Personal Leadership Development Plan (Page 4 of 5) in pdf

PART III: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Throughout this course, I identified a number of strengths and weaknesses.

My first strength is my ability to communicate an idea, regardless of medium. This largely ties

to my job as a military photojournalist, but my communicative ability stems from my upbringing

amongst teachers and creative professionals. Everything from playing word games on car trips to

my eventual collegiate training in visual communications set the stage for my successes. Add to

that five years of Public Affairs experience and I’ve learned how to effectively convey a concept

or change an opinion using the least amount of words possible. That’s not to say my writings and

speeches are short, but rather that everything supports the idea and nothing is repeated.

Another strength I’ve identified is my predisposition to mediation and negotiation. Perhaps

this is another skill from my upbringing, acting as the mediator between two fighting sisters.

While I’m not generally decisive myself, I can generally work with two or more people to come

to a mutually beneficial decision. This has been particularly evident in the interpersonal

communication lessons, despite not doing so well on the formative exercise.

During the four lenses lesson, I realized that I have a unique combination of cold analysis and

empathy (i.e. a combination of blue and green as my primary color). While this can be a

weakness due to the inherent discord of polar opposites, I see this as a strength as well. The

empathy in particular is useful to me as a leader, and something I feel I should tap into more.

Finding a balance between the two will be key, as well as deferring to the appropriate side when

selecting a leadership style for a given situation.

A definite weakness I’ve realized is my lack of traditional credentials. I have two certifications

and a bevvy of other non-traditional credentials, but the Air Force needs other “boxes checked.”

I’ve known for a while that I’d like to be a tech school instructor, but I seem to have forgotten

that I need my CCAF for that position. I will also need a bachelor’s degree to really be

competitive for SMSgt and CMSgt.

Another weak area is my personal resiliency. Perhaps part of having a dominance in blue and a

lack of gold has made me someone who wears my heart on my sleeve and doesn’t always make

time to take care of myself. Many of the resiliency mechanisms discussed in class are missing in

my life. I need to find ways to prevent myself from burning out and taking things too personally.

My last weak area was actually the first identified, my terrible memory, especially with names.

While not necessarily an aspect of the course material, it posed problems when I needed to

address my classmates. It has caused problems for my job as well, being in a career which deals

with people on a regular basis. My OIC even made a comment about it shortly before I left for

NCOA, and made the observation that memory can be improved with deliberate practice.

Personal Leadership Development Plan Page 4