My Leadership Philosophy

For many years, I have been told by teachers, family, and friends that I am a good leader. Until fairly recently, I had never truly thought about what it means to be a good leader and just took it as a compliment. Leadership is an intangible concept which cannot be properly outlined in a dictionary, but one which must be formed and explained only through one’s own philosophies and experiences.

At the core of my leadership philosophy is the belief in continued learning. Only through evaluated learning can we truly become good leaders. A leader is a collection of all the experiences that they have encountered in their lifetime. A leader is able to evaluate each experience to ascertain something about themselves with each one. One should be able to learn how to improve actions and interactions with those that they interact with.

Leaders are very important and and every action they make possibly affect even one person to be more inspired and help them after watching a leader speak. I remember from experience, this one time everyone had to read their speech they wrote in front of the whole class and this was my first time doing it. I was worried that I wouldn't be good enough at talking in front of everyone, but then one of my fellow students went first and showed me I wouldn't have to be worried. That person inspired me and was a good example of a leader.

My definition of leadership is to be able to support, motivate, and inspire a team to accomplish any goal at hand. I have first hand experience in the leadership role. I have been involved in group and team related projects for the majority of my life. For example, I have been on a dance team for the past eighteen years. During those years, I was a part of the University of Monroe’s Hawkline. Also on campus, I am involved in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Being involved in those groups, I have been able to learn from others about what it means to become a better leader. Being a leader is a full-filling process, knowing that I am guiding others to accomplish our goal together. Currently, I am in the process of becoming a member

Leadership is defined as the action of leading a group of people or an organization. To me, Leadership is so much more. Leadership is a way to shape the future and improve your community. I grew up worshiping to my father’s soccer players, leaders like Trisha Krewson and Katie Burr. These girls taught me at a young age how to lead and strive to improve the world around you. To me, one of the best ways to improve your community is through helping shape the leaders of the future. These women worked with me and showed me the value of education, athletics, pirate pride, community service, and leadership. Through opportunities like helping with bitty cheer clinic, soccer camp, and student dance teaching I have lead young girls and helped mold them into young leaders. The best part of this is seeing girls that you taught at younger age taking the initiative to help lead the generations younger than them. I was inspired by older girls to become a leader in my school and community and I hope that my leadership has

I define leadership as the ability to seek out and empower others to influence their generation and society for the greater good. A leader is a mentor. To me, a leader is someone who helps themselves and others to do the right things. They are people who build an inspiring vision of the future, motivates and inspires people to engage in that vision. They lead and work with others so that it is effective at achieving the vision. Leaders also set directions. They practice in the act of planning things out and leading a group/organization. Leaders have high management skills to guide people to a successful future, in an efficient way. Leadership is also the ability to see a problem and be the solution.

Leadership is when a person or many people step in a challenge. They are willing to take charge of the situation and help others on the way. They allow themselves to take a chance with other people and situations. Leadership is when someone follows someone who is educated and well experienced with the problem. Members of the leadership will see the vision of the whole objective, they will fix any conflict between the group or situation, and leaders are looked up to for knowledge, information, wisdom, and plans.

In my next sit down with Mr. James, I decided to focus more on his interest and his leadership abilities. Although we spoke on who inspires him and what motivates him to stay in the music education field, I still felt the need to dig deeper into why he chose to be a music educator. After greeting him and taking a seat I got started with my first question “What are some of your interest?” After taking a minute to think about the question Mr. James took a deep breath and responded “I am interested in many different. Primarily, what I am most concerned with is music, community, and politics. Music again because I feel like it connects most of my other interest. It’s a form of communication, whether your happy or sad it gives you emotion and an

With regards to leadership, my strength lies in my desire to help everyone. A leader has to put the group first and make every decision with that principle in mind. When freshman approach me in the hallway, eyes wide with terror and uncertainty, I stop and ask them what they need. If the track team needs and extra runner for a race, even if I despise that race, I’ll step up. My philosophy is to lead by example, not by command. I’ve found that simply telling people what to do is the most ineffective way to actually get them to do it. For example, I am very passionate about track and want the track team to do extremely well at state this year. Instead of giving a rousing speech about courage and strength, I started training months in advance. By making myself better, I encourage others to be better too. I’m not the best on the team by a longshot, but by working hard I inspire others to be better than me. My goal by the end of track season is not to be the best on the team, but for the rest of the team to be better because of me. By doing that extra lap I hope to inspire others to do the same.

What does it mean to be a leader? Do you look at strong political figures, or humble community organizers? Do you look to glamorous movie stars, or to brilliant scientists? Would you say these people are leaders in what they do?

In my experience, my idea of leadership is being able to inspire others, motivate, communicate, respect others, listen to individuals, and of course lead from the front. I believe that every leader needs to have the ability to convince his or her followers that they are worthy of being followed. Creating an environment that encourages people to share their opinions and to motivate them to be their best selves is an important aspect of leadership, and allows members of your team to trust you throughout the entire task or mission. No one individual is going to be the same and that is why you as a leader have to be able to push and motivate each individual differently. I strongly believe that good leaders are made rather, and not born. I believe

"The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." General Colin Powell

I believe that I'm good in coming up with optimizing and innovative solutions. I feel good when I learn something new. I like when I can do something in a new way. I believe I have leadership skills. I’m emotionally stable and will remain calm under difficult situations. I can manage people with different personalities and can encourage them for improvement.

A leader does simply command and call to action, finds solutions to problems through engaging in conversation and listening more. Leadership has been one of the most common character traits instilled in myself since high school, considering my high school’s philosophy is to prepare leaders through academic excellence, character, and extra-curricular. Transitioning into college I have been taught just how important learning how to lead is. I have been taught a leader on campus will be more successful in school, have greater networking opportunities, and will more likely find successful career opportunities. One of the key characteristics to becoming a good leader is being able to listen. According to the Huffington Post blog, “a person learns about 85% of what they know through listening” (Jose Costa). Therefore, by attempting to listen more and give greater attention to the conversation I ultimately was able to learn more directly about myself.

There are many people in this world that are considered leaders. The problem is that people opinions can differ. While some people may think a leader is great, others might have a different perspective. Overall, there are several distinct styles of leadership that different leaders fall into. Leaders need to utilize their power and show that they place value in the relationship they form with their followers. Leaders will focus on making real changes that reflect their mutual purpose and goals. Leadership isn’t just about leading, it is about forming a symbiotic relationship and collaborating in a collective manner. Leaders should be focused on the impact