Interviewing A Mother : My Interview With My Mother

I chose to interview a single mother of one son. She states the signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect to her are marks and bruises, if the child appears scared to talk and often hold their head down. She states an abused/neglected to her looks like a child whose arms are low and down by their sides and the child walks in a straight line. The child present wearing dirty clothing, smells, and lacks good hygiene. To the single mother the biggest child abuse and neglect problem issue in Spartanburg County is related to the increase of parent use of methamphetamines. Positives for DSS are; DSS is placing children more with family members instead of placing children into the foster care system and DSS is better at seeking out abused and abused

​Parents are one of the most beautiful things that could happen to anyone. They are always there by your side no matter what; they always want the best for their children. They can be strict and protective, its because they love their kids and they don’t want them to get hurt. My parents are special to me because with all the hard time that they had to have me and my siblings in their life they still fought for us and didn’t give up, even after 17 years of trying. But for me? The greatest of all is my mom. She is the one that I look up too. She is the greatest of all. Simple, funny, strict, protective, but yet she is the best.

A leader is hardworking, determined, and persistent. The person that taught me the values that make a leader is my mom. My mom dreamed of coming to the United States to be able to provide for my siblings and me. My mom traveled to the United States and her life was in danger multiple times throughout the journey. However, my mom was determined and she trekked through mud and wilderness in order to reach her destination. My mom was persistent throughout the struggle of finding a job in California. My mom worked as a housekeeper for many families to provide for my siblings and I. Through hard work, my mom managed to save up enough money to send for my siblings and me in El Salvador. I want to believe that I exemplify my mom’s determination through

For as long as I can remember my mother has been a remarkable leader. When I was young she worked as a manager for an apparel manufacturer. I often saw her in action when she took me to work with her on days I was sick. My siblings and I learned at a very young age, that hard work means something, and being passion about

Leadership is multidimensional. There is no straightforward way to describe what a leader is or explain who makes a great leader. The description will be shaped by the purpose of the work being done and the followers one achieves. Dye (2010) states that leadership is a “living phenomenon” (p. 14) and supports the need to provide personalization to the leadership style. There is much discussion on the development of a leader. Some believe that you are a natural born leader who fine-tunes those skills through “persistence and perseverance of failures and successes” (Blanken, 2013, para. 5). Others, like Blanken (2013), feel that exposures early in life begin the development of leadership traits, and “education, jobs, and life experiences then shape the leader’s philosophy and psychology” (para. 7). A dominant style might be apparent in a leader; however, the adaptability in leadership approaches allows the leader to be focused on

Growing up, I realize the important leadership roles that should be recognized in every day life. Leadership is an important part of one's self character because when someone sees you as a leader they tend to grow more onto you so they can be like you. Part of this statement fits a powerful quote i've always lived by while being around others. "It is the men behind who make the man ahead," this quote by Merle Crowell, fits the man I've molded into, simply because I have realized in numerous ways on how my actions can impact other people's actions. My parents always raised me to believe that what you put in is what you get out. So of course, I believe that if I make the decisions to be a follower of the wrong path, then wrong will follow me as well. Instead, I choose to take the golden path and promote a better outcome for my future and hopefully other's also. Sticking to the routine of a leader builds you into an even better leader. Being a better leader, makes me a better man each day that I choose this route as the leader of my path.

For my oral history project, I decided to interview my mother. I am pretty close with my mom, as we talk daily, and I am comfortable often to seek advice from her. A challenge that I faced was trying to find an appropriate date and time for the interview. My mom works six days a week, and I am often preoccupied with classes and school work. Another challenge was my mom’s hesitation with going into too much detail about her experiences. In addition, it was difficult to interview another family member such as a relative because I was not particularly close with my uncles or aunts, nor were any of them easy to contact due to variations in time zones. Furthermore, arguably one of my largest reason why I choose to interview my mom was because I never had taken the time or initiative to ask about my mom’s past. I had only knew of some general aspects, but never asked too much into detail. The oral history project was a perfect opportunity to dwell deeper into my family’s history and how they came to America.

