Adversity Essay

The reading this week covered chapters 3-4 of Resilient Leaders by Robert F. Dees. Dees (2013) summarized that character is formed by a three strand cord consisting of selflessness, integrity, and courage. Chapter three discussed the importance of integrity and courage in leadership. Dees (2013) provides definitions and comprehensive overviews of leadership integrity and courage. Chapter four discusses the importance of wisdom in leadership. Illustrations of leadership without wisdom were brought to light. Additionally, the chapter differentiates a leader from a wise leader along with the importance of growth in attaining wisdom, knowledge, in character and competence. Dees (2013) says that wisdom is the bridge

Adversity is something that many people are able to over come, most people can by themselves, others it requires a lot of help and if they work together and set aside petty fears it will be overcome. When they come out to the other side they will be stronger that before both mentally and/or

Leadership goes beyond management, for some, leadership is instinctual and pours over into your personal life. This paper will discuss a leader I admire in my personal life, and analyze their leadership style. I will discuss how that leader has influenced my leadership style, as well as how things like environment and the economy affect my leadership approach.

Disraeli once said, “There is no education like adversity”. The act of misfortune and difficulties in life is often described as adversity. When people are faced with adversity, they have one of two responses, they break down or break records. Our conception of how adversity is faced varies on the person, showing us that if you face adversity you learn to overcome and get stronger. In the novel, Liesel is faced with adversity with the departure of her mother, and the sudden death of her brother. She also isn’t able to read which creates a huge challenge in her life. Liesel takes her adversity and uses it to help her overcome the abandonment, death, and her lack of ability to read. In the character portrait, I represented Liesel's ability

FDR's leadership, as well as the other leaders discussed in our text, are individuals whom are a learning tool for the future. As demonstrated throughout history, leaders and society continually learn from our progress, development, and our continue to evolve effectively. History has taught us that it is wise to learn from our past. In this specific case, learning and teaching ourselves of the traits and leadership that FDR possessed is an important lesson in understanding how leadership evolved to where it stands today. FDR also teaches us about the effectiveness of visionary charismatic leadership, and the impressive obstacles that can be conquered using this specific set of character strengths.

In the Leadership Challenge, 4th edition, it is Kouzes & Posner (2007) intention to present a road map for individuals to follow on their leadership journey. The authors stress that “leadership is not a gene and it’s not an inheritance.” Leadership they assert is “an identifiable set of skills and abilities that are available to all of us” (p. 23). They make clear that the “great person” theory of leadership is “plain wrong.” Leaders are our everyday heroes who do extraordinary things on a regular basis (p. 23).

In discussion forum 9, leaders are challenged through situations of crisis and are given ways to confront those challenges which allows them to overcome setbacks and face adversity. In the book “Resilient Leaders”, written by Major General Robert Dees, he provides leaders with his personal experiences of the battlefront and home front and what he had to do in order to cope as well as overcome each situation he was placed in. Major General Dees discusses his foundational ideas on leadership in Chapters one and two. The three concepts that our group decided on are Selfless Service, Character and Risk Management.

As a growing debate, the question at hand is whether great leaders are born with specific leadership traits, or if one can be taught certain traits over time. According to (Wikipedia.com) the approach of listing leadership qualities, often termed "trait theory of leadership", assumes certain traits or characteristics will tend to lead to effective leadership. I believe that leadership traits such as honest, competent, initiative, inspiring, hardworking, intelligent, and the ability to lead the masses, are some of the leadership traits one should possess. Within this paper, I will examine the overall concept of leadership traits, while observing the traits that were, or can be associated with successful leaders.

Adversity puts people in difficult or unpleasant situations which can create very strong emotions that can help or harm. When people face adversity, it is seen as a challenge and whether or not they overcome the challenge is personal. However regardless of whether adversity helps or harms, it is advantageous because it offers a challenge to overcome which builds character.

