Homework: Exercise 2-3 - My Leadership Portfolio

Five traits, motives, and characteristics I exhibit as a leader:

1. Passion for the work and people. As the assistant production editor for an electronics engineering magazine, it was my responsibility to ensure the cleanliness of the content and layout of each issue. After a series of edits through the staff, each article would be sent to the artist for layout, and when all the parts were assembled, it would be sent back to me for final edits. I enjoyed poring over each article and component of the magazine looking for errors as it gave me satisfaction to correct them or revise to make the message better. I would also sit down with the artist when making these final corrections in the layout because it allowed us to implement every edit and create a high-quality proof for the editor's final sign-off. It also allowed me to forge a close relationship with the artist, creating a professional trust between us as well as a personal bond that was an intrinsic reward in our work.

2. Flexibility and adaptation. As managing editor of a publication for small and medium-sized businesses, I managed a team of freelance writers who each had different working styles and schedules. It was necessary for me to adjust to each writer and know their strengths and constraints when allocating stories to them. I kept in touch with them by e-mail and adjusted deadlines if it was necessary and wouldn't affect the closing of the issue. I'm aware that different people have different ways of being productive and I tried to accommodate these to harness strengths and maximise our output.

3. Cognitive or analytical intelligence. I have the ability to look at a problem and divine efficient solutions. As an intern at my host organisation, I have been tasked to obtain information from another team that would help in the communications function. This means that I have to establish a system that will enable the team to provide the fundraising team with what it needs easily without interfering with work. I'm currently creating this system and archiving the existing information. In another instance, I was tasked to put up a system to organise an archive of information that a volunteer has been trying to digitise for the organisation. I set up a simple system in the drive and typed up instructions for the volunteer to follow so that they could archive the system even while I'm away.

4. Trustworthiness. While editing and managing a project for a content company, I discovered that one of the writers under me had written a mass of copy by following a rigid template, which the clients didn't appreciate and wanted her to revise. The writer was willing to do so, but the volume of work was massive and they approached me to ask the clients for some time to complete the work properly. I negotiated with the clients to give her ample time to do the significant work, which the writer was able to do with the new deadline. I knew that if we had given in to pressure, the writer would not be able to complete the task, and I vouched for both parties to the other to create trust that the product would be delivered in time.

5. Knowledge of business task. In my internship I was asked to fill an ad hoc communications role. I let the team know that we needed their input on a project, and how it would benefit the organisation. It's important to get them on board, and I'm trying to do this by showing them how the stories they tell serve a marketing function that gets the message of the organisation across to donors and partners who support it. My knowledge in digital marketing allows me to propose solutions that could raise the organisation's public profile and help sustain it.

Characteristics I must further develop:

1. Drive. Although I feel I make a good leader because I care about achieving organisational goals and inspiring people to work on them, I'm not someone who is motivated by the most common indicators of success (e.g. money, recognition, etc.). Because of this, I don't really aim that high unless I have been given a directive by a superior or external force. I think that drive is important to leadership, though, because it fuels growth of an organisation. I aim to develop my own drive by reading up on successful leaders and finding out how they become inspired to achieve greater goals.

2. Strong work ethic. I often find that I can only apply myself consistently in short spurts and feel the need to decompress a lot. I need to examine myself to find out what truly motivates me to keep working and set goals that really matter to me. If my goals are not to attain financial success or recognition, what are they? When I discover my true goals, I must determine how they connect with work so I can motivate myself. I can also use productivity apps such as pomodor timers to help me stick to my tasks and train me to be more consistent at application.

3.  Tenacity. This connects to my lack of motivation. Aside from discovering my true motivations, what can help me be more tenacious is to try learning a new skill that requires grit. I can learn a new language and devote some time each day to it, or I can take up an acting class. Seeing my progress in this can help me develop a taste for sticking to things.