1

Leadership Analysis

Anita Packwood

Western Governors University

Tuyet Case

June 18, 2023

Leadership Analysis

Being a leader is so much more than being the person in charge who gives the orders.

Being a leader is about compassion, collaboration, self-awareness, and so much more. I was able

to reflect a lot on who I am as a leader during this course, and I am excited to say that I have a lot

of growing to do.

CliftonStrengths Assessment

A. Discipline

I feel very strongly that this is the category that fits me the best. I crave order and routine

in my life, and I find myself spiraling when I must veer in a new direction. While this can also be

seen as a weakness; I see it as an opportunity to gain experience as an individual. I work in a

field that is specific and has processes in place for a reason. We are currently moving away from

the model that has been done for 21 years and creating a more modernized model. This has

created discontent in my office as I struggle to accept that we are “out with the old and in with

the new.” The processes and precedents I have set in my department have been done to create

automatic checks and balances. I deal with student’s insurance information and charges to their

accounts. When health and money are involved, there should be little to no room for error. What

I have done to help stop mistakes was built from my drive to keep things routine.

A. Deliberative

Merriam-Webster defines deliberation as the “act of thinking about or discussing

something and deciding carefully.” I did not take the time to think about how I take my actions

daily until after this assessment. I am deliberate in the choices I make as I weigh all the

consequences before moving forward. I frequently tell my family and friends that I do not like

surprises and how solidifying to know that this is a trait that can be used to my advantage. I
 3

enjoyed the statement in the themes description that those who are defined as deliberative “walk

with care.” I have had some experiences in my life that have absolutely defined who I am and

why I am deliberate in my movements. I was diagnosed with a rare disorder two years ago and

because of this I must be extremely deliberate with what I eat. I take careful steps to avoid

triggers and sometimes it is hard to relate to others. Outwardly, I look healthy, and others might

see me as dramatic, or I am on a crazy diet. But I choose to keep pushing forward with a smile

on my face as others are not entitled to know my personal struggle.

A. Relator

This is a trait that I am not entirely sure fits who I think I am. I am a bit of a loner and a

homebody; I do not enjoy social outings that have forced and awkward conversation. I much

prefer my partner and our three dogs! A relator is described as someone who gravitates towards

those who are familiar to you. The relator craves the ability to deepen relationships and live in

vulnerability. I have lived in that space before but have also been burned many times by that. To

be vulnerable is one of the most terrifying acts that I can be part of. I have given everything that I

can to those who I love for them to turn around and squash me to the ground with their words

and actions. Betrayal can stem so easily from being a relator. If this is truly one of my traits, then

I need to accept this part of myself and allow that vulnerability.

A. Maximizer

A maximizer is someone who takes the skills that they already excel at and begins to

hone them to the ultimate level. They find it more rewarding and more challenging. I absolutely

agree with this; I have no interest in being a Renaissance Man. I do not want to be sub-par at

everything, but great at some things. From the time when I was a child I thrived on certain things

and struggled with others; science was not my calling. Because I have always had this drive to be
 4

the best at what I already excelled at, I had a lonely childhood. In my adulthood, I have learned

that there are others out there who think the same as I do. I choose to give my company to those

who have ambition. I am quick to cut out those who do not bring value to my life and to my

experiences. It is important to hold myself to high standards as I take pride in who I am, even if

others find it intimidating.

A. Analytical

An analytical mind is a strong mind. To be analytical means to get to the root cause of an

idea, situation, or event. There must be logic accompanied or else it will not fly in my world. I

am nothing, if not analytical. I must have the thought process and the why to be on board. I am

realistic in the sense that I give sound advice to those who react with emotion versus logic. I find

that emotions can interfere with the bigger picture of life. That may make me seem harsh and

cold, but I feel more prepared for life and what it can throw my way.

Leadership Evaluation

B. Participative Leadership

To be a participative leader means that you are willing and able to collaborate with your

team. This is the model that is used widely at the University at which I am employed. In the

Department of Student Affairs our main goal is to engage and empower students to be critical

thinkers, analytical people, and collaborators. We strive to create a space where students feel

they can have co-curricular activities with their academic teachings.

B1. Participation and Collaboration

I believe that participation and encouraging collaboration is one of my strengths as a

leader. I have been so fortunate to grow in an environment where encouragement and

engagement are never seen as power being removed from the “leader.” “Performance is
 5

irrelevant to participative leadership when employees perceive their leader’s participative

behavior is below the threshold; when it is perceived to be above the threshold, performance

increases (Lam, C. K., Xu Huang, & Chan, S. C. H. (2015)).” Engaging with students can be

extremely rewarding, but you must be willing to go the extra mile to get them to get engaged

back with you. If they do not feel valued, heard, or important they will only give you the bare

minimum. Taking the time to get to know who you are working with and treating them as if they

matter will get you ahead leaps and bounds in your work. I work with a lot of international

students, and they are some of the kindest and smartest students, but they do not feel valued in

our small town in Idaho. I try my best to give them the space they need and the encouragement

they need to take up their own space. I want them to rise above prejudice and be vulnerable.

