handle the situation, and it turned out successful. I made sure that it was understood that we could not spend all our savings because eventually we would run out of money. Nonetheless, we stopped the spending problems and moved the lodge onto a good financial foundation. What gives me the courage to continue in the face of uncertainty and adversity?A leader has to be courageous in the advent of uncertainty and adversity, or else they will consume him and his mission will fail. I knew that when I entered the budget meetings that there would be uncertainty and adversity; there were those who would not approve some of the things that I wanted to cut from the budget. Nonetheless, my ability to understand this helped me lift up those who were uncertain, and overcome the adverse effects of moving the budget forward. Being able to convey my vision helped me overcome this, which still stands to this day. How will I handle disappointment, mistakes, and setbacks? There will always be disappointments, mistakes, and setbacks, a leader must understand this and prepare for the worst. I handled disappointments, mistakes, and setbacks by trying to understand how they happened. I analyzed them to see what went wrong and how to correct them. Learning from those mistakes can only make a leader better and helps in their development. What are my strengths and weaknesses?A leader must understand his strength and weaknesses in order to affect change within their organization. My main weakness is the lack of inspiring constituents through my own words. This is due to not founding my own voice. I can convey what my visions and values, yet have problems with inspiration. If a leader lacks inspiration and uses others words, they lack credibility; nonetheless, "credibility is the foundation of leadership" (Kouzes & Posner, pg.37). This violates the Kouzes-Posner first law of leadership – "if you don't believe the messenger, you won't believe the message" (Kouzes & Posner, pg.38). Needless, to say leaders are not just speaking for themselves, but making a commitment for an entire organization. Finding their own voice will enable them to hold others accountable to those inspiring values and standards. Overall, you cannot lead through others words and values, yet have to lead through your own words and values. My strengths are that I am forward looking, honest, and competent. These are important to a leaders success, especially to the Leadership Challenge, because without them constituents will not find a leader credible. Nonetheless, credibility very important for a leader to led his organization to success. Without it, all the shared values and visions will mean nothing. What do I need to do to improve my abilities to move the organization forward?First, I must continue to educate myself in order to improve my abilities. This will allow me to find new ways to solve problems and improve an organization. Secondly, continually analyze setbacks and mistakes, and figure out how to solve them for the betterment of the organization. Leaders must be able to educate themselves even after their formal education is over to learn better techniques to handle situations. Leaders must also learn from their mistakes to better the organization. "Albert Einstein once said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."" (Tangredi, 2005)How solid is my relationship with my constituents?My relationship with my constituents has changed since I left office. During my tenure as Master, it was intense because of the budget cuts, yet once I shared the necessity of these cuts, our relationship has improved greatly. After I left office, we all have gained respect and credibility for one another, after the positive result of cutting the budget, we have found that we can pull together to solve any problem that faces the lodge. When I took office there was a lack of comradely between each of us, yet once we started working together we found out that we were a good team.How can I keep myself motivated and encouraged?I love to solve problems and create a new way of thinking in an organization. If I am not continually thinking on how to solve problems in my organization, I become discouraged, especially if it stalls out. Therefore, I continue keep an eye on the current tasks that need to be accomplished in order to improve the organization or myself. Furthermore, if I see something wrong I want to fix it regardless of the challenges that I face at the time. All this motivates and encourages me to strive harder.What keeps me from giving up?I would say that friends and family keep me going when I do feel like quitting. I do not know how many times I wanted to quit school because I felt that working was more important than an education. Every time my wife would say no your almost there, so I would continue to work harder toward my goal of receiving a degree. When I was Master of the Lodge, my friend Bill would do the same thing, and lift my spirits. I enjoy encouragement because if I do not have someone cheering me on it demoralizes me. Am I the right one to be leading at this moment? Why?I do feel that when things are tough and problems need to be solved I am the right leader for the job. I will strive to institute something to better the situation; instead, of letting things stay the same old way. If I can lift them up and show that there is a better way, I want to do it. I have never been one that stands on the sidelines and watch; this is very difficult for me, I need to be in the thick of it. However, I am usually having fun leading and not just barking orders, we will leave that to the sergeants in the military, yet I am getting in there and helping win the hard fight. There is no task big or small I will take it on, better the situation, and learn while doing it. "One thing is sure. We have to do something. We have to do the best we know how at the moment . . . ; If it doesn't turn out right, we can modify it as we go along." – Franklin D. Roosevelt - counseling Frances Perkins (Roosevelt, 2009) How much do I understand about what is going on in the organization and the world in which it operates?To understand what is going on in the organization I listened to those around me. Nonetheless, for two years I heard those leaders in the lodge complain about the budget and taking money out of investments. One member told me if you could cut $2000.00 dollars each year our budget would be positive instead of negative. I watched and watched, trying to figure out a way to cut the budget; without actually looking at the budget I could not figure it out, plus some of the members would keep me in the dark on what we spent. Once I became master of the lodge, I gathered every bit of material in relation to the budget, and formed a committee to work through the budget. This was uncharted waters for me; the only budget I figured out was for my household. When I started, I was nervous if I could even raise our surplus, yet with the collaboration of my brothers, we were, able to do what we thought was the impossible, but the risk was worthwhile.How prepared am I to handle the complex problems that now confront my organization?I feel that I am prepared for the problems that confront my lodge, more prepared than when I took office. I am ready to serve any Master that needs my assistance during his tenure. In the next