What Does Leadership Mean?

In my view leadership is one’s ability to make a positive impact based on the needs of many. As a leader, I consider myself to be energetic, team orientated, encouraging, and a hands-on leader that focuses on the developmental of all my staff and individuals around me. Over the week, I have been instructed to complete three assessments: Strengthsfinder 2.0., DISC, and Jung Typology Personality to provide insight on my leadership style. From these assessments, I have learned a greater understanding of my leadership style. I will be reflecting on the results and comparing patterns across the three assessments.

In developing this idea of what leadership is, I examined what was most important to me in being a leader. Since leadership is such a broad term, this could not be a process whereby I could generalize leadership for everyone. Rather, the task is to determine who I am as a leader. I asked myself, what is it that shapes the vision? What are the factors that comprise a leader, and what makes these things add up to create something larger than ourselves as leaders? Thoughtful reflections on these things lead me to generate the following definition of leadership: Leadership is about more than simply having followers; it is not a title, and it is not achieved by just following a few principles. Leadership is complex, though at its

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, leadership is, “the office or position of a leader,” or, “the act or instance of leading.” To me, leadership is the ability to take control of a situation or group in order to move in a positive direction. For example, say your 4-H club is dwindling in numbers. You have an idea on how to keep the people who are in it interested and how to build the club up again, you should share your ideas and become proactive. Due to you taking control of what needs to happen, you’re already a leader; your club will look up to you. Basically, to me leadership is all about assessing the situation, then doing the best thing you can do to improve the situation you and others are in. I consider myself a

For the Final Project I am going to write a traditional scholarly essay that examines how stories relate to creative leadership within many diverse fields, the way stories can be used when dealing with challenging leadership situations, how the creation of stories are a big part of a leaders mission to guide others, the importance of leadership, and the ways that leadership incorporates stories to open up new opportunities. According to Ladan Nikravan, he states that “If we do not employ creativity as a core cultural imperative in business, we will be stuck in yesterday’s success and actively resist change.” This will be the underlying concept of this essay that will help to prove why leadership needs to be approached carefully in order to be open to new ideas and have a more creative mindset. I can go about developing this information into an essay by using examples and many different concepts from the stories within each

This formulation of a leadership approach is the result of weeks of study. This includes a compilation of, and refection upon, data collected from several assessments. From this data, a leadership profile emerged, leading to a plan for growth. A foundation for the development of a leadership approach is growing through a study of the history and philosophy of leadership, including various motivational theories. Through interviewing two respected leaders, viewing videos of successful leaders, and conducting further research on leadership, my views on leadership have become much more defined; and through reflection, both

Before this class, I had a very primitive and vague definition of leadership. Not only did I define it as per my views and ideologies, but I also said that each individual has their own definition of leadership. My initial belief was that leadership does not have a clear cut definition, but there were well defined leadership traits which made an individual. I also initially believed that personal traits did not translate into leadership traits with no strong correlation. After going through the various modules this class offered, it is safe to say that I have significantly redefined leadership and underwent a strong personal assessment. This paper talks what I took back from each of the class activities, assignments and how my self-assessment compares to the perception of others.

Leadership can be defined in many different facets. To me the definition of leadership is, “Displaying the ability to inspire and empower others through the example of one’s own self actions”. Too many times we hear, “Do what I say”, instead of, “Do what I do”, because to me, a successful leader’s actions speak louder than words ever will. My first day in the Coast Guard following boot camp graduation, I experienced firsthand on how a leader should not act nor conduct themselves. Though alcohol was the one of the main contributing factors on what occurred that evening, looking back, it was more of the lack of maintaining our core values that ultimately resulted in that Chief losing the title as Chief of the boat and being forced to retire..

Being a leader means different things to different people. In my eyes, being a leader means exhibiting courage and setting an example to my teammates. I want the younger players to be able to look up to me, and come to me when they need counsel. I lead by example, and never stray from my morals. I know of people who try to "lead" by telling others what to do, but I know this isn't the correct method. I lead by becoming friends with my teammates and encouraging them when things don't go their way. As the team captain on our varsity basketball team, I am held to higher standards. I have to keep the team in check and focused on our goals. My leadership roles are present off the court as well. I am vice president of the school's student council

In order for someone to be a good, conquering, and effective leader, they first must understand what that means. In these times, many people have twisted and perverted the image of what a leader is and what they should be. This book helps by laying down the foundations of what a leader is and what it requires to be one. From the first chapter: Developing Your Potential, which talks about the importance of dying to self in order to grow. A leader must understand that God is their source of potential, that without Him, we can do nothing. A leader must understand the process; birth, death and then growth and must continue to die themselves if they desire to grow.

