The Positive Aspects Of Leadership : My Philosophy Of Personal Leadership

Leadership is, and always has been, a vital aspect of social and economic constructs. It is essential to the survival of societies, industries, organizations, and virtually any group of individuals that come together for a common purpose. However, leadership is difficult to define in a single, definitive sense. As such, theories of leadership, what constitutes a great leader, and how leaders are made have evolved constantly throughout history, and still continue to change today in hopes of improving upon our understanding of leadership, its importance, and how it can be most effective in modern organizational cultures.

According to dictionary.com leadership is defined as, the position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group: Its synonyms include guidance, influence, control, direction and supervision. These are all qualifications that are needed to be an effective leader. All characteristics are not necessarily needed at the same time and do no need to be used for each subordinate. This paper will identify my personal leadership philosophy along with theories to support my leadership style.

Phase 1 of the Personal Leadership Philosophy Paper presented the opinion and supporting information establishing that; leaders are products of opportunity, birth and environment, but of these; opportunity influences great leadership the most. Furthermore, it was discussed that assigned leadership is a cancer to corporate America and this point is illustrated in the following example. While employed at Deloitte and Touché Consulting Group (DNT) we engaged ARCO, a major oil and gas company, to develop and implement an email migration strategy that consisted of 1200 Arco users at their subsidiary company, Vaster Resources Inc. In the initial meeting we were introduced to a gentleman, we will call John Smith for the purposes of this paper,

Philosophy is "the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge or conduct."(Stuart Berg Flexner and Lenore Crary Hauck, 1993). Leadership is the process of influencing others to accomplish the mission by providing purpose, direction, and motivation. Command is the authority a person in the military service lawfully exercises over subordinates by virtue of his rank and assignment or position.(FM 6-22) My leadership philosophy has been developing thru my Army career. I have use the NCO creed as a pillar for my Leadership philosophy. The outcome of my performance is a direct reflects of my subordinates. My ideas will not always the best, that is why my Soldiers have a open door to provide any feedback.

My personal leadership philosophy describes who I am as a Soldier, a Non- Commissioned Officer, and a man who serves his country proudly. As a leader, I believe that all members of my team are important. As a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer, I believe, as the NCO creed says, “Non-Commissioned officers are the backbone of the Army.” It is very important to know your role as a NCO and fulfill all of your duties and responsibilities inherent in that role. We can all contribute to the mission and we have to understand that no one job is more important than the other. Teamwork is always provided in my leadership philosophy and if we all work together as a team we will all have the ability to make a positive difference in each other lives. When this is accomplished, then I

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.

As a leader, it is important for us to have a simple, profound leadership philosophy. I have decided to go about this by answering six prompts of my core beliefs and behaviors which are, I always…, I spend a lot of time…, I value…, I am curious about…, I respect…, and I listen… These six prompts form the basis of how I see myself as a leader and a person.

With integrity and passion any individual can lead others to success. “Great leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile (Lombardi, n.d.).” Becoming a great leader begins with defining, what great leadership look like. Each individual may view leadership differently, however authentic leadership characteristics remain as a true definition of leadership qualities. When defining leadership qualities, I ask myself how do I want to be perceived? Do I want to be the boss that others can count on when times are tuff? Do I want to be the leader that values professional relationships? The answer is,

"Where there is no community, trust, respect, ethical behavior, it is difficult for the young to learn and from the old to maintain" (Sendjaya and Sarros, 2002, p. 68). The founder of servant leadership, Robert K Greenleaf; considered that every person ought to own values that could support and guide others. Greenleaf 's philosophy was that "the servant leader is a servant first; it begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve" (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010, p. 22). To serve, people must comprehend values, which are a person 's ethics of behavior shaping his or her vision. Moreover, values are distinctive from taking the survey created by Milton Rokeach; which consists of the most important morals and beliefs and how

