Spartans Mean Business: Anastasiya's Leadership Philosophy

Leaders Grow in the Mind & Soul

What are we in this world? Are we born followers or great leaders? The answer can be argued, but I believe we grow into impactful leaders and follow those who inspire us to reach our full potential. That inspiration grows from passion and hard work. But as a leader you can’t just have the soul for it, you need the mind. Important factors of a leader are being proactive and incorporating communication skills from participative leadership. The journey of a leader begins with simple skills, and grow into natural anticipated habits. The main thing I haven’t mentioned is why. Why work hard? Why try to communicate? What’s the end goal of a leader? Well, let’s find out…

Proactive. Communication. Participative.

A great book by Sean Covey, called “ 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens”, was known to be a guide to decision making and effective ways of getting through life every-day. What spoke to me is the constant repetition of the need to be proactive. Being proactive is about taking responsibility of your life. How can a leader care for many if they can't even handle themselves? This is important because in life we face many choices that we have to choose. We have to learn and understand ourselves before going out and helping someone else. You can do that by owning up to your mistakes, studying for your final next week, or even cleaning up the dishes after you ate. The list is ongoing and all it takes is you and your actions. One important action part of this leader's journey is communication.
Communication is the transmission of information and understanding from one person or group to another. It requires skills such as knowing your responsibilities as a sender and the responsibilities as a receiver. I've learned that as any role you have to be able to listen. Not just listening with your ears, but with all your other senses too. "You don't trust people who give you solutions before they understand what your needs are." (The 7 Habits of Highly effective Teens, Page. 164) Communication is key in any relationship and as a leader you want strong relationships to get you to your goals and dreams. It takes participative leadership to get through the barriers of communication, working through problems together, and being on the same page. A leader always has a team and works together with them to accomplish a goal.
Brene Brown, a speaker on Ted Talks, talked about how it’s all about communication and connections between people to understand each others perceptions, and we can feel vulnerable from the fear of disconnections and unworthiness. This relates and shows that you need one to do the other. Proactivity, Communication, and Participative have all one important thing in common. They require you to understand. Yourself and others. It’s good to know skills and facts but you need the connection and worthiness to produce great impact.

Passion Hard work

"The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire."— Field Marshall

Growing inside is what matters in a leader also because you can grow to inspire many. It all starts with a passion. A motive. It’s the reason why you're doing what you're doing and why you love what you're doing. How can you expect someone to love your dreams when you don't love them yourself? Every great leader needs that motive to strive to be better . The strive comes to our next step of the growth of a great leader: putting the hard work into your passion. Nothing comes easy. Anything is possible if you put in hard work and sweat. A vision isn't enough. Putting time and effort can make things possible. Being a great leader is possible if you put in hard work.

This is a leader. But wait, what is the point of all of this? What’s the incentive?

You decide that. What’s your dream? What’s your passion? What’s your goal?