I completed the exercise at the beginning of Chapter 10. For this task, I was asked to reflect on what my assessment means in terms of me as a leader and my relationship to my followers. I will describe how my thinking has changed over the course of the past six weeks. Also, I will explain the significance of this assessment in the context of my future leadership goal and objectives.
As I completed the assessment, I imagined how I responded to similar situations with my last team. I discovered, as a leader, I am very involved. My score in the Strategy 3 column was 7 points, whereas the other three columns were 3 points each. My score indicates that I utilize the "Involve" strategy more than most, holding back allowing others to discover the solution (Obolensky, 2014). I have always been a people person but this assessment makes me realize I may be too focused on followers and not focused enough on goals. Ideally I should have scored 4 in each column (Obolensky, 2014). Furthermore, my scores suggest that I might be working too hard or that I might be taking too direct of an approach (Obolensky, 2014). Having completed this exercise, and reflecting on my leadership experiences, I recognize that I need to not be so involved and learn to let go.
Before starting this course, I had not heard of the concept of 'wu-wei'. Also, as I started this book I did not understand how Taoism and Yin/Yang could be ingrained so much in leadership. "Letting go is hard to do, and yet it is central to the idea of wu wei, which according to ancient Chinese wisdom, is the highest form of leadership" (Obolensky, p. 118). Over the course of the past six weeks, I have come to understand how wu-wei is practiced in leadership and how I can apply the concept to my leadership 'style'.
For example, I have been in the Air Force as a crew chief for 13 years. I have worked on two different airframes and taught aircraft fundamentals to hundreds of students. I enjoy working on planes and often think I know the best way to go about repairing aircraft discrepancies. However, two things are wrong with the situation. First, I am not very experienced on the B-2 bomber. The systems are different than I am used to and I only have a few months of actual 'hands-on' practice. My inexperience can lead to the classic leadership charade, if I were to step in believing I know better than my Airmen. Second, if I step in out of fear of poor performance rather than letting my Airmen do the work, my Airmen may think that I do not trust them. Trust and creating an empowered environment can yield great results. Although I naturally find it hard to 'let go', giving discretion and freedom to act to my Airmen will empower them and give them more willingness to take initiative. "One often finds that wen one lets go, things tend to sort themselves out often faster and better than if one tried to control it" (Obolensky, p. 118). Recognizing (and practicing) that I need to let-go is crucial to my leadership goals.
Some of my leadership goals are motivating my followers and being adaptable. Although I am an involved leader, I need to let-go more often and empower others to take the initiative and solve problems. In turn, this will motivate my followers. Recognizing the natural drive to be a part of the solution is a critical first step to motivating people to do their best (Musselwhite, 2007). Letting go is also critical to being adaptable. Letting go can be seen as embracing ambiguity but enforces followers' freedom to act. Ambiguity tolerance enables freedom to move easily without too much constraint (Obolensky, 2014). Practicing wu-wei will empower and motivate my followers as well as allow me to be a more adaptable leader.
This weeks lesson and assessment showed me that I am an involved leader but possibly too involved. My scores indicated that I might be working too hard. I realize now that I need to embrace wu-wei and learn to let-go. Allowing my followers to take initiative is one way to let-go and it demonstrates my trust in their abilities. Furthermore, letting-go empowers my followers and will, in-turn motivate them. Also, practicing wu-wei will help me accept ambiguity and become a more adaptable leader.
Mussellwhite, C. (2007, August 1). Motivation = Empowerment. Retrieved April 3, 2018, from www.inc.com/resources/leadership/articles/20070801/musselwhite.html
Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex adaptive leadership. (2nd edition.). London, UK: Gower/Ashgate
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