Leadership Development

A strong leadership is paramount for the success and continuity of any organization. The article 360 Degree Feedback and Leadership Development by Alimo-Metcalfe (1998), gives insight on how an organization’s leadership impacts on its overall performance. In particular, it elaborates how both male and female managers use transformative leadership to influence the behavior of their juniors. It also provides detailed information on biases that may exist concerning the management style of each gender and how they may be eliminated.
Due to the increased managerial demands of organizations in the current complicated and dynamic business environment, transformative leadership has been embraced by most of them since it enables employees to make independent decisions. A transformative leader is one who is charismatic, inspiring, intelligent, and empathetic. Armed with this information, Alimo-Metcalfe (1998), used the ‘360 Degree Feedback and Leadership’ forum to analyze male and female transformative leaders and explain ways they can improve their skills.
According to Alimo-Metcalfe (1998), managers normally rate themselves higher with regards to management competence than how their colleagues view them. He also notes that employees are usually satisfied with their work when they have similar work-perception with those of their managers. Interestingly, managers who inflate their own ratings, such as by overestimating their influence, are more likely to misdiagnose their own improvement needs (Alimo-Metcalfe, 1998). Given the difference between the views of managers and other employees, it is clear that the former are usually not adequately knowledgeable about their development needs and strengths. Consequently, self-awareness among leaders is essential in improving their performance and potential.
The article by Alimo-Metcalfe (1998) is informative and has enabled me to learn how I can improve my managerial skills. To begin with, I have been able to learn about the importance of transformational leadership. Unlike the contemporary transactional leadership, which was viewed as been authoritative, these form is inclusive and enables workers to participate in an organization’s decision-making process (Alimo-Metcalfe, 1998). As a transformative leader, I will use my charisma to mobilize my juniors to embrace my vision for the organization. In addition, I will inspire and spur intellectual thoughts among my team so that we can achieve great goals. Moreover, I will be considerate of their unique personalities. As a result, I will be able to develop them to become more competent workers.
As a leader, I will aspire to be self-aware of my strengths and development needs. Alimo-Metcalfe (1998), opines that most leaders attribute negative outcomes to external factors whereas they regard positive ones to be due to their strong and able leadership. These types of thoughts are biased and may make a leader unaware of his/her strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, most leaders are usually unable to determine their development needs (Alimo-Metcalfe, 1998). Based on the above, I will strive to have open and sincere communication with my colleagues so that I may know my weakness. I will also accept positive criticism since it will enable me to identify the areas I should improve. In addition, I will have the opportunity to develop the skills of my team members. This form of leadership will enable me to be self-aware which will, in turn, make me form appropriate assumptions in relation to my subordinates.
Situational control has also been identified as an important attribute in transformative leadership. Situational control simply refers to the level that the management is confident, clear, and in-charge of the organization. According to Alimo-Metcalfe (1998), strong situational control leads to the closeness of agreements between the management and its staff. In this case, a leader should be ready to take the blame for failures that may occur. In addition, he/she should be ready to acknowledge his/her juniors for the team’s success. Therefore, I will strive to understand all the operations in the organizations so that I can demonstrate strong leadership to my juniors. Consequently, my strong leadership skills and ability to handle situations will make my colleagues view me as a transformative leader.
Alimo-Metcalfe (1998), also notes that leaders who have failed in the past can improve their performance through training. He opines that men are more likely to prefer using rewards and punishments as methods of influencing performance whereas women are inclined to use interactive leadership style in which information and power are shared. Obviously, the latter technique is superior and results in better organizational performance because it creates an environment that enhances self-worth. In this regard, I will adapt better and superior management techniques such as the interactive leadership style. In order to identify my specific weakness as a leader, I will ask for feedback from my colleagues.
The article 360 Degree Feedback and Leadership Development is informative and illustrates managerial weaknesses that result in failure in the failure of organizations. In particular, it discusses the challenges that most leaders face when implementing transformative leadership methods and highlights ways they can use to overcome these obstacles. Equally important, it demystifies the social prejudices that exist on women’s competence as leaders. To achieve this, it uses scientific data that indicate women are as competitive as men; therefore, they can properly manage organizations.


Alimo-Metcalfe, B. (1998). Professional forum: 360 degree feedback and leadership development. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 6(1), 35-44.
