This document provides a personal leadership portrait of the author. It discusses key leadership characteristics including communication skills, adaptability, and procrastination. The author analyzes their strengths in contingency leadership and communication, and developmental needs in procrastination and scholarly writing. The summary effectively outlines the author's self-assessment and areas for continued growth. Overall, the document presents a well-rounded analysis of the author's leadership style and abilities.

1. Running Head: Personal Leadership Portrait 1
“Personal Leadership Portrait”
Christi Reible
PSL5002-– Collaboration, Communication, and Case Analysis for Master’s Learners.
Professor Strouse
April 12, 2015

2. Personal Leadership Portrait 2
“Personal Leadership Portrait”
A proficient public service leader is constructed by both genetic dispositions, as
well as trained through man-made resources. The usage of these sources and wiliness
to cultivate the weaker regions can only reiterate the solidification of a true leader by
their well-rounded structure. A leader’s effectiveness to combine the dominant styles,
i.e. contingency and servant, with a willingness to develop their deficient structures, i.e.
transactional and charismatic, make the difference to establish a leader, rather than a
relative manager. “The basis of leadership is not about impossible characteristics
acquired by a few; comparatively, it is a collection of abilities” Gaiter (2013).
Characteristics of these forms include areas such as communication, scholarly writing,
procrastination and adaptability.
Although there are many faucets to a well versed leader, in this portrait study the
analyzed field consists of the proficiency of contingency with characteristics based on
solidified communication skills and adaptability and developmental needs within
procrastination and scholarly writing. Contingency is based on influence, per the
scholars Sanborn (2006) and Cangemi (2011). The gifted leader in this field has the
ability to adapt to a situation and use variations of characteristics to motivate the
followers in an array of settings.
Solidified communication skill sets showcases one’s ability to work to understand
the needs and wants of others through written, verbal, body language, gestures and
tone of one’s voice. By the proper use of this skill, in the workplace, one will be able to
efficiently drive those around him/her to achieve success. Using communication
characteristics in a positive method concludes the “importance of strong networks within

3. Personal Leadership Portrait 3
the community as vital to economic success” McGehee, Lee, O’Bannon & Perdue
(2010). In the public service sector, the ultimate goal is the achievement of economic
stability and having the capability to understand, “an individual who displays openness
to others is aware of them, is thereby a competent intercultural communicator”
(Arasaratnam & Doerfel, 2005).
This leads us into the characteristic of adaptability and its importance within the
public service sector. Intercultural communication has become an ever-increasing
essential parameter and a leader must understand and grasp its ever-changing diverse
structure. “Intercultural communication should be approached with the understanding
that humans are constantly changing; therefore, cultural should not be viewed as an
endpoint but as a fluid and chaotic environment” (Fall, Kelly, MacDonald, Primm &
Holmes, 2013). Holding an understanding and willingness to adapt will assist in
guiding, educating, and influence others to co-exist effectively within the realm of the
workplace. No person is alike another, and properly influencing a diverse team will
require finesse.
With that being said, this would not exclude one from lacking in certain
characteristics, such as procrastination and scholarly writing skill sets. Procrastination
has the ability to hinder a leader’s position to lead and/or influence those around
him/her. “As the concept of team-working has become increasingly important in
organizational life, leadership, as the ability to lead and to exert interpersonal influence,
has become a particularly critical requirement for creating an environment where
individuals and teams have the capacity and opportunity to succeed” (Faraci, Lock &
Wheeler, 2013). Academic and personal experience showcases the need to remove

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this trait by the root. Procrastinating, in any facet of life, has no positive characteristic to
speak of from an experienced position.
While there is no need for this trait, the other characteristic which requests
additional support in this evaluation, scholarly writing has the opposite conclusion.
Scholarly writing can be ever-improved by means, such as educational achievements.
The more educated a leader becomes, the further experienced he/she would have with
this characteristic accomplishment. Public administrators often are required to write on
public policies and governance requests/conclusions, and to strengthen one’s position
as a leader it is implicated that efficient scholarly writing would aid in the respect one
could achieve in their position.
Using the given strengths, and education to improve the weaknesses, a leader
has gained the ability to use these attributes to solidify his/her position within a
community. Management and governance in the 21st
century is a complex concept;
“ultimately, public administration necessitates that diversity and cultural competence are
investigated from a variety of approaches, to become well rounded in their ability to
solve multifaceted real-world problems” (Blessett, Alkadry & Rubaii, 2015). Intertwining
the above characteristics aids in a leader’s capability proven to build and fortify their
place in public service. An example being, implementing the ability to adapt within
intercultural communication allows one to utilize their message set to effectively
converse between people of different cultures. These communication changes
showcase the leader’s adaptable abilities to allow “people to work through emotions to
achieve common goals” (Fall, Kelly, MacDonald, Primm & Holmes 2013). Common

