personal philosophy of leadership ruchi thanawala …...summary 15 conclusions 15 references 17...

Ruchi Thanawala Personal Philosophy of Leadership LEADERS 481DL-SEC 55 1

Personal Philosophy of Leadership

Ruchi Thanawala

LEADERS 481DL/Foundations of Leadership

April 2, 2013


Table of Contents Abstract 1

Experiential Context 1

Emergent Leadership 2

Lead with Courageous Creativity 3

Leadership versus Management 4

Leadership should be Hands-On 5

Lead with Emotional Intelligence 5

Arrogant Humility Balanced by Charisma 8

Personal Philosophy of Leadership Development 8

Creating Value from Personal Philosophy of Leadership 10

Challenge 1: Emerging as a leader 10

Challenge 2: Remaining relevant 10

Challenge 3: Leader compared to manager 10

Challenge 4: Application of emotional intelligence 11

Challenge 5: Transparency in leadership 11

Leadership Challenge 11

Professional Challenge 12

Leadership Measurement Instrument Data 12

Daily Personal Philosophy Practice 15

Summary 15

Conclusions 15

References 17

Personal Philosophy of Leadership Reference Guide 17

Artistic representations 18

Philosophy supporting literature: Areopagitica 18

Philosophy supporting visual art 18

Personal Philosophy of Leadership Flowchart 20

Appendix 21


Abstract Creating an environment with strong undertones of courage, commitment to success in the face of adversity, and unwavering integrity, my parents have played a leading role in the formation of my personal philosophy on leadership. As a first generation Indian, I had a unique opportunity to be directly involved in settings where I could observe leadership and management in action. I learned that even if you are the business owners and harbor strong organizational powers, you must be chosen by your employees and team members as their leader. My mother's astuteness for understanding emotions and transforming them into powerful tools has instilled a deep respect for emotional intelligence. As I have begun to emerge as a leader in my health care setting, I see the value in situational modification of leadership qualities, while maintaining my integrity and commitment to values. A systematic review of existent literature has been performed to both solidify and challenge my personal position on leadership. Sourcing references from various fields such as business management, psychology, education, and health care management provides a broad base for my philosophy on leadership. Considering my professional position as an academic, surgical resident and informaticist, all the aforementioned fields are relevant to my daily practices as a resident, educator, and leader. In synthesizing my experiences in childhood, adolescence, adult life with pervasive theories and understanding of leadership, I continue to evolve my philosophy on leadership in a focused and, almost scientific manner, through conscious reflection on the effectiveness of my leadership practices in various situations. My personal philosophy of leadership is a meld of specific aspects of leadership theories such as Servant, Authentic, Situational, Transformational, Socialized Charismatic, Path-Goal, and Leader-Member Exchange. Experiential Context My childhood and adolescence was shaped by an environment of ambition and drive. Both of my parents were educated in India and England, my father as textile engineer and my mother as an accountant and lawyer. They came to the United States with little other than their education and their newborn, ill son. A rare, open heart surgery for their first born child made them bold enough to venture to this country alone. They remained in the US under the suggestion of the doctors in case another child was born with a similar heart defect. They now had to forge a new life for themselves in a foreign country with little external support. Their determination to overcome obstacles and mold a successful future for themselves has bled over into my philosophy on life and leadership. Pushing forward and looking for new directions to improve ourselves, careers, and businesses are principles I witnessed practiced regularly. All done with integrity, honesty, and fairness. My mother has used our family businesses to support men and women who struggle to find jobs. She has always believed that everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves if their intention is good. This practice has strongly influenced my desire to lead with fairness and an open heart and mind. Empathy and emotional intelligence are cornerstones to my personal philosophy of leadership.

From a young age, my brother and I spent a significant portion of our free summers at our parents' businesses. Soon they began to involve us in discussion regarding the future direction of the businesses


even though our suggestions were quite basic and naïve at age 10 and 8. Nonetheless, feeling involved in decisions kept my brother and I motivated to help however we could even if it meant counting the change from the previous nights payments. Also, experiencing open discussions about the business strategy made transparency seem natural. My experiences have had a strong influence on my personal philosophy of leadership which is centered around emotional intelligence, integrity, courage, and dedication. Emergent leadership: “The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such.” -Andre Maurois For decades, academic and philosophical work, and intellectual debates have resulted in a single agreement about the definition of leadership, “They can't come up with a common definition...” (Northouse 2012, Loc: 502). Perhaps we are unable to settle on a single definition because it is a term of relativity. The comparison group is humanity with its cultural, political, gender equality, and technological contexts which evolve as time passes. The definition of leadership appears to be somewhat a moving target. One thing that remains consistent is that leaders emerge from humanity even if they are assigned to the role. In order to establish a point of reference Northouse (2012) defines leadership as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” Within a group, the individual with the most influence over the group generally represents the prototypical model of the common beliefs and principles of the group (Northouse 2012, Loc: 580). This person becomes the emergent leader regardless of whether there is an assigned leader for the group. Empathy is an emotional characteristic which maintains an open tether between the emergent leader and the group. Empathic behavior should be practiced on both the leader's side, to remain attune to the group's experiences, and on the followers' side, as the leader will have different roles and stresses relative to them. While my personal philosophy on leadership generally opposes the trait based theory, a requisite character attribute to support leader legitimacy is honesty. This trait is critical for “buy in” on the group's behalf and provides the leader with the power of influence. With the respect and trust offered to the emergent leader for embodying commonly valued traits, behaviors, and skills, she becomes the most influential person. With the tools of trust and respect, the emergent leader is able to lead the group to the common goal. Respect is a concept bound by two points, those offering respect and the recipient. Clarke (2011) explains that early trait based leadership theories viewed leadership as something which is “commanded” or “deserved”, making the flow unidirectional from the group to the leader. Behavioral theories of leadership present a different view on respect. Rather than this quality be a characteristic a leader is able to illicit from her followers, it is a state that arises from actions and behaviors from the leader. Personal concern for the well-being of followers, listening to needs, empathy, self-reflection, and task oriented competence are examples of these actions and behaviors. Respect is the end product of successful leadership and the ability to “command” it is not a prerequisite to leading (Clarke 2011).


