Leadership Philosophy Essay

One definition of leadership states that it is a process by which a group is influenced and directed by a particular member of the group to reach a common goal (Northouse 2010). Many other definitions exist, suggesting that it is a concept as fluid and individual as leaders themselves (Curtis et al. 2011).

When talking about leadership, I would think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his influences on the American civil rights movement. His famous speech – “I have a dream” is one of the most compelling in all times. The speech was powerful because it was simple and brought out a clear and focused theme. The audiences’ emotion was agitated instantly by his speech. And the reaction and impact were enormous. Of course, leadership is not only about powerful speeches, but involves the leaders’ characteristics and their abilities to influence others.

How I define leadership has mostly to do with 27 years of service in the Army and 20 of those years spent as a Non-Commissioned Officer. Simply put, I believe leadership is the balancing of two competing priorities, the accomplishment of the mission and the welfare of the people that are in your charge. Others can probably think up a million of other subcategories that go into defining leadership, but I believe those are the two over arching things a leader has to do. I see those two priorities being symbiotic because without the people I can’t accomplish the mission but without the mission I don’t need the people.

There are many definitions for the term leadership. This term have different meanings to each individual. Leadership is defined as a complex phenomenon involving the leader, the followers, and the situation (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). Leadership is a quality that one can gain through employment experience and/or through education and can also be gained through mentorship. There are many different leadership styles that a leader may fall under. Each type of leadership style has its own uniqueness that makes the leader fall under that particular

According to Dictionary.com, leadership is defined as “the position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a

Several leaders have influenced me during my career, all in a different ways. There are two occurrences that have impacted me the most. The first one was after returning from confinement for a violation I had committed; my new supervisor came to me and pulled me to the side and said, “I do not know what you did and I do not care what happened in the past; What matters now is that if you do what you suppose to do, I will back you up. Today is day one for us!” The impact of this conversation was that it changed my point of view about the way I perceived my change of command. The second

Leadership is the ability to guide, direct, or influence people. A good leader can do all of this while maintaining the approval of the people that he or she is leading. Some people want a leader to take control and others want a leader that is more flexible and will allow them to have a say in what the leader does. Due to this, leadership depends a lot on the people being lead.

To me leadership is any person who leads by example and has the integrity to do the right thing even when it is not popular. It is someone who is humble, always puts forth their best effort and places others before themselves no matter the situation. Leadership is about being the best you can be for yourself and sticking up for others when they can’t do it themselves.

I’ve had both good and bad leadership influences during my career. The first good influence was an Aviation Warrant, who on the very first day I met him, explained his expectations of me, our relationship, the fact that he was not the smartest individual in the room and that he would be counting on my knowledge and experience to help him with his decision making. He was a polite, easy going person that would show a stern side when needed. The second good influence was also an Aviation Warrant. He had a gruff and intimidating exterior until you got to know him. He was very knowledgeable and would share that knowledge. We worked very closely together and he would confide in me and would listen to my opinions and recommendations. He basically let me run the maintenance program with very little oversight. We built a mutual trust and respect for each other. He felt comfortable enough to let me be his quality control when he

My definition of leadership is someone who takes charge over others and motivates them to follow his or her lead and to be the best that they can be. According to Ernie DiMattia, in his article Leadership vs. Management | Focus on Leadership and Management in the Library Journal, “a commonly accepted definition of leadership refers to someone who guides or influences others (DiMattia, 2013).” The guidance and influence that a leader has makes others want to follow him or her, and someone in the management position might not always use these actions towards their subordinates. Being a leader is not just having influence over others, it involves someone having a certain style of leadership that makes people want to follow them. Daniel Goleman discusses in his book Primal Leadership the six different styles of leadership, and how “the most effective leaders can

What leadership is and what it means to be a leader is not always clear and definitive. Leadership often is in the eyes of the beholder, and like most abstract concepts, there are many approaches to its understanding and application. Most leaders have different approaches to leadership and most people that aren’t leaders have different definitions of what leadership is. Often people define leadership as one thing or just a couple of things. Leadership is not simply one thing but a collection of traits, characteristics and proper application of certain principles that work in concert to achieve a specific mission or goal. Leadership is influence, vision, service, communication and conviction working together in concert towards a specific task or goal. Without the proper cultivation and development of these traits, a leader will find it hard to be effective and progressive.

The general definition of leadership is defined as the action of leading a group of people or organization. But if you were to ask multiple people to define it, you would more than likely get a different answer each time. This is because each of us have our own definition

Leadership can be defined as leading a company, an organization, or a group of individuals. My definition of leadership is categorized in four different methods; identifying strengths and weakness of the team, having the right tools to succeed, having a common goal, and creating solutions to problems.

Leadership is such a simple term for such a complex phenomenon. As a child, I can remember adult phrases like “natural born leader” that contributed to my naïve notion of how leaders are preordained at birth with the gifts or qualities necessary for leadership, or at the very least nurtured by parents who were natural leaders. As a result, I never truly felt natural when called into leadership positions throughout my life.

Most of the time, leadership is defined as the way a person is able to make others respond positively towards striving for a common aspiration (Alizor, 2013).