Developing a Philosophy of Leadership
Katie Sneeringer
Penn State College of Medicine
Leadership Philosophy A personal leadership philosophy is essential to effective leadership. By definition, philosophy is “a set of ideas of how to do something or how to live; the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group” (“Philosophy,” 2016). Thus, defining a leadership philosophy is fundamental in order to provide a solid foundation on which an individual will base his or her actions over time. To successfully define a personal leadership philosophy, one must critically reflect upon personal values, assumptions, and beliefs as they relate to leadership. This self-reflection will draw upon personal experiences
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Although one of the newer leadership theories still in development, authentic leadership is something I find to be demonstrated by many of the leaders I look up to. Authentic leadership is quite complex, but the practical definition developed by Bill George is relatable to many leaders, including myself. George defined the five basic characteristics of authentic leaders including compassion, consistency, connectedness, behavior, and passion (Northouse, 2016). Passion is more than simply identifying and pursuing a goal or purpose, but being truly interested and invested in the work being done. This is something I strive to exemplify through my own leadership …show more content…
It is prudent to examine both an individual’s definition of leadership as well as when this definition of leadership is first understood. I define leadership as a complex interaction between leaders and follows that consists of setting a positive example for followers while fostering an environment of respect, all while working towards a specific goal. The leader is not necessarily the person with the highest title, or the person making all the decisions. It is essential to understand that leadership occurs within the minutia of every day life. This definition has been shaped through both positive and negative personal experiences in
The topic of leadership has been explored and written about by thousands of authors who are considerably more qualified than I am to write about the subject. However, I’ve always maintained that developing, evolving and articulating one’s own leadership philosophy is an essential part of a professional’s growth. Through academics and experience, I’ve concluded that leadership is a “soft” skill, more art than science, and that leadership principles can be universally applied. As a topic of discussion, leadership can be ambiguous and seldom does everyone agree on a single definition. Organizations and the people they consist of crave leadership, even if not overtly. Undeniably, strong leadership is essential to achieving
Developing a personal philosophy of leadership is essential for every leader to establish prior to becoming a leader. A leader should be aware of their strengths and weaknesses and then develop a philosophy that would best compliment that leader’s personality traits and strengths as a person. Leaders need to have their personal philosophy established prior to becoming a leader because once you are in a position of leadership it is time to lead others, not time to determine what philosophy would be best used to lead. I truly believe that a personal philosophy of leadership should be fluid as the leader continues to learn about leadership and people throughout the leader’s career but the four core principles of integrity, ethics, positive attitude and honesty must remain constant.
The word leadership can mean many things if you were to ask individual people to define it. Some may say, “Oh that’s the person in charge”, others may argue that leadership is a “position of power”. I define leadership as the person that others look to in times of crisis and need that they aspire to follow. A leader is always looking for meaningful ways to take care of those around them, sometimes with discipline and others with a calm voice of reason. Throughout my career I have had many different levels of leadership from junior people that would lend a helping hand to senior leaders that always had my back and the answers to tough questions. The most influential person in my career was a First Class Petty Officer when I was fresh out of school and new to the ship. I had never been to sea and was excited to learn. The next three years were some of the best years of my career. Each day we would do nearly everything together when it came to our equipment, we would troubleshoot complex equipment problems sometimes late
Introduction According to the Oxford Dictionary, a leader is defined as “the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). Though there is a definition for what a leader is, people still have different ideas about what a leader should be and how he or she should act. There has never been a concrete idea of what a leader is; the only thing we know is that this person is the one in charge of the unit. We look at characteristics of those people we see as leaders and use those attributes to compare other people to see if they are able to be as good as, or even better than, those aforementioned leaders. We have to keep in mind that in different situations, leaders must do different tasks which indicates the need for different qualities.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
Introduction Through identification and ongoing assessment of her leadership style and ability, this leader is able to develop and understand her own strengths and limitations in order to grow and develop into a more effective leader. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of servant leadership, contingency, and path-goal styles of leadership to gain an understanding of current leadership models, identify this author’s style of leadership, and explore why leadership is important to organizations, society, and this author. A Personal Model of Leadership Servant leadership was a term that was first used by Keifner Greenleaf (1970) in his first essay, The Servant as Leader (as cited by Crippen, C., 2005). Greenleaf based his essay on his belief that a servant leader is a servant first, and explained that it would begin with the natural urge to serve and then the leader would make a conscious choice to become a leader, in doing so he makes the choice to ensure that others needs are met first (2005 ). As a servant leader develops he should always keep aware of those who he serves and strive to ensure that they are becoming healthier, wiser, freer, have an increase in autonomy, and become more like servants themselves (2005).