“Where there is no community, trust, respect, ethical behavior is difficult for the young to learn and from the old to maintain” (Robert K Greenleaf). The founder of servant leadership, Robert K Greenleaf; believes that every person ought to own values that could support and guide others. According to Greenleaf, “The servant leader is servant first; it begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve”(…………….). In order to serve people must comprehend values; which are a person’s ethics of behavior shaping his or her vision. In addition, values could be distinct from taking the survey created by Milton Rokeach; which consist of the most important morals and beliefs and how it influences people, organizations, and society (Johnston, 1995). Furthermore, servant leaders have a purpose; which can be determined with the personal models of leadership; which are the advancement of personal growth and values. My personal model of leadership reflects and creates a purpose on my values and beliefs; which are trust, responsibility, equality and loving demonstrating how it impacts an individual, interpersonal, organizational and societal. In conclusion, once people comprehend their value and decide their personal model it will define them as a servant leader because it does not matter if it is today or tomorrow, the values will then have the same principles (Lee, Fabish & McGaw, 2005).

This is what I believe about leadership: it’s overrated. What I mean by this is that after 20 years of life, I have become numb to society’s leadership propaganda. As I stated in my original leadership philosophy two years ago, society has taught us to associate leadership with power and affluence, to picture a man in a suit so crisp his cuffs could paper cut your soul and a vivacious, yet somehow sternly reserved demeanor. Rarely, if ever, have a witnessed a “mediocre” student be called a leader; it is always the best, the brightest, and the most personable that are graced with the glorious label of leaders. They are held on a pedestal as if their characteristics are superior to those of others, revered to the point that they some otherworldly and their characteristics seem unachievable by the average Joe. I am not attempting to say that highly publicized leaders or presidents or CEOs are not leaders, I am saying that they are not any different than you or I. It is in my nature to counter the belief, to dub null and void the almighty concept of leadership as a reward or achievement and instead replace it with the idea that leadership is an innate trait. It’s not about being a leader; it’s about building on the qualities that make a leader. While reflecting on my beliefs and writing this paper, I noticed that Microsoft Word’s suggested synonyms for leadership include management, control, headship, and governance. This is a perfect example of

My perspective of leadership remained constant for a large portion of my life. I never thought about what it takes to become a leader or how various aspects of leadership impact me every day. Over the past three months in this course, I have been given the opportunity to apply different skills and concepts that combined critical thinking and the ability to work towards a common goal with a group of people. The main points being addressed will include my experience with leadership and the value of specific iLead principles. I will also expand on my relationship to integrity and discuss my internal and external behavioral expectations. It is important for apprentices to understand their personal qualities and the value of teamwork so they can

I aspire to be a well-rounded leader capable of fluidly adapting to situations and effectively using the appropriate leadership tool. To accomplish this goal, I understand that I need to further develop certain aspects of my leadership and learn strategies and skills from leaders with diverse strengths. In actuality, these differences represent the gap between where I am and where I desire to be. Although working outside your natural tendencies is challenging, the reward for gaining these skills is immeasurable when leading

Every person has a moral framework in which he operates his daily life. Many use this philosophy without even consciously doing so; others will question almost all decisions they make. My personal moral philosophy is closely tied to my philosophy of leadership. I reside in the first category of people, those that operate in a moral philosophy that has not been specifically identified, but is strongly tied to my faith. This paper will allow me to express my own personal and leadership philosophy.

As a graduate student approaching her final semester in school, thoughts regarding my leadership abilities in the soon-to-be “real world” have occupied my mind lately. To further explore and develop my ideas about leadership, I decided to develop my personal leadership theory. So, I asked myself the following questions: What makes a successful leader? How do you recognize a leader when you meet one?, and lastly, what is my theory of leadership? With this last question I thought about what leadership meant to me personally and how I personified it in a role of authority. While I had given thought to how I led, I had rarely taken the time to fully understand what my personal leadership theory entailed. Throughout the length of this paper I will analyze how my leadership skills, traits, values and elements from both Authentic Transformational theories help me to shape my leadership philosophy. In doing so I hope to define the leadership values that influence the way I view and practice leadership.