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Essays on leadership experiences
Leadership experience
Leadership experience
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My previous leadership experience includes being a member of National Honor Society, Links, Student Council, and Teen Court. Along with holding position in office for Humanitarian Club and All-Stars. All-Stars allowed me to become a mentor for 15 high school freshman while at a three day retreat to better their personal leadership skills. Links is also a high school freshman mentoring program in which I supervised and kept 11 students on track with attendance, grades, and personal lives. Being involved in these groups and organizations has allowed me to flourish my own organizational and communication skills. I feel in order to be a proper leader one must not only respect everyone around them, but also be willing to be a “servant leader”–
There have been countless books, lectures, and and trainings, and retreats constructed around the idea of cultivating leadership in an individual. However, cultivating individuals’ ability to follow great leadership has received far less attention. Who are these people leading if each person within an organization is being trained to be a leader? The word follower has negative connotations, evoking the images of a weak, uncreative, milquetoast personality. However, Jimmy Collins, in his book, “Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness”, suggests that the ability to be led brings as much creativity, consciousness, and indeed leadership to an organization or team as the leader himself.
The role of a leader is often inaccurately defined as an individual who is in a position to give orders. However, there are enormous differences in the attributes of an outstanding leader, and one of mediocrity. An outstanding leader, above all else, is a role model for their peers. In doing so, a leader of the highest caliber is trustworthy in both their peer’s trust for the leader as well as the leader’s trust of their peers. A leader must also display exceptional skill in communication which transcends speaking and, more importantly, includes listening and consideration to the ideas presented to them. Furthermore, a leader must be supportive of and willing to help their peers build their own strengths. The attributes listed above represent only a small subset of what makes an outstanding leader. Yet,
Despite not being a part of over 20 different organizations, as some claim to be, being a part of a smaller number of groups has allowed me to focus on developing my leadership skills more thoroughly than I could otherwise. Not spreading myself too thin has made me much more committed and involved in the organizations that I am a part of, making my influences so much stronger. I firmly believe that I am trying my absolute best not only in school, but in leaving my comfort zone and being an active member in our community. I am honored that I have been considered for such a prestigious invitation as
Each one of us is a leader in our circle of influence. We all have different set of core values based on our unique experiences. Core values help leader
To inspire and influence others, a leader must possess many skills and abilities. As motivational speaker Peter Northouse, states, “a leader should be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant” (Northouse, 2013) Moving an entire group of individuals toward a singular goal is a considerable undertaking. Without effective communication skills and a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, one will feel like they are trying to herd cats rather than leading.
In order for a leader to be a leader he/she must begin with the assumption that you are the one who matters most. As a leader you have to possess that level of confidence in yourself that you are capable of leading yourself “before you can lead others”. And when you develop this belief then you are better able of affirmative influence “on others”.
Leaders are the individuals who help to create options and opportunities. They help in identifying the choices and solve the problems. They build commitment and coalitions. Leaders do this by inspiring others and working along with them to construct the shared vision of the possibilities and commitments of a better group, organization or community. They engage the followers in such a way that most of the followers become leaders in their own right. The variety of demands of an increasingly complex world very often require that leadership be shared by most of the members of an organization, in appropriate ways for different situations. A leader is the on...
Particularly, two members within my group began to emerge as leaders due to their knowledge, skills, as well as experience working with our chosen population. Although I always view them as ‘experts’ in this topic, our group became less focused on our goals and more concerned about the ‘power struggle’ between our two leaders, before we could reach any consensus. Essentially, our group had two authoritarians butting heads and trying to take lead throughout the beginning of the group process. Thus, the other members or ‘followers’ contribution, like mine, seem to not matter unless they adhered to either leaders’ opinions without question. According to Stringer (2014), “Leadership… Is defined according to its function of facilitating organizational and operational processes, rather than defining and controlling them” (p. 31). The researcher further states that active participation is the key to encourage and motivate group members to invest their time and energy to shape the quality of the group's production. Therefore, our group needed to find ways for all members to have a chance to participate fully and apply their individual strengths, in order to enhance our group’s
Leaders is an effective tool for summarizing and inspiring leadership, not in that it teaches tough strategies and manipulations, but that when looking at an overview of its content, Bennis and Nanus are essentially teaching human relations and human decency. All in all, this book highlights strategies for us all to be better in our lives and our everyday interactions.
Although there are many outstanding, albeit necessary qualities of a good leader, it is the leader’s beliefs in which greatness is given its first breath, fostered by action, and spread throughout the institution. A great leader believes in encouraging, not destroying; in setting the precedence instead of yielding to prominence ; in collaboration, not division; in giving, not taking; and in having high standards and volunteering to be the first of many to be held to them. A great leader does not take advantage of the people being lead, but instead, creates an advantage for the people by giving them the opportunities to lead. Only when people take ownership of an institution will passion be cultivated, action be taken, and greatness be achieved.
To inspire and influence others, a leader must have many skills and abilities. As motivational speaker Jim Rohn, states, “ the challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” (2010) Moving an entire group of individuals toward a singular goal is a considerable undertaking. Without effective communication skills and a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, one will feel like they are trying to herd cats rather than leading.
I was always told to be a leader you must know how to follow. Not to mention, everyone plays a part in all we do. The Law of Explosive Growth takes off when you decide to be all you can be for the cause.
M.D. Arnold once said, “A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them.” Reading this quote always reminds me of my decision to go into the Human Resource Management and Development field. It reminds me of what being in a leadership role is all about and how the wrong kind of leadership influence can potentially break or corrupt an organization. Ever since I can remember, I have always been the friend who others felt comfortable enough to speak to about their issues. I have always been the student who tries to find different methods to learn. I have always been the employee who makes sure my peers feel comfortable with the work given to them. I have always been a leader.
"A leader is an individual (or, rarely, a set of individuals) who significantly affects the thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviors of a significant number of individuals” (Gardner, Howard 2012). An essential part of a leader lies in their ability to motivate and influence people to follow their lead. Leaders are both men and women who have the ability to influence others in a community, control situations, connect with others and persuade others to follow them or the goals they define. To be a good leader one must set a good example and make correct decisions for difficult choices. I myself am implementing leadership skills into my every day life. Leadership skills are all around us. They can be applied to any situation where one may be required to take the lead. This can be
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