Developing a Leadership Philosophy
It is very telling that one of our last activities focuses on reflection and communication. It is telling because these are the two characteristics emphasized throughout each of my leadership classes. Reflection deals with a leader’s ability to internalize learning. Communication incorporates a leader’s ability to develop relationships and influence them effectively. I firmly believe both characteristics are the keys to effective leadership. A number of experts concur believing that a leader must start with knowledge of oneself and develop that into an ability to communicate, share ideas, visions, and listen to others.
KNOWING ONESELF
Bolman and Deal (1994) summarize management and leadership as follows, “management provides consistency, control, and efficiency. But leadership is needed to foster purpose, passion, and imagination” (p.77). Fullan (2001) points to the Bolman and Deal description of leadership and focuses on the fostering of purpose. Fullan (2001) agrees with Sergiovanni’s thoughts that, “authentic leaders anchor their practice in ideas, values, and commitments, exhibit distinctive qualities of style and substance, and can be trusted to be morally diligent in advancing the enterprises lead” (p.14). Fullan (2001) posits that the moral purpose of a leader and the success of an organization are synonymous.
FINDING A MORAL COMPASS
Where does a leader find his/her moral purpose? Bolman and Deal (2001) write that a leader must “lead from something deep in [his/her] heart” (p.23). For me, my moral purpose/compass is deeply rooted in my Christian faith. I have a firm belief in what is right and wrong, ethical and unethical. These concepts are not ambiguous for me. I have resour...
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...pose to elevate others, to give what one has to help others realize their potential, grow, and achieve their goals.
Works Cited
Bolman, L.G. & Deal, T.E. (1994). Looking for leadership: Another search party’s report.
Educational Administration Quarterly, 30(1), 77-96.
Fullan, Michael. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Guiney, E. (2001). Coaching isn’t just for athletes: The role of teacher leaders. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(10), 740-743.
Maxwell, John C. (1998). The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership: Follow them and people
will follow you. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Warren, Rick. (2002). A purpose driven life. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
*John Maxwell’s principles are adapted from “The Influential Leader: Unleashing the Power in People” nationwide satellite simulcast from Atlanta, Georgia, 29 April 2005.
Flaherty, J. (2011). Coaching: Evoking excellence in others (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Leaders do not just appear out of thin air and automatically start making great things happen in the world. A leader must learn from prior leaders or role models that they are surrounded by that they look up to. Not everyone can be a leader, only some people have the correct characteristics it takes to lead others in the right direction. Those who do great things, for example volunteering at a homeless shelter, are not leaders. Many people mistake a “great person” as being a leader, which is completely incorrect (Kouzes and Posner, p. 3). While playing an active role in your community is a positive thing it does not make someone a leader of that community. All leaders have a group of people they have inspiration too and that is a good way of determining who your personal leaders are. My mother, brother, and grandfather are my leaders because I have always looked up to them and tried to mimic some of the great things that I have seen them do. My mother has always been an independent women with goals and an action plan to accomplish those set goals. Stephen, my elder brother, is outgoing and tends to have a leveled head when it comes to evaluating stressful situations. My grandfather is the most caring person I know and he is amazing at keeping situations under control in order to please everyone. These are all the qualities I want to combine into my own leadership style. I know I am not a efficient leader of these actions yet, but I plan on growing into this as I more on into my career, fulfill my set goals, and adjust to the curve-balls that life throws at me.
Leadership can be traced back to many ideologies over the history of time. There have been individuals that have achieved great success and accomplishments through inspiring others to believe and follow their leadership. This paper will explain some of the theories that philosophically explain how those great people inspired others to believe in their vision and goals.
Growing up I was extremely blessed having an incredible coach at every level of sport I participated in. From those experiences I know how much a coach can make a difference in your life. For that reason my dream job is coaching college basketball at any division. It does not matter to me what level, because kids at the D-3 level need just as much guidance and help as student athletes at the D-1 level. During my coaching career I hope to blend two leadership styles in particular together in order to make my athletes better men, but also to keep the game they love fun to play. I feel by taking the Charismatic Leadership style’s enthusiasm and loyalty and mixing it with a Transformational Leaders innovation and emphasis on change, I can be an extremely effective and power leader for my student athletes.
The first component of effective leadership is moral purpose. “Moral purpose is about both ends and means (Fullan, 2001, p.13).” Moral purpose is how people treat others and how they evolve over time by working together. Fullan states that in order to have moral purpose the other four components of leadership have of be present (Fullan, 2001). Moral purpose is natural, but it will only flourish if leaders cultivate it (Fullan, 2001). Leaders have to have strate...
This book is for people who are willing to accomplish the work of a leader. Maxwell breaks down leadership into principles based on biblical foundation which one can apply in his life. He defines the levels of leadership into five and describes each level in the specific way. Those levels of leadership are: position, permission, production, people development, and personhood which the higher someone goes, the easier it is to lead. According to him, leadership is the key to success in any endeavor and leadership can be developed. A review section in every chapter provided to encourage the reader to join the author with a ‘fill in the blank’ section. Certainly conveying his message in an interactive way, this makes the book even more interesting to read. Individual can easily understand and remember his message through bold headings and dozens of quotes he wrote. After more than four decades of observing leadership, Maxwell throughout his book concludes that leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less.
