Eagle Scholar Leadership Journey

This semester, we learned specific ways to build our leadership capabilities by reading “How Remarkable Women Lead” by Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranston, researching Boston women leaders, interviewing a present day woman leader, and reading a group book. Throughout all of these resources and research, common themes of how to be a successful leader emerged. Not only did I learn more about leadership in general, but I also found ways to improve my own leadership without going too much out of my comfort zone. The important lessons of leading with perseverance, framing, and an activist's mindset thoroughly influenced my identity as a leader and gave me new tactics to grow as a person.

This experience greatly informs my leadership style today. I believe that the key to being a leader is helping individuals to recognize and capitalize upon their potential. Individuals often fail to see in themselves what others see. A leader must show team members what they cannot see to enable them to flourish. This is essential to fostering a diverse community, as encouraging individuals’ strengths and differences helps them to express their entire, authentic selves, as opposed to trying to conform to expectations. As a result, teams can become more dynamic, positive, and creative and thus more

The Leadership Wisdom of Jesus is for those who want to become wise and highly effective leaders. This is more than a theory; it focuses on a uniquely constructive and compassionate approach to leadership based on positive spiritual principles contained in the teachings of Jesus. It addresses priceless wisdom for leading ourselves and others. We can apply these principles to family, work and church or ministry. When we are called upon to lead, in any capacity, we have to be effective and lead with ethic and justice. We have to be able to provide positive influence for others. The book “Lead like Jesus” give us four stages for us to learn how we can identify our stage in order to go to a different level of leadership. We need to identify

Odom et al. (2012), tested audience were undergraduate students enrolled in a personal leadership education course at Texas A&M University. Students were to become aware of, apply and then reflect upon personal leadership capacities.

Thousands of definitions have been written to identify characteristics that effective leaders should possess; however it is impossible for leaders to be effective if they are unable to understand that true leaders are called by Christ, are servants to Christ, and must seek the vision of Christ. Through Christ, leaders recognize and address the needs of their followers by elevating and empowering them, and will inevitably fail if they allow themselves to simply rule and not consider the moral and ethical implication of their work (Burns, 2003). This essay will examine

After reading the book, “Lead Like Jesus” I have come to know that a servant leader is truly a great, and an authentic leader if he/she can lead like Jesus as he modeled for everyone, and evidence shows he has created many followers thus. In addition, leadership is projected, not only in an organizational designation, but in a personal approach admirably. Likewise, as Jesus exemplifies a visionary role to set the course and the destination while implementing the role by concentrating on serving others selflessly. Both roles are vital, and Jesus symbolized them significantly.

Before this class, I had a very primitive and vague definition of leadership. Not only did I define it as per my views and ideologies, but I also said that each individual has their own definition of leadership. My initial belief was that leadership does not have a clear cut definition, but there were well defined leadership traits which made an individual. I also initially believed that personal traits did not translate into leadership traits with no strong correlation. After going through the various modules this class offered, it is safe to say that I have significantly redefined leadership and underwent a strong personal assessment. This paper talks what I took back from each of the class activities, assignments and how my self-assessment compares to the perception of others.

As a graduate student approaching her final semester in school, thoughts regarding my leadership abilities in the soon-to-be “real world” have occupied my mind lately. To further explore and develop my ideas about leadership, I decided to develop my personal leadership theory. So, I asked myself the following questions: What makes a successful leader? How do you recognize a leader when you meet one?, and lastly, what is my theory of leadership? With this last question I thought about what leadership meant to me personally and how I personified it in a role of authority. While I had given thought to how I led, I had rarely taken the time to fully understand what my personal leadership theory entailed. Throughout the length of this paper I will analyze how my leadership skills, traits, values and elements from both Authentic Transformational theories help me to shape my leadership philosophy. In doing so I hope to define the leadership values that influence the way I view and practice leadership.

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." Dwight D. Eisenhower This quote from Eisenhower rings true on many levels. During my career in the military and the private sector, I have been subjected to many different styles of leadership, good or bad. In my leadership roles I have attained, I tried to model leadership abilities by taking bits and pieces of previous leader’s styles and forming them into my own model. This has proven to work well as dealing with people from all different walks of life there is no one size fits all approach. In writing this paper, I will detail my own leadership platform drawing from the course material and various other sources. The goal of this paper is to show a solid understanding of the course teachings and perhaps give the reader a new found perspective on leadership.

Leadership has become an ever changing concept for me. I have seen my idea of a leader evolve as a result of professional opportunities over the years. Currently I see leadership as an area that involves both the leader and the followers. Keeping that in mind, I reflected on my own leadership journey by examining my evolution as a leader and exploring those characteristics that have afforded me the most success and those that have demonstrated challenges.

The sum of education, experiences, and observations lays a foundation upon which I will grow to become a good leader. In this plan, I will focused on those aspects of leadership that I believe are most required for personal development as well as those which will be so significant for my future leadership career. I have identified three goals which will guide me in the development process. My goals are to develop my integrity, listening skills and communications skills. I assume that this plan will change and be altered as required by life circumstances.

Self leadership through personal learning and reflection “provides a foundation for effective leadership skills” (Watson, 2004). The Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL) includes self leadership as one of it’s five core leadership competencies, which is defined as “The Lead Self” domain. As part of Leading Self, effective leaders must demonstrate: self awareness, managing self, developing self and demonstrating character. (CCHL, 2010).

Leadership is about effectively influencing people; an endeavor that can be very challenging at times even for the most qualified and experienced leaders. My time at the Eisenhower School has allowed me to read and assimilate vast amounts of information about leadership. The white space during the school year has facilitated reflection on the results of my executive assessment, seminar discussions, and the various leadership presentations from strategic leaders. As a result, I realize there are strategic leadership concepts I have already experienced and applied. Self-awareness by attaining understanding of my own personality is one of the most valuable lessons I have learned. Cognizance of my temperament’s tendencies and those of

The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner (2007) is the result of twenty years of research on the factors that influence and create great leadership. Through studies and stories from leaders with various backgrounds throughout the world, the practices and characteristics that create great leadership are delineated. Leadership is viewed not as a group of inherent characteristics, but as learned behavior that anyone can achieve. The goal of Kouzes and Posner’s book is to inspire and educate leaders through transformational leadership. As such, leadership is about mobilizing others to become and do extraordinary things.

Effective leadership approaches from a biblical perspective consist of God’s nature in his manifested character. Christian leaders are willing to pay the price to lead in Christ’s affliction. Paul said there is a price to pay in order to lead and Jesus reminded us, “Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master. ' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” (John 15:20, New International Version). Christian leaders need core attributes of God’s styles and approaches, support and linkage from scriptures, and knowledge of his leadership models of truth for effective leadership. However, these perspectives will gave me a better appreciation and insight of who God is and who I can be with his guidance.