Servant leadership theory, while in relative infancy with regard to evidence, supports my personal philosophy on leadership in many ways. This theory supposes that service of the group, its ideals, and principles is the primary motivation of the leader. Since the leader has been selected by the group as the individual with the optimal composite ability and characteristics to fulfill the needs of the group, self-service on the part of the leader will diminish her influence. Ultimately, this self-interest will lead to her demise as the leader of the group even if she is the assigned leader (Russell and Stone 2002). As an important distinction, service to the group does not absolve the leader of demonstrating forward vision and an ability to conceptualize new directions for the group (Russell and Stone 2002). The leader must perceive the future needs of the group, in line with its ideals, and influence the group towards those ends. The integrity, relative to personal and group values, and commitment on the part of the leader, in combination with the trust and respect imparted by the group, allow for the successful process of leadership. Lead with Courageous Creativity: The future is taking shape now in our own beliefs and in the courage of our leaders. Ideas and leadership -- not natural or social 'forces' -- are the prime movers in human affairs. -George Roche

A World Without Heros A leader is meant to be a disruptive force unto herself. She must challenge the adequacy of the current state of an organization when considering where the future trends will define her organization and field. I believe that all existent states are inadequate in ability or knowledge because we should be actively striving to expand upon both of those aspects. A high, stable, and productive rate of idea and concept iteration driving the evolution rate is the result of courageous leadership. Exposure to diverse streams of information can trigger novel thoughts. A leader must develop and exhibit creativity in the acquisition of orthogonal information and incorporate it with more obvious trends within her field. VanVector (2012) presents a concept of mindfulness which “implies that an individual is living in a state of conscious awareness of self, others, and the environment; getting to know the unknown through other people's experience, thinking, and ideas.” With the synthesis of all of these data, a leader has to supplement her creativity with courage to influence the steps towards achieving the goals necessary to remain dominant in the field. Given that a leader is always emergent in nature with regard to power of influence and inspiration over a group, courage is also needed to present status quo challenging ideas to that very group. Healthcare and surgery offer examples of fields which are able to innovate in their comfortable and familiar scientific domain but struggle with leadership theory and broad technological changes. VanVector (2012) points out that change is threatening for many leaders in healthcare, and rather than drive the change, risk averse behavior, creates a culture of waiting for a “perfect solution” developed by someone else who is more courageous. Regardless of field or knowledge domain, courageous creativity distinguishes innovators in a field from the followers. The innovators may fail an order of magnitude more times than the followers, but they


will have experience and knowledge which cannot be obtained passively through observation and implementation of a final solution. Healthcare is a field limited by principles, rules, and regulations, leading to an overwhelming focus on management. Innovative and bold thinking are needed to overcome the current ceilings and barriers being experienced in improving the quality of care, integrating technology into care, and reducing care associated costs. Management's most purposeful concern is with those very rules and regulations because they are enforceable. The trap of mindless routines permit managers to seem effective at their roles but can lead to oversight of new behaviors and ideas that may be trying to emerge. A leader must be inwardly cognizant of such potential circumstances and try to influence managers to practice organizational mindfulness (VanVactor 2012). Leadership versus Management: “Management is getting work done through others. Leadership is taking people where they haven't been but need to go.”

- Don Roberts Human Capital Advisory Services, Deloitte and Touche

I support the notion that leadership is distinct from management. Additionally, I feel that a leader must have some managerial skills and the same for a manager with regard to leadership skills. A manager must be able to inspire and motivate, thus influencing subordinates to complete tasks integral to the complex trajectory set by the leader. Similarly, a leader must have a working knowledge of the resources and structure of the organization in order to plan a feasible path to goal achievement (Northouse 2012, Loc: 671). The distinctions in the two roles lie in the concept of organizational change. A leader's purpose is to create and direct forward moving change and vision at a macro level. A manager focuses on maintaining stability and consistency on a micro level (Northouse 2012, Loc: 686). Northouse (2012) quotes Bennis and Nanus, “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing.” This statement reveals that managers complete pre-defined tasks which allows the effective ones to do them correctly as compared to the ineffectual managers. The leaders are developing the future of the field and organization. As a result, the ones who were trendsetters with successful concept creation have done the “right thing” because they created its rightness. I am in agreement with Northouse's (2012) proposition that a maximally effective organization requires both skill management and developed leadership. Also, an organization without leadership but effective management will likely survive as long as the organization remains relevant within the scope of the current trends of the field, but will be unable to adapt to trend evolutions. A group with only a leader but without management infrastructure will be wavering and likely unable to test a single project out to completion because of continual direction changes. For these reasons, I propose that management and leadership work synergistically rather than only collaboratively. One cannot exist without the other. But, when combined in a nurturing environment, they offer a collective power greater than if each worked independently and efforts and success were simply added. As a result, the relationship between leaders and managers should be fluid in communication, idea, and innovation. While a leader innovates


