Personal Narrative: My Transformation As A Leader

Great Essays
My Transformation as a Leader
Introduction

Leadership is about influence. Charles R. Swindoll said, ”If I were asked to define leadership in one single word, the word would be influence.” (Swindoll, 1990, p. 16) A leader is someone who can influence others and who has managerial authority. Leadership is a process of leading a group and influencing to achieve its goals. (Robbins & Coulter, 2009, p. 385).

My earlier leadership style was influenced by my father who was a former non commissioned officer of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). He decided everything for all of us without the benefit of even asking the opinion of my mother even in the most crucial events of our family life such as transferring to another place as required by his job. He decided even what college courses we will take. His autocratic leadership must have been formed during his military service and I believe that he found it useful in managing a relatively big family (11 siblings).

The influence of my father was further concretized by my being an officer in the Citizens Army Training (CAT) in high school and in the Citizens Military Training (CMT) in college. I was much more convinced that autocratic leadership is the best style when I joined as a midshipman of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy where we
…show more content…
Because it rarely involves praise and frequently employs criticism, it undercuts morale and job satisfaction. Mr. Goleman argues, it is only effective in a crisis when an urgent turn-around is needed. Even the modern military has come to realize its limited usefulness. (Murray, A. (n.d.), para. 8). Retired General Collin Powell, the Secretary of State during the Bush Administration realizes this fact also when he said, “frightened people don’t take initiative or responsibility, and their organizations suffer as a result (Harari, O., 2003, p.

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Q1: Which of the three perspectives did Pacman, Hodges, the ex-gang member turned community leader, Frog, and Rocket take relative to gang violence? Give specific examples from the movie to support the perspective that you chose. From your viewpoint, was the perspective effective in reducing gang violence? Why or why not?…

    • 1833 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Leadership Challenge discusses “strengthen (ing) resilience” (pp 206). I am the kind of person who wants all of my ducks in a row so when one or two are out of line, I get flustered not to mention overwhelmed to the point wanting to quit. The past few years have been one of loss in various ways; my father’s passing, my beloved pet for nine years passing, my husband’s illness, the loss of our house as well as the loss of my husband’s and partner’s business. Even though we are still reeling with the impact of what we have been hit with, we continue to encourage one another emotionally to look ahead, not dwell on the past.…

    • 304 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Matte Leadership Traits

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The purpose of this paper is to articulate how “Legacy Leader” General James Mattis influenced me. Mattis’ earned the nickname “Warrior Monk” for his compassion and willingness to do what is necessary to win. His message of balancing thought and action, impacted service members across all services and helped me define the legacy I would like to leave. Inspirational Leader Impact on the Force Mattis, as an intellectual and combat tested warrior, motivated service members across all services to apply mental and military strength. He spoke candid and direct to empower military service members in a time of war and political divide.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Discuss a leadership experience you have had in any area of your life: school, work, athletics, family, church, community, etc. How and why did you become a leader in this area? How did this experience influence your goals? I was playing soccer with my friends in my neighborhood just a normal day everything looked as usual. But while I was playing soccer I was hearing a noise, not knowing if I am the only one who is hearing I felt deluded for a moment and stopped playing soccer and headed to the direction where the noise was coming from.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Casey, I often learn things from parenting that I apply to my leadership style as a soldier and vice versa. For instance, I ask my subordinates to be critical thinkers and to take action even when no guidance is given. This concept is challenging for many new soldiers to execute. Why is this? One main reason is that most young soldiers have been raised in an establishment that they are to do as they are told.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Regarding leadership, my Coast Guard (CG) career has been a roller coaster. Since I 've joined in 1998, I 've experienced many ups and downs throughout eight different units; some good leaders and some not so well. I don 't necessarily believe in calling a leader a bad leader since I don 't really recognize them as leaders at all; I don 't follow them or desire to supervise as they do. They 're just bosses. Instead, I try and remember the handful of leaders that I did admire, respected, looked up to, and wanted to model - eventually.…

    • 1664 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My first leadership experience came from being a voluntary work as a life- and management skills trainer, where I had to deal with different background, minds and studies trainees, to be the leader of my own session, the thing that let me build my communication, discussion and presentation skills. During this period I have met so many people with various way of thinking, where I succeed dealing with them each time. After that I started working as assistant supervisor in a psychological support centre for the international medical corps, where I had the chance to deal with very professional and creative people, the hardest thing was being accepted as the youngest member of the team and to be known as a leader , but being in this atmosphere…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The leader that encompasses my leadership style is Howard Schultz. He is the founder and CEO of Starbucks Corporation. Starbucks was started in 1971 and Howard Schultz acquired the brand from the prior owners in 1986 and launched it into the company as we know it today. “In 2014, the company’s revenue was US$ 16.45 billion, net income – US$ 2.07 billion. The total headcount network comprised over 149 thousand people.…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I have had my share of successes and failures in both a leadership and followership capacity. From a young man I always seemed to have a knack for taking control of something that was broken and turning it into something successful. For the most part that worked for me as both a leader and as a follower. That is, of course, until I got out of the army. After working and flying on helicopters throughout my later teens and younger twenties I was sick of aviation.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    According to Clawson, J. (2012), “legitimate power relies on title rather than on expertise or willingness to exchange rewards.” Most leaders over time will cultivate their own distinctive approaches to leading and supervising others. Beginning with the employing and supervision viewpoint, comprehending the different types of personal leadership styles can have benefits such as properly assigning leaders for the organization. Choosing the correct leaders for the many different jobs within the organization can be considered a tactical move that can help the organization to achieve their short-term and long-term goals.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    .3 The Interpersonal Group The Interpersonal group engage each other carefully with sensitivity. In fact, many times they are all looking at each other to start the discussion because they are deferring to each other. They will ensure everyone is comfortable before they begin the discussion or move ahead. Their discussion will be thoughtful; they will try to include everyone in the conversation even though this style prefers one on one activities not group work.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    My leadership influences have mainly come from two people. The first is my mentor and dear friend, the late, “Dr. Myles Munroe”. This man was an ambassador and advisor to multiple kings and governments across the world including his own in the Bahamas. He conducted leadership training sessions and seminars inspiring the poorest of poor, to Kings and Prime Ministers. He has written over 50 books in over 7 different languages and still managed time to raise a beautiful and successful family of four.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    1) Autocratic Leadership Style: positive motivator Good for Entry level or Unmotivated Workers According to the Leadership -tool box new workers need some basic training and follow up until they get fit into the organaisation. The autocratic leadership style is also good for unskilled workers, which asks employee to do paper printing or copying activities. In addition, according to Leadership Expert, bosses may need to be stubborn in order to make unmotivated workers work properly . (advantages-drawbacks-autocratic-leadership-style 2015)…

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are three different leadership styles with many variations in-between. The difference in these three leadership styles is the level and location of control. At one extreme is the autocratic leader, which makes independent decisions on how to proceed. On the opposite end of the spectrum there are laissez faire leaders, which have a hands-off approach and allows the subordinates to make all the decisions. However, the democratic leader is the medium of the three, which allows more input of the decision making process for his or subordinates.…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Work Experience

    • 1037 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Out of all the skills and knowledge I have acquired from my work experiences, business and management is one I have least. These skills are most important skill needed for my future career goals. I have acquired business and management knowledge from my education in the University of Nebraska Lincoln. To this point I have not been able to apply this knowledge in a work environment. I plan to job shadow my current manager to pick up some skills related to business and management.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics