Reflective Essay on Leadership

Introduction

I worked as an administrative assistant/office manager for a company wherein I supervised three secretaries. We were given the challenge to raise donation for thanksgiving dinner for the juvenile detention residents. I headed the small committee to work with these three co-workers to brainstorm ideas and way to implement this project. The role required me to initiate the best program of events that could result in raising as many donations as possible from the detention residents. One of the best leadership practices I did was having a planning schedule. A plan is a useful management activity that helps in various aspects. Above all, it is crucial in ensuring that time is effectively utilized and the scheduled events are completed within the stipulated time. The other leadership practice I did was role allocation. As a team leader, it is always noble to allocate duties and responsibilities to every person. In this case, every person feels part and parcel of a team and a key stakeholder in the decision-making process.

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As a leader, one of the most important steps I took with other committee members was to draw a plan of the program's events. With a project, it was possible to carry out each task within its allocated time and address all its requirements. After plan extraction, it was time to identify the prospective channels that we had to locate and invite for the donation event. I recognized the prominent people in the vicinity as well as in our next neighborhood. With the list of these people, I proposed the need to print invitation cards for the guests for the event. It was one of the best move and proposal I made. After that, I reported the ideas and the planned schedule to the administrative heads who embraced the move. The plan was adopted, and the event carried on as we had expected. On a fateful day, the attendance was more than we anticipated and the dinner was a success.

From this event, I can vividly remember some acts, activities, and ideas I did as a group leader or merely the team lead. One of them was program planning. Planning is one of the most effective practices a leader can embrace. It helps in setting expectations on what a given activity will yield. It is a way of projecting good results. In addition, it facilitates accountability and proper allocation of available resources such as time. The other thing I did as a leader is embracing group decision making. In this case, each member's idea was crucial for the success of the Thanksgiving. It is essential to hear the opinion of other stakeholders in a group or an organization as it helps in getting the best idea and comparing ideas. Also, I consulted help from the well-wishers from the vicinity who were instrumental in bringing the donation to success. Moreover, I initiated the plan to print invitation cards that were used to invite as many people as we could to the function. Therefore, all these initiatives and ideas were instrumental in making the day a success. In addition, having been made the team leader, the implementation of the plans and activities that led to the success of the day made the experience to be my personal best.

The experience that I got from this project or activity was instrumental in shaping my leadership skills and capabilities. It was a fruitful event that enabled me to utilize various choices to bring the challenge a success. The nature of leadership style is also a contributing factor in this task. To this extent, the ability to engage the group members in management was crucial in facilitating the success of the function. With all these leadership styles, the task was expertly managed.

In this experience, I learned several lessons on leadership practices. One of the lessons is that a leader needs to exercise control. It is one of the controlling tools that all leaders need to embrace to handle the members of a group. In my case, I applied this characteristic by allowing each member to engage in decision making. The other lesson I got from this experience is the need to be creative and innovative. In this case, creativity equips one with skills that help in generating helpful ideas. Creativity was seen when I decided to contact members of the neighborhood and the decision to print invitation cards. Undoubtedly, this is one of the moves that led to the success of the thanksgiving ceremony. In addition, I learned that leadership is a test to prove the competencies and skills one is endowed within oneself. In my experience, this was the first exercise to be assigned to a group and be installed as the group leader. Moreover, role allocation is vital to ensure that activities are shared among the stakeholders. It is a vital practice that guarantees that each member feels like part of a group by taking on the assigned duties of a group.