Running head: SELF ASSESSMENT 1

Leadership Profile

Angelina Pechota

Siena Heights University

February 24, 2017

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Recently I completed the Leadership Profile, which is used to analyze and modify my

own leadership behavior, further developing my personal characteristics associated with effective

transformational leadership, and to consider how I might go about improving my transactional

(managerial) leadership. The self-assessment contained many challenging questions and

statements. Many made me think about my transactional and transformational qualities as a

leader. I feel it is important to look in the mirror, look within and know who you are, where you

come from and how you want to be perceived as a leader. When completing the assessment I

found myself stepping back and seeing the bigger picture of me. Truly seeing the full circle

growth that I have had over the past five even 10 years. I remember where I started and the

mindset I had at that time. My mindset is considerably different now, in a better way of course.

Through the questions of the assessment I also realize I have more to work on, more to grow as

leader. Beyond reflection, you also need to explore how to connect who I am to what I do

(Greenberg, McKone-Sweet & Wilson, 2013, p. 61).

Transactional vs. Transformational

The difference. A transactional leader is one who the overseer of everyday processes

and flow of operations. Motivators are used in an array of ways in terms of incentives as well as

disciplinary power to encourage employees to perform in the best manner possible. A

transactional leader focuses on ensuring things are running smooth today rather than looking

ahead in a strategic manner. As for a transformational leader, their focus goes beyond the day-to-

day operations strategically thinking of ways for their teams to obtain that next level of

performance and success. This type of leader is setting goals and incentives for its employees, to

not only achieve team success, but to also grow personally and professionally. An effective
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leader will have a high level of both of these and recognize the importance that these two styles

are two separate but necessary aspects of leadership.

Capable Management. Here are the three categories in which the assessments questions

fell and they are the following: Transactional Leadership, Transformational Leadership

Behaviors, and Transformational Leadership Characteristics. There were two sub-categories

under the first category, which was transactional leadership. They included: Capable

Management and Reward Equity. This capable management segment was the area with the

largest gap in scores between the self assessment and the observers assessment. I scored myself

at a 71.72 and my observers scored me at a 59.21. The five statements that define capable

management are:

Makes sure people have the resources they need to do a good job.
Provides information people need to effectively plan and do their work.
Helps people get the training they need to perform their jobs effectively.
Supports and encourages people to get the job done well.
Makes sure people have clear and challenging goals.

I have a tendency to be a perfectionist, which in turn can be overwhelming for those in which I

am leading. I have extremely high standards for myself which can be a strength but only if I

keep those standards realistic and have realistic goals for my team as well. Some may feel they

may never be able to meet my expectations or standards because they see how high I have them

set for myself. They could also feel this way because I may not give enough encouragement

along the way, therefore, it may seem to be more about what I am not saying rather than what I

am. This has been a focus of mine to change how I am being perceived. My work ethic tells me,

Lets go, get this done, here is the job now do it, but when it comes to leading a team I have to

take a step away from that and make a point to do better. Relaying the message that I do have
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faith in what they are doing and believe in them, making them feel more relaxed and not as

intimidated by me. Finding my balance with this part of being a transactional leader would be

me having the ability to maintain high expectations but to remain reasonable with my team in

terms of goal setting and expectations.

Reward Equity. The second segment of transactional leadership is Reward Equity. In

this segment, there was also a difference between what the observers scored and what I scored

myself. I scored myself at a 66.36 and my observers scored me at a 60.47. The five statements

that define reward equity are:

Rewards people fairly for their efforts.

Recognizes good performance with rewards people value.
Expresses appreciation when people perform well.
Knows the rewards people value.
Makes sure people know what to expect in return for accomplishing goals.

Reward equity correlates directly back to capable management because my extremely high

standards and lack of recognizing smaller goals and effort. In this area I need to give more

recognition when seeing effort. Stopping to celebrate smaller wins as it can be demotivating

when I say nothing. To improve in this area I need to make a point to recognize when a team

member is truly trying and putting in the effort.

Transformational Leadership Behavior

Leadership Communication. This is the first segment in this area of transformational

leadership behavior. This area focuses on the importance of interpersonal communication and

my ability to listen attentively and pay close attention to those which whom I am managing.
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Also listening in a way to acknowledge ones feelings while showing appreciation. The five

statements that define leadership communication are:

Pays close attention to what others say.

Communicates a clear sense of priorities.
Grabs peoples attention, focusing on the important issues of a discussion.
Listens for feelings as well as ideas.
Is able to get complicated ideas across clearly.

