Leadership Self-Assessment - John Garrity

At the beginning of chapter one, the first thing that caught my eye was the brief overview illustrated at the bottom of the first page. The question, “why do some companies succeed while others fail?” seemed to instantly engage my mind to think outside of the box. Yes, you could look at the surrounding economy or the influx of booming industries, but there is one thing about business that creates a successful atmosphere; the businessman himself. Looking at the strategy making process from a manager’s (businessmen’s) standpoint, I was able to already apply some of the reading to my previous work experience, depicting a sole event which demonstrated my strengths, as well as weaknesses.
For the past three summers I have been working for a non-profit agency called Northeast Occupational Exchange. As the Sports Coordinator for the Summer Treatment Program, I work with kids from ages 5-17. This program serves children and adolescents who may be having conflicts at home, attending school, and/or participating in community activities because of emotional/behavioral problems often cited as a mental health diagnoses. As you can imagine, it’s extremely stressful, but very rewarding job if you contain the skills to help these kids turn their life around. My job is to manage the sports program by delivering the clients with new skills they can use in the real world when playing sports/games with their friends. Employed at N.O.E for three years, my most noticeable strengths come under the emotional intelligence category. I have to be able to use my self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills to get me through the day without triggering bad behavior in the kids that I am teaching. I have to be able to understand the different behavior of each child and adjust my style to meet their needs. I have to be able to control and direct these children, but along the same lines use empathy towards the individuals I know have severe interaction problems. Most importantly, I have to motivate myself and use my social skills to correctly instruct them without escalating their behavior. On the downside, my weakness falls under the willingness to delegate and empower category. Although I am in charge of a section of the agency, I have trouble delegating my power among the individuals I work for. I don’t have much say in the meetings I attend, nor do I have the power to make any changes in the program. Although I have a lot of responsibility, I find myself doing a lot of the work for my peers in order for the day to go by smoothly. If I don’t go by the book, there is no other way (which is the only downside to my job).