Personal Statement of Development
1.0 Introduction
I have been involved in many leadership experiences in all aspects of my life, all of which have helped me develop into the person I am today. I believe leadership is very important, particularly in the field of hospitality, to which I have been related throughout my life. The personal statement is concerned with evaluating my skills in terms of where I am as a manager/leader. Firstly however, it is considered important to distinguish the two terms. Carr (1996) signifies that the role of a leader in any organisation is to set the direction and envision a future position for the organisation. Management on the other hand focuses on moving in the right direction and plotting the progress to reaching the targets. In my career and educational life, I have experienced both management and leadership roles, and the personal statement will discuss significant experiences, which I feel have impacted on enhancing my skills as a manger/leader.
In terms of my management and leadership experience, for my age I feel I have quite a broad knowledge of both. I quite strongly agree with the belief that Garns (2005) has which is that “A leader is one who knows the way, shows the way, and goes the way”. My whole attitude towards leadership is somewhat similar to Garn’s opinion in the way that I believe leadership is not just about saying what needs to be done, but showing how it needs to be done and creating a path as to which direction is to be taken.
At present I am working alongside my father in the family restaurant, where I work part time as an assistant restaurant manager, however at times when my father is not present, I have to replace his role in which case I have to take on the role of leader within the organisation. When playing the role of restaurant manager, some of the skills I practice include, proficiency, problem solving and developing ideas. When taking on the leaders role (director’s role), my skills of responsibility, confidence and decision making are tested, thus I have the opportunity to put both my skills of management and leadership into practice, from which I benefit a great deal and experience two job roles within one organisation (See appendix 1: skills based curriculum vitae).
Career wise, I also work in the teaching profession (See appendix 1), as a chef lecturer. Although this role for me is fairly new, I feel it has drastically strengthened my leadership skills and qualities within a short time span of just four months. When being offered this job role, I understood it would challenge my leadership skills and as a result took up the opportunity, and today can say it was a wise decision from which I have greatly benefited, as shall be demonstrated in the personal statement.
2.0 Competency framework
A competency can be defined as the knowledge, skills, behaviour, qualities and personal attributes necessary to produce effective performance in a certain role or task. A competency framework is the term applied to a complete collection of competencies and behavioural indicators (Pattison, Moffat and Edwards, 2002). I have used a competency framework to assess myself against six specific competencies, by evaluating instances where I have demonstrated the skills and to judge where I am, according to the level of skill (strengths and weaknesses).
I selected a Leadership Competency Framework from ‘The South Australian Public Sector’ (See appendix 2), as I felt parts of it reflected exact leadership skills relevant to me. I modified parts of the framework and it is now a customised, role specific competency framework that contains detailed behavioural indicators related to specific jobs roles I am carrying out or have carried out (See appendix 3: My adapted version of framework). If I were to produce a competency framework for my workplace, it would include similar competencies and follow an alike structure, reflecting clear objectives (personal and organisational). I will now go on to evaluate myself against the framework, by taking each competency and discussing it in turn.
2.1 Creates Vision and Gives Direction (Adopted)
I would explain myself as being quite visionary, in the sense I want to create something which stands out. I have energy and passion and when at work I like to picture exactly where the organisation is going, so my goals are clearly defined. As a restaurant manager, my vision is to develop the business and keep track of the business trends. Last year, my vision for the restaurant was to update the décor and modernise the restaurant interior in order to increase sales by targeting new market segments. I put the idea forward to the management and started researching for interior design companies (giving direction). As a result, this year the restaurant is all revamped and my vision has been met (See appendix 4). In this way, I feel in terms of having a vision and giving direction, my skills are of a high level, once I have a target, I work hard to achieve it.
2.2 Analytical thinking/problem solving (New)
In terms of solving problems, I feel I have quite a confident approach, for example when teaching one of my Indian cuisine lessons, one of the students accidentally blew up an electrical piece of kitchen equipment, in this situation, as the leader/teacher, I acted efficiently to solve the problem. I understood the cause of the problem and suggested a realistic solution in a short time span and in this way I feel I am quite capable of handling issues at work which need to be solved instantly. In regard to analytical skills however, I feel I need to become more analytical in order to become an effective leader. When a problem arises, I need to break it down and think logically to find a solution, as opposed to solving the problem in the most obvious way, thus I need to be analyse the situation more thoroughly.
The Interpersonal soft skill ‘communication’ is particularly important when working in the field of hospitality, where dealing face to face with customers is essential in front of house operations. When working as an assistant manager I ensure that activities and their outcomes are communicated to and understood by all employees. I have a strong ability to speak and listen, for example when a customer is not satisfied, it is my duty as the restaurant manager to listen to them and relate to them in the best way possible and ensure I understand exactly what they are saying. In this way my communication skills are always improving and are being challenged within my workplace all the time. Another example of when I use the skill of communication is when I am teaching in the practical lessons and have to communicate to the students how a certain dish is to be prepared, ensuring that they understand the exact method and ingredients to be used.
