Choi leadership philosophy

Choi's Leadership Philosophy

Looking back to the book we read in class, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens", I remembered the fifth habit, 'seek first to understand, then to be understood'. One should find that seeking first to understand is a habit that must be created.  Especially when it comes to leadership, a characteristic that follows this habit would be being selfless. In this lesson I learned that wanting to be respected and valued is something that the human heart is always seeking. We are always seeking to be understood by people. However, if everyone is wanting to be understood, there leaves no room for anyone to understand. This, would be an example of why many people believe that communication is a key characteristic a leader should hold. Therefore, as a leader, you are responsible to create the clarity in communication. So how is one supposed to build up to all of these characteristics of being a leader? What categorizes one as a leader?

When I started to think about what a leader is, I thought about my leadership philosophy, I asked myself, "What is my goal as a leader?" and "As a leader, who am I?" After reading the quote by Andrea Marshall, I was able to come to conclusion with my questions. My goal as a leader is to bring out the best in others and as a leader, I am the one who is pushing others toward that goal. If I were to relate this with one of my leadership roles at church, I would agree that as a leader I am there to support my youth group by helping them with any problems rather than judging down or breaking them down for their actions. This quote fully demonstrates how to prepare oneself into creating leadership characteristics.

Serving at my church I have learned so much from being a leader. When I was offered a leadership opportunity, my mentality was that I needed to be better in order to lead. However, I soon learned that a leader didn't mean that you were 'better' than anyone, but instead it was a role you play in order for everyone in the group to learn. Leadership requires a lot of patience, communication, and what I find most difficult, selflessness. A leader should find the end goal of whatever is wanting to be achieved. In trying to reach this goal, however, a leader requires selfless characteristics. What I mean by this is that a leader, in order to show leadership, puts others before them self. This creates an environment that is comforting for other and it is a great way to create trust within the team.

In order to form leadership, I have learned that there are characteristics that must be built are essential to becoming a leader. It takes a lot of work for one to be a leader. I believe that the characteristics of a leader are not what make up a leader, but instead it is the mentality and motivation on how you want to lead that differentiates between a strong leader and not poor leader. In order for me to gain respect from others, I am always reminded that, "A strong leader finds strength in others and builds them up".