with the broad concepts of the organization, a manager can offer valuable innovative ideas on how to improve workflow at his level. Ease of idea exchange encourages the development of those very leadership-like characteristics of management which are necessary for the synergistic outcomes (Harvard Business Review on Leadership 1998). Leadership should be hands-on: “Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions”

-Harold S. Geneen In my personal philosophy of leadership, a leader must be as dedicated to the work that is required to achieve the vision she has set as the most hard working subordinate in her group. The Path-Goal theory on leadership supports my philosophy on this concept. A leader, within this theory, is purposed with understanding the motivations and obstacles faced by employees. In turn, the leader should tailor her style to optimally meet the motivational needs of the subordinates. Arguably, simply asking individuals to identify their needs and obstacles alone may not provide the wholesome information needed by the leader to best influence the group. A leader should maintain a strong relationship with managers and other intra-organizational leaders who work closely with subordinates, if she does not do that directly. Empathy and commitment are two characteristics a leader should employ to most fully understand a subordinate's experience. Empathy can permit the leader to make herself emotionally open the subordinate's circumstances. Commitment to improvement of the circumstances is necessary because it could be particularly uncomfortable for the leader to expose herself to feeling the frustrations of her followers. Experiencing some of the obstacles faced by subordinates and relating a leader's sense of job satisfaction to that of subordinates will allow the leader to more successfully clear the path to goal attainment (Northouse 2012). Transformational leadership theory is defined by encouraging heightened consciousness of unified group interests and driving towards the achievement of those over individual interests, as is the focus of Transactional leadership. When a leader is well-acquainted with the needs and stumbling blocks of her subordinates, she is able to practice transformational leadership. Such knowledge promotes better suited forms of influence to adjust what subordinates may perceive as needs and obstacles and usher the group towards wanting to meet the goals of the group rather than their own. In this sense, Path-Goal theory, embodies components of Situational theory with style modification, and facilitates the implementation of principles associated with Transformational theory (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo, and Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez 2012; Sims Jr., Faraj, and Yun 2009; Northouse 2012). Lead with Emotional Intelligence: “Emotions are the untapped resource of every organization.”

-Timothy Warneka Leading People the Black Belt Way:

Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today

The concept of emotional intelligence, from its initial proposal through its theoretical and practical evolution, is painted with debate over whether it is an ability to apply reasoning to emotions and use


emotions to improve thoughts and actions or if it is a character trait (Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso 2008; Arora et al. 2010; Salovey and Mayer 1989). Investigators who support the theory that emotional intelligence is a composite of traits include them as happiness, self-esteem, optimism, and self-management (Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso 2008). Mayer et al. (2008) consider emotional intelligence an ability which falls along a “continuum from those that are relatively lower level, in the sense of carrying out fundamental, discrete psychological functions, to those that are more developmentally complex and operate in the service of personal self-management and goals.” At the lower level, the focus is on accurate assessment of emotions, whereas at the higher level, focus is placed on the ability to manage emotions properly. Mayer et al. Created a Four-Branch Model:

Excerpt from: (Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso 2008) Successful leadership is contingent upon the efficient utilization of the resources available, both human and technological. To carve a path from vision conceptualization to concrete outcomes, a leader must be able to harness the power of each type of resource. It is arguable that human resources are amongst the most complex with our diverse abilities, depth of emotions, and the interconnectedness of components within individuals in addition to interpersonal bonds. The permutations would seem nearly infinite, yet we generally behave with fair predicability. Because of these, we dedicate introspective thought to our emotions and the study of those we encounter. The next step is to establish hypotheses and cause-effect concepts based on our observations. As we trial these within ourselves and others, we improve upon our knowledge of how emotions drive behaviors and, thus, influence outcomes. Leaders can reside as assigned leaders without the purposeful practice of emotional intelligence, but they are unlikely to reach optimal efficacy in their role. Emergent leaders, even if they are assigned, are probably unwittingly practicing emotional intelligence which is providing them with the “buy in” to continually influence the group.