few years, I plan to help my friend Bill manage his year through timely guidance, he did the same for me during my tenure. I helped him plan his year and will help him as a committee chair. I hope to put together classes to train his officers in their respective duties and help them understand the role of a leader in our organization. Which I think leads to the next question.What are my beliefs about how people ought to conduct the affairs of my organization?I feel that my organization needs to be run by excellent leaders, which seems almost impossible with the lack of training. Our current leadership academy is a crash course in the duties and responsibilities for lodge leaders. The membership needs excellent leaders and ways to improve them. We must provide them with tools that are more effective. In turn, we will improve our situation, motivation, relationships, and productivity throughout the masonic body. Understanding leadership and its effect on our lodges is an important lesson for us to learn. If we fail to realize this important aspect of masonic life, we will begin to deteriorate and our lodges will nonetheless disappear. We must build our leadership and become excellent stewards to our lodge, and community, and move the fraternity into the future. Nonetheless, I am preparing a more in depth class for this purpose, and prepare them to understand their function within the organization. I also hope that this will teach them to be more prudent while managing the lodge. I also feel that our new members need to be educated once they come into the organization. The Grand Lodge has taken the first step, and this summer classes will begin for trainers to teach them the basics. I plan to request a seat in one of this class because I enjoy learning about masonry and ensuring that others understand its history and traditions.Where do I think the organization ought to be headed over the next ten years?” ?(Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p.344)I think that in ten years our organization we will be in a better situation if we improve both leadership and education. Nonetheless, Masonry has survived for hundreds of years because of certain basic and fundamental insights, which have passed down from generation to generation. However, in a time when man has found items, technology, and entertainment to occupy his time, and found other means of self-improvement. They have found little interest in such activities as freemasonry or other fraternal orders. Nonetheless, man has always sought self-improvement, and will continue to seek improvement in various parts of their lives, with some exceptions. Moreover, "he is far more likely to expend time in projects and organizations which offer him more rewards in terms of personal growth and improved skills he wants or needs to be a productive and successful citizen." (Stemper, 1980) We must be willing to change these processes and challenge them to make positive change for the betterment of Masonry.II.?Personalized Leadership Development PlanChallenging the Process Leaders are willing to step out into the unknown and take risks. The work of leaders is to change the status quo. Nonetheless, they seek opportunities to innovate, grow, and improve through experimentation. Leaders recognize that risk involves mistakes and failures, and can accept the expected setbacks as learning opportunities.? I will continue to search for problems to solve and opportunities by seeking innovative ways to improve, grow, and change. I will continue to experiment by generating small wins through continually analyzing what works and what does not work.I will continue to take risks, and in the event of failure, will continuously learn from those mistakes.Inspiring a Shared Vision A leader is driven by the clear image of possibilities, what the organization could become, and believe that they can make a difference. They envision the future, creating an ideal and unique image of what the organization can be. Leaders enlist others in their dreams to breathe life into their visions and get people to see exciting possibilities for the future.I will continue to dream and see the numerous possibilities of what my organization could do and become once again. I will breathe life into my new responsibilities as the chair of the masonic education committee.I will strive to join others into shared values so that we can move our organization into the future.I will continue to make a difference in my organization.Enabling Others to Act, Leaders understand that they have a responsibility to bring others along, and know that it is a team effort; thus, they actively involve others. Nonetheless, they foster collaboration and build spirited teams. They know that collaboration is a skill that enables organizations to function effectively. Their work is to make people feel strong, capable, informed, and connected.I will continue to foster collaboration among the many constituents through trust and shared goals.I will continue to delegate my power to enable others to be part of the many undertakings.I will work on making people feel as if they are capable of completing the most difficult tasks, and lift them up when they think that they cannot continue.Modeling the Way, One of the most important qualities people seek and admire in a leader is credibility, which is the foundation of leadership. Nonetheless, people have to believe the messenger, or they will not believe the message. Furthermore, leaders establish principles concerning the way people should be treated and how goals should be pursued. They create standards of excellence and then set an example for others to followI will continue the quest of finding my voice and continue to find those personal values, which guide my actions.I continue to set the example and align my action with the shared values of the organization.I will continue to do what I say I am going to do, so those who follow me will see my creditability. Encouraging the Heart, Accomplishing extraordinary things in groups and organizations is hard work, and the climb is strenuous and extensive; nonetheless, people can become exhausted, frustrated, and disenchanted. Furthermore, they are often tempted to give up, yet caring acts can uplift the spirit and entice people to move forward. To keep expectation and determination alive, leaders recognize the contributions that individuals make. In every winning team, the members need to share in the rewards of their efforts, so leaders celebrate accomplishments, and make people feel like stars.I will strive to keep expectations and determination alive, recognizing the contributions of others.Those accomplishments should be celebrated and make those who completed them feel special.I will build a spirit of community within my organization, that way no one feels left out and unwanted in the organization.ReferencesKouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2012). The leadership challenge. (5th ed., pp. 37-38). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Tangredi, D. (2005, January 29). Einstein - definition of insanity. Retrieved from , B. (1980). Freemasonry and the future - royal arch mason. Retrieved from Roosevelt, F. (2009). Leading thoughts: Building a community of leaders. Retrieved from ................
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