Personal Leadership Statement

Throughout Middle School and High School, I have won multiple Academic Honors and was able to partake in a Leadership Group/Camp. In Middle School, I was Honored as the best student in Reading, won many A-Honor Rolls, a few A/B-Honor rolls, and multiple Perfect Attendance Awards. In 8th grade, I was chosen along with many other students to help mentor the 6th graders moving up to the middle school and from there on I became part of a group called “Michigan Middle Leadership Initiative (MMLI)”, where only 10 students were selected to join. Currently, I have maintained a GPA of 3.89 or higher and I’m taking an Advanced Placement course for Environmental Science. Overall, I have a good attendance record and have never been tardy for class before. At the most, I’ll miss about 2 days of school in a trimester if I become ill.

Integrity is more than being honest. Integrity is one of the values employers look for when selecting employees; a person with integrity carries their values with them in everything they do. To act in a manner that is morally and legally right is being a leader or person of integrity. This type of leader is consistent in doing what is right, legally and morally (Dees, 2014). One a person loses their integrity, it is almost impossible to get it back. Linnartz (2012) said integrity can be understood by how well we live and meaningfully connect our values into our daily life and work. Having integrity and having a leadership philosophy in line with good personal values will improve the relationship a leader has with colleagues. Having a leader that lacks integrity is a recipe for workplace chaos or conflict. According to Schachter (2013), a leader with integrity will walk the talk; their deeds match their words. The leader will be honest, moral, and

What is the most important trait for a good leader to have? How do you display this trait?

First, about my past leadership skills were understanding and gaining knowledge from people. When I was a child, I would always look up to my father and mother as role models to help lead a family together. Both of my parents gave me positive reinforcement in school and out of school so I can be successful in life. I have also taken an interest in

A leader for a good or bad cause, is a person who can gather different individuals under one accord and move towards the same objective. They are good at inspiring people. You may not always agree with their perspective. However, leaders are good at bringing people together. All exceptional leaders past and present possess integrity. It takes a strong individual to be a leader, but it takes an even stronger person to be a leader with integrity. A part of being a leader is setting standards for others to follow. Integrity is a characteristic that does not happen overnight. It is embedded in all outstanding leaders. Knowing to do the right thing when no one is watching takes strong determination. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey once described

Is a leader as defined in the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, merely one who leads - synonymous with a boss? Or something more? I believe that a leader is much more than that and can be defined in any number of ways. In attempting to define a leader personally, I will use both myself and others as examples.

Integrity: The first and most important trait of a leader. Integrity gives a leader validity to always do the right thing. I have a deeper meaning stemming from my family that makes it crucial that I keep integrity first if I desire others to emulate my actions.

Integrity is an essential character quality that defines an effective leader. Integrity is a unifying element; it means more than telling the truth. Integrity is concerned with right and wrong, and adherence to a set of values (Satterlee, 2013, p. 7). In that, integrity speaks on the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles – moral uprightness. A resilient leader should hold steady to their morals when faced with an ethical dilemma. “Leader integrity matters because it plays a significant role in the decision process used by followers when determining who they will follow, who they will trust, to whom they will be loyal and committed, and ultimately for whom they will perform” (Moorman & Grover, 2009, p.107). A leader’s integrity goes beyond their personal character make-up, subordinates will feel a sense of connection to a leader who acts with

While I attended Wichita State University for my bachelors of Social Work, I was afforded the opportunity to participate in a leadership program two consecutive years. We learned tips on strategies to become more effective leaders. Whenever I participate in activities that require me to take a leadership or supervisory role, I tend to think of what I learned in the program. The conflict that I identified as a supervisor in this activity was mainly that we had a student with erratic behavior, with firearms at home, and a mother who not only, saw nothing wrong with it, but wanted him removed from public school and is largely uncooperative with the school regarding his psych eval.

This has been ingrained into my mind, so that I show leadership everyday with ease. In the classroom I strive to not only be my best to also help others do their best. To do this I always do my best to include everyone in group projects, I also encourage and provide support to others to make everyone feel involved. Outside of school I also show leadership in my extracurricular activities. For example as teammate on a basketball team I boost my other teammates morals by celebrating their accomplishments as well as trying to get everyone on the team involved by passing

Integrity is defined as following your moral or ethical convictions and doing the right thing in all circumstances, even if no one is watching you. Having integrity means you are true to yourself and would do nothing that demeans or dishonors you. When employees are asked what they want from leaders it is integrity. Qualities change across culture and time, but what people say they want most in American society is integrity. When people are asked to define integrity, the word they mention most frequently is honesty. The leader with integrity always tells the truth as he or she believes it to be. Think about the best leader you have ever had; she or he probably had integrity. First and foremost, people want a leader they can trust. Ask yourself whether you have a reputation for integrity. (Manning 6) Integrity can be broken down into sub components:

According to Hans Urs von Balthasar “a vocation is something lived, something enacted and a concrete life story” (Contino, 2004, p. 85). My vocational life story has developed over the past forty years with my first job at twelve babysitting six children to where I stand today teaching home economics at Chowchilla high school. “I build my own life story through the decisions of projects I undertake” and the choices I have made regarding my career path (Contino, 2004, p. 85). Someone looking from the outside at my wandering path might believe of my career changes seem a bit radical. Moving bicoastal, leaving a stable career of twenty five plus years to go back to college, take a pay cut and joining the unstable labor market of Home

During the last six weeks, I have learned a lot about the true meaning of a good leader. The discussions have helped me identify what my strengths are and what are the areas that I need to improve on. Although, I have been in management roles, I would not identify myself yet as a leader. I am a very result driven individual which is strength of mine, but that can also lead me to be desensitized to other’s emotions or challenges they might be facing. Throughout the course, I have also come to realize that I have limited self-awareness. On the contrary, one of my strengths is my social awareness. I have the ability to go into social or networking events and pick up on emotions, or facial expressing to understand the overall mood of that environment. To be socially aware is particularly beneficial because, I can find common ground with anyone I meet to initiate conversation. Therefore, when I see that person again, I can make those personal connections. Another one of my strengths is the ability to look at a current process and streamline it to a leaner, more effective and efficient way. During the last several years I have been hired to be the visionary of new divisions and to implement processes that would support the company’s vision and mission while still driving results. My values are what contribute to the success I have been able to achieve over the years, however. My resilience and work ethic towards my job shows through in the

According to Schwartz (1997), Goizueta joined Coca-Cola at a time when the company was in trouble. Slowed by bureaucracy and with an eroding stock price, the beverage maker was slowly loosing its market share to rivals like Pepsi. An inspirational leader, Goizueta was able to turnaround the beverage maker and before his exit, the company had become one of the most recognizable brands in the world. His managerial style as Rowe and Guerrero (2010) point out was more intellectual than hands-on.

To have great leadership, there needs to be a leader-follower relationship. The relationship can’t be effective without inspiration, involvement, and support from both participants. To develop this alliance, the leader must give extra effort to reach out to followers. The only way a leader can be successful is if the follower trusts the leader. The most important characteristic of a leader is to set a good example for their followers.