Sometimes you may have to take a directive or disciplinary approach which may get the job done but can have a negative impact on the relationship. It is important to recognize this and try to be as open as possible on why the action was taken and how things can be improved in the future. As mentioned before it requires a situational adjustment but that does not mean it has to end negatively. I remind my followers that not all mistakes have to be negative. I have made many mistakes and that is what formed me to grow and be successful. I will also continue to make mistakes in the future the important thing is to learn from them and become better. As a leader I share this with my followers, so they feel comfortable to take risks and learn from their mistakes as well. Now that we have looked at my leadership philosophy let look at how I can take what I have learned from this course and improve my organization.
I believe that there are many meanings to the word “leadership”. There is not just one way to describe it. It can be such a powerful and influential thing. Leadership has an impact on everyone’s lives whether they realize it or not. It doesn’t matter what you do, leadership has an impact on your life in some way or another. To me, the definition of leadership would be a person who chooses to lead. Someone who is confident in there decisions, works well with others and it capable of motivating people to take on tasks that they might normally find impossible. They also have to be someone that people respect and would be willing to listen to. Leadership also means that you have to take a risk. A leader never knows exactly what is going to happen and sometimes things may not work out for the best. When this happens the leader is usually to blame. This is just one of the many risks a leader must take when he or she chooses to lead. A leader must also be understanding and open to the people around him. Just because they are the leader does not mean that they have to do it alone. A leader should always be willing to listen to those around him and take into consideration the thoughts and ideas of others. One of the last things a leader must be willing to do is accept failure. It doesn’t matter when or where but at some point a leader will fail. This does not mean that they give up and pass the role of leader on to someone else; it means that they learn from it and use it as a lesson for the future.
Ultimately, these values are all inter‐connected. It takes great courage to lead with authenticity and integrity. Integrity inspires service and respect for others. Living authentically and with integrity enables the leader to develop their passions, resulting in a commitment to hard work and dedication, as well as growth and learning. Pushing through the challenges of a full commitment to this lifestyle of leadership requires a sense of humor, and a willingness to re‐align one’s life to one’s passions. I think that when we truly commit ourselves to understanding ourselves as leaders, as well as learn to understand our followers and the relationship that exists between leader and follower, there is potential for great change.
Authenticity is an important character trait that defines an exemplary leader or an effective follower within an organization and it comes with a price. The cost of knowing oneself or self-awareness arises from looking within myself, gleaning from past experiences, learning from my present circumstances, and looking forward to the future will determine the leadership path that I will take. One of my favorite quotes by Booker T. Washington defines what all of us have within us, the power to change ourselves and the world one baby step at a time; "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome”.
SSG and 3 specialist and a major. It was time for the staff sergeant to
Introduction The concept of a coach is nothing new in a culture that celebrates sporting events and athletes with religious fervor. In order for sports teams and individual athletes to compete at a high level and to obtain great success, there must be an individual with the ability to bring out the best in the athlete and forge a comprehensive unit that is composed of other like-minded athletes; that individual is referred to as “coach.” Coaching, however, is not just for the realm of sports, but has a place within any organization that seeks to draw out the best qualities in others in order to attain a shared goal. Coaching seeks to partner with an individual to release potential that has been buried, so that the individual may aspire
Leadership the word I hear so often in school, scouts, and clubs. Leaders are needed everywhere and that is why so many different places talk about leaders and their importance. They are the ones that can effectively lead a group to their goal. I have done much of this mostly in scouts, there isn’t very much group problem-solving in schools that require it or I was leading and didn't notice. Most leadership in schools is only really in clubs and I never really enjoy being the leader in those. The only real leadership position that have really gotten in school was being a WEB leader at kelly middle school. But I have done many leadership activities in my boy scout troop and if you do call my contact for my BSA positions, beware he likes to talk a lot but he’s awesome and has many stories.
The insufficiencies of effective leadership that exist in today’s organizations have led me to pursue my journey into leadership. I have experienced first-hand the devastation the lack of leadership can bring to a company, from micro-managers to in-group favoritism and toxic leadership. All of these types of leaders bring company moral down and have the ability to sink an organization.
Every good leader has successful skills to accomplish a common goal within an organization. Although the term leader is often intertwined with the manager; a leader’s characteristics are rarely the same in responsibilities. Leaders are developed by the type of organizational cultured that they are derived in. Thus, bringing the skills to designed changes rather than only promote changes as often may be seen in managers. Leadership is then the support of employees by offering a clear concise understanding of an organization needs and therefore brings balance to the task and the relationship of the employees. So what is the purpose of the leadership? To serve others while transforming the company’s mission into actually obtainable goals while all the while overcoming situational