Paul's Leadership Philosophy

Leadership Philosophy

If I was asked what my Leadership Philosophy was before taking the management leadership class I would have a much simpler answer then I do now. Before I saw a leader as someone who takes on a controlling role or acts as a guide for a group of people. But with the things I have learned in class I have a much different perspective on not only what makes someone a leader, but what makes someone good leader. I think that the most important part of being a good leader is having good communication skills. Anyone can be put into a leadership position and enforce rules and policies, but the most successful leaders are the one’s that are able to connect and get the most out of the people they are leading. And communication is so important when it comes to that idea.

2 Most Important Aspects of Communication as a leader

Adaptability- Being able to relate and talk with all types of people. Very important for creating more personable relationships with people. People will be more comfortable with you. Adaptability can also be knowing how to respectfully and appropriately communicate with someone with different customs or philosophy’s. An example of that is if you were doing business internationally it is very important that you understand that certain things that are the norms america can not only be different in other countries, but generally disrespectful.

Collaboration- To me really good collaboration is getting everyone to contribute their ideas to come up with a better plan or strategy. Some people feel more comfortable speaking out then others, but if you have a percentage of people in the group you are leading that do not feel comfortable speaking you are losing the opportunity to gain a different perspective. The reason why that's so important is, because the ideas they may have had that they did not share are nothing but lost opportunity's.  And if you can get everyone to contribute then that's more ideas and perspectives then you have more material to go off of and there is overall more effort being put into the project.

Other then communication, I think that a hugely important part of being a good leader is having a passion and desire to invest yourself in the project you are leading. When you are doing something not just because you have to, but because you want to see something good come out of it. That makes the work that you put in have much more substance, and having a positive passionate attitude is a great way is a great way to inspire the other people working for you to strive to do more.

Robert's Leadership Philosophy

Communication: Communication skills are essential to being a great leader. You need to be able to talk to your employees and make sure everyone is doing their task. A good leader has to give clear directions to their employees. I learned this in an activity where you had to give someone instructions on how to draw a picture that only you can see. It was important to give detailed instructions. I also learned that it is difficult to keep everyone on the same page when you are leading. For an example, during the birdhouse activity, I was chosen to lead a group to make a birdhouse out of popsicle sticks. I had to command them to make it exactly the way I wanted it since my leadership style was autocratic. It was hard to get my group to make the house exactly how I pictured it in my head. I know in the future it will be hard to get a group to be all in agreement about something.

Presentation: Presentation skills are also key to being a great leader. It’s amazing how big of a difference it is when you have a great presenter show an idea compared to a poor presenter show that same idea. A great public speaker knows how to sell an idea. When you give a presentation or a speech, you have to make a difference. That’s why in the future, I want to be a great presenter and public speaker. I think the TED talks we watched in class helped me with that. I learned that it’s not how you do something but why. Also, I think Michael Keaton was a great presenter and speaker in the movie we watched Gung-Ho. He knew how to get a group of people to follow and support him. I think if I become a great presenter, I can really convince people and make a difference.

Motivation: It’s not just important to motivate yourself but to motivate others. When you motivate your employees, it makes them work harder and better. Strong leaders put their employees first. They have to think about other things besides work and develop a good relationship with their workers. Leaders should mentor their employees and encourage them. They should also listen to their employees to make them feel like they really matter. All of this would inspire the workers and it would even make the leader feel good about himself. This school spirit project has really motivated me. It’s a great feeling knowing that our class has really increased the school spirit this year. The fact that I made a difference just motivates me to do more and try harder. In the future, I want to have that same effect on others and make them feel inspired.

Dedication: A strong leader needs to be dedicated to what they do. You can’t be successful if you don’t put in the work. A hard-worker can do great things. You have to be committed to what you do and have to put the time into it. Our class was very dedicated in this school spirit project. Each group made a plan and had goals. I think that we reached all of our goals. Going into the future, I know that I am going to have to be very passionate about what I do.

Positivity: Another key aspect to being a great leader is the ability to maintain positivity. When a leader is positive and optimistic, it makes all of the employees feel better. It takes off a lot of pressure off the workers and creates a comfortable atmosphere. Being positive can be contagious. If a leader is positive and enthusiastic, then the employees will follow and this will create a fun environment to work in. In my opinion, an example of a positive leader is Dr. Pryma. He’s always happy and he knows how to put others in a good mood. When I’m walking to my class in the morning, I always see him in the halls and he says good morning. This always puts me in a better mood even though it’s early in the morning. My goal is to be as positive as him.

Brian's leadership philosophy

Leadership is vital to the success of an operation, whether it’s in business, sports, or as a teacher. A strong leader possess certain qualities and abilities that I deem to be the seven most important characteristics of a leader. These characteristics would apply in almost every situation. In no particular order, these characteristics include honesty, trust, accountability, communication, motivation, adaptability, and organization/planning. Most of the characteristics tie in with each other.  

