REFLECTION AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

REFLECTION AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Reflective Essay

When most people hear about Jack Stahl, they immediately think about the well-known story of how his mentor and predecessor, Mr. Ivester, stayed up with him till 2 am in the night to plug holes in a prospectus he had delegated without providing adequate detail.  Mr. Stahl himself has frequently cited this as the motivation for his detailed approach to leadership. When I first read the story, I set out to find a scenario where he applied this teaching to see it in action. The situation I have been considering as part of my growth in leadership is the growth experienced in Stahl’s tenure as head of Coca-Cola’s North American division, where he was tasked with growing an already excellent region’s revenues.

The scenario above piques my interest as it is an embodiment of the career of the business leader, which Stahl has become. This embodiment is visible in the fact that he always led to increased output from the staff he inherited. This trend was proven right even in a company where the overall outlook was grim, as was the case with Revlon during his tenure there in the early 2000s. This effect of growing the abilities and accomplishments of the staff members around him is what inspires me most about Jack Stahl’s leadership style. This is a trait that I intend to replicate in my leadership adventures as I view it as a sure way of ensuring continued success in an organization beyond my time there. For me, that is the only way a business leader can leave a lasting impression on the business entities he leads over his career.

When he was picked to lead Coca-Cola’s North American operation, the region was already selling an average of 400 bottles per capita annually. In his own words, “That’s a huge number. That’s more than one Coca-Cola product per day — for everybody!” (Prewitt, 2007). However, he started by establishing a target for the business to reach 600 bottles per person per year. This was an extraordinary target as it aimed to increase sales by 50%. Without a push, it would be impossible for the staff to figure out that there was room for improvement, and by establishing this goal, Stahl set the company’s growth trajectory to a level that challenged all involved. In leadership, one has to be able to set visions and communicate them effectively to their team members. This is essential in keeping together a motivated group of team members as everyone knows what they are working towards. This first step is typical of the everyday manager. However, it is the following action that sets the detailed approach Stahl is famous for apart from other leadership styles.

Identifying that the goal he had set for the company could have the opposite effect to the intended one of motivation, Stahl decided that the situation required a detailed approach. He was part of the data analysis that settled on a strategy to reach the goal. He identified the discrepancies in regional sales and set out a plan involving improving numbers in the low consumption areas first to bring up the average. This has the effect of showing the staff that the goal was an attainable one. Additionally, it showed the staff members that the leader was capable of working together with them and established a level of trust in his word. In this case, the situational awareness that enabled him to identify the need for a detailed approach is a vital skill in leadership. The mood of the staff is essential, and as shown in this example, a good leader should be able to identify when the feeling needs a lift and how this can be achieved swiftly.

Although he was involved in identifying the strategy, the steps taken afterward were not micromanaged. The lower-level managers were allowed to work towards them, with Stahl being in a facilitator role while keeping tabs on the details from a distance. This blending of independence with a detailed approach allows the staff a measure of creativity while allowing the leader to ensure the company activities are in track to meet the objectives. These two results enable the company to grow effectively towards the achievement of a defined set of goals while also allowing the human capital within the firm to improve their skills and gain experience.

Transitioning into a new leadership position at an organization is one of the most significant challenges in leadership (Gilley, Gilley, and McMillan, 2009). This transition scenario by Jack Stahl at a company that was a world leader before his entry and continued to be dominant with him at the helm is an illustration of the need for situational awareness, strategic thinking, communication, and team management in leadership. Being able to fuse different leadership styles, such as the autocratic and democratic leadership styles by tailoring the response to a challenge based on its unique circumstances, is a crucial feature of situational leadership and is demonstrated in this scenario (Prewitt, 2007). Additionally, the identification of when a hands-on approach is required without seeming to be micromanaging is a useful tool in managing morale and ensuring staff improvement within the organization.