In my reflections as I prepared to write this paper, I came to the realization that leadership is much more complex especially since the paper requires that I focus on a few traits. In an effort to make it simple, I wrote down the traits that came to mind and in process had over 10 important traits but an even bigger challenge was on how to narrow them down to 3 or 4 and this is the place that required a good deal of reflection. Eventually, however, I had to prioritize them since in any case; it is not possible to get a leader that has all the traits. As I thought of the various leaders who have inspired me, I noticed that while they strived to provide the best leadership by focusing on their strong points, they still had their weaknesses. To me this provided a justification for at least identifying key desirable traits and thereafter working to improve them. I did manage to settle on four traits, which for me are indispensible if a leader or a leadership is to become effective.

Many leaders fail in leadership because of unresolved issues in their past that have not been dealt with. These unresolved issues will resort in leadership flaws and failures and will bankrupt ones ministry. I found this too be true because I have personally left some past issues unresolved in my life and they have reared their ugly head in numerous areas of my live; especially in leadership. Much of what determines how a leader’s dark side will develop, stems from the family the person grew up in and his/her childhood years through adolescence. The book does an excellent job to show that unsettled issues can create a certain feeling subservience and uncertainty.

Conflict is defined as the behaviour due to which people differ in their feelings, thought and/or actions. Collins (1995) states that the conflict is a ‘serious disagreement and argument about something important’ and also as ‘a serious difference between two or more beliefs, ideas or interests’ (cf. Kumaraswamy, 1997, p. 96). In general it is believed that conflicts are the underlying cause of disputes. In other words, dispute is a manifestation of the deep rooted conflict. A dispute is defined as ‘a class or kind of conflict, which manifests itself in distinct, justifiable issues. It involves disagreement over issues capable of resolution by negotiation, mediation or third party adjudication’

Leadership is a process of continuous learning and increasing leadership effectiveness requires understanding, reflection, and the application to the appropriate subject matter. To become an effective leader, one should strive to enhance their skills and abilities associated with applying new data, information, and ideas objectively and subjectively. Even though everyone in the world has in their possession some sort of leadership characteristics and attributes, not everybody is set out to make the necessary sacrifices it takes to become a truly effective leader. Utilizing authentic leadership practices entails learning how to be true to yourself and others. An essential element facilitating meaningful leadership is trust. Influential risks, changes, and challenges will inevitably occur throughout the various stages of life. According to Erik Erikson, human life stages comprise of infancy, early childhood, play age, school age, adolescence, young adulthood, adulthood, and old age (Armstrong, 2012). This paper’s objectives include revealing several moments in life where challenges to leadership occurred, predominantly focused on the adolescence, young adulthood, and adult stages in life. The paper highlights specific instances in life where leadership challenges became noticeably obvious, influencing various personal and professional motivational elements. Life is full of challenges, highlighting previously endured leadership examples helps to recognize and learn

There are many kinds of leaders; some lead through position and authority, while others lead through inspiration and vision. Some people are simply natural born leaders. However, whether one was born a leader or has to become a leader, all great leaders spend time developing their traits. Similarly, when you train for a sport, you first learn to develop the fundamentals, and then you work to master and apply them. I’ve been told I am a born leader, but have always sought to improve my leadership abilities through experience. Maxwell states, “The learned leader; has seen leadership modeled most of life, has learned leadership through training, and has self-discipline to become a great leader” (Maxwell, 93). This statement is reflective of my experience during my military tenure, and what it means to me is; leadership must be developed in practice, as well as in theory.

Superior leaders reflect on their experiences and create leadership lessons base on what they have learned. When I read the section Implications for Leaders I immediately thought back to my conversation with my wife and how valuable this practice has been for me the first couple months of the school year. It is not as if I have never reflected on my work, but to purposefully spend time reflecting on situations from the day is life changing. The late Jim Valvano so eloquently said in his last public speech during the ESPN ESPYS “we should spend some time