Leadership Competencies

The following question was asked to students:

If you are interviewing for the job you always wanted and you are asked to describe your best leadership competencies and to discuss two ways you have demonstrated these qualities at work, how would you respond?

Below are students’ responses numbered 1-4. Respond back to each student. They should be substantive comments, follow-up questions or replies to your colleagues’ posts. Your responses should be at least 75 words in length.

1.My best leadership competencies would have to be my communication skills, my creativity, and that I am responsible.

Most of my time is spent networking and communicating with others. This is done either in person or on social media. I am able to create partnerships and ensure our community is well informed.

My creativity is what shines the most when I help coordinate events and create my educational programming. 2020 was a difficult year but instead of stopping educational programming, I decided to go virtual and create virtual tours, camps, and to go activity bags for students so the learning never stopped.

I am also responsible. I ensure tasks get completed in a timely manner and I’m always one step ahead of the game when it comes to things like writing award submissions, grant proposals, or lesson plans.

I have a unique job that allows me to do something different each day and all these skills allow me to succeed in my profession.

Response back to student:

2. I believe that two of my best leadership qualities are my ability to establish excellent channels of communication and to provide feedback that allows employees to grow as professionals.

Communication is key in any position and it is important an employee be able to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. As a manager, I have always been able to stay on top of all of my emails and reply in a timely fashion to employees and my superiors. I have also been able to communicate with employees on a regular basis. Something that has always helped me is to do walking rounds several times a day. This helps me not stay cooped up in the office and also allows employees to see me and reach out should they need anything. Sometimes going to someones office can be intimidating and this has helped me. These methods have helped me to develop positive relationships and they allow people to feel comfortable to reach out to me because they know that they will receive a response.

Providing feedback is important to allow employees to know where their strengths are and where their areas of improvement are. I believe that this is important as everyone wants to grow as a professional and it is important for a manager to be honest with employees. Check ins with employees throughout the year to provide praise or a different way of doing things is an important way for this to happen. I am honest with employees throughout the year on where they stand so that their end of the year evaluation is not a surprise to them (good or bad). I also take time to guide them through a process, for example, if a manager doesn’t feel comfortable addressing one of their employees. I have pretended to be the employee and allow the manager to do the scenario with me so that they can be more prepared in the actual moment.

Response back to student:

3. The best way to describe my leadership competencies and how I will demonstrate them is by providing example of my job position. I been able to show my qualities at current position as a Parole officer being organize since I had my first job it always brings me a good a good habit to be organize and learn to prioritize what needs to get done with efficiency and professionalism. Another way that had help me to have leadership trough my journey is being honest with what you do.
Example: When I started at this position, the supervisor gave me a caseload in the middle of the month and I had cero experience only the training. I was really worry and I apply my leadership tools I started to organize myself. I started by asking question, reading the policy of my work, going back to my notes and I was able to get the job done by the end of the month successfully. I was honest with my supervisor with the stuff that I had already try to complete and I didn’t understand. Within 2 months I got promoted and sent me to a special training to became a specialized officer.

Response back to student:

4. My best leadership competencies are decision making and interpersonal skills. As a peace officer, you respond to many different calls that require you to make split second decisions. In most cases you do not have time to call timeout and get on the phone with a supervisor to ask them what you should do. You are expected to know what you are doing and how you are going to resolve the issue. The decisions you make can greatly affect a person’s life. If you do not make the right decision an innocent person can be arrested or hurt depending on the nature of the call. In cases involving family violence for instance, the decisions you make are extremely important. The aggressor can seriously injure or kill the victim if you decide not to arrest due to conflicting stories.

Interpersonal skills are necessary in being able to communicate efficiently with people. As an officer, the person you are talking to has to clearly understand what you are trying to tell them. In situations involving mentally ill individuals, interpersonal skills can help you de-escalate a situation. If you use the right words you can sometimes make a violent person calm down and comply with you. Interpersonal skills are also necessary when communicating with your co-workers in the field. You want everyone to understand what is going to happen in a certain call or situation. I believe I have demonstrated both of these leadership competencies in the amount of time I have been with the department.

Response back to student: