My Leadership Philosophy

Contrary to popular belief, being an effective leader is an art that could be learned. From what the media has conditioned me to believe, I never thought that I was able to become a leader since I did not consider myself as being an assertive, charismatic, or a creative leader. Although there are people who encompass these qualities, depending on the environment and context of the situation, individuals who do not consider themselves as a traditional leader unknowingly carry leadership characteristics. From my experience, I have noticed that I can create a positive environment for everyone to work together during stressful times. The principles that I follow which influence my leadership activity are being emotionally intelligent, ethical and

Due to America’s culture of operating in a face paced environment, I have been forced to adapt to changes. My adaption to change has been illustrated when people canceled for events I help plan for, or generally when events do not go as planned. Concerning concentrating on group members strengths, I have always been an advocate in looking at people differences rather than our similarities. Since no one person is the same, we can capitalize on our differences to move collectively. In a leadership context, I have concentrated on the strengths of group members by “assigning” people with things they are most natural with. For example, when event planning I tend to ask extroverted people if they could be the event speaker, or if someone is good with technology I would more than likely capitalize on their information technology skills. Another behavior that I prioritize through my leadership is providing emotional support. My version of giving emotional support includes asking how I can better assist them with completing their job or supporting them verbally to get their assignment done. I have noticed when I provide emotional support; my group is more inclined to be effective since I value them more than what they can

I currently volunteer as a citizenship education facilitator for a non-profit who employs day laborers in Los Angeles. About a month ago I was scheduled to look after the day labor children as their parents studied for their citizenship class. Twenty minutes into the citizenship class we heard gunshots around the corner. Having grown in a crime infested area, I knew I did not have time differentiate if what I heard were gunshots or fireworks. Upon hearing the shots, I located all the children and had them move to a room farthest away from the windows in case an exchange of gunshots continued. While nobody was injured, one of the staff’s car windshield was pierced by a bullet. Although I was scared of getting shot myself, I practiced using emotional intelligence by regulating my fear to help move our center's kids to a safer room. In this short period, I exercised leadership during a crisis by being decisive, thinking strategically, and staying calm. Since I was limited to the amount of information I had, I decided for better or for worse the best thing was to move the children from another room. Thinking in a big picture, in the event, if gunfire exchanged occurred I would put others and myself in a position where we would be safe. By communicating with the children to move our activity to the other room, I was able to