My Leadership Philosophy

When I first started this class, I reflected back to what I used to define leadership as, which was instilled in me through my years of working in the family business. My theory was that “leadership is the art of influencing people to accomplish a task or tasks by showing them how it’s done (direction), why it’s being done (purpose) and creating enthusiasm to do it (motivation)” (Daskal, 2016). But as I listened, read and participated in discussions with my colleagues, I started to come to the understanding that leadership is definitely not a focused action. I learned that the definition of leadership is an art that evolves from the people you work with, the environment you work in and the goals and vision you are trying to achieve.

What I have added to my definition of leadership over the last few weeks are that leadership is comprised of traits, behaviors and skills. Five essential leadership skills comprise of commitment, competence, empathy, integrity, and self-knowledge. A good leader must be flexible; they must be able to make sound decisions based on the situation. Leaders need to build a climate and culture that is conducive to empowering employees to grow as leaders themselves by affording them the opportunities to lead within the organization. Staff cannot become leaders, if they do not have a leader to

emulate. A good leader is a visionary; they look at various aspects of a goal, always keeping the end in mind. Leaders must concentrate on their strengths and build on them. An individual in a leadership role needs to establish trust and transparency within their team or organization.
The five essential skills that I have studied over the last few weeks are:
Commitment:
Demonstrating personal commitment in a job is a critical component to establishing loyalty. Working outside of your set business hours, showing initiative by undertaking or volunteering for new projects, creating different methods to complete tasks faster and with more efficiency, depicts commitment and initiative to your employer. Being truthful with yourself and honoring all standing promises you make essentially form a sense of honor and reliability within the company you work for. Truly engaging and immersing yourself in your work is a key component that employers look for when measuring performance of their employees. Other traits include workers who are responsible, dependable, and trustworthy. I always revert back to working in my family business. Even though my father was my boss, I didn’t use that situation as a means to gain rank above other employees. I expected to be treated the same as the rest of his employees, and I had an even greater responsibility to reach higher and outperform others because it directly reflected on my entire family, not just on me. Having the ability to focus on other’s wellbeing, and experiencing how much that domino effect impacted the business, really instilled fundamental values in me to be the best employee I can be today.
Competence:
To establish competence in a new job, you first need to understand what your strengths and weaknesses are. Working for an employer that complements those will allow an individual to excel in a given company. Training, shadowing current employees, or even taking another college class to be more effective for an employer, will help develop and advance an individual in their job position. You need to be willing to accept failure, be flexible, and be an effective communicator. In order to perform assigned work, you need to be able to both listen and communicate effectively with your coworkers and management. If you do not understand what it is you are asked to do, then you truly cannot provide them with your best work. In that respect, one must understand that even some managers are not effective in communicating with their employees. Employees who are flexible have the ability to alter their method of processing tasks based on the needs of their leader and the demands of each task. Being eager to do whatever is necessary to complete, can really allow you with an opportunity to step outside of your job description and learn more about the overall company operations.
Integrity:
To convey integrity in the workplace, you need to show respect towards your coworkers and your superiors. Showing that you can participate in teamwork and help whenever needed for the better of the group demonstrates to other members that you are truly engaged and care about others. You need to be accountable for your drawbacks and mistakes, but also be proud and acknowledge your successes, using them to your advantage. In doing so, others will hold you to a higher standard and have greater respect for you. Attend training on an ongoing basis, and gain the knowledge needed to be proficient in your job. Coming in early and staying past quitting time speaks volumes to an employer. They realize you could be somewhere else but you chose the option to be at work (early/late) instead, which shows the employer that you have ambition. Be honest with yourself, show respect for your coworkers, adhere to all company policies, and avoid gossip at all costs.
Empathy:
Leaders need to be able to view things from other employee’s perspectives by approaching matters with an open mind. Realizing that individuals form their own opinions on different topics, being receptive to their ideas, and acknowledging their views, shows them that you are empathetic and understand their concern. Personally, I would ask someone to explain how they felt, or what their wishes were, so I was able to understand what they specifically needed. By routinely listening, paying special attention to body language, noticing any key words, and observing reactions, it would become habitual to demonstrate empathy at your workplace.
Self-Knowledge:
To establish self-awareness in a new job, you need to acquire as much training as possible and ask questions about things you may not understand.

You need to be able to openly admit you were incorrect, or that something improper occurred under your direction. You need to be able to turn your mistakes into learning opportunities. No one is perfect, and that is validated every day I go to work. Obtaining feedback from coworkers will assist you in knowing where your weaknesses lie, and open the door for them to do the same. Everyone would be able to help each other as one extremely strong, cohesive group with all of their strengths

combined.
While working for our family business, I was taught that tasks had to be accomplished as quickly as possible. Often times, this did not allow for input from personnel or opportunities to practice interpersonal skills. When I started working in education, I realized that my approach to leadership would have to change with how I looked at task accomplishment, in addition to personnel interactions.
If an organization or team cannot be cohesive, then they cannot be effective or affect change. What I have learned in this class is that in order to affect change we must first transform ourselves before transforming others. This means reaching the fundamental state of leadership. This state of leadership focuses on the purpose of a goal, internal motivators, focus of others and being open to external stimuli (Quinn, 2004). Without transcending into this state of leadership, positive relationships cannot be built.
As I grow and learn, I must continue to find ways to become a thinker and doer that will stimulate myself and my colleagues to become successful in their field. Leaders must be able to practice flexibility when it comes to determining what their philosophy on leadership will be. If they cannot, and choose to view leadership styles as one dimensional, then as leaders, they will be doing a great disservice to themselves and their colleagues.
Effective leaders give people the desire to follow them, they must be empathetic; they must be flexible; and they must be a visionary in order to promote their business, or sell the vision of their business to the community. Leaders must be proficient in having the ability recognize effectiveness versus ineffectiveness and be highly knowledgeable in offering suggestions to change what is ineffective and make it effective. As a leader, you have a responsibility to ensure your colleagues are growing and learning. Finally, an instructional leader must be able to give honest feedback to their employees, and conduct thorough observations to make them better at their job. This class has provided me with the necessary tools to construct my professional leadership foundation.