The Most Valuable Lessons Learned In Leadership

Being a leader is being a role model and striving to make a positive impact on those around you. In order to be a successful leader, you have to put yourself second and your peers first. For example, my younger sister and I both play softball. I have played on several travel teams during the summer and this year, she tried out for her first competitive travel team. I was asked to aid her by helping her with the mechanics of the game. During this time, I sacrificed my time to put the needs of another person before my own and it paid off, because she made the team and I got to witness the results of my

Leadership is being able to guide other students into being the best they can be. I am a leader who is always positive and cheering others on to achieve their goals. At my school, I have a position as the Vice President of Academics in National Honors Society. Since I have obtained this position, I encourage other students in this group to participate in service projects which is where one volunteers to help out the community in some aspect. These volunteering opportunities are good thing to do because it builds character and it is always fun helping others out. As a leader, I bring new ideas to the table on where we should help out in the community and anything that we could do in school that would fun and helpful. Along with participating in National Honors Society at my school, I am also involved in our Student Government Association. Although I do not have a leadership position in this club, I still engage in the activities that we do. For the past two years, I have gone to an annual meeting for leadership where multiple schools attend. At this meeting there are fun activities where you learn more about leadership and how to be a good leader. As a leader, these meetings help because it is always good to learn new

Leadership is all about having the right amount of heart and determination to help make a difference in someone’s life. It takes certain qualities to be considered a good leader. A leader should want to help inspire others to make a change and to be the best that they can be. A true leader does not need to feel powerful, instead they empower those around them. Throughout my life I have come across various leaders who have made an impact on my life. It takes a very special person to inspire and touch people’s lives. Leadership is so much deeper than having power and bossing people around.

My personal experiences of leadership started when I was younger, roughly 7 years old, I was elected the captain of my travel soccer team. At the time I didn’t think much of it, nor did I have any extra duties that I was explicitly told that I needed to perform. Later throughout the season, I started to notice my teammates mimicking my styles and techniques and I highly enjoyed this feeling of being looked up to. I didn 't realize until years after that the recognition and pride I felt was leadership. This privilege of being captain was the first time I had realized that people weren 't necessarily following my actions because I was extraordinarily skilled, but because I provided this role model status with my confidence and encouragement. Some of the most valuable leaderships traits that I acquired and fortified are:

My devotion and orderly work ethics have allowed me to achieve this. I have participated in some academically challenging activities like The Spelling Bee, in which I came in 2nd place. I am usually in charge in group school projects. In my opinion, leadership is not only showing people what to do and how to do it, it is for me to be independent and not to rely on anyone to do everything for me. Leadership makes me make my own decisions and helps me be more independent than I already am.

After high school I have strong intentions on moving forward with my education by going to college. By going to college I attend to further expand my knowledge in a field that I am interested in pursuing, so that I can

After high school, I plan to attend college for four years, and find a part time job during my time in college. While I attend college, I also plan to continue trying my best to have good grades and a good rank. After college, I plan to find a long term job, and or return back to school to obtain a PhD.

Being a leader allows you to inspire those around you it allows you to not only grow as a person, but, also allows you to grow as a mentor that can help others become better versions of themselves. An important leadership trait I possess is my emphasis on quality; I’ve never been the type of person that has

In class we defined leadership as using relationships to influence others. Before I came to the Academy I believed that a person could only lead their peers or subordinates. I did not believe that a subordinate could lead their superior. In high school I had many opportunities to develop my leadership with peers and subordinates. I was an officer of National Honor Society, and using that influence and my prior knowledge of NHS activities from the year before I was able to practice my leadership with my peers. I learned how to communicate in a manner to convince them to take action quickly, but not in a way that would seem overbearing or condescending. Furthermore, I was able to be a small group leader for a number of middle school retreats at my parish. In working with sixth grade boys I learned how to deal with insubordination and chaos, and with both of these groups of people I began to understand what was needed in a relationship between a leader and a follower. Our relationship had to be characterized by sincerity and respect. In both of these activities, those that I was leading could have easily stepped back and not paid attention to anything I was asking them to do. I had to convince them that I was absolutely dedicated to what I was trying to do, and that I had their best interest in mind. When leading middle school retreats I had to be a role model and show I valued my relationship with

Leadership is a personal skill that has to be developed and improved upon daily, just like an athlete works on his craft. We all come from different walks of life and that is often a factor in the way our leadership styles are shaped. Our differences of race, gender, religion, home environment, and lifestyle all have an effect on the way we are led growing up. It is a skill that is mastered over time, while never being perfected. Like anything else in life, leadership skills are often developed from who we are, where we come from and the people in our life who have taught us their knowledge.

What learning experiences have had the most influence on your own personal development as a leader?

The more information one has to understand leadership the further one will be able to go in one’s career. Leadership is not easy, one has to have the ability and buy in of the team to be successful in any project.

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.

It is hard to quantify what I have learned in the semester of Leadership because the courses focus was not about memorizing data, but rather learning about having the will to lead and finding the courage to make it happen. A majority of the information I learned from this course came from learning about myself. Through readings, course activities, and various projects, I learned what makes a great leader, but more importantly what traits I possess that will make me a great leader. In order to be a great leader, one must have an understanding of what leadership is. Leadership is a social influence (Stogdill, p. 25). It means leaving a mark. It is initiating and guiding, and the result is change. Leading is the result of your passion coming to life.

We all have the opportunity to learn from all manners of leadership. The good leaders and the bad leaders will have an effect on our styles leadership styles and how we choose to engage with the people we meet. I have learned just as much from those some would consider being a “bad” leader as much as I have learned from the “good”, and based my practice on those experiences. To me, leadership will always mean that you are willing to learn from all your experiences and apply them into practices that enhance your Navy and your Sailors. There is no lesson too big or too small that cannot assist in your daily assessments and influence the leaders you follow and mold the future leaders of the Navy