Reflection On Leadership

A leader should have characteristics like being responsible, trustworthy, and professional. I think I have all those characteristics and more. Being the oldest of four, I was expected to help out around the house. Tasked with getting my younger siblings up and ready for school helped me to become a mature a responsible person. Helping to care for my siblings when my mother went to work and getting them up every day for school helped instill a sense of responsibility in me.

Students before me, with me, and even after me has taught me many skills on how to be a leader. I remember a time, when I was in 3rd grade,

This leadership course has taught me to the importance of leadership and what it means to be a leader. That leadership is something that is learned and developed over time. To set goals and encourage those who are involved in accomplishing the goal. Being a leader more than just having follower, but to have enthusiasm, courage, humility, and integrity. This course have also helped me understand how to not only apply leadership to my personal life but to the working atmosphere.

There are leaders and there are followers in life, a great example of a leader would be my Fire Chief Kenneth Everett. To be a leader you have to have many skills that set you apart from being someone that follows. You have to be able to talk to anyone on the department and know how they react to certain ways you talk to them. A Chief should be able to motivate anyone to want to continue doing something whether you just walked out of the roughest call you have ever been on or you have just lost interest in the Fire Department all together. You also have to be able to handle a large group or even a small group in some of the toughest environments.

As previously stated, my personal leadership philosophy is to be the leader you aspire to be. This leadership philosophy sets a framework for individuals to model their behavior after those that have been successful within the organization. Generally speaking, our greatest leaders have attributes and traits that have directly contributed to their successes. The key here is to understand that if you want to be a great leader in the organization, then you have to look for, identify, and model those behaviors of those ahead of you that have become successful. Take for instance a small boat coxswain. The coxswain is a position of great responsibility. There are good boat drivers and there are great boat drivers and when making a parallel to this leadership philosophy it makes sense that an up-and-coming boat driver will want to model their behavior and performance after a great boat driver; i.e. be the leader you aspire to be. The same method of mentorship and learning is true when it comes to leadership. Some leaders possess personality characteristics that naturally allow them to lead people with ease. These same leaders are made even greater when they incorporate teachable leadership principles into their leadership styles and techniques. When they utilize these techniques in their day-to-day leadership their actions may appear natural to an onlooker, but in fact leadership is a practiced art and in order to and maintain proficiency within leadership it must be continuously refined. Being a great leader is more than just watching and mimicking behavior. More important than constant observation, continually life-long learning and application of styles, techniques, and models of leadership will help propel individuals to the forefront of

My personal leadership course made me realize that I have all the characteristics to become a great leader, it was just the fact of actually doing. Since then in my work I

Over the course of my career I have had the opportunity to work for dozens of leaders that aided me in the development of my leadership style. As one would easily recognize not all leaders had a constructive impact on my career but rather provided leadership traits to avoid. One person that I have learned a considerable amount from is my father. My father instilled in me the fact that I need to work hard, complete the task at hand, dedicate time to the betterment of my people, and myself and have fun while doing all of this. Another person that introduced considerable leadership influence on me are my grandfathers. My grandfathers lived very different lives; one was a businessman, while the other was a US Army post-WWII veteran, yet they had a uniformed message. That message was continuously grow, be aggressive in studies and work, stay active, and finish what you started. Two additional influencers of leadership are CDR Michael Fredie and MCPO Darrick Dewitt. CDR Fredie is a natural leader, and lives the quote made famous by Theodore Roosevelt, “Speak Softly and carry a big stick; you will go far”. He has the uncanny ability to influence others to work harder through passion and inspiration. Whereas MCPO Dewitt is an authoritative figure that demands respect and continuously inspires his workforce to better themselves in pursuit of bettering the unit, rating, and service.

