Journal Topic #8—Leadership Readiness & Decision-making Skills

What are my expectations for professionalism at Work?

I expect to compose myself in a manner that exudes professionalism, seriousness, commitment,

and also competence. I can also expect to communicate with others in a professional manner,
and on the same note I expect others to communicate with me in the same manner.

Relating back to your top five Clifton Strengths, respond to the following questions:

● What qualities do I possess that make me an effective leader?

All of my Clifton Strengths which are empathy, harmony, responsibility, restorative, and relator
all help me to be an effective leader in situations where I need to lead. I think I am a
trustworthy person as well, and I possess many qualities that others may notice from me and
see me as a person they can place their trust in, like accountability and integrity.

● Reflecting on my leadership skills, what would I most like to improve about myself?

I think one thing that I would love to improve about myself in regard to leadership skills
is my empathy and restorative skills. These are important skills to help lead others, and I
do possess them to an extent, but I would like to develop them further. I also would like
to improve my ability to establish boundaries. Recently at my Starbucks job, I have been
taking active steps to establish boundaries for my higher ups which I am proud of. I
would like to further work on doing this through the rest of my time at Starbucks and at
other jobs I may acquire.

● Do I trust my decision-making capabilities? Do others?

I do trust my ability to make decisions, and I think I have the potential to make decisions that
can benefit myself and others. I think others do as well, but sometimes I struggle with
presenting my opinions and ideas about what decisions to make in a given situation. I feel like I
worry about standing up for my ideas and decisions I think are beneficial because I don’t want
to undermine anyone, and this is something I would like to work on.
● How can I make better decisions that I feel confident about?

I think one big thing I can do to make better decisions I am confident about is standing
by my ideas about decisions that I think are good. Sometimes I can have an idea about a
decision that I want to make, but I won’t stand by it fully or as much as I should and I
may be swayed to support a different decision. I think also I need to feel more confident
in my decision making skills and believe in myself and those skills.