As previously stated, my personal leadership philosophy is to be the leader you aspire to be. This leadership philosophy sets a framework for individuals to model their behavior after those that have been successful within the organization. Generally speaking, our greatest leaders have attributes and traits that have directly contributed to their successes. The key here is to understand that if you want to be a great leader in the organization, then you have to look for, identify, and model those behaviors of those ahead of you that have become successful. Take for instance a small boat coxswain. The coxswain is a position of great responsibility. There are good boat drivers and there are great boat drivers and when making a parallel to this leadership philosophy it makes sense that an up-and-coming boat driver will want to model their behavior and performance after a great boat driver; i.e. be the leader you aspire to be. The same method of mentorship and learning is true when it comes to leadership. Some leaders possess personality characteristics that naturally allow them to lead people with ease. These same leaders are made even greater when they incorporate teachable leadership principles into their leadership styles and techniques. When they utilize these techniques in their day-to-day leadership their actions may appear natural to an onlooker, but in fact leadership is a practiced art and in order to and maintain proficiency within leadership it must be continuously refined. Being a great leader is more than just watching and mimicking behavior. More important than constant observation, continually life-long learning and application of styles, techniques, and models of leadership will help propel individuals to the forefront of

However in order to become a greater leader I am willing to accept this learning challenge and list “the great ‘I am’” five times. I am a trustworthy person, I am an excellent listener, I am extremely respectful of other people, I am very encouraging of other people’s ideas and I am a strong believer of do what makes you happy. “From self-knowledge, Lombardi believed, we develop character and integrity” (Kerr, J. 2013), where from “character and integrity comes leadership” (Kerr, J. 2013). So if I continue to appreciate my own personal values then this should start to guide me in the right direction of being a great leader.

I thought she would never leave me, and especially under these circumstances. We lived in a house in Rogersville Missouri and there was a hole in the floor in the kitchen entering the back deck and pool I did not have a room because they said I did not deserve one. we had a living room with ugly green carpet and the walls looked like fake wood , then tammy and buddy (buddy was the person who did those things to me he is my 2nd adoptive moms, 2nd boyfriend, she only liked him cause he was wealthy I know by the sounds of the house it does not sound like it but they were doing a renovation , we had a boat two jet skis and we had a ford king ranch and a convertible Lexus) had a bedroom with an huge bed and a bathroom with paw prints on the

My leadership philosophy is based on the last 16 years of experience. Amongst those years, I have had some good leaders and bad leaders. I believe I’m a better leader today because my leadership journey has not always been easy. This made me a better listener, increased my sensitivity to those around me and solidified my values and character. These types of significant events shape leaders and it’s up to you if you want to be shape yourself into the good leader.

Leadership philosophy is who we are as a human being and what we believe. Everyone is a leader but do you believe it? That’s the question. To be a leader you have to possess certain traits according to writers and philosophers. I believe that leadership comes over time; you have to make mistakes to make things better. You need to realize what kind of leader you want to be. I Also, believe that to be a good leader I need to possess my own personal beliefs and values, Family, Humility, Responsibility. As I think about all the leadership in my military career and the ones I read about such as Colin Powell; I noticed that all of them have their own value to accomplish greatness in their life. Each Leader is distinctly unique individual. Leaders always take a bath for a change everyday. In this paper I will explain my values in detail. (Dr. Denis Waithley).

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have been influenced by some amazing people. When I think about the ones that have had the lasting impacts of my view of effective leadership, they all have one characteristic in common, humility. I believe to be an effective leader you should understand that you will not always be right and you will not always have all the answers. My definition of leadership is simple; I believe that one’s ability to influence others is the most accurate test of their capacity to lead. Although there varying characteristics of effective leaders such as courage, loyalty, intelligence, or humility etc. It’s how that leader utilizes those characteristics to identify and capitalize on others strengths. I believe

I’ve always considered myself to be a leader. Looking back over the years I’ve learned that my style of leadership has changed over time. Through conversation with myself I have discovered my leadership style and characteristics. I became a leader at a very young age. Leadership to me has always been guiding an individual or group of people in an organization. I’ve always had a desire for interacting with my peers and influencing them in a positive way. In reference to leadership what I have learned is my style of leadership and what leadership really is.

Some believe that leaders are born into this world, that hidden somewhere in their lineage is some secret gene or segment of DNA which gifts them with all the traits and qualities of the leaders before them. Some, on the other hand, surmise that leadership is something instilled at a young age. That you are either raised into a leader, or you are not. However, I consider leadership to be achievable for anybody. The leader in my life which I hope to emulate is my grandfather, Boyd Brummett. Growing up, he would always tell me that there are two types of people in this world, leaders and followers. He is not the first to say this, but he is one of the best examples of a principled leader that one can find. The traits that I have always respected in my grandfather and hope to emulate are his tenacity, his humility, and his constant drive to improve himself.