As an example of emotional intelligence practice, imagine a situation where a principal investigator leading a clinical research laboratory is informed that the security of protected health information for the five hundred patients enrolled in a study has been breached. The data were on an unencrypted thumb drive that was stolen from a research associate's bag. The principal investigator notices her initial anger at the disregard for policy shown by the associate who had been informed that data on thumb drives must be encrypted and securely deleted once transfer had occurred. When she confronts the research associate, she recognizes he downward gaze, slumped posture, and general shame regarding the events. He feels sincere remorse and is aware that this should not have happened. She realizes that if she directs her anger at the research associate, he will likely never make the mistake again. But, he may also be afraid to discuss the event with others to increase awareness. As a result, she asks him if he would like to lead a research associate-level initiative to improve patient data security and lead a study on how the initiative improves compliance. The research associate responds with improved posture, gaze engagement, an actively participates in the discussions about the study. The leader of this research laboratory traversed the Four-Branch Model of emotional intelligence continuum established by Mayer and Salovey (Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso 2008). She was able to acknowledge her emotions and then adjust her reaction based on the emotions of the research associate, all culminating in a positive outcome emotionally and academically with the development of a new study. My personal philosophy of leadership is heavily founded on emotional intelligence for many of the reasons delineated. Emotions represent the most relevant “wild card” in a human construct. A leader has to study her own emotions and be able to flow through the continuum devised by Mayer and Salovey (Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso 2008). A deep comprehension of emotions and their power will facilitate greater influence over followers. Additionally, I believe that emotional intelligence is an ability more than it is a constellation of traits. It can be observed, practices, and improved upon conscientiously. Situational, authentic, and servant leadership theories involve active introspection and subsequently are core aspects of my personal philosophy of leader. In situational leadership, a leader must be able to adjust her style based on the demands of the task and needs and abilities of the followers (Northouse 2012, Loc: 2264). It is this second component that requires emotional intelligence to assess. Similarly, servant leadership is based on a leader serving the needs of the group. Of the ten characteristics of servant leadership laid out by Robert Greenleaf, eight are dependent on emotional awareness and emotion facilitated action. These characteristics are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, foresight, commitment to the growth of people, and building community (Northouse 2012). Authentic leadership requires leaders to understand their own values and beliefs and behave in a manner which is congruent with these values. This theory describes a leader who uses challenging situations to strengthen their value systems versus compromise them (Northouse 2012, Loc: 5181-5195). An authentic leader is not unwittingly inflexible in adjusting her beliefs. Instead, the continuous challenge to be authentic pushes her to assess her values often, thus, being self-assured about her positions. Authentic leadership, with its four components: self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency, has commonalities with emotional intelligence. Both require deep self-reflection to be utilized to drive value- and emotion-matched outward action.


Leader-member exchange theory provides a framework within which to further practice emotional intelligence. As a theory addressing the individual interchanges between a leader and follower, awareness of the development of in-groups and out-groups offers solid starter materials to which to apply emotion intelligence. Northouse (2012) acknowledges that personality characteristics on both the leader's and follower's sides and desire to deepen involvement and responsibilities in the organization contribute to the development of these two groups. The use of emotional intelligence to understand and improve upon the mutable aspects of the exchange can lead to organizational goal achievement. This theory impacts empowerment as well, a key component of transformational leadership. Northouse (2012) discusses empowerments slight synergistic relationship with job outcomes. Without empowerment for a follower, the leader-member exchange affects job performance. High-quality exchanges compensate for low empowerment (Northouse 2012, Loc: 3431). To empower, I believe, a leader must understand the professional and emotional needs of each follower through emotional intelligence. Arrogant Humility Balanced by Charisma: “Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.”

-Saint Augustine

A strong leader should be confident in her beliefs and abilities while exhibiting a strong self-critique to counteract complacency. I position charisma along side these elements because this behavior can be used as a counterweight to the self-reflection and critique. Nielson et al. (2010) offer humility as an “important but overlooked antecedent to socialized charismatic leadership.” They go on to propose that humility prevents excessive “self-focus” and permits deeper understand of self and others (Nielsen, Marrone, and Slay 2010). Morris et al. (2005) define humility nearly poetically, “humility can be thought of as that crest of human excellence between arrogance and lowliness.” Humility is innately tied to emotional intelligence.

Theoharis (2008) presents the concept of “arrogant humility” which he defined as a “paradoxical blend of arrogance and humility.” He explains the two opposing characteristics as “humility [coming] from their continual self-doubt of their abilities and knowledge, their willingness to admit mistakes both publicly and privately, and their questioning whether they are doing any good in their positions.” Matched to this is arrogance defined by “a headstrong belief that they are right; they know what is best, and they feel they are the ones needed to lead toward that vision” (Theoharis 2008).

The arrogance that Theoharis presents in his definition of arrogant humility is possible fed into a form of socialized charismatic leadership to maximize influence. The leader has a strong belief in her “rightness” and should strive to put these concepts forth, inspire, and motivate her subordinates through charisma (Theoharis 2008). Nielsen et al. (2010) use this leadership theory to identify leaders “through their ability to articular a vision, empower followers to work toward achievement of the vision, demonstrate exemplary behavior, and set high performance expectations for followers.”

Transparency is a practice which reflects arrogant humility. Leaders should open various organizational decisions to structured discussion and critique. An environment where subordinates can review and offered evidence-based criticisms can help to develop promote the emergence of other leaders.


Additionally, the transparency encourages the self-assessment and humility as defined by Theoharis. From this can stem regular root cause analyses and help to develop the counter force of arrogance as an individual defends his decisions. Iterations of this process will likely lead to organizational and individual evolution at a pace that outstrips environments without transparency and open critique. The ability of leaders to influence subordinates could be strengthen as they make themselves voluntarily available to judgement, thus displaying commitment to their beliefs which is marked with humility.