The communication and team management skills as a requirement in effective leadership are visible in the way that Jack Stahl articulated the strategy and managed the data analysis team towards the arrival at the decision of breaking the problem into smaller bits for easier management. This shows how important it is to be able to bring people to your side and convince them of the need to see things in a certain way. This impressive ability is critical in getting people to adhere to the set goals towards the end product the leader has in mind (Gilley, Gilley, and McMillan, 2009). Coordination of all efforts toward one goal makes it a lot easier to achieve than when different groups of staff within an organization are pulling in different directions.

Although the actual methods employed in this scenario are not recorded, it is implied that Jack Stahl’s involvement in the decision-making on the strategy to be involved was autocratic. In my analysis of leadership styles, I found that staff members grow more when allowed to bring forth solutions themselves. By showing them the merits and demerits of their various positions, the leader gets to know them better and appear to be more interested in their input. In the long run, staff members who feel their information is welcomed are more likely to table innovative solutions that contribute to towards the achievement of company goals. In line with my aim of developing staff capabilities, I feel that the situation could have been approached better by allowing the staff members to present their ideas and then pick the desired strategy from these ideas. This would have boosted morale among the staff more and perhaps contributed to more innovative ideas for improving the company’s business fortunes in the future.

Going forward, I intend to improve my communication and social interaction skills while also making use of available mentorship opportunities. These three are essential factors in the development of leadership skills, such as the ones displayed in the scenario discussed in this paper, and I feel that there is room for personal growth in all three areas. As part of my continuing learning, I have identified my strategic decision-making to be rusty and inaccurate at times. I intend to make use of all the resources available to my person to improve this as I believe with these combined skills, I will be able to apply situational leadership approaches to my leadership endeavors more effectively and realize improved results in my career.

References Used

Gilley, A., Gilley, J.W., and McMillan, H.S., 2009. Organizational change: Motivation, communication, and leadership effectiveness. Performance improvement quarterly, 21(4), pp.75-94.

Prewitt, M., 2007. The Situational Leader. [online] Strategy+Business. Available at: https://www.strategy-business.com/article/li00042?gko=c10be [Accessed 31 March 2020].

Personal Development Plan

Goal 1: Improve Communication Skills

Target: Be able to influence peers on significant matters at work and in the community within six months and attain a position of influence in the city by the end of 12 months.

Strengths

• Excellent fluency in spoken English. Ideal language for the current environment.
• Experience in debating. It makes me knowledgeable in argument construction and delivery.
• Experience holding leadership positions in clubs and societies in school. It provides a glimpse of what may be required to win a seat competitively within the community.

Weaknesses

• Mild fear of speaking to massive crowds due to a lack of practice in recent years. May prove a problem where large groups require to be convinced of an idea.
• Being new to my workplace makes me feel like an outsider. Hinders my tendency to speak my mind when in staff discussions.
• I often feel ill-equipped for leadership roles when compared to other people that may be my competitors. This may impact my ability to reinforce my position with confidence and a strong will positively.

Improvement Tips and Techniques

• Make use of speaking opportunities at social gatherings. For instance, offer to make the vote of thanks at dinners, ask questions at neighborhood watch meetings, and other similar occasions.
• Become more actively involved in affairs at societies and other groups that I am a part of.
• Take a public speaking webinar, take detailed notes, and review the adherence to directives and guidelines after every public speaking event or opportunity.
• Watch videos of speeches of notable orators and record trends and nuances you see in these speeches. Research on these items as aids of public speaking and endeavor to apply them accordingly. Track performance in terms of the application rate in each public speaking event.
• Ask for feedback on your public speaking instances from trusted friends and colleagues.

Measurement of Progress

• Track change in the feedback received from trusted friends and colleagues over time. The nature of the changes in feedback will be used to determine the progress made and review activities accordingly to increase improvement in communication skills.
• Track rate of application of guidelines and tactics gained from online training and benchmarking notable speakers. Increasing percentages should be sought as they show an increasing application of the principles of public speaking.

Goal 2: Strategic Planning Training

Target: Increase my knowledge of leadership tactics for strategic planning by the end of six months.

