Leadership Journeys And The Third Essay

What comes to mind when you hear the word leader? Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy? According to Webster's Dictionary, a leader is "one who leads." After participating in the Leadership Program, I have learned that a leader is hard to summarize.

These men and women led the way to do what they have done, whether showing their leadership in the business world, the political landscape, or the high school classroom. I know that I have been a leader for my peers, just as they have been for me. When preparing for a presentation for the Delaware State Student Council, I found a quote by Tom Peters, a writer on business management principles, which really resonated with me. “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders”. I have, since then, done what the quote says, and have built leaders in my peers and my friends. Leadership will continue to be a focal point of my character as a member of the Caesar Rodney National Honor Society, to better not just the people around me, but myself as

As a student leader who is heavily involved in my school and community, I’ve had an abundance of opportunities and experiences to learn and grow from. Because of these opportunities, I’ve been able to discover things about myself and my community that have arrived as a pleasant surprise. Although each experience I’ve had during my high school career has impacted me in some way, whether the impact be immense or miniscule, no experience has quite shaped me as a leader as my experience with the Chick-fil-a Leader Academy did.

Every leader has their own idea of what effectiveness looks like (Jones, 2015). For this study, authentic leadership will be the focus, as defined by Avolio, Gardner and Walumbwa (2004) an individual acting according to their values and convictions, building credibility and the respect and trust of those that follow. Authenticity is a choice that individuals must choose to embrace instead of a character trait that comes from within (Murphy, 2012). Outcomes of authentic leadership remain limitedly researched both theoretically and empirically (Miniotaite & Buciuniene, 2013). Authentic leadership lacks empirical evidence between the leader’s perception and the follower’s perception (Peus, Wesche, Streicher, Braun, & Frey, 2012). Wang, Sui, Luthans,

transformation and changes in leadership styles that occurred as a result of my attendance to the

According to Webster’s Dictionary, leadership is the power or ability to lead other people, the act or instance of leading. I believe that Leadership is an art, the art to get others to follow and accomplish a common goal or task in a harmonic manner. A leader can be shown in all kinds of shapes and forms. To be a great leader many people believe it consists of modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart. Over the course of me learning how to become a better leader and being in leadership roles, I’ve learned that all these are very necessary to be a great leader.

Through StuCo, I was given many opportunities to attend various leadership programs, the most noteworthy being the BASIC Leadership Workshop sponsored by the Oklahoma Association of Student Councils. At BASIC, I learned how to be the most efficient leader I could be through performing group tasks and solving problematic situations, including creating a hypothetical school with its own song and chant and addressing the struggles of student involvement in the form of a skit. I was trained to apply the concept of consensus to group decision-making by listening to and considering everyone’s ideas and reaching a solution through discussion. I was introduced to new ways to promote school spirit and unity within my own school through pep rally activities, class competitions, and service projects. I was also taught skills for success in life, such as setting goals, dealing with obstacles, and staying motivated. It was an unforgettable week full of friendships, positivity, and self-improvement—one of the best weeks of my

My idea of leadership is being able to inspire others, motivate, set a vision, communicate, respect others, and of course, lead by example. A leader must have an honest understanding of who they are, what they know, and what they are capable of. To be a successful leader, you have to be able to convince your followers, not just yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed. In my opinion, this can build confidence in their followers to have faith in you, in order to be able to lead. I strongly believe that good leaders are made rather, and not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders are developed through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and

Throughout the years leadership has been defined in a number of different ways and it is described and implemented in many more. At times there is this perspective in the minds of many, that it takes a particular type of human breed to become an impactful and influential leader. On the contrary, I believe that the focus of leadership should transfer from the transcendental impacts of leadership and focus more on the small individual tasks and decisions, which lead to the transcendental impact. If the focus is altered to more minute actions, leadership will stop being perceived as a level only few can reach and it will begin to be seen as an act, which anyone can utilize on a daily basis. Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield, described it best when he said, “Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It's about

Finding a mentor or role model: We as student leaders were mandated to have a mentor, additionally other seniors around the students were individuals, who lived exemplary lives. They preached what they practiced. Some of the key members in this group have left a lasting impression on me. Particularly, their manner of handling crisis and decision making in the midst of conflicts enabled me to learn to imitate them. Admiration for them has unintentionally helped me to emulate the same traits.

Path-goal theory deals with the leader's style to motivate followers, to accomplish set goals (Northouse, 2010). The path-goal theory is simply the implication that a leader works with an individual to establish a goal. The leader does this by individual motivation to achieve the proposed goal, while working through obstacles that may hinder achieving that goal (Whitener, 2007). The basic assumption of path-goal theory is that the following motivates subordinates: the capability to perform the work, their efforts will result in a certain outcome, and the payoff will be worthwhile (Whitener, 2007). The path-goal theory is a pragmatic approach that the leader uses to motivate the followers to achieve the set goals.

During the past ten weeks, I have strengthened my concept of what constitutes effective leadership. Importantly, it is a leadership style that maximises the contributions of followers to achieve the desired outcomes for the organisation they represent. As Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy (2014, p.57) explains, effective leaders need to balance the drive to achieve a task with managing relationships. Therefore, it is essential for good leadership to not only focus on the task but develop, motivate and empower team members to strive for the achievement of task goals.

Leadership has been studied from a wide range of perspectives and thus it means different things to different people. Some people view leadership as the focus of group processes, some others view it from a personality or skills perspective, to some others leadership is an act or behavior, some school of thought describe leadership in terms of power relationship while some view leadership as a transformational process (Northouse, 2012). Looking at the various definitions of leadership, there are various terms that are important; including the fact that leadership is a process that involves influence and the attainment of a common goal, and usually occurs in the context of a group (Northouse, 2012). The path-goal theory is one of the

The purpose of this personal assessment is to devalue an incident in which I believe I performed my very best, within my leadership capability, according to organizational policies, and lawful regulatory compliance while protecting cultural competence and our organization from any legal repercussions. Business environment will continue evolve and it is pivotal to the success of the organization that all potential leaders acquire the fundamentals of understanding human behaviors within a multicultural atmosphere. Different situations will arise in which leadership will need to focus on the many aspects of one’s personal beliefs, culture as a whole, and productivity at the least. What is evident is the diversity within

One of the topics in organizational development today is leadership. Leadership is what individuals do to mobilize other people in organizations and communities. According to Kouzes & Posner, there are five practices and ten commitments of exemplary leadership. The five practices of exemplary leadership include: Model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. In the Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner found similar patterns and actions of leadership that created the essentials to achieve success. Utilizing the research conducted by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, I have created a leadership plan that would apply to the Admission Department at Texas Wesleyan University.