Personal Philosophy of Leadership (PPL) Development Emotional intelligence forms the primary foundation of my PPL. Mayer et al. (2008) set forth a Four-Branch model which represent introspective and outwardly focused aspects of emotional intelligence that gives rise to the secondary layer of my PPL foundation. I divide Theoharis's concept of “arrogant humility” into its composite humility and arrogance, each of which are based on emotional intelligence. The humility based self-critique, availing oneself to open admissions of fault, and constructive self-doubt facilitate the iterative improvement required to evolve as a leader. Arrogance about a leaders beliefs are made more believable by this balanced humility. It removes the varnish of hyper-inflated self worth that usually accompanies arrogance (Theoharis 2008). My PPL samples aspects of servant, path-goal, leader-member exchange and charismatic socialized theories, feeding into a philosophy grounded in transformational, situational, and authentic leadership theories. Additionally, I support the notion that even an assigned leader must emerge as the leader from her follower group.

Theory Aspects supporting PPL Servant (a) Commitment to serve group goals; (b) many

attributes of leader based on emotional intelligence (Russell and Stone 2002)

Path-Goal (a) focus on leadership style and characteristics of followers in work environment; (b) balanced approach with assessment of leader behaviors and subordinate characteristics (Northouse 2012)

Leader-Member Exchange (a) focus on interactions between leaders and subordinates; (b) has a test which can be utilized periodic to assess exchanges (Northouse 2012); (c) addresses the tendency to gravitate toward a certain group (in-group) and form an out-group and provides leadership guidance to balance and develop individual relationships equally

Socialized Charismatic (a) leader expected to behave in an “exemplary” fashion; (b) use vision and motivation to build self-esteem, empower, and improve performance


of subordinates; (c) leader tends to be altruistic (Nielsen, Marrone, and Slay 2010)

Transformational (a) strong basis in emotional intelligence with focus on subordinates needs, feelings, motives; (b) integrity is core component of theory; (c) goal is to help subordinate to achieve more than expected of themselves through support and no coercion (Northouse 2012); (d) leaders should be dedicated to “learning and relearning”, and instill a culture of education; (e) heightened “consciousness of collective interests” by members of organization (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo, and Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez 2012)

Situational (a) adjustment of leadership style along independent continuums of task behavior and relationship behavior requiring emotional intelligence to perform adeptly (b) consideration for development level of subordinates (Northouse 2012); (c) relevant to my surgical care domain with adjustment of style in setting of simulation lab (coaching or empowering) versus trauma room (directing) (Sims Jr., Faraj, and Yun 2009)

Authentic (a) unifies my PPL through Walumbwa's four components: self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, relational transparency; (b) the practice of this leadership theory involves continually work, therefore, leading to continual evolution of PPL; (c)focus on utilizing important and “critical” life events to development deeper self-awareness and use that to develop authenticity (Northouse 2012)

Creating Value from Personal Philosophy of Leadership

With an appreciation for existing leadership strengths, value generation from my personal philosophy of leadership is based on self-assessment of weaknesses, identification of aspects to be improved upon, and the ability to act upon this knowledge, adapt, and evolve as a leader. Leadership challenges are categorized into two interdependent foci, task-specific and relationship-specific. Each section of this paper is based on a challenge for strong leadership that requires continual focus and improvement.

Challenge 1

Emerging and remaining a leader for a group is a challenge faced by all leaders whether


acknowledged or ignored.

Actions

• Work to understand the task-related and personal needs of the group

• Lead with honesty and integrity

• Strive to illicit respect as a result of group-valued behaviors and leadership. Respect is not “demanded” by a select few who embody the traits of a leader (Clarke 2011)

Challenge 2 A leader must remain relevant through courage and vision.

Actions

• Remain uncomfortable with the current state of an organization or group because a leader must look to the next direction to move in

• Be bold and creative in experience and data gathering to determine the new directions

• Practice “mindfulness” as a leader to absorb orthogonal information which could be relevant to goals (VanVactor 2012)

Challenge 3 A leader is different from a manager, but must have various managerial skills and be able to effectively interface with managers. The relationship can be synergistic, not merely additive. Actions

• Develop a strong and shared understanding of leader and manager goals and responsibilities

• Nurture a state of fluid communication between yourself as a leader and managers within an organization

Challenge 4 Emotions are a reality when interfacing with humans. When understood and utilized properly, they can empower a leader in her ability to influence. Actions

• Implement the Four-branch model of emotional intelligence established by Mayer et al. (2008).

• Acknowledge your own and others' emotions impact on your leadership ability.

• Master the understanding and fair and just leveraging of emotions to influence followers.

• View emotions as effective tools and do not discount them. Challenge 5 Transparency improves leadership by exposing deficits and helps followers to remain engaged


in the process. “Arrogant humility” is a principle which can help a leader to evolve as circumstances require, allowing her to remain relevant in her ability to influence (Theoharis 2008).

Actions

• Establish forums where organizational goals and leadership ideas are open to challenge by all members of an organization

• As a leader, be a role model in open admission of mistakes

• Allow followers to witness your self-critique to establish a culture where the practice is a norm

Leadership Challenge Since my personal philosophy of leadership revolves around emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and self-reflection, I would like to design a study evaluating the impact of these actions on clinical performance in surgical residents. I hypothesize that purposeful self-reflection and identification of the application and uses of emotional intelligence can produce a demonstrable improvement in leadership characteristics and clinical performance.

