This report is a summary of my experiences with the final project of Arman Choudhry’s Leadership Skills 101: Learn the Leadership Mindset, Principles, Strategies for Top Tier Management course.

The final project was to role-play with someone who was pretending to be a difficult employee and to try and communicate clarity in order to get them to meet a productivity deadline. Although Choudhry used language like “compartmentalise” and “dominate” throughout the course—which I am sure is helpful and pertains to certain business environments and industries—I found the skills about how to give direction more useful to my particular industry of ministry. I found that when I took the time to understand where the employee was, where they were going (or wanted to go), and asking questions to get more information without judgement was most effective. Taking the time to articulate that I was supportive of the employee and where they were at created more of a culture of trust. Once the employee felt supported and that I was someone that they could trust, they were more at ease and more supportive of the mission and vision that we were collectively trying to achieve. They were also more productive and more on top of meeting deadlines and turning in quality work. 

It also felt more organic as far as my own personal style of leadership: it felt more like having a conversation with someone rather than trying to assert control or dominance over someone, which helped in turn to make me feel more relaxed and at ease when demonstrating leadership. It also welcomed the employee into the conversation, and the work felt much more collaborative, which increased productivity on both sides.

In hindsight, the skills that I learned through Choudhry’s class had a noticeable improvement on my leadership potential and clearly highlighted ways in which I can use effective leadership skills to my advantage.