Leadership Paper

Leadership Paper, EDUC 762
Eyad Alfattal, Ed.D. Program, Cohort 8, CSUSB
Leadership Paper: A Reflection on Lessons

Learnt from EDUC 762 for the Development of
Personal Leadership Strengths and
Competencies
Eyad Alfattal, 11/12/2016
1. Introduction
A famous quote by Johns Maxwell on leadership is as follows: A
leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
This quote eloquently summarizes that leaders must be involved in at
least three main functions, namely knowing and related skills possession,
doing including consistent actions such as walking the talk, and
coaching and guiding others to destinations and objectives. These three
functions as well as other ones based on notions advanced in Rath and
Conchie (2008) and Yong (2013) guide the discussion in this paper. The
objective is to reflect on who I am as a leader, and describe what I learnt
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from one of the courses in my doctoral program in educational

leadership.
Following this introduction, the first section below provides an
analysis of my assessment results based on Gallup Strengths Finder
survey. Next, I provide a brief examination of my leadership
competencies in comparison to those described in American Association
of Community Colleges (AACC) Competencies for Community College
Leaders. The third section of the paper is dedicated to a summary of my
key takeaways from two reading, Rath and Conchie (2008) and Yong
(2013). Finally, I put forward my personal development plan to become a
better leader.
2. Analysis of Assessment Results

To begin with, I normally take psychometric surveys and
consequent findings and reports with much criticality and skepticism. I
believe that human psychology and human behavior are too complex to
lend themselves so easily to quantitative measurements. However, I was
impressed with Gallup Strengths Finder survey and its findings about me.
The instrument was well designed and the report was quiet meaningful; I
could related much of what the report said about me to whom I actually
was and how I actually behaved. The top five strengths suggested by the
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Gallup report were ordered as follows: (1) Ideation, (2) Futuristic, (3)
Learner, (4) Strategic, and (5) Achiever. I discuss these in turn below.
As a person with ideation as my top strength, I am fascinated by
ideas where I try to discover the simple concepts beneath complex
matters. In fact, this is very true about me. An example of this approach
of thinking of mine is my doctoral dissertation research. In my study, I
incorporate three complex theoretical models that explain international
students mobility, and I explore combining them into one simple theory
or model that would reflect the essence of the associated phenomena. As
I employed transcendental phenomenological qualitative methods, as
well as quantitative factor analysis methods, I was able to find that 52
complex variables derived from three theories could be reduced to four
domains that explain the phenomenon in a simple manner. I found that
international students mobility was shaped by four factors: quality,
access, safety, and affordability. These can be talked about in a simple
way and in place of the 52 variables form the three older theories. As I
was reflecting how I think and work, I found that not only is my
dissertation a depiction of my ideation strength, but also are many of my
other professional and scholarly activities. For instance, a few months
ago I delivered a presentation under the title Structural Equation
Modeling Made Simple. While preparing for that presentation a colleague
of my thought that it was unrealistic to hope to be able to describe
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structural equation modeling statistical procedures and test objectives