For the methods, surgical residents from each year would be randomly stratified into a study group and a control group. The study group would journal about three clinical experiences per day for one month. The journal entries would contain an open structured section and a directed section including reflections on (a) how the experience and outcome made the resident feel, (b) how the resident believes others involved felt, (c) if the resident would make any different clinical decisions the next time, and (d) based on this experience, how the resident can use emotional intelligence to affect the clinical process. Every week, they would have lunch with their individual clinical advisors to discuss any aspect of these entries. The control group would not be required to alter their practice and habits. At the end of the month, the surgical service chief attending surgeons, who are blinded, will evaluate the residents using the standardized evaluation tool currently in use in the surgical program, with the addition of five to seven questions addressing emotional intelligence, ability to interact with other members of the surgical team, ability as a resident leader, and ability to improve through self-reflection and admission of errors. The results will be compared between the two groups within and between post-graduate years. Based on the results, tailored curricula can be devised to improve upon the practice of emotional intelligence, leadership, and self-reflection and assessment. Additionally, this study will unearth early emergent leaders within the residency.

Professional Challenge I struggle with the discomfort that comes with the disruptive aspects of creative and courageous leadership. As a leader is tasked with guiding the vision of a group, she must develop the skills to navigate the unrest that will likely arise within a group, especially if it is small and there is no designated manager. Having become more adept at distinguishing managerial responsibilities


from those of a leader, I can categorize actions into those associated with managed and those with leading. I exhibit more social comfort in managerial tasks because of the compromising nature of the role. But, intellectually and in principle, I prefer the leadership role and strive to improve myself for this purpose. By creating distinction, I hope to become more effective in my leadership skills in small and large groups.

Leadership Measurement Instrument (LMI) Data Incorporation

LMI Brief Analysis Action Plan Leadership Trait

Questionnaire I exhibit self-criticism resulting in discrepancies between my and others' perceptions of my leadership traits. Emotional intelligence and “arrogant humility” are core parts of PPL (Theoharis 2008).

Lead with Courageous Creativity: Work to overcome introversion by participating in conversations and situations where I contribute potentially helpful information regardless of my comfort level; Lead with Emotional Intelligence: Consciously understand and fine-tune use of emotional intelligence.

Skills Inventory I have more of my strengths allocated to interpersonal and conceptual skill rather than administrative. Based on R.L. Katz's diagram, I fall into middle to top management (Northouse, 2012, loc: 1318).

Lead with Courageous Creativity: I will examine emerging trends, expose myself to a wide range of experiences, and stitch information together to further develop my conceptual skills; Leadership Should Be Hands-On: I will work to apply technical knowledge as I can and develop it further. Since it is a competency, it should be treated as something to be developed through work. I should not unconsciously favor my


gravitation towards interpersonal and conceptual skills.

Leadership Style Questionnaire

I am both highly task and people oriented. The questionnaire does not reveal clearly whether I utilize both leadership orientations simultaneously all the time or adjust the proportionality of task versus people orientation based on the situation. I practice more situational leadership.

Core PPL Theories: Actively observing the composite variables in a leadership circumstances and dissecting out the human/personal variables from the task-related variables, and those that are a combination will help me to refine my proportional use of task and personal orientation. The aim is to be able to anticipate the style needs of a situation and adjust accordingly.

Gender-Leader Implicit Association Test

I have a slight bias towards “male” and “career” association as compared to “female” and “career”.

Arrogant Humility Balanced by Charisma: I will work to be cognizant of judgments stemming from this bias I may make regarding a man not exhibiting strong leadership tendencies as someone who may be “weak.” Comparatively, I should not harshly judge women who choose to carry the role as supporters versus try to emerge as leaders. Awareness of my bias allows me to adjust my assumptions to account for them and overcome them.

Least Preferred Coworker Measure

I am relationship motivated, with the maintenance and growth

Lead with Emotional Intelligence: With a baseline of my likely


of interpersonal relationships being my primary innate focus.

optimal leadership efficacy in circumstances with varying degrees of leader-member relations, task structure, and position power, I can use my preference for relationship management and cultivation to improve my emotional intelligence.

Leader-Member Exchange Questionnaire

I am in in-group relationships and perceive myself as trying to create similar relationships.

Emergent Leadership: As a leader, I should aim to treat each follower as an individual and seek to establish a strong relationship with him. Since even an assigned leader emerges as the true leader, an in-group and balanced relationship should be fostered. I can utilize this questionnaire to monitor my effectiveness at this goal.

Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire

I have a strong transformational leadership style, with moderate transactional style, and no Lassiez-Faire characteristics.

Core PPL Theories: As a transformational leader, when utilizing transactional style characteristics, I should ensure that I tie the actions back to transformational theory leadership characteristics for myself and for my followers.

Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment Questionnaire

I have a very high score on Authentic leadership. I value the four components almost equally (17 +/- 1).

Core PPL Theories: Relational transparency, with its open sharing of feelings is not always comfortable for me. As an authentic leader, I


should strive to develop these skills in arenas such as small group forums.

