Leadership: Perception And Bias Lesson

Leadership Paper

In the first several weeks of Introduction to Leadership we have gone over many lessons that teach us about the different factors in being a leader. Some going into the different elements that need to be taken in account for by a good leader, others go on to talk about different tactics or skills good leaders pertain. For the purpose of this paper I am going to focus on the “Perception and Bias” and “Socialization” lessons and how they have been important to my development as a leader so far at the academy and how they have enhanced my commitment to this institution.
The first lesson I am going to focus on is the “Perception and Bias” lesson. We learned that our brains naturally categorize people into groups or classes rather

In this lesson we really take a look at how we are all a product of our surroundings. How our environment alters our thought process and our actions. Charles Cooley coined the phrase “looking-glass self” for the belief that our interactions with others is what helps us perceive ourselves. He broke down this looking-glass self into three stages. First we think about how we present ourselves to the people around us. Next we imagine how others around us perceive us. Lastly this leads to the development of how we feel about our self. As a result people can create the wrong perception of themself. An example of this socialization changing the way someone thinks would be you do poorly on a math test, the teacher tells you to study with a particular student to better prepare for the upcoming test. As a result you think that the teacher doesn’t think you are smart enough to study on your own and the student you got partnered up with thinks you are unintelligent because the teacher has partnered you up with them to improve your test scores. I would say that this has affected me as a leader because it makes me cautious of what I say and how I say it. I don’t think you can ever completely avoid this kind of socialization but if you can minimize it, I think it can cause a higher morale amongst the people you are leading and lead to a healthier work environment. I believe this does enhance my commitment to the Naval Academy because it makes me be more conscious of what I say and understand how saying the wrong thing can lead to your peers to getting the wrong perception of you or think less of themselves. As a result, I am challenged to be more aware of what I say as a