South African social rights activist, Desmond Tutu once said “It is our moral obligation to give every child the very best education possible.” I too, feel a moral obligation to be an advocate for the education of our children. I entered the profession of education knowing that as a teacher I would have a direct impact on possibly hundreds of children’s futures. After educating several classes of children, I know that I will have an even greater impact leading the school as the building principal. Educational leadership is my calling.

What does it mean to be a leader? We encounter leaders in everyday situations, whether it be a professor, boss, coach, or parent. No matter how distinguished or subordinate our roles, we have some type of leadership responsibility over others. How does one effectively lead other people? What methods, ideas, and skills should leaders convey to the public? It is not always easy or fun to be a leader and it is almost guaranteed that a population will not like the views and beliefs of the one in charge. What type of person or idea comes to mind when someone says the word President? Hopefully, they are positive words like leader, intelligent, helpful, and hardworking. A president has one of the toughest leadership roles because he/she is placed in a position to make very tough decisions on topics that people have many varying opinions about. As a voter, it can be difficult to stay informed on topics and determine which party to choose. A person must ask themselves what they stand for or believe in and then decide which candidate is best qualified to fulfill the requirements. Being a first time voter is a very exciting experience that comes with a great responsibility. The 2016 campaign has showcased much personal and political turmoil of the candidates, making it hard to know which side to choose. With an election year like never before, the candidates have placed a lot of pressure on voters to decide who is fit enough to bring our country back into order, but Donald Trump has

Reflecting on my career, I believe it would be hard for me to imagine my current positions, rank and responsibility in both the fire service and Coast Guard when I began in 1998. Over the years I have had several great mentors who have shaped my perceptions and guided my actions. My parents garner much of the credit of my successes as they raised me with a baseline of values which serves me still today. Those values, my mentors and my experiences have worked to temper my definition of leadership. My personal definition of leadership is the practice of taking people to places (real or figurative) they would likely not go on their own. While this my simplistic view, it is one which I have rallied around in my career. It distinguishes itself from that of a position of management where the parameters are typically set and the rules for success are generally known. When encountering the unknown, or the uncharted territory, those who pioneer practice leadership.

Leadership can be defined in many ways. There are countless documents, regulations, manuals and such defining what a Leader should be and citing of numerous examples. Developing proper leaders is oftentimes just as well documented in methodological ways that almost seem rote and excessive to the point of being overdone. Of course leaders can be developed through institutional and self-developmental practices, and those can often be regimented forms of education. The experiences though that shape an individual and their leadership style can never really be duplicated. Whether through the experiences of training, misfortune, success, or even the experiences of combat, it cannot be truly copied. Even with identical experiences, no two people will ever see it the same exact way. We do not want or need leaders that are all carbon copies of one another. We need dynamic leaders that can think individually and can bring their own perspectives to the table through their own individual experiences. Combat time and fighting on the battlefield provides some of the most rudimentary form of experience through first hand exposure. It is important that through these events, individuals and leaders take away experiences and lessons learned that will enable them to become an even more dynamic and developed leader.

In defining leadership and in my opinion, I would have to say that it is a method that people use to encourage others to achieve a common goal by always performing tasking the proper way. What I mean by my definition is that every day one is placed in a position to alter from standard procedures. Whether it be briefing the Command about something important or fixing a million dollar diesel engine, there exists a time in many circumstances where slight deviation from procedures will make the job easier. This is where leadership comes into play. A leader that has instilled a firm foundation of ensuring those under them are aware of the implications of taking a shortcut and are properly taught how to do tasking, will not only be even

Leadership is a difficult word to define and according to the Miriam-Webster Dictionary leadership is the “office or position of a leader” (Miriam-Webster, 2010). This definition is definitely not one that I would ascribe to when discussing leadership. My definition of leadership is “the ability someone has to motivate and empower others to achieve a goal.” Some may add to this definition, others may discard it altogether and have a completely different definition. In the end, leadership takes on many different forms depending on who is doing the defining and we end up asking ourselves, what is leadership and why do we care?