Psychodynamic Approach Survey

I am an introvert, sensing, feeling, judging personality type.

Core PPL Theories: With this new understanding of my core personality characteristics, I can adapt my thoughts and behaviors towards my end goals bearing them in mind. This will help my efforts to be most effective.

Perceived Leader Integrity Scale

I hold strong convictions regarding integrity and ethical behavior.

Core PPL Theories: I should work to understand the biases I may hold regarding ethical convictions and apply them appropriately. Ethicality which is not wholly relevant to the organization should not prevent me from making efforts to develop in-group work relationships with them. I should not be overly judgmental and be open to understand reasons for seeming ethical digressions.

Daily Personal Philosophy Practice

To practice and evolve my personal philosophy of leadership daily, I will develop a set of questions and thought prompts to be used at least daily. These are similar to and based on the knowledge card principle but formatted as electronic forms. This modality will allow me to monitor my progression over time and adjust the questions and prompts as my behaviors evolve. I would like to develop my self-assessment and leadership effectiveness analytical abilities in a structured format but consumable enough that I can ask myself the appropriate questions in less than three minutes. Additionally, they should be easy to remember, so that I can debrief myself while walking down the hospital corridor or even after a discussion with a


colleague.

Summary

The development of leadership is marked by iterative progression and meaningful evolution. The Challenges to leadership delineated at the beginning of this section offer an outline for targeted actions. I argue against the establishment of clear milestones because the process can always be refined and improved. Since I believe that leadership is based on the development of practice and behaviors, the rate of evolution, even if only measurable by myself, is the key to successful leadership in my personal philosophy.

Conclusions

My personal philosophy of leadership has been strongly shaped by my experiences and observations of leadership growing up. My parents determination to build a new life in foreign country, establish their own businesses and practice various leadership styles has presented me with a fertile ground upon which read my own personal philosophies. These philosophies are grounded in emotional intelligence, humility, and transformational and authentic leadership. The circumstantial adaptability of style of Situational leadership offers a strong component of my philosophy. I view this theory as a learned leadership practice effectiveness based on introspection and self-awareness as to which leadership styles of most effective in certain circumstances. Leadership is defined by integrity, courage, and dedication in my view. A leader must have vision and be willing to lead her team in new directions charismatic and altruistically. Altruism is important because it reflects upon the servant nature of leadership. In turn, a leader emerges because she represents the values of the group, supports and leads in accordance with those principles. While my leadership style has to be adjusted based on the different environments in which I lead in my surgical profession, as an informaticist, as an educator, as a general leader, the personal philosophy leadership I have outlined remains the foundation. I strive to use humility, introspection, emotional intelligence, and integrity to evolve this philosophy on a regular basis as if it is a scientific process. As a leader, I remain not only dedicated to the principles of the organization and my group, but fully committed to continually learning associated with becoming a better leader.


References:

Arora, Sonal, Hutan Ashrafian, Rachel Davis, Thanos Athanasiou, Ara Darzi, and Nick Sevdalis. 2010. “Emotional Intelligence in Medicine: a Systematic Review Through the Context of the ACGME Competencies.” Medical Education 44 (8) (August): 749–764. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2010.03709.x.

Clarke, Nicholas. 2011. “An Integrated Conceptual Model of Respect in Leadership.” The Leadership Quarterly 22 (2) (April): 316–327. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.02.007.

García-Morales, Víctor Jesús, María Magdalena Jiménez-Barrionuevo, and Leopoldo Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez. 2012. “Transformational Leadership Influence on Organizational Performance Through Organizational Learning and Innovation.” Journal of Business Research 65 (7) (July): 1040–1050. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.03.005.

Harvard Business Review on Leadership. 1998. Harvard Business Review Paperback Series. Harvard Business School Press. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=17090&site=ehost-live.

Mayer, John D., Peter Salovey, and David R. Caruso. 2008. “Emotional Intelligence: New Ability or Eclectic Traits?” American Psychologist 63 (6) (September): 503–517. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.63.6.503.

Milton, John. 1644. “Areopagitica”. Speech presented at the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing to the Parliament of England, England. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/areopagitica/.

Morris, J. Andrew, Céleste M. Brotheridge, and John C. Urbanski. 2005. “Bringing Humility to Leadership: Antecedents and Consequences of Leader Humility.” Human Relations 58 (10) (October 1): 1323–1350. doi:10.1177/0018726705059929.

Nielsen, Rob, Jennifer A. Marrone, and Holly S. Slay. 2010. “A New Look at Humility: Exploring the Humility Concept and Its Role in Socialized Charismatic Leadership.” Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 17 (1) (February 1): 33–43. doi:10.1177/1548051809350892.

Northouse, P.G. 2012. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 6th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Russell, Robert F., and A. Gregory Stone. 2002. “A Review of Servant Leadership Attributes:

Developing a Practical Model.” Leadership & Organization Development Journal 23 (3) (May 1): 145–157. doi:10.1108/01437730210424.

Salovey, Peter, and John D. Mayer. 1989. “Emotional Intelligence.” Imagination, Cognition and Personality 9 (3) (January 1): 185–211. doi:10.2190/DUGG-P24E-52WK-6CDG.

