My Leadership Philosophy

Leadership is one of those words that can be defined differently by each person. There are so many different type of leadership theories, there is not just “one” right one. Each different theory brings something new to the table. The term leadership has four distinct characteristics that each of the theorists have agreed on. The first is that leadership is a process, it is a transactional event that causes interaction between individuals. Leadership is not one certain trait or characteristic that a leader possesses, it is a process. The second characteristic is influence over others, it is how the leader affects the followers. This trait is the essence of leadership. Leadership occurring in groups is the third characteristic because to have

When the time to fill out college and scholarship applications rolled around, a common question started to appear in almost every form “what does leadership mean to you?”. I really struggled defining this word until I considered why I was in leadership roles in my school and organizations. I defined leadership as wanting to play a bigger role in something I was passionate about. It was about caring so much about an organization or club that you were willing to accept extra responsibility and work to make it succeed. My definition of leadership has been tweaked from senior year of high school to my sophomore year of college. I still believe that leadership is wanting to play a bigger part in something you are passionate about but also being able to direct and inspire others towards a common goal. I realized that you can want to play a bigger part in your work or an organization because you are passionate about it, but that does not make you a leader. You must be able to influence other people within you group to accomplish certain goals. I believe the goals of a leader should be wanting to make their work or organization successful while also helping their followers reach their full potential. As a leader, you want outcomes and progress within your work or organization, you should want to see it succeed. I think you should also

It is a type of leadership that depends on the followers and the situation they are given. There are four different type of leadership style; directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating. There is not one type of style that trumps the other, they each are beneficial to each of the different situations. The leadership style and the development level of followers are what being measured through this approach in a graph. The leadership style is measured on how much support and direction you are giving the followers. For example, if you have a follower that is super excited about a project but has no experience, then she would need a directing type of leadership because she has the drive to complete the project, she just needs instruction. The leadership skills are based on the situation while the development levels are based the follower and their needs. They measure a follower’s competence and commitment, if a follower is lacking one of these areas, then the leader should adjust their leadership style to improve what they are lacking. I believe this is the best leadership strategy because it takes a true leader that is willingly to alter their style to meet the needs of their followers and help them reach their full potential. These leaders go out of their way to make sure their followers and their organization succeed. This type of leadership style requires a little more