Personal Statement : Becoming A Leader

Over my short yet extensive career in both the healthcare, local government, non-profit areas I’ve had several experiences that triggered some form of leadership development. One instance would be as follows; several years ago when I was just a councilmen I firmly believed in saying what I thought was true as long as I could backup and acquisitions with facts. I was the person who tended to ignite the discussion since I said what no one else wanted to say. After running and getting re-elected to my second term I realized I could do more if I stopped being the ignition for discussion and switch to the shaper of the flame. I decided to run for Council President so I could take the discussion that came up and shape it into a workable solution for everyone. Becoming Council President stopped my ways of looking at things from my point of view. It lead me to

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

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.

I would like to serve as a peer leader because I truly understand the struggle of being a new student. The perspective I have gained while developing from being someone with no Jewish day school background to feeling like every other member of the community is something I find very special. The unique development that I experienced is something I owe to the welcoming and sincere peer leaders that helped guide me during the nerve-wracking transition phase. As a result of my experience, I want to give incoming 9th-grade students the same open arms that I received early on. Furthermore, Schechter Westchester has drastically changed my perspective on the world and taught me values that have helped

During the past 3 years I worked as a Non-profit Community Manager and Program Development Coordinator with expertise in non- profit operations. Recognized for achievements in overall strategic planning, revenue generation, financial management, organizational

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.

What is leadership profile and what it means to you as an individual? What makes a great leader? These are questions that have been asked and researched for years. Well, I’m going to try to explain my theory on what leadership profile means from my point of view. Leadership profile is the mode you view a leader from your observation on how they lead. Research has been conducted by Evans., and Matthew (2016) at Development Dimensions (DDI) International exam database of assessment data for more the 15,000-plus leaders in 300 organizations, 20 industries and 18 countries and the results reported high –resolution leadership including numerous findings about leadership skill and readiness. There is no one pattern of how these leadership profile can be governed; however, you can rest assure it can be effective if used appropriately. These results have lead me to my definition of a leader, which is a leader is anyone who has affected your life by taking the role of a leader or anyone who you would follow to the ends of this earth. Though the way I understand leadership profiles may be somewhat different from the way you perceive it, nonetheless in my understanding leadership profile is the manner in which you interpret the person who has the knowledge to lead. Nowadays, with all this research being conducted on the subject there is no truthful way to narrow down an accurate answer to the questions above, but researchers are determined to continue their endless research in this

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

Action Plan Achieving my personal leadership goals are will take place by me allowing myself to work with others more often to obtain a better understanding them. In my chosen career field I will always have to work with other. I will achieve this goal by working on my group skills as an undergraduate student through different organizations I am apart of and attending conferences that are inclusive of working with others and understanding others. Renewing organizations I am passionate about instead of quitting is another personal leadership goal. I will achieve this goal by staying committed to organizations I join and evaluating positions I take in certain organizations.

As I stood on the stage, holding the microphone in front of 600 people, time stopped. The buzz of the crowd seemed to have instantly vanished. This was not an illusion. It was as if I were the conductor of a symphony, the crowd’s response was in tune with my words. I was once just a spectator, now I make the music.

What is your personal vision for leadership? How are you going to lead Others? Why?

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

Not all leaders are famous like Martin Luther King, most leaders are ordinary people; you can walk down the street and run into someone and not know that they are a very powerful leader. I personally know of a good leader that is an ordinary person; my father. Although some people believe that leaders are born and not made, I believe that anyone can become a leader if they have enough courage and are thick skinned. There are many words that people come up with when they are asked to describe what makes a good leader. The most popular characteristics used to describe a good leader would be a good listener, responsible, and decisive. When you think of what makes a good leader you should also ask what kind of education they have and what

Promoted from Regional Sales Director to a company leadership role, to implement successful approaches nationwide. (National peer group from >110 to 0.)