Lubna Alli

The main focus of today’s lecture was on communication and how different communication styles help shape our leadership styles. Along the same thread, how our different leadership styles interact when we work in a team also play a role in determining the results that we get at the very end. I found that I struggled with what choices applied to me while taking the communication styles quiz. Go figure, indecisiveness is a trait that is probably easily associated with my leadership style. I am an idea oriented person and, just as the description states, this means that I easily go off on tangents.

Personally, my preference is the process oriented person because I like method and routine. It gives me a sense of calm and surety to know that there is a clear plan with steps and instructions in place. This is why I prefer it when I am given direct instructions from my professors and my bosses. I struggle when I am unsure of what is expected of me.

I was oddly surprised when it came down to the results because I always thought of myself as being more of a results driven and people oriented person compared to a creative. Of course, I have a creative side, though I often neglect it in order to get fast and consistent results. One thing about myself that I believe also rings true to everyone else is that everyone has different facets of their personality that they choose to either play up or play down depending on who they interact with.This rings a bell with the Italian body language reading that spoke about the different body language signs and what they mean. Knowing the meaning of body languages and gestures of other cultures is crucial when it comes to understanding and communicating correctly with them. This is especially valuable because mimicking body language, lifestyles and experiences really does help others to feel more comfortable and for you to be more likeable. This is crucial when it comes to forming trustworthy relationships and, more so, solid business deals.

I am proud to say that I am someone who can use this skills of mine to my advantage, as one of my strengths is that I am a people person (my second highest result on the communication style test). My different group of friends are such a rainbow, some shy and nerdy and others rich with personality. The same applies in terms of sexuality, socio-economic status and even race. This is a good strength to have because it gives me the ability to use my versatility to make others around me feel comfortable and easily open up to me. Not everyone can say that mere strangers will share the personal details of their life within the first few interactions.

Fittingly enough, my communication style (idea oriented) complements my leadership style (spontaneous motivator). I find this to be especially hilarious because I feel like I am so far fetched from the spontaneous motivator. That given, I usually fall susceptible to the indecisiveness that comes with being a creative and having too many things I want to do. I often call myself a dreamer because I find myself living through such vivid experiences that I picture myself in, all in my head. This is probably where my weakness lies when it comes to leadership because I have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that it’s not feasible for me to do everything all at once. I don’t believe this impairs my success as a spontaneous motivator though because being creative and idea oriented goes hand in hand with the passion and emotionally boundedness that spontaneous motivators have to their ideas and projects.

Discovering that there is a more creative side of my personality that I need to nurture really makes me think that I should pursue my creative interests further. Who knows, this might just be the discovery that leads me to produce phenomenal results in the leadership world as my career progresses. Time to put my thinking cap on… wait, I’m idea oriented, my cap is always on!

Until next time,

Lubna