When people think of leadership so many things rush through their heads. For example am I a leader, am I apart of a group that has a leader, and what does being a leader mean? A common definition of being a leader is a person who leads or guides a group of people. So now knowing the definition of a leader who pops into your head; Phil Jackson, Mike Krzyzewski, Martin Luther King Jr.? All of these people are great leaders, but the real question is why are they so great? One very important thing that all these men have in common is they have a philosophy of leadership. This philosophy is going to help guide these men during turbulent times, or when they need guidance themselves. Nobody is perfect and everyone needs direction no matter how wise or gifted you are. I am no different, which is why writing this philosophy of leadership is going to be a fruitful experience for years to come.
A management philosophy helps an individual to know the direction and the steps to follow when in a position of management. The various concepts of management have been very helpful, and they have had an impact on my personal management philosophy. Planning is an action that involves thinking about a project and organizing them in a manner that is likely to lead to the desired goal (Dumas, 2013). Planning can assist in ensuring that a task is completed in a systematic way to avoid confusion or distractions so that it has a successful outcome. Organizing aids in establishing activities and resources as well as roles are to be grouped to carry out the plan (Griffin, 2016). My personal management philosophy includes becoming an effective leader
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Leaders can have a powerful impact on the futures of many, and the way in which one approaches leadership is paramount to the type of impact one will have. Continual growth in the areas of knowledge I have and seek to acquire, as well as recognizing my leadership style and utilizing my personal strengths to the fullest, is vital to the successful implementation of my personal philosophy of leadership.
Throughout my life, my experiences and role models have shaped my understanding of leadership. I believe leadership is responsibly guiding and motivating others to use both my strengths and their own to obtain success. My personal leadership philosophy is guided by my core values of my family, relationships, loyalty, harmony, and responsibility. My ever-changing definition of philosophy helps my leadership and decision making routinely. New experience’s and external forces effect my translation of leadership daily which, in turn, helps shape me into a successful leader.
1. Leadership is the ability to bring people together while motivating and inspiring them to work as a team to achieve a common goal. There have been several leadership influences in my life. From a very young age, I watched my father lead his troops while serving as a senior enlisted member of the U.S. Army. I saw how he held them accountable for doing their jobs on one hand while mentoring them and giving them the direction they needed, sometimes almost like a father figure on the other. Working for four different law enforcement agencies over the last twenty-seven years, I have been exposed to several supervisors, some good and some not so good. Looking back on it, I believe my leadership philosophy has been influenced more by the bad supervisors than the good ones. The first thing they showed me was the difference in a supervisor or manager and a leader. Very few of them cared for their members at all. They seemed to be more interested in their next promotion and gave little to no attention to mentoring their members and helping them achieve anything they wanted to achieve. Because of this, there always seemed to be a morale problem. The members never seemed motivated to do anything other than the bare minimum to get by.
Leadership is trait that is extremely important in any society. Leadership is known as the way people attempting to make a difference in a situation. However, I believe that it is better said to be a way of influencing others actions. Leadership is usually connected to a great leader that affected his or her followers in a dynamic way. Throughout the semester for my leadership class, I have expanded the knowledge in numerous ways. I now have fully understanding of the purpose and process of leadership to a society. Being a leader one must maintain an image of being the role model. I believe that this is leader should be who is someone who has the ability to influence, encourage, listen, and nurture. They are able to inspire, stimulate, persuade, shape, and have an effect on others.
Some people were born to be great leaders and some were born to be great learners. I ask myself this question, “How was I created?” Was I born a leader or was I molded to lead. As I explain my philosophy on how I want to lead, I will first dive into my past to recognize and pin point my creator. October 27th 2004 I raise my right hand in order to serve and protect the United State against all enemies, foreign and domestic. At this moment in my young personal leadership journey, I get my first glimpse of a leadership style, “shut up and listen.”
Many people associate leadership with a specific job title or form of power within an organization. However, through personal experience, I have concluded that leadership can come in many forms and position as well as from multiple sources of roles and job titles both with and without power. Based on the definition of leadership, anyone can be considered a leader as long as they have the ability to influence people to achieve a particular result or goal which benefits the organization or group as a whole. Individuals with a secure sense of self and understanding, acceptance of diversity within an organization tend to be the strongest leaders that not only make others want to follow, but they also encourage other leaders to gravitate to their