Strengths

• Having studied strategy at length, I am able to recognize most of the strategies employed in strategic decision making by leaders.
• I retain an interest in the subject which will motivate me to be more aggressive in searching for material to improve my knowledge of how scenarios and tactics interact in the real world.

Weaknesses

• My knowledge is limited to book-related theory and does not have the benefit of having been tested in the real world.
• The case studies available relate to a fast-changing business environment and may not be adequately representative of current or future business conditions. This may reduce their impact in the development of strategic acumen for future business application.
• The lack of an active mentor to help practice real life challenges with.

Improvement Tips and Techniques

• Studying case studies related to strategy decision making in leadership roles. This will help increase the development of a relationship between learnt theory and real life scenarios. It is also essential in identifying wins and losses of real life leaders so as to learn from their success and failure.
• Develop a keen eye for strategic challenges within the company and look to analyze them and come up with tentative strategic decisions for review with other interested parties such as associates or even occasionally, a superior.
• Discuss strategic challenges with peers to identify potential faults in strategic alternatives to better attune the mind to noticing flaws in strategic plans formulated or postulated in future.

Measurement of Progress

• Tracking performance tests in graded case studies as part of online study institutions or groups.
• Reviewing strategic cases with mentors to provide a baseline of expected performance and helping to identify and minimize the appearance of strategic errors in tentative solutions.
• Tracking the rate of occurrence of strategic errors in postulated solutions.

Goal 3: Taking Advantage of Mentorship Opportunities

Target: Enroll in at least two relevant mentorship programs by the end of six months and have reviewed leadership topics with each mentorship group/ mentor by the end of twelve months.

Strengths

• I am part of an active school life with many opportunities for mentorship. This increases the quantity of opportunities on offer increasing the likelihood of there being an appropriate number of mentorship groups to choose from.
• Mentorship programs in institutions of higher learning are linked with high quality professionals ready to help mentor upcoming professionals. This increases the quality of mentorship on offer around the immediate vicinity.
• Being part of a leadership class gives me access to the training staff in the area of leadership who may be instrumental in pointing me in the direction of appropriate mentors or becoming my mentors themselves.

Weaknesses

• Mustering the courage to ask for help may be a problem due to my anxiousness around superiors and persons considered successful in their fields for fear of appearing to be a nuisance or incompetent to be mentored by them.
• There is a potential for stiff competition for high quality mentors. This may increase the chances of failure to be picked for mentorship opportunities applied for.
• Unavailability of mentors for extended periods reduces the time available to engage with each mentor or mentorship group.

Improvement Tips and Techniques

• Stop thinking about the outcomes and just apply for all desirable opportunities available.
• Develop a positive attitude towards oneself and others and see mentorship as an opportunity to better each other through mutual learning.
• Be bold in approaching staff and asking for help. Be specific in terms of why you think you could be an ideal beneficiary and why the mentor or mentorship groups is ideal for you.
• Indicate how your goals match with the career trajectory or experience of intended mentor or mentorship group and indicate value you could potentially bring to the table.

Measurement

• Set weekly targets for applications and meetings and ensure all are achieved.
• Develop a checklist for items to include in applications and cross-check it against all written applications.
• Have your applications assessed by peers and mentorship counselors.

Goal 4: Social Interaction and Networking

Target: Increase professional contacts to over 250 in one year with regular contact and involvement in networking activities.

Strengths and weaknesses are similar to the ones noted in the communication section of this plan.

Improvement Tips and Techniques

• Join professional groups and attend events at a minimum of one every month.
• Be actively involved in social causes such as volunteering and other efforts shared by the professional community.
• Talk to people about what you do and how you can build each other up.
• Cultivate friendships through getting to know others genuinely, not just exploitatively.
• Form a close bond with potential career helpers and people in related professions.

Measurement

• Review number of new contacts made every month.
• Use a calendar to track contact with new contacts until it becomes second nature.
• Checking activities against the tips and techniques list above to ensure adherence to the plan.