Sims Jr., Henry P., Samer Faraj, and Seokhwa Yun. 2009. “When Should a Leader Be Directive or Empowering? How to Develop Your Own Situational Theory of Leadership.” Business Horizons 52 (2) (March): 149–158. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2008.10.002.

Theoharis, George. 2008. “Woven in Deeply: Identity and Leadership of Urban Social Justice Principals.” Education and Urban Society 41 (1) (November 1): 3–25. doi:10.1177/0013124508321372.

VanVactor, Jerry D. 2012. “Collaborative Leadership Model in the Management of Health Care.” Journal of Business Research 65 (4) (April): 555–561. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.02.021.


Personal Philosophy of Leadership Reference Guide

Summary

Effective leadership is marked by self-assessment, humility, and emotional intelligence shaping style and goals which adapt and evolve based on the task and relational needs of the group. Leadership is an active process that pushes an individual continually. My personal philosophy of leadership is structured similar to a scientific experiment with multiple variables. The human variables are as relevant as technical and task-specific variables. Through emotional intelligence, a leader is able to amplify the efficacy of her leadership and influence over her followers. Empowerment of followers creates a self-perpetuating motivation which improves goal attainment. A leader must be a model of integrity, courage, commitment and humility.

Artistic Representations

As I considered visual and artistic representations of my personal philosophy of leadership, I remembered a particularly poignant piece of prose written by John Milton. Also, as a visual representation, I selected an infinity symbol metal sculpture. Philosophy Supporting Literature: Areopagitica

This excerpt from John Milton's prose Areopagitica represents a strong view regarding personal ideological and philosophical evolution. In my senior year of high school I was enrolled in an English literature class and I was first exposed to this polemic work. The excerpt argues that belief cannot be considered a virtue if it has not been exposed to contrary positions, challenged, and tested. The beliefs that emerge from this process are true and defensible. Similarly, without self-reflection and critical assessment of our personal beliefs and actions, we can consider them to be sound. Transparency is equivalent to the Milton's rebuke of literary censorship proposed in England during his time. As a leader, we must open ourselves up to criticisms from others and absorb the challenges, further evolving our positions.

“I cannot praise a fugitive and cloister'd vertue, unexercis'd & unbreath'd, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortall garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly we bring not innocence into the world, we bring impurity much rather: that which purifies us is triall, and triall is by what is contrary. That vertue therefore which is but a youngling in the contemplation of evill, and knows not the utmost that vice promises to her followers, and rejects it, is but a blank vertue, not a pure; her whitenesse is but an excrementall whitenesse; Which was the reason why our sage and serious Poet Spencer, whom I dare be known to think a better teacher then Scotus or Aquinas, describing true temperance under the person of Guion, brings him in with his palmer through the cave of Mammon, and the bowr of earthly blisse that he might see and know, and yet abstain. Since therefore the knowledge and survay of vice is in this world so necessary to the constituting of human vertue, and the scanning of error to the confirmation of truth, how can we more safely, and with lesse danger scout into the regions of sin and falsity then


by reading all manner of tractats, and hearing all manner of reason?” (Milton 1644).

Philosophy Supporting Visual Art

Infinity: Sculpture by Dick Onians gifted to the Issac Newton Institute, Cambridge, UK, for Mathematical Sciences in January 2012. I selected this sculpture because of the infinity symbol representing a state of without bounds. My personal philosophy of leadership encourages this boundless drive to seek self-improvement and reflection. Also, the shape of the symbol allows there to be no beginning or end of the metal or line creating the shape. If we allow one loop to represent “self” and the opposing loop to represent “others”, each flows into the other and back to itself. This is just as what we learn about ourselves which can further our understanding and interaction with others. Similarly, what we learn from others flows back to us. This is most true with the development of emotional intelligence and humility, both being key aspects of my personal philosophy.


Personal Philosophy of Leadership (PPL) Flowchart

(A) Even as an assigned leader, we must aim to emerge as the representative leader of the group. Conscious and active integration of diverse data and information streams are necessary for a leader's ideas, vision, and influence to remain relevant. (B) Humility forms the basis for reflection which should be applied to technical and objective aspects of leadership just as it is applied to the relational components, where emotional intelligence is crucial. Practice “arrogant humility” (Theoharis 2008). (C) Establish goals and a vision based on your current assessment of the needs of the group, organization, and individuals. (D) Formulate these goals as mutable and testable hypotheses. Once they have been put into practice, carefully observe the results. Since these are concrete steps, identify metrics to assess the effectiveness of an intervention or how likely a goal is to be achieved by the group with the given tools. (E) Once adequate data have been examined, the goal or hypothesis should be revised and retested. Transparency resulting in assessments from other individuals should be incorporated at this stage. (F) The PPL evolves in a continuous fashion as more information is obtained, synthesized, and goals established.


This process is applicable at the micro-level, such as determining how to best communicate with a new manager, or at the macro-level, such as creating an innovative direction for an existing product unable to compete in its current market.

Appendix

1. Can you distill your personal philosophy on leadership down to one sentence? 1. Effective leadership is marked by self-assessment, humility, and emotional intelligence

shaping style and goals which adapt and evolve based on the task and relational needs of the group.

personal philosophy of leadership ruchi thanawala …...summary 15 conclusions 15 references 17...

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