In this segment, my observers actually scored me higher than I scored myself. I scored myself at

a 54.17 and my observers scored me at a 59.63. I have always felt it challenging to put into

words what I am trying to get across. At times, I can be too insensitive but it seems I am

perceived to those who I manage, a little bit differently. This is encouraging to me because I do

feel my communication skills have not always been the best. In LDR 630 Organizational

Culture, I learned quite a bit by writing my paper on Leadership Is a Conversation. Genuine

conversation is crucial and one that employees value. Productive employees want to be talked to

and not talked at. When leaders are adept at conversations they do much more than

communicate effectivelythey drive stronger business results (Busine, M., Watt, Wellins &

boatman, 2014, p. 1). Face to face conversation is becoming that of a rarity in todays time of

technology which is what makes it that more important to stay focused on as a leader. As a

leader, we can control whether or not we have conversation or not and by doing so, we are

investing in us as well as others. I have worked hard on this over the past few years, as I know

this is an area I have struggled. I feel that with concentrated efforts in this area I have worked to

turn a leadership weakness into a strength.

Credible Leadership. This second segment of transformational leadership behavior I

have always taken personally into my leadership style. In simple terms, do you walk the walk,
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do you do what you say you will do. The ability to build trust is something that is extremely

important on so many levels. Leaders who are candid and predictable they tell everyone the

same thing and dont continually revise their stories signal to followers that the rules of the

game arent changing and that decisions wont be made arbitrarily (OToole & Bennis, 2009, p.

5). The five statements that define credible leadership are:

Can be relied on.

Follows through on commitments.
Keeps promises.
Acts in ways consistent with her or his words.
Can be trusted.

In this segment, credible leadership, my assessment and my observers assessment were virtually

the same which means they see me in the same light as I see myself. I can remember saying to

my people at Dillards and Sears Holding Company, I will never ask you to do something I

would not do myself. I believe this was very transparent as I strived to build a culture in both

settings. To do this I knew I had to earn their trust. Organizations with high levels of cultural

trust tend to produce high quality products and services at less cost because they can recruit and

retain highly motivated employees (Starnes, Truhon and McCarthy, 2010, p. 7).

Caring Leadership. The third segment of transformational leadership behavior is

extremely important to building the culture of those around us. Having empathy for others and

ability to show respect for them will benefit the organization. All leaders should have the ability

to show they care and have compassion for those they are leading. The five statements assessing

caring leadership are:

Respects peoples differences.

Shows he or she cares about others.
Shows concern for the feelings of others.
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Treats others with respect, regardless of position.
Makes others feel a part of the group or organization.

This is an area that I considered a problem area for me but my observers scored me at a 54.69

and I scored myself at a 47.22. This was one of the second lowest score for my self assessment,

but as you can see my observers rated me higher than I rated myself. I have always strived to be

on their level when managing, never making them feel inferior or less than and it looks like

they noticed. Being a part of a coaching (my husband coaches college basketball) household, we

agree about making our people or teammates feel a part of something. Emphasizing that being a

part of something bigger than yourself, can be very gratifying. The world of retail can be cut

throat sometimes, but the teams I worked with, we all tried consistently to take care of one

another. We had each others back when it came to getting the job done or task at hand, ensuring

we succeeded as a team. Twice a year at Dillards each cosmetic counter has a large event called

Gift with Purchase, which entails a lot of work and hands on deck. No matter what counter my

associates worked at all of them would help each other with putting up their huge marketing

signs, making phone calls to reserve product and help ring all of the orders the day of. Counters

had goals of $20,000 and some would never have made these goals if it were not from everyone

coming together.

Enabling Leadership. This last and final segment of transformational leadership

behavior involves enabling those who we are leading to take on opportunities. This will allow

them to perform and succeed while supporting them effectively. The five statements that

measure enabling leadership are:

Creates opportunities for people to succeed.

Designs situations that permit people to achieve their goals.
Involves others in a new ideas and projects.
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Helps others learn from mistakes.
Gives people the authority they need to fulfill their responsibilities.

The individuals I lead are a direct reflection of me and my leadership abilities. If they do not

succeed than neither do I. The observer and I had the same score in this area, around a 60.

Encouraging continuous personal and professional growth makes them a stronger component of

the organization and shows them that you are committed to them and their success.

Transformational Leadership Characteristics

Confident Leadership. The first segment of transformational leadership characteristics

is having the confidence that you can make a difference within an organization or group but also

inspiring that confidence within those you lead. The five statements that address confident

leadership are:

Acts in ways that have an impact.

Can see the results of her or his actions.
Makes a difference.
Is confident in her or his own abilities.
Is in control of his or her life.

My work ethic comes from the one person who has always shown me what hard work is all

about, my mom. The standards she instilled in me have helped me throughout my professional

life. I was pleased to see that my observers scored me pretty close to the how I scored myself,

around 55.

Follower-Centered Leadership. The second segment of transformational leadership

characteristics empowers partners to achieve organizational goals through use of power but in a

positive manner. The five statements that measure follower-centered leadership are:

Enjoys making others obey her or his orders.

Expects others to obey without question.
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Uses power and authority to benefit others.
Seeks power and influence to attain goals people agree on.
Shares power and authority with others.