They can shine the brightest and work the hardest if they feel they have the support of their

leader.

B1. Empathy

I would like to believe that empathy in the workplace is another of my strengths when it

comes to my leadership style. I take the time to get to know my team members and try to relate

to them on a personal level. This helps create transparency in the workplace; if I am honest with

them, they will be honest with me. This in turn makes employees feel valued and heard and that

creates a well-rounded team. Creating trust is imperative as it “is essential for cultivating and

sustaining healthy interpersonal relationships, facilitating civic engagement, fostering equitable

access to resources, reducing health disparities, and promoting cooperation between local

governing bodies and community members – all elements that are needed for effective societal

functioning (Lansing, A. E., Romero, N. J., Slantz, E., Silva, V., Center, K., Casteel, D., &

Gilmer, T. (2023)). This statement really hits home for me because I try, as a human being, to
 6

create meaningful connections not only with single individuals, but also the entire community.

Fostering those relationships is a huge part of the work I do currently and am passionate about.

B1. Accountability

Accountability is hugely important to me, and I take it seriously. I expect my team and

myself to be accountable for success and failures. I do not feel it is right to blame others for

something that I have done or for my whole team to get reprimanded when I can shield them. It

is important to show to others that I can be accountable for my actions, and I want to improve

and learn from my actions. We all have bad days that can cause grief for others but admitting

that it wasn’t your best moment shows the team that you are human. It is ok to take a step back

and reflect on what you can do better and have an open conversation with your team. Gerald

Kraines says that “accountability is the obligation of an employee to deliver all elements of the

value that he or he is being compensated for delivering, as well as the obligation to deliver on

specific output commitments with no surprises (Kraines, 2001). However, employees will only

deliver results if they feel appreciated and valued. That open communication and transparency,

in my experience, is what can drive the train forward. It can absolutely change the dynamic of

your team for the better.

B2. Negotiation Skills

“Negotiation is a process in which individuals or groups seek to reach goals by making

agreements with others” (Johnson, 1993). Negotiations are the most difficult part of my job. I

struggle with trying to reach an end goal with compromise. I tend to want what I want and not

want to falter on my process. As a professional, I need to get over myself and learn that it is ok to

negotiate with others. We all have the same end goal and sometimes swallowing my pride shows
 7

that I can lead by listening to others. Participative leadership is all about collaborating with

others and that includes knowing when the leader needs to follow.

B2. Conflict Resolution

Being the person that must investigate the conflict and create a verdict of wrongdoing

that is then followed by disciplinary action or exoneration gives me extreme anxiety. “This

approach is often costly in both time and resources and does very little to positively impact

workplace morale because most workplace complaints don’t mee the test of legal standard,

meaning they are inappropriately handled” (Katz, N. H., Sosa, K. J., & Kovack, L. N. (2018)).

The legal approach makes others feel defensive and that they are at fault when the truth is that

the “investigator” is just trying to find the best outcome. I am a leader that genuinely cares for

her employees and just wants everyone to be happy. That is the reason I struggle with conflict

resolution but have managed to be successful sometimes. I am a very black and white person and

I find little time for gray margins. That can cause friction between myself and others.

Specifically, I work in the same overarching division as my sister. As many siblings do, we

disagree from time to time but have managed to work out a conflict resolution that allows us to

be coworkers together. We have grown to the point where we can simply tell the other the

problem and have a fruitful discussion on where we go from that point.

B2. Teaching Ability

I struggle with being able to communicate how to do something to others. I try my

hardest to understand what their learning style is, but having to give a crash course explanation is

a weak point in my leadership. Frontier (2021) said that disconnects between effort and strategy

will usually result in failure of frustration. It is important to understand what a collective strategy

could be before any project can be successful. Again, that draws back to how in participative
 8

leadership there is conversation and transparency. If all people on the team feel like they are

equal then strategy will come naturally. I recently did an exercise called the “marshmallow

challenge” where you have 20 minutes to build a tower out of twenty pieces of spaghetti, one

yard of string, one yard of tape and a marshmallow. The tower had to be strong enough to hold

the marshmallow on top. This was an opportunity to collaborate with my team, but also make a

stand as the leader. We discussed the best way to build the tower, but, I had to step in and lightly

push everyone in one direction. I used my knowledge of physics to explain that we must

distribute the weight of the marshmallow by creating smaller spaghetti pieces for a basket. I told

them to think of it like pick up sticks. We were able to build an incredible tower that held for five

seconds! While we may not have won that challenge; it was a wonderful opportunity for all to

participate and learn.

B3. Delegating

I think that delegating to your team is an actionable way to improve my leadership skills.

To delegate means to deputize others. The entire point of participative leadership is to empower

all members of the team to feel equal and like they matter. To delegate tasks to others invokes

the feeling that they matter, and they are capable. “If ample and equal opportunities are provided

to all, everyone who has the aptitude will make use of it and become leaders” (Soundararajan,

2021). This is the point of being a leader; to inspire and cultivate others to be leaders. I do not

want to be where the game stops; I am not the end all be all. I want to have a team that I can go

to and delegate projects, tasks, or whatever. I want them to know that I trust them to do the job.