and methods in a simple manner. I had a different feeling, as I was able
to see different types of logics employed, I could define the essence,
summarize and group these, as well as describe these in simple language
to my audience. The presentation was a success, and it helped many of
the participants to understand what could be, otherwise, too complex
concepts.
The second top strength of mine suggested by the Gallup report is
futuristic. Again, as I read the description of this strength in Rath and
Conchie (2008), I thought that this is a very true and distinct
characteristic of mine. My brain is wired to constantly evaluate whatever
is in front of me in terms of short and long-term consequences. This
includes people; that is, I look at people and I try understand what they
do, as I think of who they will become. Furthermore, I often look at
problems, and I start dreaming of solutions. In fact, I have predicted the
development of technologies, products, and services. Many of these
happened to become reality years after my forecast. Once of my
predictions in 1996, for instance, was virtual reality technology. I knew
that they would use big goggles and I knew that it would become
interactive, while I had never learnt about it at that time. As ideation and
futuristic are my two top characteristic, every now and then I come up
with a creasy futuristic idea. Yes, they are crazy as per Linas, my wife,
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description, whom I always bug with these ideas. They are crazy ideas,
although as Lina always sees, many of these ideas find their way to our
life.
The third characteristic of mine is learner. According to the Gallup
report, I am a person who is drawn to the process of learning more than
the content or the result, where I am energized by my constant and
deliberate work on improving myself, learning new things, and obtaining
additional skills. Similar to my evaluation of the previous two strengths of
mine, I find this a relevant description of how I conduct my life. In fact, I
am the kind of person who even when I have free time to read or watch
something on TV, I select a book or a TV program that can help me learn
something. For example, I enjoy watching National Geographic more than
a movie, and I enjoy reading books about management or leadership
more than fiction or novels. This excludes science fiction movies and
novels which engage my ideation and futuristic strengths and I, in fact,
find enjoyable. At work, I also enjoy the process of learning. I always find
myself wanting to be exposed to new work areas, rather than being
involved in repetitive kinds of job duties.
Strategic is my fourth strength. Gallup description of this strength
concerns the evaluation of different path options to problem solution,
where complexities are understood for their patterns, and where mindful
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decisions are made based on what works best. Again, I find this a good
description of my approach to decision making, although I am not certain
if such characteristic of mine is innate or acquired. According to Rath and
Conchie (2008), strategic, is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct
way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This
perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see
complexity. When I was a child, my father always trained me on strategy
through different strategy games especially chess. I feel that much of my
strategic thinking was developed through those games, although it might
be true that I already had those distinct prospects as described by the
authors.
The fifth top strength of mine as per the Gallup report is achiever.
One more time, this is an excellent evaluation of how I operate. I derive
energy and joy from achieving things everyday including during
weekends and vacations. In fact, since I stated my doctoral program, I
have been starting my reading and writing everyday form 3am or 4 am
everyday including weekends. This has helped me in my dissertation
work, as I was able to conduct and write about my longitudinal sequential
mixed methods study, which would not be possible within the three years
of the doctoral program if I were not an achiever.
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To conclude this section, based on the Gallup strength finder survey

and its consequent report, my top five strengths are ideation, futuristic,
learner, strategic, and achiever. The first four all fall within Strategic
Thinking category of Rath and Conchie (2008) strengths inventory, while
the fifth, achiever, is an Executing characteristic. This implies that I may
have focused strategic strengths, although I will need the support of
working within teams where members have different sets of strengths
including those of Influencing and Relationship Building. This is discussed
in more detail in the Personal Development Plan section below.
3. Analysis of Leadership Competencies

This section is dedicated to the analysis of AACC Core
Competencies for leadership in community colleges. The Competencies
for Community College Leaders document presents a model that
describes leaders competencies development as they progress from
emerging leaders, to new CEOs, and finally mature leaders with three or
more years of experience. The model is also divided into five domains, all
of which are key for the success of community college leaders:
organizational strategy; institutional finance, research, fund raising, and
resource management; communication; collaboration; and community
college advocacy. The following analysis is derived from descriptions of
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competencies for emerging leaders, as these are relevant to my current

point in my career.
Organizational strategy competencies involve understanding
various aspects about what a college wants to do, what it is actually
doing, and where it is heading. Knowledge of what concerns
understanding vision, mission and values of a college, as well as the
organizational culture of that college. While visions, missions and values
help understand the desires of colleges for where they want to be, the
cultures, as well as the organizational structures, of colleges represent
the dynamic by which those colleges operate, and they control what
colleges are actually doing and where they can be heading.
Understanding what a college is actually doing additionally involves
knowledge of college strategies and programs that are set with the
purpose of achieving college objectives. An emerging leader pays
attention to these, while she/he is also forward-looking, change embracer.
A final important organizational strategy competency of an emerging
leader concerns a positive orientation and practice of customer service.
Such leader appreciates students, faculty, community members, and
other stockholders, while she/he makes them feel welcome by providing
them with even more than what they want. Such leader constantly
engages with process improvement for betterment of services.
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The second domain described in AACC Core Competencies is

