My Leadership Development Plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

My Leadership Development Plan - Term Paper Example Professionally, I own a private trucking company with a staff of four drivers. Because I aspire to be better in my leadership roles, I am currently pursuing my MBA program at the North Park University in Chicago, Illinois. This will be my key in achieving my goal to be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) someday. In ten years, I see myself running my own Accountancy firm. Right now, my most prominent leadership role is in my trucking company. Having four trucks, my workers and I search for clients in need of hauling their loads to various places. This entails much responsibility both to my clients and to my workers. I need to ensure that my drivers are efficient and honest in doing their jobs. That means they are physically, mentally and emotionally fit to work especially if they drive the trucks for long hauls. They should also be trustworthy because the clients entrust to our business their precious belongings. My role as a leader is to motivate my workers to deliver high quality p erformance in their work and to ensure customer satisfaction with our services. I would like to believe that I adhere to the Transformational leadership style. Bass (1990)1 explains that transformational leadership style is based on building engagement and participation, leading the team to perform at a better standard than before. In addition, the leader inspires a heightening of awareness about issues of consequence. This awareness keeps the team vigilant to do everything right in order to achieve positive consequences instead of negative ones. Bass (1985) describes the transformational leader as having a vision for the team, self-confidence as well as inner strength to fight for what is â€Å"right or good, not for what is popular or is acceptable according to the established wisdom of time†2. I strive to conform to the four dimensions of transformational leadership that Den Hartog et al. (1997) comprises3. Charisma is the first one, with the leader providing vision and mi ssion while instilling pride in his followers thereby gaining respect and trust for himself. He has the ability to increase their optimism. Second come inspiration, which defines if the leader acts as a model, communicates a vision, sets high standards and uses symbols to focus efforts. Next is individual attention to each member. The leader coaches, mentors and provides feedback to each of his followers making sure they are led to the right path. Lastly, dimension of intellectual challenge gives a leader’s followers a flow of challenging new ideas aimed at rethinking old ways of doing things, challenge flawed systems and promotion of careful problem-solving behaviors. Regarding to the ethical types that influence my ethical decision-making, I learned that primarily, it is deontology and secondarily, it is conformism. This means that my tendency when making ethical decisions is to follow prescribed duties that have been imposed by virtue on a person.4 These are duties to fide lity, or keeping promises made; duties of reparation or compensating for wrong actions done to others; duties of gratitude or repaying others for past favors done; duties of justice or the distribution of goods according to one’s merits; duties of beneficence or improving the conditions of others; duties of self-improvement or making oneself better; and duties of nonmaleficence or the avoidance and prevention of injury to others. My conformism ethical type refers to my consultation with my family, friends and colleagues before I make an ethical decision. I find their opinions valuable. Considering my strengths and weaknesses is one thing I keep reflecting on in my journey as a leader. As I move forward, I am confident that I am in control of my family and am doing a