On Becoming A Leader : Alfred North Whitehead 's Advice Essay

The concept of effective leadership is a topic that has been widely debated by individuals and professional leaders in many societies. In Kevin Cashman’s book, Leadership from the Inside Out: Becoming a Leader for life, the author reveals that leadership is defined through a person’s understanding of their internal nature, rather than the values, beliefs, and morals a society claims that a leader should possess. Even though Cashman does acknowledge the importance of the societal view of leadership, he argues that true leadership is defined by an individual’s understanding of their internal essence. In each chapter Cashman strongly debates that leaders lead by virtue of who they are. He defines this outlook on leadership as the Inside-Out Leadership Method. This is a method that allows an authoritative figure to develop a strong understanding of their physical, mental, and spiritual essence to lead others towards a mutual goal.

From a personal perspective, leadership from a Christian worldview is about transforming your skills, abilities, and knowledge of the vision of life, beliefs, values, and principles. Due to the differing worldviews as a leader from a secular or biblical perspective, the ways of life as a leader divert the values that guide us, beliefs that direct us, and principles that motivate us to act or behave a certain way. Jesus lives in disciples, and we should all be living as his light and world. In Paul’s plea he stated, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, New International Version). Not everyone is in the public eye, but everyone is in the eye of someone, and there he or she is a leader. I will discuss my growth and development into the leader from a Christian worldview and from course material as support.

Over the length of this course, we have discussed several aspects of politics. We have studied citizenship and obligations to society as a citizen, justice and what it means to us as individuals, and how to go about enacting change within a community and around the world. Some of the most important topics from this class included the characteristics, duties, and obligations of rulers of government. In addition to the concept of rulers, we also studied the notion of authority and the moral and metaphysical implications of authority to individuals ' autonomy. Within each concept of study, we read works from many authors with conflicting ontologies, constructed from their differing views on human nature.

Wheatley (2007) describes the old story of leadership as “a story of dominion and control, and all-encompassing materialism.” It can be explained by analogizing it to a machine; a lifeless object that does not have the capability to think, feel, or make decisions. It, the machine, functions quite like the old story of leadership by where there are

That with wisdom and control is what makes a great person and leader. Go about life in a respectable way, make decisions based upon what you think is right and generally accepted by society. If you choose to go in the opposite direction, you know of the consequences that come with the decisions.

One of Thoreau’s famous quotes is, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” This means to make ones’ life as simple as possible. He thinks that the poor are the fortunate ones since they have the least to look after and worry about while the rich have so much to look after that they do not have time for themselves. Living a simple life enables one to be free of commitment and obligations. One only has to worry about one’s self.

The Fundamentals of a Leader Fate is as man made as I-Phones. None of us are born winners; neither are we born losers. Rather, all of us are born equals and what we do as we grow distinguishes us from others. Furthermore, our actions help us achieve personal power.

Returning an individual back to his rawness of life enables them to encounter the simplicity of life. Life as a whole is chaotic, although when simplified, confusion fades and the hidden beauty is revealed. A well-known transcendental philosopher, Henry David Thoreau, explains that “In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness”(Walden 386). The splendidness of life does not come from the circumstances driven by society, but rather the way in which they are viewed. Simplify the complexity of situations by approaching life as a puzzle—one piece at a time. As one removes the overwhelming clutter of life and only focus on the few significant pieces in front of them, they become pleasantly surprised by the clarity simplicity rewards them with. The art of a puzzle is displayed in our community's art gallery to encourage each individual to focus on approaching each circumstance one step at a time. Motivating each individual to rid themselves of unnecessary commotion, while simplifying their lifestyle in order to reveal the hidden portrait.

William Deresiewicz expresses his opinion on decision making through a speech given to inspire potentially great leaders. He declares how mediocre leaders rise to the top by jumping through the many loopholes provided, while always wanting to being considered “excellent sheep” (2). The great leaders on the other hand, strive to be “thinkers” and sometimes never achieve their full potential because they evolve with intrinsic versus extrinsic goals. People in power are not choosing those who should follow in their footsteps based on what they believe, but based on qualities they have been taught to look for. This process is suffocating the potential in anyone progressing in ways seen as unfit or different, and simultaneously crushing the idea

John Wooden is a very intelligent man and is truly a “philosopher-coach.” His philosophies go way deeper than just sports, they help you bring out the best in yourself. Reading Wooden has given me a better understanding on how to be a leader and how to be successful. A few topics he went over really broke through and made an impact on me. My favorite topics are mentors, doing the little things, and failure. All of these topics are essential for a leader and are keys to being successful.

The profound artist Leonardo da Vinci once stated, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” This modern way of thinking implies that for an individual to truly achieve their own potential, the way they live must be made elementary to its fullest. This is similar to views on Ray Bradbury’s The Pedestrian; a story about the man who was detained for nothing. The simplistic life he lead was repressed in an instant, where what he believed to be right was misinterpreted. This is due to the fact that humanity nowadays is not able to appreciate the basic fundamentals of existence and the huge impact it lays upon them. It is this same ignorance that will lead humankind to their inevitable doom one day. This demise will be caused by their own accord.

Will right-brainers rule the future? A whole new mind: why right-brainers will rule the future, a book by Daniel H. Pink assesses this critical question. Pink’s book is divided into two parts. Part one lays out the broad animating idea, provides an overview of key differences between our left and right hemispheres, presents the case for why Abundance, Asia, and Automation pushes the world into the “Conceptual Age”. It illustrates why people who master high concept and high touch set the tempo for modern life. Part two of the book covers the six essential right brain abilities Pink described as needed to make it in the Conceptual Age. Design. Story. Symphony. Empathy. Play. Meaning. Pink devotes one chapter to each of these six senses,

Leadership many times can be misinterpreted by many individuals. Leadership is an ability that not everyone is meant to have nor develop. In fact, many can be called, “leaders” but that does not imply that their leadership role plays a positive impact on others. At times, some people seek leadership in a form to only obtain power and abuse it for their own self-interest. While there are others that create great influences to following generations. For instance, there are those like Plato and Thomas Jefferson who have established philosophical thoughts that for past centuries, have revolutionized many people’s ideals. Through their principles many people have identified, what they consider can exemplify, true characteristics that make someone have successful leadership qualities. In their own way, they have influenced others, with the purpose to communicate a foundation of important ideals which have helped guide many. Whether it is one or a group of individuals. Many people should consider in practicing and adapting to those philosophical principles, manifested in Plato’s, “The Allegory of the Cave” and Thomas Jefferson's, “The Declaration of Independence” essay who illustrate certain ideals and aspects of leadership in their own unique way.

My father once told me that, “everything we do— be it in academia, at work, social or family life—we are guided by principles, beliefs and values that collectively form our ideology of life.” I believe that every leader, to a certain extent, is shaped through her individual personal experience. Although in some cases, we may not realize to what extent our personal assumptions and beliefs shape our ability to lead or be led.

I have learned many lessons from Jack Welch on leadership. Jack Welch has been with the General Electric Company (GE) since 1960. Having taken over GE with a market capitalization of about $12 billion, Jack Welch turned it into one of the largest and most admired companies in the world by the time he stepped down as its CEO 20 years later, in 2000. Jack Welch used his uncanny instincts and unique leadership strategies to run GE, the most complex organization in the world and increased its market value by more than $400 billion over two decades. He remains a highly regarded figure in business circles due to his innovative leadership style. Jack Welch demonstrated Kouzes and Posner’s five practices of modeling the way, inspiring a shared