Leadership Development

As a young member of the military once, the Marine Corps had no qualms about reminding us everyday that, in light of many of great leaders that had come before us, we had much to aspire to. While learning world history as well as our own, I questioned whether such tremendous feats once accomplished could be replicated. In essence, those big boots were not going to be easily filled. And yet as Americans, now looking back at many years of conflict in the Middle East and various parts of the globe, we are proved otherwise as we continually hear of selfless acts being carried out by our service members. These ordinary citizens thrust into extraordinary situations have excelled in no small part due to strong leaders guiding their way. Leadership, especially in the face of adversity has to be able to energize and encourage those within their reach.

Not as young, a bit less naïve, but equally as devoted to making a difference, I now constantly strive to have a positive effect as a leader. All to often we hear of buzzwords being used instead of actions taken. And when it comes to leadership I think actions are what count. In this sense I aim to energize and encourage those around me. Setting an example of the behavior to be emulated can be a method to clearly communicate what is expected. And as we have established in this course, communication is central to leadership. It includes how the leader speaks, listens, and learns. The leader who wishes to motivate must communicate the goals and then follow up to check for understanding. As studies have shown, these essential practices in a leader that focus on coaching and stimulating are the basis of what produce positive results in team members (Kark, R., & Van Dijk, D. 2007).

A way...

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... encouraging me as he did. But most of all, for demonstrating that no matter how big the boots of great people before us, we all must continue to strive to guide and develop our future leaders by making an impact on them today.

Works Cited

Kark, R., & Van Dijk, D. (2007). Motivation to lead, motivation to follow: the role of the self-regulatory focus in leadership processes. Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 500-528. doi:10.5465/AMR.2007.24351846

Patrick, J., Scrase, G., Ahmed, A., & Tombs, M. (2009). Effectiveness of instructor behaviours and their relationship to leadership. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 82(3), 491-509. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Webb, K. (2007). Motivating peak performance: leadership behaviors that stimulate employee motivation and performance. Christian Higher Education, 6(1), 53-71. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.