Essay on True North Book About Leadership Review

There are two kinds of people in this world, followers and leaders. Followers are the people that never take a leadership role in any activity. "They are more valued by followers and have higher performing teams." (Cherry 2014) However, leaders are the ones that use their leadership skills to make a difference in this world, such as presidents, teachers, or even college graduates. Leadership is not something you can learn from a book, but you have to gain this skill through experiences such as holding an office, organizing an event, speaking in front of people, or participating in a leadership program.

The definition for being a leadership states, “leading a group of people or an organization”, but to me it is not about to the end goal. It is how you get there. Throughout my life I have seen leaders that have fallen short, right

Being a leader is not considered a job or position. Becoming a leader is not a talent, job or position. Although, leadership can be rewarding and difficult at the same time. In today’s society, “the kind of leadership necessary to move social movements forward is very different from the type of leadership required in a military setting, especially on the battlefield. A more sharpened focus on leadership processes versus individual leader traits and behaviors deepens our understanding of the complexities and interactive nature of leadership” (Komives, Lucas and McMahon 2013, 46). My goal is to understand how to face the complexities in life as a leader to communities, universities, organizations, the workplace and the world. As a leader,

Have you ever been in a situation where you had to take charge, and take on leadership roles in a short period of time? Some people may say that not everyone can be leader. Some also believe that leaders are born with the necessary qualities, which make them successful as a leader. Others believe that leadership, like many other character traits, can be learned and developed through life. The debate depends on how you define leadership, if you ask me. A leader can be made in certain situations of survival. It can range from promoting what is right to perform social changes, or just to execute their own ideas. When you are a leader you gain a certain sense of independence, and pride to that you started something. Therefore, when it’s finished you get to show people that you were able to accomplish all of this.

George, B. & Sims, P. (2007). True North, Discover Your Authentic Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

The purpose of the book is to help the reader discover their “True North.” One of the most profound arguments was that leadership is “not a set of genetic characteristics, but the result of a lifelong process of self-discovery.” I have always believed that a person's leadership style grows overtime, so I like the idea that we are all born as a blank-slate with leadership potential. In addition, the idea that “no one can be authentic by trying to be like someone else [...] you can learn from others’ experiences, but you cannot be successful trying to be like them”(485) really stood out to me because this concept can definitely be applied to SLC. Our class is filled with a wide range of influential leaders with a lot of potential but who

Throughout high school, I participated in many leadership activities. I served as the president of the National Homeschool Honor Society, which involved organizing meetings community service projects. I taught a class of twenty preschoolers at my church for two years. Even simply hosting Bible studies has involved a lot of planning and leadership. All of these opportunities have shown me that a good leader not only instructs people on what to do, but they also listen to the people they are leading. A good leader needs equal amounts of passion, patience, confidence, and integrity.

Leadership is something that people are born with. It is an inherent charm and it doesn’t hide even if you want to hide it. There is a leader amongst us and he or she is the one that leads other people to great things by inspiring and motivating people to do good deeds. Leadership has been described as “a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”. This way a leader can decide what work goes in and goes out. Good leaders in history have left a mark in walks of life. But great leaders, they’re different. Great leaders have the ability to make each and every individual re-think their life decisions and choices by

The topic of leadership continues to attract several theoretical arguments as the practice of leadership varies depending on a variety of factors (Loveridge, 2014). However, the contributions made by John Wooden in transforming leadership are impeccable, with his many years as a basketball coach earning him admiration and success in equal measure. John Wooden, therefore, explains how leaders can get the maximum potential out of their followers through enhancing the individual abilities and shaping the personal efforts in a manner that guarantees personal peak performances and subsequent improvement of team or organizational performance.

The moments that shaped my lens through which leadership is pulled into focus are plentiful and occurred over time. The first, shared above, was being thrust into a leadership role, completely unprepared for the job. The next was my becoming a Coast Guard (CG) Boat Coxswain. This is a matter of great responsibility; CG asset, CG people, CG mission, all the responsibility of the coxswain. Amazingly, my coxswain certification was complete simultaneously with my undergraduate graduation. Consequently, becoming a teacher of science as a civilian job was the next leadership

My education, life experiences, motivation, hard work, and compassion allowed myself to grown into an affective leader. In turn, my growth as a leader enhanced my professional development. My organization and drive to succeed lead my group of adolescent youth to mature and grow into themselves at a faster rate. This leadership role can be summed up no less than difficult but has taught myself just how much balance can equate to well roundedness. These four summers have taught me to capitalize on my strengths and learn from my mistakes and weaknesses. I can now say that through these four summers the skills, knowledge and leadership I have gained will transcend into my life both in college and in the real

Inscribed on the entry-wall at the ancient Greek Temple of Apollo at Delphi are the words “know thyself”. Can a leader be truly effective without knowing one’s self? Although it has roots in previous times Authentic Leadership is a concept that began to emerge in its modern form in the 1960s. It wasn’t until 2003 when Bill George wrote about authentic leadership and its connection to ancient Greece that it became a popular leadership concept (Clark, 2014). Bill George is senior fellow at Harvard Business School, where he has taught leadership since 2004. He is the author of four best-selling books: 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis, True North, Finding Your True North, and Authentic Leadership, as well True North Groups. His newest book, Discover Your True North, was published in August of 2015 along with its companion workbook, The Discover Your True North Fieldbook. He describes authentic leadership as a style of leading that is consistent with the core values and personality of the leader and one who leads from an honest, ethical and practical perspective. It is through the leaders authentic self, and not just the concept of self but more importantly the actions of the leader and how that is perceived by others that determines whether they believe the leader is authentic. It is through honest relationships and ethical actions that help to maximize the efforts of others in achieving the goal (George, 2016).

Within companies or large organizations, becoming a leader involves going through different stages and levels of management. In the book, The First 90 Days, by Michael Watkins,

Being a leader is a position anyone has the potential of reaching, it is how that leadership is carried out that makes the difference. As mentioned in chapter 2, there is a hierarchy of leadership and reaching Level 5 leadership is the ultimate goal. The following are the different levels of leadership involved in this Level 5 Hierarchy:

I have learned many lessons from Jack Welch on leadership. Jack Welch has been with the General Electric Company (GE) since 1960. Having taken over GE with a market capitalization of about $12 billion, Jack Welch turned it into one of the largest and most admired companies in the world by the time he stepped down as its CEO 20 years later, in 2000. Jack Welch used his uncanny instincts and unique leadership strategies to run GE, the most complex organization in the world and increased its market value by more than $400 billion over two decades. He remains a highly regarded figure in business circles due to his innovative leadership style. Jack Welch demonstrated Kouzes and Posner’s five practices of modeling the way, inspiring a shared