Mid-Term Essay on Collaborative Leadership 2

A Roadmap on Enhancing My Personal Leadership Aptitude

I am currently taking a Masters in Administrative Science course, with a Collaborative

leadership component. This is in an attempt to bolster my abilities and capacities as a future

leader – whether it is in government service or the private sector. In these settings, one cannot

just dominate or expect the exclusive exercise of leadership authority. Thusly, collaborative

leadership is a very useful component here.

Leadership, as elucidated by one of the class lectures, may involve influencing people or

otherwise making them easily compliant with one’s will (Aboukinane, citing Stodgill, 2014).

This can be done in many ways – yet the intent of collaborative leadership is to attain its aims

through having a collective effort by various professionals – whom, at the same time, are also

interested in their respective successes (Aboukinane, 2014).

Modesty aside, I do have some aptitude in technical items and encyclopedic knowledge.

Even so, I will have to acknowledge that I need to have some ‘soft skills’ in order for me to

perform at my best as a collaborative leader. Carter (2006) mentions some of these in her paper,

including a willingness to take on risks and being passionate about the leadership cause. One’s

aptitude in collaborative leadership may also be enhanced by way of honing skills in politics,

interpersonal interactions, and processes (Carter, 2006).

In this regard, I would wish to discuss some factors that I can improve in my

collaborative leadership skillset. This includes my way of working with other people and

prioritizing affairs. Being passionate about the leadership cause is dependent upon me having

high aptitude and interest in the matter I am working on – so we shall not discuss this here.

Mid-Term Essay on Collaborative Leadership 3

Prioritizing Matters

Covey (1989) shares that there are four types of events that demand a person’s attention

unequally: Urgent and important events (i.e. business telephone call); non-urgent yet important

(i.e. building relationships and goal-setting); urgent yet unimportant (i.e. answering otherwise

non-essential phone calls) and non-urgent and non-important (i.e. listening to mindless, yet

entertaining gossip).

An effective person (and leader), according to Covey, will seek to vastly minimize the

amount of time spent in the urgent-unimportant matters and the non-urgent, unimportant matters.

He or she will also seek to shrink to a manageable size the amount of responsibilities classified

as urgent and important. This is possible by focusing on the attainment of the non-urgent, yet

important goals which are very important for long-range planning and building excellent long-

term relationships with people (Covey, 1989).

I will like to say that I am currently devoting my time equally to all four types of

attention-grabbing matters, even though I recognize that Covey was correct in emphasizing the

fulfillment of important, yet non-urgent matters. My goals, such as fostering a mutually

harmonious long-term relationship amongst peers and family, and enhanced personal

development are certainly important. Yet I am consumed by urgent-important matters such as

paper deadlines, immigration issues, and the like. As I fulfill these tasks, I do tend to neglect the

important, non-urgent acts – in favor of the easier, ‘soothing’ non-urgent, non-important

activities such as oversleeping. Following Covey’s prioritization model will also make my life

easier in the long term – as I reduce my crisis management, ‘shoot in the wall’ leadership tasks in

favor of the more important, longer-term goals of relationship and consensus-building, enabling

myself and my colleagues and peers to effectively collaborate together.

Mid-Term Essay on Collaborative Leadership 4

Therefore, I wish that I am able to understand the importance of this prioritization model,

to enable me to become a more effective collaborative leader – by focusing on the important and

shutting off the unnecessary.

Working and Collaborating with Other People

Both Carter (2006) and Covey (1989) are in agreement regarding the advantages of

working and collaborating together – instead of doing it alone, or dominating others to achieve

goals. Covey recognizes that the ‘whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ – and so there is no

advantage in dominating, being authoritarian, and claiming sole credit for any success.

I do have a tendency to dominate discussions – as in the back of my mind, I think that my

colleagues are quite ‘inept’ and ‘slow’ relative to my abilities. I always wanted to work

‘efficiently’. Yet this brings a realization that this is not always a possibility and this leads to

frustration on my part – why can’t I have things done my way, why are we so slow.

Therefore, I must continue to learn how to work and synergize with fellow colleagues in

the fulfillment of important tasks. Most of these, after all, are not designed to be done by a single

person. Only by collaborating together as competent, effective professionals, will we be able to

realize our aims and goals.

Conclusions

Carter emphasizes the three facets of leadership skills – namely political knowledge,

interpersonal knowledge, and process knowledge – which may be honed. And it is indeed

important to hone. But what is more important in my case are some of the soft skills also touched

upon by Carter and Covey: namely working and collaborating together and learning how to

prioritize affairs.

Mid-Term Essay on Collaborative Leadership 5

The importance of prioritization cannot be overstated. As time is a finite resource, we can

only use it in limited ways. The key is, according to Covey, mostly using one`s time in doing

important yet non-urgent things – which are the foundations of an effective leadership style.

Building consensus, goal setting, and maintaining cherished relationships are amongst those that

need to be prioritized. And if this is done, ‘emergency’, urgent matters that are so pressingly

stressful can be kept to a minimum (Covey, 1989).

Also, it is important that group synergies are maintained for a collaborative leadership

model to be successful. Covey recognized that the whole group and its output are much greater

than the sum of its individual components. I need to recognize, therefore, that I cannot dominate

the group all the time, thinking that I am the only knowledgeable person. I need to improve upon

my ability to work with others, so that we can produce great leadership results that are only

possible through group collaboration.

Mid-Term Essay on Collaborative Leadership 6

References

Carter, M. (2006). The importance of collaborative leadership in achieving effective criminal

justice outcomes. A paper from the Center for Effective Public Policy.

Covey, S. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Restoring the character ethic. New

York: Free Press.

Aboukinane, C. (2014). PowerPoint presentations for lectures on collaborative leadership.