The LDRS 500 course would go down for me as a sound expose about leadership; very insightful, interesting, intriguing and mentally tasking. An overview of all that I learnt in this course include:

(a) The difference between assigned and emergent leaders,

(b) The difference between leadership and management,

(c) Applying the intelligence of practice towards discerning truths,

(d) The concept of transformational servant leadership and the difference between transformational leadership (TL) and servant leadership (SL),

(e) Team development and team performance,

(f) The applications of critical thinking,

(g) The basics of andragogy and adult learning,

(h) Leadership ethics,

(i) Transactional and transformational leadership,

(j) Women in leadership and the importance of fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion, especially for women in a workplace,

(k) Applying foresight towards developing and growing an organization.

To summarize my learnings in this course, I at this moment describe two of the aspects that have impacted my practice in this blog post. The first has to do with the difference between assigned and emergent leaders. Assigned leaders attain positions and lead others as a result of their individual capabilities, merit, experience or other considerations. Emergent leaders lead others by sheer influence. In my practice, I have come to appreciate that not all leaders are assigned, and not all assigned leaders emerge.

Further, a leader might occupy a position but remain limited in their capacity to influence others. Conversely, a leader may exert tremendous influences and yet stay limited because they lack a formal position. Based on this, I realize that for a leader to be effective, it is essential to leverage both the authority that comes via a formal position and also their ability to positively influence other as a result of their emergence. With this insight, as a leader and founder of my establishment, I better appreciate the importance of avoiding the trap of being too dependent on my formal position.

The second key learning that has impacted my practice is the place for applying critical thinking. Through the various studies about critical thinking, my leadership practice has been positively impacted through my enhanced understanding of the need to:

(a) Take charge of my thought process,

(b) Attaining freedom from societal conditioning,

(c) Evaluating information sources to eliminate the negative influences of conjecture, hearsay and others in my decision-making process, and

(d) Applying creativity and lateral thinking towards problem-solving.

The knowledge and applications of critical thinking have better enabled me to take more effective and rational decisions a leader in my professional practice.

I conclude with the following quote;

The next level of human advancement does not depend upon computers, technological advancements or natural resources, it depends on the quality of leaders that society can inspire. With the right leaders, anything and everything great remains possible.

                                                                                                                                    – Lewa Ahmed