Personal Statement : A Leader

In presenting a theory about myself as a leader, I will attempt to draw conclusions about my strengths and weakness as a leader based on the things learned in this class. I will speculate on a reflective leadership best-self-portrait through my work experiences that draw on my interpersonal resources for vision. Recognizing my talents and shortcomings will help develop both micro and macro levels of resource development needed to reach my full potential.

As a leader, I want to be able help others and be a good example. Also as a leader, not only am I not afraid to voice my own opinion and ideas, but am I willing to listen others’ opinions and ideas as well. To be a good leader, I believe one needs be willing to listen and work with others, compromise, and be open minded and empathetic towards others. I believe I have all of

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

This week explored and learned that there are desirable leadership traits to acquire, that becoming a leader can be a conscious process and that being a leader also means to owe respect and have a responsibility to others.

I am seeking admission to Concordia University-Chicago’s Educational Leadership Doctoral program. Currently I am an Instructional Leader with the Rockford Public School District. I would like to pursue a Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership to further my knowledge of the required leadership traits, essential skills and educational systems, practices and laws so that I may ultimately become a contributing member of a school district’s administrative cabinet.

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.

As a leader I believe in service, initiative, and plan. I have always believed leadership is serving others and working well with others to achieve a mission. As a leader I promise to lead by always having a a clear vision, articulating it clearly, and providing a sense of purpose for our work. I believe in the power of diversity, so I seek goals and strategies that are clearly different than others and focus purposefully on improving those. Because of these views, you can expect me to be a builder, building positive, different, and valuable work relationships, and demonstrating an alignment and purpose about the values in all the things I help lead.

I have been fortunate throughout my life to have excellent influences, leaders and mentors. Even with all this, I have made my share of mistakes. Some of my mistakes as a leader can be contributed to my strong desire for

“To serve as a leader, help to bring out the best within others, live a balanced life always respecting others and making a positive difference.” I try to work my personal leadership statement into my weekly planning to keep it in the forefront of my actions. My leadership varies in the settings of home, work and community but I tend to show more leadership in my work environment. Some of the more challenging settings for me to practice my leadership has been in the community setting. The leadership in the community is an area which I will be working on in the future to further help develop my leadership skills and in ways which I can help serve the community

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.

I am willing to let them use their skills and experience to attain results. Being a leader is not all about telling people what to do. Leaders encourage their worker through their actions. I care about the people I lead and when people know you care about them they are not afraid to be truthful will you and go over and beyond to meet your expectations (Manning & Curtis, 2015).

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.

The sum of education, experiences, and observations lays a foundation upon which I will grow to become a good leader. In this plan, I will focused on those aspects of leadership that I believe are most required for personal development as well as those which will be so significant for my future leadership career. I have identified three goals which will guide me in the development process. My goals are to develop my integrity, listening skills and communications skills. I assume that this plan will change and be altered as required by life circumstances.

My leadership outlook is collectively designed from my life experiences, ascertainments, achievements, and failures. I see leadership as an excursion simultaneously taken by leaders and followers to a mutual destination. Great leaders have clear core values, a course of action, an organized, suitable, and effective team, and unambiguous communication that will lead their team to this common goal. The best leaders have definitive vision and mission statements. They often refine these statements to ensure the requirements needed to successfully accomplish the vision and mission of every area of their lives including their family, their organization, and their unit is feasible.