Trust

For the last tool in my leadership toolkit, I have selected trust as one of my non-course related tools. Now, you may be wondering what I mean by trust. What I mean by trust is the trust your followers have in you as a leader, which directly affects their loyalty. By using the tool of trust, leaders are able to gain the respect of their followers and increase co-operation.

Patience

I believe that patience is not a virtue, but instead it is a skill that can be learned and mastered over time. From a young age we are taught to be patient, good things come to those who wait, but why is this same thought process not used by today’s business leaders?

Empowerment

When selecting a tool for my toolkit that was not discussed in class I began searching for tool that would be equally beneficial for me and my followers. Through considering this I came to the realization that the most effective followers are the ones who feel that their leader believes in them as their own leader and that is why I have selected Empowerment to be in my leadership toolkit. As a leadership tool, empowerment solves the issue of having followers with low self-confidence and the inability to be independent.

Non-Verbal Communication

I have selected non-verbal communication as one of my non-course related tools to be included in my leadership toolkit because it is the most important tool due to the fact that it is used inside of every other tool. Communication comes in many different forms, the verbal component being the literal words that are spoken and the non-verbal being the tone in which the words are said and the speakers body language. The problem many leaders have is that they lack the ability to effectively communicate with their followers, resulting in negativity among followers due to a lack of understanding.

Justice

Justice has been selected as my ethics related leadership tool for my toolkit. The reason I have selected this tool is because of what leadership traits justice is associated with. When broken down, justice can be described as showing fairness and equality to others, and in today’s society fairness and equality are not always present in the leadership world when they should be. In describing ethical leadership, Cialdini describes the foundation of ethical leader development through five different principles. The five principles are respect others, serve others, show justice, manifest honesty, and build community. Although all five are equally important, I believe that showing justice is the best fit for my leadership toolkit due to the current state of leadership.

Goal Setting

The practice of goal setting has been selected for my leadership toolkit because it directly relates to development, self-improvement and can be used as an self-assessment tool. This tool is commonly used in the workplace through the use of annual reviews and is often associated with compensation through bonuses. Due to this I feel that having goal setting in my leadership toolkit will be beneficial to me throughout my career.

Reciprocity

I have decided to add reciprocity to my leadership toolkit because of it is extremely powerful and is one of the tools that we have discussed that has everyday applicability. Reciprocity has the ability to positively impact those around you by creating a feeling of carrying when you do something for them, such as holding the door open for them, and at the same time it creates a mental obligation for them to do the same for others. As a weapon of influence, I believe that reciprocity encourages kindness to be expressed to others and to be returned in an equal or greater way. The problem that has historically occurred with reciprocity is that certain people use it to take advantage of others kindness and often have hidden motives. When using reciprocity, one must consider the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or more simply put, treat others how you wish to be treated.