2.4 Promotes and achieves quality outcomes (Adopted)
I believing in setting standards to achieve quality outcomes and this is definitely one of my key strengths. As a restaurant manager, I evaluate results and outcomes of the particular task and discuss these with other staff members, in this way learning and implementation improvements are put across, which results in quality outcomes. I am creative and demonstrate innovation within the workplace by ‘thinking outside the box’. For example, in the family business I have created a number of dishes which are ‘healthy options’ and the menu now consists of healthier dishes for the health conscious customer. In this way by creating a unique feature such as this, quality outcomes such as customer satisfaction and profit increase have resulted (See appendix 5: Restaurant Magazine Article).
2.5 Self confidence (New)
I believe in my own capability to accomplish a task or select an effective approach to a task or problem. I am confident when handling challenging circumstances and confidence when making decisions and putting my opinions forward. When carrying out the group presentation during the leadership module, I demonstrated the skill of confidence when presenting and felt that I performed well. As a restaurant manager, I feel I am confident when taking risks, for example when the restaurant is overbooked and a reservation does not turn up, in that instance I may have to make the decision to give the table away to another customer and take the risk if necessary. When such a situation does arise however, I ensure I stay calm and handle the situation as well as possible.
In terms of managing myself, I feel this to some extent is one of my weaknesses in the way I try to carry out too many things at one time, which tends to increase my stress level. I feel that to some extent I set myself over-challenging goals, which I am unable to reach in the amount of time I have to do so. I feel I need to plan my time better in order to develop myself. If for example I were to plan my day from start to finish, I feel I could manage myself and develop my leadership skills to a much higher standard.
3.0 Additional leadership analysisI carried out additional leadership activities to assess my management/ leadership skills. Firstly I carried out a leadership style questionnaire (See appendix 5: Questionnaire results), from which it was found that as a leader I am committed to my work and feel irritated if things get in the way of finishing a job on time. It also indicated that I valued my colleagues and that my empathy with others was also of a high level. The results also showed I am a person who is clear about my needs and how to meet them. I can relate this to the Leadership module where our group (‘Six Steps Ahead’) were preparing the presentation, where I planned ahead in order to achieve the desired outcomes. Through the group presentation I feel I have practiced a number of skills, these include, motivation, team working, planning and focus, all of which have contributed in developing me as a leader.
Another questionnaire I carried, from a specialised skills website (www.myskillsprofile.com) was ‘The Creative Leadership Questionnaire’, which measures leadership style. Although a fee had to be paid to take this questionnaire online, it was well worth it as the outcome in the form of a report proved to be very valuable, in assessing current leadership development needs. The questionnaire consisted of questions, related to different aspects of management and leadership which were directly linked to behaviours (competencies) (See appendix 6: Creative Leadership Questionnaire Report). Although the questionnaire presented many findings, only key ones shall be discussed.
In terms of ‘Leadership level’ I discovered I was at an average level (level 6) when managing change, although it was found in order to become a more effective leader, I needed to prepare myself more thoroughly for such positions (Appendix 6: page 3). When measuring ‘Leadership Style’ it was found that I was more of a transformational/autocratic leader (Appendix 6: page 4), which I did wholly agree with as I offer an inspirational vision of radical change whilst using a very disciplined approach when managing, although at times I do also demonstrate a slight participative approach when I for instance ask other employees for their opinions on issues such as problems in the restaurant and how to make improvements.
Planning and organising are important for an efficient organisation (Swindoll, 2005) and the questionnaire revealed my planning skills were also at quite a high level (Appendix 6: page 8). On the other hand, I scored quite low on the analytical thinking competency. Interestingly I also noted when evaluating myself against the competency framework (Appendix 3), I needed to work on improving my analytical thinking skills by making more rational judgments, looking at issues from different angles and keeping in mind the ‘bigger picture’.
I scored quite highly on the competency of ‘authority and influence’ (Appendix 6: page 17), which I do agree with, as I enjoy being in charge, am charismatic and inspire confidence within the workplace. In terms of improvements, my listening and supporting skills need to be worked on, along with my skills of patience and understanding. I feel at times I may overlook employees as I am too involved in other business activities, and as a result in the future I will aim to be more considerate towards employees and their needs. My ‘business awareness’ skills were also at a low level as the questionnaire revealed and as a result I feel I need to keep a more thorough track of the company’s financial position. I need to also learn not to dwell on my mistakes and in this way my leadership skills will better.
4.0 The FutureAlthough I feel my managerial and leadership experience as a whole are on a good level, I believe I still have a long way to go in developing my leadership skills. As I gain more experience practicing such roles, my performance as a manager/leader will strengthen. By carrying out this personal statement I have found out a great deal about myself in terms of the specific leadership skills and qualities I have and those that I really need to focus upon in order to become an effective leader in the future. In the next three to five years, I see myself being an even bigger part of the family business and playing the role of the leader (director) more often, through which I specifically hope to develop skills such as analytical thinking, displaying positive emotions, time management and judgement.
In the future, I see myself carrying out more media related activities to promote the restaurant business, e.g. radio interviews, TV documentaries on healthy eating and interviews for newspapers. By carrying out such activities, I hope to become an even more confident person and develop all the skills and qualities a leader should have. In the future I hope to become an industry icon (Hospitality), a role model to be followed, someone who inspires others.