institutional finance, research, fund raising, and resource management.
These constitute operational skills and habits that help build emerging
community college leaders. For instance, an emerging leader knows the
budget of her/his department, checks, and reports trends and
inconsistencies. These leaders plan and manage their time well; and they
engage with and support college advancement in fund raising. Finally,
emerging leaders try to resolve conflict, and in situations they are not
able to do so, they understand the organizational protocol and how such
conflict can be addressed.
The third group of competencies community college leaders should
possess concern communication. These are partly similar to the previous
group of competencies since these also relate to operational skills.
Communication competencies for emerging leaders include being
articulate, having good presentation skills, and being ready to deliver
succinct speeches that are in line with the college mission and vision. In
addition, emergent leaders know the chain of command, offer solutions,
positively participate in shared governance, know and use needed jargon,
understand internal and external communication nuances, and are
globally competent.
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The final two domains of core competencies are collaboration and

advocacy. Emerging community college leaders understand that student
success and access objectives are only achieved through collaboration
with others and other departments. Furthermore, these leaders recognize
key advocate stakeholders, while they are familiar with state and federal
funding programs, as well as how community college operations are
influenced by public perceptions and government policies.
4. Key Takeaways from Rath and Conchie (2008) and

Yong (2013)
There are numerous lessons that I learnt from the two readings
Strengths Based Leadership by Rath and Conchie (2008) and A Walk
through Leadership by Yong (2013). From Rath and Conchie (2008), I
learnt that leaders can be more effective if they focus on how to employ
their strengths rather than attempt to improve their weaknesses. The
book provided detailed descriptions of 34 different strengths that are
grouped into four categories. (I listed these categories and discussed my
top five strengths above.) Additionally, Rath and Conchie (2008) present
findings from their study on fellowship that I found enlightening. They
advanced that people follow leadership, which provides for compassion,
trust, hope, and stability.
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Takeaways from Yong (2013) were so many. In fact, I think that the
book contains so many stories of wisdom from grandpa that it is worthy
of a second or even a third reading. Nonetheless, two key lessons
strongly stood out for me, while I was reading the chapter on how to
follow the yellow brick road. These were: (1) being a good and authentic
listener, and (2) instilling hope and optimism in others. I believe that
these attracted me most because I thought that they are areas which I
practice but can further improve. These together with other development
goals are listed in the section below.
5. Personal Development Plan

I am currently working at a four-year higher education institution
where I lead a small group consisting of four staff members;
nevertheless, I have aspirations to move to serve in the community
college system. The following is my development plan including
immediate actions and activities that I will engage in as soon as I make
the transition to a community college position.
1. Find a job in a community college that needs and appreciates my
ideation strength. Such job can be in enrollment management,
research, or program development.
2. Learn as much as possible about the college including its history,
mission, vision, core values, organizational culture, policies,
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communication protocols, stakeholders, data sources, dashboard,

different players and influencers, budget and budget sources, and
fund raising activities.
3. Get the right people around me who would be able to fill some of
the gaps in my strengths. I will need the help of people who have
influencing and relationship building strengths. In addition, I will
need a person with an activator strength to help put ideas into
actions.
4. Be a good and authentic listener, continue to learn, and selfimprove.
5. Build on my ideation and futuristic strengths to instill hope and
optimism in others.
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6. Conclusion
In this reflective paper, I discussed my assessment results based on
Gallup Strengths Finder survey. I shared that my five top strengths were
ideation, futuristic, learner, strategic and achiever; and I told some
stories about how I conduct my life as I found them consistent with the
descriptions provided in the survey report. In the second section above, I
provide an analysis of leadership competencies described in American
Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Competencies for Community
College Leaders. Next, I put forward key takeaways from two reading,
Rath and Conchie (2008) and Yong (2013). The final section was a list of
the five activities that I will engage in with the purpose of personal
development.
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Leadership Paper, EDUC 762

Eyad Alfattal, Ed.D. Program, Cohort 8, CSUSB