“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” Socrates (Watson, L.E. 1951). This quote to me is the essence of what leadership is about. A leader demonstrates exceptional skills in interpersonal skills, ethics and morals. If a leader does not possess these skills, employees will not follow or work in a cohesive team environment. The leader sets the tone and demonstrates to other staff what acceptable behavior looks like. Therefore if you want to be a leader with a good reputation, then you ought to behave like a leader with a good reputation.
This course has transformed my way of thinking with respect to leadership. I’ve often thought about employees as individuals, all coming with strengths and weaknesses. I’ve never however, applied this same type of thinking when it comes to leadership. I suppose we all want to think of our leaders as people with supreme skills, acting the way we want them to act, and managing to the style we as individuals feel most comfortable with. I realize now though, there are many type of leaders – transformational, transactional and servant to name a few. In knowing this, I’ve become less frustrated with leaders that are influential in my life. I can better understand how they became the kind of leaders they are today. Which brings me to my second most impactful learning and that is that leadership can be made up of traits one is genetically in-tuned to, as well as leadership can be learned. In my own life I’ve been blessed with a family line of successful leaders. My dad is a great example of how leadership can be inherited as although he was adopted, he took on similar leadership positions as his biological family. He did not meet his family until he was 28 years of age, yet he enjoyed very similar successes. In my case, I believe I’ve inherited some of these leadership traits however when one grows up in an environment that is not conducive to nurturing these skills, those same leadership traits can be used in an unproductive way. I’ve been fortunate however in my career to have terrific mentors and the opportunity to continue to learn about effective leadership. This learning continues every day, as I try and be the best I can be for my employees and my community. Yes, I’ve made some mistakes in my career, however I know at this point in my life what good leadership looks like. I try every day to mirror and behave like a strong and thoughtful leader, one with a good reputation in all business dealings. The world is full of inspirational great leaders with excellent reputations such as Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffet or Bill Gates. If you were to choose one inspirational leader to emulate with a great reputation, whom would that be?
References:
Watson, L.E. (1951). _Light from Many Lamps_. New York: Simon and Schuster. Page 165.
What a great example of how your understanding of different leadership theories prompted you to view leadership from a different perspective! I do find there are certain types of leadership I am drawn to — as they most resonate with my personal values. Do you think that a leader can engage a community so people with different perspectives on leadership can all know they belong?
— Leadership Prof
I really feel it is up to a leader to adapt their style to a community as long as it does not compromise their ethics. In my role I work with elders, youth, millennial’s and folks from a plethora of diverse backgrounds. I’ve always believed as a leader I need to adapt my style to the audience as a means to connect. It’s not about being a phony but instead being caring enough to put others at ease. All people have a right to be heard and as a representative of a community its important that as a leader all community members feel a sense of belonging. If we don’t respect differences we will not survive and be as strong as we would be, if we allowed all voices to be heard. This is not an easy thing to accomplish but certainly can be achieved by listening and adapting to the respective audience.