Leve Leadership Philosophy: What kind of leader am I going to be?

Kate Leve

What kind of leader am I going to be?

• To figure out what kind of leader I am going to be I have to look at what type of person I am, as well as what I’ve learned during my time in my Management and Leadership class.

My Center-

During this semester I have been discovering what my center is. In order to discover my center I took at look at my principles and what is important to me. My principles include kindness, helpfulness, nurturing, hardworking, and understanding. Being as kind as possible to people is what is important to me. I understand sometimes one needs to be tough but like my grandmother always use to say “everyone wears an invisible sign around their necks saying I want to be liked”. I love to put a smile on peoples faces and making them feel liked and important. From looking at my principles, what is important to me, and remembering my grandmother’s advice, I realized my center is kindness. I want to be to others and the world a helping, understanding, loving hand. From learning what my center is I know I am going to be a kind leader who seeks to understand, then to be understood.

7 Habits-

I have learned many things during this class but the things that I will apply to what type of leader I will be include the following from 7 habits: being proactive, think win-win, and synergize. While reading "The 7 habits of highly effective teens" by Sean Covey I learned the differences between reactive and proactive people. I also learned that I am a proactive person. Sean Covey explained that "Reactive people make choices based on impulse... Proactive people make choices based on values" (49). I am a very logical person and don't tend to do things on impulse. I try to stay calm and cool in difficult situations. For these reasons I am a proactive person and will be a proactive leader. I think it is important for a leader to be proactive. When you are leading a group of people it is key to stay calm and deal with situations with a clear and collected head. I also think it is important to think win-win when you are a leader and I plan on thinking this way when I am a leader. I try to think win-win when a difficult situation comes up because I believe staying positive is important. I am going to be a leader who thinks win-win in order to keep a good atmosphere as well as help everyone succeed. The last thing I learned from 7 habits that will translate to what kind of leader I am going to be is Synergize. Synergy is when two or more people work together to create a better solution than either could alone. I enjoy working with others and know in some situations the more people, the better the outcome. It is for these reasons that I will become a leader who uses synergy and works with others to create better solutions.

Decision Making Styles-

There are three decision making styles that we learned during our Leadership unit that helped me decide what kind of leader I am going to be. These three styles are autocratic, participative, an free-rein. A free-rein leader is someone who encourages individual or group to function independently. I think a leader should give their input to help lead others and by doing this you will avoid confusing the group of people you are leading. I am a hands on type of person and I don't like to leave everything up to others in order to get something done. I like to be apart of the process and give my input. It is for these reasons that I will not be a free-rein leader. During the birdhouse activity my group had a autocratic leader. An autocratic leader is a sole decision maker and gets no input from others. During the activity I saw how this leadership style didn't work very well because no one was able to give their input, even if it could have been beneficial to the group. Because of this I think people should avoid being a autocratic leader and why I am going to be a participative leader. A participative leader is a more democratic leader. Someone who presents problems or task to workers but also gives their own input and helps make decisions. As I mentioned earlier, I am a more hands on person but at the same time I am not a control freak and can let others take some control. This is exactly what a participative leader is like. I know from learning about these three decision making styles that I am going to be a participative leader.

Putting the pieces together-
After this semester in Management and Leadership and finding out what my center is I now know what kind of leader I will be as well as what my leadership philosophy is. I am going to be a firm but fair leader. I will keep true to my kindness center and try my best to work well with others and make the people I lead feel comfortable and important. I will remain a proactive person and always try to think win-win. I will also remember synergy and remember how beneficial it can be to work with others. I will be a participative leader who works with people to succeed in completing tasks. Who I am going to be as a leader all comes back to what my leadership philosophy. My philosophy is that a leader should be fair and willing to work with others. They should stay open-minded as well as keep a positive attitude especially during difficult situations. And lastly a leader should remember their center and stay true to it.