Some of these statements made me feel uncomfortable while answering them. As a leader, I

never want someone to feel that they must obey me or am power seeking. I like to be confident

but not cocky and this has the feel of being extremely arrogant. In the follower-centered

leadership category I scored myself lower, 35.29, than the observer scored me, which was 43.64.

Visionary Leadership. The third segment of transformational leadership characteristics

involves leaders who develop clear and precise plans for long and short term objectives,

involving the followers in the planning process.

Considers how a specific plan of action might be extended to benefit others.

Concentrates on short term goals rather than long range, strategic goals.
Explains long range plans and goals clearly.
Expresses a vision that engages people.
Has plans that extend over a period of several years or more.

In this area, I scored myself higher than what the observer scored me, 65.71 to 59.58. This was

not much of a surprise to me because I have not always been one to involve everyone in all of the

process. For quite a while, I had the mentality of, If I want it done right, I will do it myself.

Visionary leadership is an area that I have worked hard to improve on and have made great

strides in, but I still need to continue to grow in this area. I realize I cannot do everything

myself, it takes a team effort.

Culture-Building Leadership. The last and final segment of transformational

leadership characteristics and of the survey itself about creating a core set of values and beliefs,

and the importance of them within the organization. The scores in this area were virtually the

same, equaling around a 61. The five statements that measure culture-building leadership are:
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Encourages others to act according to the values and beliefs we share.
Models what our core values really mean.
Helps others develop a shared sense of what is important in this organization.
Expresses and support a set of basic values about how we should work together to

achieve shared goals.

Works to build a strong consensus around the core values of the organization.

Creating a culture has its struggles, especially if it is non-existent already. Building a culture

takes time and it starts from the top, earning the trust of all involved from top to bottom. Most

importantly, understanding cultural forces enables us to understand ourselves better (Schein,

2010, p. 7). OToole & Bennis (2009), references key points that organizations must promote

routinely, telling the truth; encouraging people to speak truth to power; rewarding contrarians;

the practice of having unpleasant conversations; having diversity sources of information;

admitting mistakes; building organizational support; and setting information free. From

managing an entire Sears store back in Kentucky I can attest that if all of these are continuously a

focus, and are the heart of the organization, your business will benefit immensely and the sense

of unity will show through. I found when I came to this particular store that any type of culture

was non-existent. Managers had come and gone and most did not take the time to build any type

of relationship with each of the departments within the store. To have the influence I wanted and

needed to make the store successful I had to reach out to each particular area, connect with them

and earn their trust. Doing so meant I would eventually have the buy-in of the entire store and

the culture building began.

Conclusion

Going forward I feel much more confident in my abilities to improve where it is needed

and enhance what is already established. That confidence comes from the variety of leadership
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classes I have been exposed to throughout the Organizational Leadership Masters program

here at Siena Heights University. To improve my effectiveness in capable management ask

myself, Is this goal I have set for the team or individual attainable and realistic? Also, I plan to

pay closer attention to my acknowledgements to effort and give more recognition along the way

rather than just at the end. By doing so this will assist in my efforts to improve in the reward

equity area of the leadership profile assessment. Through this process I maintain my openness to

improve and change and take full responsibility for where I currently stand as a leader. I make

no excuses but know growth can occur if I am open to it. As Dweck mentions in the book

Mindset, They surround themselves with the most able people they can find, they look squarely

at their own mistakes and deficiencies, and they ask frankly what skills they and the company

will need in the future (Dweck, 2008, p. 110). I have always held the late Pat Summitt in the

highest regard. The former University of Tennessee womens basketball coach was quoted as

saying, If you dont want responsibility, dont sit in the big chair. Thats the deal. To be

successful, you must accept full responsibility (Summitt, 1998, p.29). I want to sit in the big

chair, I want that responsibility and to do so it means continuously improving and growing as an

organizational leader.
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References

Busine, M., Watt, Ph.D., B., Wellins, Ph.D., R. S., & Boatman, Ph.D., J., 2014. Driving

workplace performance through high-quality conversations. In Development Dimensions

International, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.ddiworld.com/productivity/overview

Dweck, C. S. (2008). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House Digital, Inc.

Greenberg, D., McKoneSweet, K., & Wilson, H. J. (2013). Entrepreneurial leaders: creating

opportunity in an unknowable world. Leader to Leader, 2013(67), 56-62.

doi:10.1002/ltl.20063

O'Toole, J., & Bennis, W. (2009). What's needed next: A culture of candor. Harvard Business

Review, 87(6), 54-61.

Schein, Edgar H. Organizational Culture and Leadership. 4th ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,

2010. Print.

Starnes, B. J., Truhon, S. A., & McCarthy, V. (2010). Organizational trust: Employee-employer

relationships. ASQ, 1-15. Retrieved from http://sienaonline.org

Summitt, P. (1998). Reach for the summit. New York, NY: Broadway Books