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goals could entail budgeting allocations, new or reinforced laws/governances, or
community development programs.
Having diversity in a community/workplace promotes equity and is a crucial factor
in the expanding intercultural communities around the globe. Clapp (2010) outlines the
importance of diversity and its need to be placed in the forefront of private and public
sector businesses. To productively adhere to interweaving, culturally different
individuals, a leader will strengthen their ethical foundation, reduce conflicts, improve
communication, better individual and overall performances and improve relationships
between the business itself and the community. In “The Key to Cultural
Transformation,” Hesselbein (1999) wrote, “Peel away the shell of an organization and
there lives a culture-a set of values, practices, and traditions that define who we are as
a group. In great organizations the competence, commitment, innovation, and respect
with which people carry out their work are unmistakable to any observer-a way of living
to its members. In lesser organizations, distrust and dysfunction are equally pervasive.”
Incorporating these scholarly breakdowns on diversity assists a public service
administrator to adhere to the overall objective to serve the population by creating a
clear vision and share it which ultimately aids in the want to follow your vision. This
willingness to follow is constructed by the leader’s ability to use their collective
characteristic traits.
Strengthening an ethical foundation, as Clamp (2010) had outlined, is imperative
in the public leader’s administration. There are many definitions on the term “ethics”
and in this portrait the simplest form is outlined, that of moral reasoning. Ethical
evaluation interplays within a leader’s decision making on all levels, and varies

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depending on cultural allocations of that individual. A leader must use their capabilities
to adapt within this ever-present code of communities and businesses alike. “Practicing
professionals need a well-developed ethical theory defined to work as a guide to
provide a framework to use for the acceptability of their actions and to evaluate their
moral and ethical judgments” (Derr, 2012). Leadership involves an array of challenges
and encumbrances which one must use their given and developed traits to effectively
make discussions which will affect many people within its realm. Public directors are
especially vulnerable to policy and decision making choices, which typical contain some
level of ethical implications, which involve social issues within a community.
As a public service practitioner a leader, with the characteristics outlined, will
continually expanded their background in all fields of leadership styles as the world is
ever-changing and no two judgments/decisions will be the identical. Using one’s
knowledge and continually building one’s skills can and should be applied in all settings
of a leader’s professional career, in other word’s learning is an ever-expanding practice
which should never be thought of as complete. A scholarly practitioner will use all
facets, i.e. communication, adaptability, moral judgment, to apply what one has learned
to “develop their ability to become more effective in their leadership decision making
thereby optimizing performance, maintaining the motivation of followers, and fostering
positive organizational outcomes. (Faraci, Lock & Wheeler 2013)”
This particular educational course is a direct example of how a leader’s skills can
ever-improve. The concepts outlined in this assessment, course, and personal
achievements have aided in the knowledge one can continually build and apply in a real
world setting. A leader should have the confidence and higher learning skill set “so that

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he can offer to his followers a stabile work environment, but in the same time he should
be versatile, ready to embrace the change, to shift, to adjust and to make needed
organizational changes, and show he can be trusted” (Alina, 2013). Build upon what
you know and what you can constantly learn and the result will be the creation of a
complex leader, and not just a specialist.

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Reference
Alina, M. D. (2013) Leadership between skill and competency. University of Bucharest,
Manager 17, 208-214.
Arasaratnam, L. A., & Doerfel, M. L. (2005). Intercultural communication competence:
2003 identifying key components from multicultural perspectives. International
Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29, 137-163.
Blessett, B., Alkadry, M.G., Rubaii, N. (2013) Management and governance: 21st
century implications for diversity in public administration. Public Administration
Quarterly, Vol.37 Issue 3, 302-305.
Cangemi, J. (2011) Leader of the pack. Mensa Bulletin, Issue 546, 24-27.
Clapp, J.R., J. (2010) Diversity leadership: The rush university experience. Hospital
Topics, 88(2), 61-6. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.library.capella,edu/docview/746766922?
accountid=27965
Derr, C.L. (2012) Ethics and leadership. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and
Ethics, 9(6), 66-71. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docreview/1315152989?
accountid=27965
Fall, L.T., Kelly, S., MacDonald, P., Primm, C., Holmes, W. (2013) Intercultural
communication apprehension and emotional intelligence in higher education:
preparing business students for career success. Business Communication
Quarterly 76(4), 412-426.

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Faraci, P., Lock, M., Wheeler, R. (2013) Assessing leadership decision-making styles:
psychometric properties of the leadership judgment indicator. Psychology
Research and Behavior Management 6, 117-123.
Gaiter, D.J. (2013) Facets of leadership. The Neurodiagonstic Journal 53.4, 323-327.
Hesselbein, F. (1999). The key to cultural transformation. Leader to Leader. (12), 6-7.
McGee, N.G., Lee, S., O’Bannon, T.L., Perdue, R.R., (2010) Tourism-related social
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Sandborn, M. (2006) You don’t need a title to be a leader. NY: Doubleday.

10. Running Head: Personal Leadership Portrait 10