Before taking this class, I wasn’t sure of who I was as a leader. I had never held any important leadership roles, if any at all. I tended to be a follower in team projects and would let others lead. I tried to avoid having positions of leadership because I didn’t actually know how to would lead and I didn’t know if my style of leadership would work for other people. Essentially, I didn’t truly know what it meant to really be a successful leader. However, I have learned so much about what it takes to be a leader in the first five weeks of classes and I have been able to exceptionally broaden my horizons. I have come to learn so much about different leadership styles, how to be an effective leader, and so much more. Perhaps the most important
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Once you are able to know yourself, not only are you better-suited to lead, but you are also able to prepare for and learn from your mistakes, which is something that you must be able to do as a leader (Eddington 9/27). One of the most important things to think about when it comes to leading is to think about your emotional intelligence, otherwise known as “a group of five skills that enable the best leaders to maximize their own and their followers’ performance” (Goleman 3). These skills include self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill. Knowing how you perform in each of these categories can really make or break you as a leader. Therefore, it is very important that you know how you stand in each of these categories prior to taking a leadership position. Now that I know this, I will definitely have to think about each of these categories before I hold a leadership job, which is something I would have never thought to do prior to this class. Likewise, it is imperative that you “be ‘in touch with’ your own feelings (wants, needs, goals, values) before you can understand the feelings of others” (Murphy 9/27). If you do not know yourself, then it might as well be impossible for you to understand and empathize with others. Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses as a leader is incredibly important as well if you want to be a good leader. A major flaw of ineffective leaders is that “all too often, leaders are blind to the obvious when it comes to something of critical importance to them – their own personality” (Rath 11). I have come to realize that before I can truly be a great leader, I must learn my strengths and weaknesses of my personality. The StrengthsFinder assessment that we took really helped me become more self-aware and realize what
Once you are able to know yourself, not only are you better-suited to lead, but you are also able to prepare for and learn from your mistakes, which is something that you must be able to do as a leader (Eddington 9/27). One of the most important things to think about when it comes to leading is to think about your emotional intelligence, otherwise known as “a group of five skills that enable the best leaders to maximize their own and their followers’ performance” (Goleman 3). These skills include self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill. Knowing how you perform in each of these categories can really make or break you as a leader. Therefore, it is very important that you know how you stand in each of these categories prior to taking a leadership position. Now that I know this, I will definitely have to think about each of these categories before I hold a leadership job, which is something I would have never thought to do prior to this class. Likewise, it is imperative that you “be ‘in touch with’ your own feelings (wants, needs, goals, values) before you can understand the feelings of others” (Murphy 9/27). If you do not know yourself, then it might as well be impossible for you to understand and empathize with others. Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses as a leader is incredibly important as well if you want to be a good leader. A major flaw of ineffective leaders is that “all too often, leaders are blind to the obvious when it comes to something of critical importance to them – their own personality” (Rath 11). I have come to realize that before I can truly be a great leader, I must learn my strengths and weaknesses of my personality. The StrengthsFinder assessment that we took really helped me become more self-aware and realize what