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"I have moved from a point of feeling quite desperate to feeling
empowered; it really has been a phenomenal transformation."... "Each of the leadership modules had an impact on my path to personal improvement."... "So I have really begun to look at my communication style at work as well as at home." ... |
tlc testimonials
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"I honestly feel as if I have progressed by leaps and
bounds throughout the semester. I have moved from a point of feeling quite desperate to feeling empowered; it really has been a phenomenal transformation." —Kate, Psychiatric Social Worker |
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Leadership Skill Needing Polishing:
Assertiveness as a Means to Enhancing Personal Power
affecting time management and productivity, communication, delegation, motivation, conflict management, performance review, meeting management, gender issues, and problem solving.
"I honestly feel as if I have progressed by leaps and bounds throughout the semester. I have moved from a point of feeling quite desperate to feeling empowered; it really has been a phenomenal transformation. Throughout the past four months, my conceptualization of assertiveness has changed dramatically. I now know that assertiveness is learning about yourself as an individual, not about how you can change the behavior of others. I am no longer taking anything lying down. It was imperative for me to understand that I simply can’t be perfect in everything I do. So now I have been able to let go and to be comfortable in this understanding. This fact has truly been an epiphany above and beyond all else."
affecting time management and productivity, communication, delegation, motivation, conflict management, performance review, meeting management, gender issues, and problem solving.
"I honestly feel as if I have progressed by leaps and bounds throughout the semester. I have moved from a point of feeling quite desperate to feeling empowered; it really has been a phenomenal transformation. Throughout the past four months, my conceptualization of assertiveness has changed dramatically. I now know that assertiveness is learning about yourself as an individual, not about how you can change the behavior of others. I am no longer taking anything lying down. It was imperative for me to understand that I simply can’t be perfect in everything I do. So now I have been able to let go and to be comfortable in this understanding. This fact has truly been an epiphany above and beyond all else."
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"What started as a personal
project for school resulted in a significant enhancement in my
job situation and step in my career. Each of the leadership
modules had an impact on my path to personal improvement."
—Tina, Lucent Technologies Manager |
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Leadership skill needing polishing: Increase
motivation and responsibility
"What started as a personal project for school resulted in a significant enhancement in my job situation and step in my career. Each of the leadership modules had an impact on my path to personal improvement. In three months, I improved my success scale from a 3 to a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. Looking back, it seems truly amazing that three months ago I was struggling for motivation, thinking my situation would never improve. I took the initiative to break my old behavior chain and implement actions that would affect my situation and the way I felt about my job. The initiatives that I took also allowed me to achieve an “excellent” rating on my official review. The fact that I mentioned my career goals and the steps that I have made toward them to my manager helped me in attaining a new position. My manager acknowledged that it was a step in the right direction for my career path."
"I moved to a new level and re-froze my new, positive behavior pattern. I empowered myself with the ability and attitude to take me to a new level of leadership, opportunity and job satisfaction. This one word – Empowerment- encompasses all that I have achieved over the last three months. It is simply a choice that I made – to empower myself and to lead. All the training and resources in the world will not make one a leader until one chooses to lead."
"The end of my project is not the end of my journey. I am convinced that effective leadership cannot be learned simply from one class. This is a continuous process of learning, developing and implementing. I intend to maintain the habit I’ve established of tracking my accomplishments, no matter how large or small, to stay motivated and track my progress from now on. It will be interesting to see at this time next year or even six months from now, the progress I’ve made in my leadership development and career goals."
"What started as a personal project for school resulted in a significant enhancement in my job situation and step in my career. Each of the leadership modules had an impact on my path to personal improvement. In three months, I improved my success scale from a 3 to a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. Looking back, it seems truly amazing that three months ago I was struggling for motivation, thinking my situation would never improve. I took the initiative to break my old behavior chain and implement actions that would affect my situation and the way I felt about my job. The initiatives that I took also allowed me to achieve an “excellent” rating on my official review. The fact that I mentioned my career goals and the steps that I have made toward them to my manager helped me in attaining a new position. My manager acknowledged that it was a step in the right direction for my career path."
"I moved to a new level and re-froze my new, positive behavior pattern. I empowered myself with the ability and attitude to take me to a new level of leadership, opportunity and job satisfaction. This one word – Empowerment- encompasses all that I have achieved over the last three months. It is simply a choice that I made – to empower myself and to lead. All the training and resources in the world will not make one a leader until one chooses to lead."
"The end of my project is not the end of my journey. I am convinced that effective leadership cannot be learned simply from one class. This is a continuous process of learning, developing and implementing. I intend to maintain the habit I’ve established of tracking my accomplishments, no matter how large or small, to stay motivated and track my progress from now on. It will be interesting to see at this time next year or even six months from now, the progress I’ve made in my leadership development and career goals."
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"After reading about the
three response styles, I have realized that I confused
assertiveness with aggressiveness. I now realize the
difference and can spot not only when I am exhibiting
assertiveness or aggressiveness," ... —Stacey, Communications Manager |
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"So far I have come to realize that a lot of my
insecurities with becoming assertive have really stemmed from not really
understanding what “being assertive” meant. After reading about the three
response styles, I have realized that I confused assertiveness with
aggressiveness. I now realize the difference and can spot not only when I am
exhibiting assertiveness or aggressiveness, but also when I am being
non-assertive. So I have really begun to look at my communication style at work
as well as at home."
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When I delegate a task to
someone, I exhibit a Team Management Style as
illustrated in Blake and Mouton’s managerial grid. (Northouse,
2004) I am very clear about the guidelines for getting
the job completed, including what the person needs to
accomplish, when it needs to be completed and the
quality of work I expect. —Jennifer, Operations Manager |
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"There is an obvious difference between my
leadership style with regard to delegation and the leadership style of the
producers and my boss. When I delegate a task to someone, I exhibit a Team
Management Style as illustrated in Blake and Mouton’s managerial grid. (Northouse,
2004) I am very clear about the guidelines for getting the job completed,
including what the person needs to accomplish, when it needs to be completed and
the quality of work I expect. However, once those guidelines are established, I
leave the individual to finish the job as he/she sees fit. I let them know if
they need help or have questions, they are more than welcome to come to me, but
I do not watch over their shoulder or check in every 15 minutes to monitor their
progress. Instead we meet at pre-established intervals to discuss how things are
going, determine if changes need to be made, and I offer assistance if
necessary. There have been times when I have observed people doing things
differently than I would, but I bite my tongue and remind myself that there is
more than one way to complete a task. By allowing people the independence to
complete assignments on their own, I am helping them to gain confidence in their
abilities and giving them the opportunity for personal and professional growth.
In contrast, my boss and the producers exhibit the authority-compliance style
illustrated in Blake and Mouton’s managerial grid. (Northouse, 2004) They are
concerned only about the task at hand and have little regard for the person, (in
this case me) who is doing the job. They are very controlling and are concerned
only about their own agenda."
| "I am
more comfortable applying concepts learned in the
modules on the job. Employees and co-workers have
noticed that I seem to be more focused and more directed
and that I seem more secure and content....By
narrowing the project focus, the information from the
class is starting to become more meaningful for me."
—Angela, Social Worker (promoted to Manager) |
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Pre: I am lacking mission, vision, and do not at this time effectively
communicate and adhere to my priorities and values. This in turn is what I now
would like my project to explore; exploring and communicating vision, leadership
through values, focusing specifically on transformational leadership.
During: By narrowing the scope of the project a little further, I am enjoying some of the outside reading that I am doing on the topics of spiritual, value, and vision based leadership. I am recognizing more of the characteristics of this type of leadership in myself that I had never noticed before. By having a focus, I can dig deeper and do more thorough research in more specific areas.
My self-concept and self-efficacy as a leader is improving as I am starting to realize some of the valuable characteristics that I do in fact possess that had gone unnoticed before.
Post: I am more comfortable applying concepts learned in the modules on the job. Employees and co-workers have noticed that I seem to be more focused and more directed and that I seem more secure and content. By narrowing the project focus, the information from the class is starting to become more meaningful for me.
During: By narrowing the scope of the project a little further, I am enjoying some of the outside reading that I am doing on the topics of spiritual, value, and vision based leadership. I am recognizing more of the characteristics of this type of leadership in myself that I had never noticed before. By having a focus, I can dig deeper and do more thorough research in more specific areas.
My self-concept and self-efficacy as a leader is improving as I am starting to realize some of the valuable characteristics that I do in fact possess that had gone unnoticed before.
Post: I am more comfortable applying concepts learned in the modules on the job. Employees and co-workers have noticed that I seem to be more focused and more directed and that I seem more secure and content. By narrowing the project focus, the information from the class is starting to become more meaningful for me.
© transforming leaders, llc | last updated
04.28.08 