The article I chose attempts to define a leader, the types of leaders, and the ways in which a person can be an excellent leader. The author, Tom Decotils, lists three types of leaders: An appointed leader or someone who is a leader in name, an accepted leader or a leader in practice, and an authentic leader. Decotils suggests that when obtaining a leadership role, one must strive to be an “authentic leader,” whose focus is on results by moving followers forward through teamwork and insisting on personal excellence. (Decotils, 2015, para. 1) Decotils states that an authentic leader has good intentions, grit, and a constant yearning for improvement. (Decotils, 2015, para. 5) Additionally, an authentic leader must have a good

I have exhibited leadership by being an example for my little sister. I often help her with with her homework assignments and try to guide her to have a successful academic career. Often times I will have conversations with her about different aspects of math and science, since she shares those interests with me. For example one time in her math 1 class her teacher briefly mentioned imaginary numbers. We explored the topic together, going back to when

Throughout my life, I have been in many situations where I have to step up and be a leader. I have experienced certain leadership traits being on multiple sports teams, having to help lead Wednesday night church services, and also being a role in my family. I have acquired many different leadership qualities throughout this including how to be a good listener, how to be a team player and how to find the good in every situation. However, there are still some things that I have to work on. Such as, having patience, having self control, and being there for anyone no matter the circumstances.

Leadership and come to mean different things to different people. One of the biggest reasons that I took this class was to become a stronger leader in my personal life, as well as professional. I did not take this class because I have a desire to me in management at this point in my career. What is important to me was to look at this way to be a better employee, in reacting to management styles. I also wanted to take different aspects of management and implement them into being a leader in my family. I have had several managers that I have respected during my career and certain attributes I wanted to emulate. My current manger David Taggerty took the time out to discuss his role as a leader and how he got into leadership. We took a look

What I have learned from going to school, especially while working, is that good leaders are hard to come by. Leman says it best as to why more people don’t shepherd their people, “Great leadership comes at a price that too few are willing to pay” (p. 111). I have been working since I was 15 and to be honest, I have only had one exceptional leader who has made an impact on my life and that is because she knows, practiced and displayed the value and principles in The Way of the Shepherd. The knowledge that I have gained from her guidance in partnership with school and Dr. Meade will be with me for a lifetime and I plan to use all of these principles and teaching as I move forward in my career and in

In the course of this semester I have gained and achieved profound knowledge about leadership styles and methods. I am now much more confident handling a diversity of issues and dilemmas applying the knowledge that I have gathered. My goal is to continue learning and to stay authentic to others. I trust God, believe in Karma and positive energy. I have a very clear picture and notions of my potentials and perspectives. I can distinguish very well, which paths I am going, in order to choose and pursue my dreams and goals. I think, that I can be a strong leader, since I have very good influencing and persuasion skills. I like to help people wherever I can and pass my knowledge to others so they can succeed.

As an educational leader, I have encountered several new and existing school policies. I never thought deeply about the various processes and the stakeholders involved in policy formulation and implementation. This semester I am engaged in the course Managing Educational Policy as School Leaders (EDLM 6005). This is Semester III, 2016/2017. My course coordinator is Dr. Timar Stephenson. Dr Stephenson was my course coordinator once before and was very helpful whenever I needed clarification or when I had a difficulty. I am thrilled to embrace the new ideas and learning opportunities embedded in this course since it teaches issues which I experience at work. Dr Stephenson, during his introduction reminded his entire class that success in this course would only be realized through hard work, dedication, and commitment. Therefore, it is imperative that I have the right attitude as I navigate this course. The course involves seven weeks of intense work. I am pleased to have a wonderful group facilitator by the name of Rhonda Joseph who has already given us a BBC to explain the requirements of the course and our first two modules.

I’ve learned that there is no one leader in any team. There are many different things that someone can do within a team to be a leader and show their leadership skills. To me leadership is when someone in a team passes along knowledge or skills to someone else in the team. This knowledge or skill passed along must be beneficial and must be new knowledge and a new experience for the person being led. Anyone can be a leader if given the right resources.