B3. Appreciation

Another terrific way to improve my leadership is to be appreciative not just in one way

(i.e., compensation) but in other fulfilling ways. To say “thank you” or “great job” might be the
 9

positive reinforcement that an employee needs. Others might need something more concrete like

an award or a handwritten note. Being appreciative of others will allow them the space to follow

suit. If the entire team is supportive and appreciative then the team will work more cohesively

together. To me, it is more important to focus on excellent work than careless work. While there

is no “bad work” there is work that does not follow directions or is lacking the necessary drive to

complete in a timely manner. Noelle Nelson (2006) said “your thoughts are what determine hat

you will perceive, what – out of everything going on around you – you will pay attention to.”

Nelson is correct; if you are feeding others the power of positivity that is exactly what they will

give back. Creating a culture of kindness and support is what will drive a team to the finish line

as a team.

B3. Active Listening

Active listening is my last actionable item that I would like to improve on to be a more

effective leader. “Active listening involves six skills: paying attention, suspending judgement,

reflecting, clarifying, summarizing, and sharing” (Hoppe, 2006). Hoppe does an excellent job of

summarizing what it means to apply those six skills as an active listener. I am afraid that

sometimes I find myself actively not listening and to improve that I would like to work on

reflecting and sharing skills. If I actively work on reflection, I think I will find myself more

acutely listening to others. If I cannot reflect upon what has been shared with me I cannot, in

turn, share myself.

SMART Goals

C. Growth Mindset

A specific goal I would like to set for myself would be encouraging a growth mindset of

thinking to improve my leadership. It is important to see “failures” as an opportunity to gain

experience and if I can showcase that then I can encourage my team to do the same. I would like

to measure the progress of this by having biweekly meetings with my supervisor to get a grade

report of how I am achieving this. This goal is attainable if I continue to practice with effort and

persistence. The goal I have set myself is relevant to my current job as an assistant director as I

supervise multiple other employees. I plan to accomplish this goal within the next academic

semester which ends in December.

C. Emotional Intelligence

Another specific goal I am setting for myself is enhancing my own emotional

intelligence. I know that I can struggle with regulating my own emotions in high stress areas of

my work. If I can become more in tune with my own emotions that will set me up to better build

trust with my team. This is a measurable goal that I can track myself. It is entirely reliant on the

fact of whether I can learn to do it or not. This is more than attainable as I continue to practice

self-awareness and improve my empathy skills. I want to be able to see it from other

perspectives. Since I work in health care, I believe this to be a relevant goal. When patients come

in and they are ill that is when our emotional intelligence needs to be at its peak. This is another

goal I would like to see met by the end of the first academic semester.

C1. Specific Actions for Growth Mindset

This may seem a tad odd, but I believe that joining a yoga class would help me expand

my mindset. I tend to be very one track minded; “I am who I am, and I won’t change.” However,

a growing mindset is more about being open and evolving. I think yoga would be an integral step

in being open as I would learn to be open with my body and read how it moves along with my

mind. I also believe that sharing with my mentor what I would like to accomplish would be

effective. I trust my mentor to keep me accountable and to help me see where I am blind.
 11

C1. Specific Actions for Emotional Intelligence

I believe that taking a yoga class regimen would improve my emotional intelligence as

well, but a separate goal for this category would be journaling. I vehemently dislike the idea of

keeping a journal and that is exactly why I should. I struggle with calming my brain enough to

focus on a task that gives me anxiety. To be alone with my thoughts is very scary and puts me

into a vulnerable place. Because of that, I challenge myself to move past the vulnerability, sit

with it, and reflect on it. If I cannot manage my own emotions, how can I expect myself to be a

source for others who cannot either?

References

Hoppe, M. H. (2006). Active listening. improve your ability to listen and lead. Center for

Creative Leadership.

Johnson, R. A. (1993). Negotiation basics: Concepts, Skills, and Exercises. SAGE.

Katz, N. H., Sosa, K. J., & Kovack, L. N. (2018). Ombuds and Conflict Resolution Specialists:

Navigating Workplace Challenges in Higher Education. Journal of the International

Ombudsman Association, 1-41.

Kraines, G. (2001). Accountability Leadership: How to Strengthen Productivity Through Sound

Managerial Leadership. Career Press.

Lam, C. K., Xu Huang, & Chan, S. C. H. (2015). The Threshold Effect of Participative

Leadership and the Tole of Leader Information Sharing. Academy of Management

Journal, 58(3), 836-855. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0427

Lansing, A. E., Romero, N. J., Slantz, E., Silva, V., Center, K., Casteel, D., & Gilmer, T. (2023).

Building trust: Leadership reflections on community empowerment and engagement in a

large urban initiative. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 1252. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-

023-15860-z

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Deliberation. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved July 13,

2023. From https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deliberation

Nelson, N. (2006). Power of appreciation, the. Insomniac Press.

Soundararajan, M., & Shirley, M. A. J. (2021). Influence of Authoritative, Participative and

Delegative Leadership Styles on Administrative Behavior of School Head Masters.

Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry, 12(10), 1524-1533.