On Saturday, February 27th, 2016, from noon to 5pm, I had the opportunity to observe the African Diaspora Reading Group (ADRG)’s leadership meeting. The purpose of the leadership meeting was to plan the upcoming event “Complexifying Conversations” and check on the leaders to see how their semester was going so far. Each year, ADRG hosts a large scale-event discussing topics of the African Diaspora. Generally, each semester we have a leadership retreat, a day to come together and plan for the upcoming semester including the large event. However, this semester, we were unable to have the retreat. Saturday was the closest meeting we had to a leadership retreat. Before the event, we had several unsuccessful telephone meetings and brief meetings before our weekly general body meetings. Most of the leaders were feeling overwhelmed from college and creeping post-undergraduate stressors which made it difficult to focus on the event. However, overall, the meeting was successful.
Background of ADRG and its leaders and members ADRG is an English Department reading group. Dr. Mary Helen Washington and I found the reading group in fall 2014. I have been president since the beginning of the organization. Our
When the leaders arrived, I had prepared the True Colors activity for them to do because of time restraints. Since the leaders are generally late to meetings, I normally try to plan around their lateness. Lateness has become an unhelpful culture at ADRG. Hindsight, I believe it comes from me. Sometimes I am not the most punctual person. As we continued our exercise, I was very interested in seeing how our colors matched. Our leaders were all blue and green and only on leader was orange. After administering the test, I took a back seat and allowed the other leaders to follow the schedule that I had made of things we needed to get done that day and began my
Pierce, Jon L. and John W. Newstrom (2011) 6th edition. Leaders and the Leadership Process.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B., (2007). The leadership challenge, (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
I am currently in a leadership position but have often wondered want makes a good leader. From the course I have identified that EQ, IQ, and SQ are the fundamental qualities that make a good leader. I will try and be aware of the needs and emotions of my team and use this to build my team. I remember clearly an example Boniface give us about a company that merged, with two departments that do the same work. The first team leader said to his team all our jobs are on the chopping block because he was worried about his own job while the second
I then asked him if the youth center has ever considered asking for donations to go towards their funding, and if so what came as a result? He responded by stating that the youth center has indeed received donations in the past from various individuals, none of which though are large enough to have a lasting impact on the organization. Although “they did help ease some of the problems at the time being.”
After completing all of your coursework, what jumps out as having a significant impact on your learning?
The patient was noticeably frustrated when she left the room. Dr. Schultz had given her extensive advice and very kindly told her that he would be unable to help with her problem. I was surprised. Not one to shy away from total knee replacement surgery, Dr. Schultz has always been confident, even with patients that are not in the primest physical condition. I realized that Dr. Schultz 's honesty reflected his true care for his patient. Dr. Schultz told me that it was difficult for him to say that he couldn 't operate on her. He said that once I become a physician, I must be able to go through all the training and experiences in my life and still retain the ability to say that I don 't have a good answer, even if it turns me into some sort of
In the course of this class, I have come to realize that the two most influential leadership strengths of mine are the Guardian and Coach role. With respect to the Guardian role, I believe that this resonates with me because many of my life experiences revolve around establishing trust between individuals, and I hold the sayings of ‘know thyself’ and ‘respect’ very close to my heart. When my parents immigrated to the United States, they spoke very little English. When I was born, I was fortunate enough to not only learn my mother tongue, Hindi, but also English. Due to my bilingual capabilities, my parents frequently employed me aid them in translating and conversing with many people in our lives – my teachers, healthcare workers, neighbors. My parents put a tremendous amount of trust in me while I conversed on their behalf, the persons I conversed put their trust in me to converse with my parents on their behalf, and as a result, I was able to establish a mutual trust between them and their respective trust in me. Additionally, I have continued to embrace the challenge of aiding refugees in the local Phoenix area by going out with the help of the International
Leadership is not defined by position. Leadership is an extraordinary responsibility given only to those willing to exude selflessness, decisiveness, and wisdom. CSM William R. Hambrick, Jr is an accomplished leader that embodies the values, attributes, and competencies that I aspire to convey to my subordinates. The impact that CSM Hambrick has had on my career and leadership philosophy is immeasurable. His far-reaching legacy is one of confidence, sound judgment, and empathy.
Over the course of this semester, I have learned many different things, from behaviors of leaders all the way to how to deal with difficult conversations and confrontations. I have been able to learn more about myself and the way I deal with leadership actions through the personal assessments and I have learned skills that I can take with me to the business world. Being a strong leader is more than just being someone who can do all the work, it is about being a people person and being able to grow your employees and much more. With the help of this course, I have been able to figure out my strengths and weaknesses and going forward I now know what I must work on in order to become a better leader.
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.
The leadership challenge is all about how leaders mobilize others to make great things happen in an organization (Kouzes &Posner, 2012). It is based off the leader’s practices and how they work together as a team to innovate, challenge and reward others in any given situation. It’s about getting others to follow the leader and tag along on the leadership journey. There are five practices that Kouzes and Posner discuss in the book and they are as follows: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encouraging the heart. These five practices are what happens when leaders engage with their team and great things happen (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). A leader is known for what they do within an organization.
. Prioritizing my daily activities based on importance has provided me with an starting point to increase my daily productivity.
I have had the opportunity to work with leaders of different styles, and by just watching them, listening to them and seeing how the staff reacts; I can gauge what is productive with their staff. I try not to copy or mimic their style and ensure my own style comes through in being consistent, authentic and genuine. I feel by following these traits they give me necessary foundation and help me towards achieving leadership excellence.
More often organizations are getting into bigger risks in the market with their leaders in nowadays economy. The resistance to change is a reason why organizations trying harder to keep earlier recognized reputation within clients and community. The theme of leadership is relevant for each person as it occurs almost to everyone during the lifetime or to those who at least were a part of a team.
Leadership is a practical skill, regarding the ability of an individual or organization to guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. Studies of leadership have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence, among others. I have grown as a Christian leader in many ways. Every class here at Concordia University teaches a certain set of leadership skills that apply to everyday life. Life and leadership has broadened my experiences in being a leader by showing me what a leader is like and how they portray themselves.