Leadership and influence essay
Over the years both as a student and architect, I have been building a proper leadership strategy structure which I was able to apply in each stage of my career.
My first relevant experience in which I had to really test this aptitude as a leader, was with a local urban project in which I participated as member of technical team. We were a small part of a big group in which participated private and government officials. Our work consisted of carrying out fieldwork and the elaboration of maps within a distance of 17 km. Also, parallel to all this we carried out a survey, and I must say that this was the most interesting and challenging part. Dealing with many people from different areas it is not an easy task. Especially people willing to confront you and even more so when you are in charge of organizing and distributing tasks among your team members.
The project consisted of building the first metrobus line in the city, and of course, it was a complex and challenging undertaking. When facing this kind of situation, I have always considered four fundamental values as strategy pillars: clear communication with each member's work, clear expectations, optimistic aptitude and praise.
Encouraging participatory conversation: I think this is the most important step at the time of distributing tasks. In this particular case I made a list of things to do and they were chosen among all team members according to who feels more comfortable with what, allowing each member to successfully perform their functions.
Optimistic aptitude and praise: Ensuring that a team do complex organized tasks could be greatly challenging, but what I learned from this particular experience is that the most difficult part is to maintain group motivation throughout the process. Having finished each final work stage, I have always considered it necessary to openly praise each member's work by stimulating work well done and continuous improvement. The latter undoubtedly leads to the team showing more enthusiasm and unity.
Besides, I had to become aware of where I stood and of what opportunities I had. Facing the work with strong optimism, energy and enthusiasm and a deep sense of the heavy burden and responsibilities that this implied, in one way or another, this attitude had a positive impact on my co-workers.
Without their being a sense of hierarchy within the team this resulted in everyone being more committed to the project.