Honesty: Leaders must be honest. Being an honest person is something everything should strive for, but in the scope of leadership, honesty leads to the other abilities, or credibility. Honesty leads to trust, which is vital in all environments.

Trust: A good leader must have the trust of their followers, and in turn, he must trust them. In the workplace, trust is delegation. You need to be able to trust people in order to give them the responsibility of completing an important task. Employees need to trust that their leader is doing what’s best for them, and the company. In team sports, players need to trust their teammates, and to do their assignment. They need to know that if they mess up, they have ten other people who have their back, and will hopefully fix their mistake.

Accountability: The ability to take responsibility and acknowledge one’s shortcomings and failures is a tough one to master. Great leaders take the blame when something goes wrong. Using football as an example, some quarterbacks take the blame when a pass gets dropped. It may have not been their fault, and everyone knows it, but it makes the other players feel better. If the quarterback threw the receiver under the bus, it would create turmoil in the locker room.

Communication: In all theaters, communication is a necessary skill. Everyone is different, some people are more reserved, while others are outgoing. Good leaders know how to communicate with all types of people. I’m extremely reserved, communication is not one of my strong qualities. I’m fully capable of being a good communicator, and I do talk when I feel its necessary. I just don’t like talking in front of a big group, but again, when I feel it is necessary, I’m more than willing to speak up. Feeling comfortable is a big part of communication. Personally, the more comfortable I am with people, there is a greater chance that I would be willing to share my ideas. Leaders help facilitate this process through bonding experiences, staff outings as well as other things.

Motivation: Great leaders are almost always great motivators. Two movies pop into my head when I hear the word motivation: Miracle, and Remember the Titans. Both coaches are extremely motivational figures. We all remember the great speeches from these movies, but these coaches motivate in subtle ways too. Coach Boone uses fear to motivate, and in certain settings this can work. At the high school level, the use of fear as a motivator generally works, though it can alienate your team. The great speeches are the memorable part, but without the work done along the way, there would be no opportunity to speak. Great leaders know how to motivate during the day to day stuff, even though that’s the hardest thing to get up for. Players don’t need help getting amped up for the big game, but having the motivation to go 110% during practice is sometimes difficult.

Adaptability: Leaders must be open and willing to change in their leadership style. As previously stated, different situations require different styles of leadership. It is up to the person thrust upon the position of leadership to identify the situation and act accordingly.

Organization/Planning: Finally, leaders must be well organized. It just makes things easier to keep records and to track things down. Also, leaders should have the ability to plan or schedule. They need to manage their time properly, as well as their employees.

Every leader is different, and it is extremely difficult to master all of these characteristics. No one is perfect, but we can strive to be perfect. That pertains to leadership in that you may not be the best motivator, but you still possess the ability to motivate. Everyone is a leader in some way or another, it’s how you conduct yourself that determines the scope of your leadership.

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Ryan's Leadership Philosophy

Dr. Paul Pryma, Glenbrook North Principal

The acronym below explains my leadership philosophy, which has been developed through personal experience and through material learned during the management/leadership course. Each letter stands for an important leadership skill or tactic that is vital to being an effective leader.

Lead, and do it by example - Do not be afraid to step up. Whether you are the delegated leader, or a subordinate, do not be afraid to speak your mind and offer input. I always like to share ideas or opinions I have because it cannot hurt to present your input. I also like to make jokes or offer fun ideas because it lifts the team’s spirit and allows you to enjoy your job. In addition, act as a good example for the rest of your team. People will look up to leaders and often follow their lead, so I like to act in a way that I want others to act. This will not only allow yourself to improve, but it will guide others in the right direction. Always acting positively and thinking win-win is a great way to influence others because positive attitudes create a friendly and motivated environment. I learned this skill through our leadership impact project. Working with our principal, Paul Pryma, provided me with an insight on leading with such positivity, and the impacts that doing so can have.

Effective communication - There are two parts to this leadership tool. If you create incredible ideas but are unable to convince people, your ideas mean nothing. Great leaders must express their ideas in an understanding and relatable way. Personally, I believe in person to person communication with pictures and examples. I always clarify with my correspondent to assure that he/she understands. The other part of this tool includes reaching out to coworkers. From setting up meeting dates, to asking someone a favor, it is vital to have communication methods for everyone. My leadership philosophy uses methods such as group texts and facebook groups because my generation prefers these methods.

Accountability - To reach a company or team’s maximum potential, team members and players should be held accountable. There are numerous ways to do this. An example includes setting realistic quotas, following up with each team member and checking on team members. There are many ways to do this depending on your philosophy. For Burger Day, we use a spreadsheet and each team member has about 20 companies to contact. Each meeting we check in on each team member to evaluate their fundraising efforts. When members are under-performing, I present ideas to improve. When the team is really struggling, I will offer alternative solutions. For instance, our team was not obtaining as many sponsors as necessary from our original spreadsheet list. Therefore, we updated the spreadsheet with current Northbrook and Glenview baseball sponsors to improve our fundraising.

Delegate - People are often intimidated by leaders and therefore find it difficult to work with them. Sometimes this is caused by leaders controlling and acting authoractically. I believe leaders should delegate tasks and include everyone in projects. This not only creates a sense of community within the environment, but it also eases the process with everyone doing jobs. When delegating jobs, it is important to ask for individual input for making final delegation decisions. If an individual is not comfortable performing a certain task for whatever reason, then you cannot delegate that job to him/her. Delegating tasks can only be accurately accomplished by combining leadership tactics, such as motivating and checking in.

Extra work - Although it is vital to delegate tasks to reach a group or team’s maximum potential, leaders must be willing to step up. If things are not going as planned, I believe a leader will step up and put in the extra effort. For instance, for Burger Day this year, our team is currently failing to reach our fundraising goal. In addition to continuing to motivating and supporting our team, I am putting in the extra effort to obtain extra sponsors. As president of the event, I know that this is a necessary task to make our event successful.

Run with it - Improvisation is an important tool to leading. Things will often go wrong and leaders must step up to handle the problem effectively. My philosophy is to address the problem, evaluate different ideas and perspectives, and implement the final decision. My skills with improvising as a leader grew while reading “7 Habits of highly effective teens” in our class. Learning to be proactive is a very important skill. When problems occur, you must think before speaking and acting, as opposed to letting your emotions take control. This is a skill that takes practice, but I am glad I learned it as a 17 year old before entering the workforce. In addition, the 7 habits book taught me to keep the end goal in mind. I realized this is an important task even when improvising. Make sure your response to a problem or unexpected change will advance you and your team towards the end goal.

Jen's Leadership Philosophy

"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." -Ronald Reagan

As a successful leader in today’s business world, there are many traits to possess that will lead you to be able to accomplish your achievements. Throughout this semester, I have learned that everyone takes on a different role as a leader. Though there are many kinds of leaders, I believe that there are a few qualities that separate a good leader from a great one.

• Communication: Communication is one of the most important aspects of leadership. Strong interpersonal and impersonal relations are crucial. If your subordinates are not aware of a situation, or problem, because you failed to inform them, there is no way to hold them accountable for repercussions. Your lack of initiative denied them any way of being able to solve the issue, and therefore resulted in miscommunication.

• Motivation: In the workplace, it is imperative that workers are motivated to do their job. As a leader, it is your responsibility to inspire. Your subordinates look up to you, and when you show that you are motivated to do your job, they will follow your lead. They need to know they play an important part in the success of the business. Having a reason to be driven during work not only improves the environment of the workplace, but also results in higher completion level of work.

• Respect: Respect is a mutual thing. If you fail to treat your subordinates well, they will not respect you. You need to respect everyone in the workplace to ensure minimal conflicts arise because of a lack of respect between management and/or other workers.

• Relatability: Being a leader that people can relate to will make any conflicts that may arise easier to solve. If there seems to be an issue going on, being relatable and comfortable with your workers means that they can talk to you about what is happening. You need to first seek to understand, then to be understood. With an established relatability, problems will be reported to management and there will be an increase of communication, therefore making the workplace flow much more efficiently.

• Readiness: Being a leader in a workplace means that things can be thrown at you without warning. You need to be ready to handle situations that you may not be accustomed too, and you need to trust your decision making skills in approaching issues. Being prepared at all times puts others in good faith that you will be able to represent them and the workplace in times of crisis.

• Goal Setting: To accomplish any plan, there first needs to be a goal. This includes pre-planning on how you are going to go about achieving it, and following through on your plan. By setting goals, you are keeping yourself and others motivated because of a mutual purpose.

• Feedback: Feedback allows you to adjust things that need correcting with the aid of others. It also gives you the chance to hear your strengths and what you are doing well. Feedback is important to your subordinates to inform them if they are doing something well, or something needs to be changed. Within giving feedback, you can incorporate the ideas of others that you wouldn’t have had if you didn’t have the feedback of others. A collaborative effort can create a much better product.

Incorporating these qualities will make you a stronger leader. This semester taught me many things, and I can confidently say that I have developed as not only a student, but as a leader as well.

Jenna's Leadership Philosophy

Byron's Leadership Philosophy

When one thinks of powerful leadership, football movies with aggressive, tough love coaches that deliver inspiring speeches come to mind: someone powerful and with huge presence. While it is true that such a person can be a strong leader, I personally utilize a different leadership style, and tend to lead using a different, but still effective leadership style that complements my qualities as a leader.

• Democratic - I definitely rely on the people around me to help me make informed decisions. Even if I know something is true/the best course of action, it’s still worthwhile to engage in discussion with those you are leading to ensure group cohesion and to get other people’s opinions.

• Aware - Understanding the mood/needs of the group is essential for effective communication and to interact with the problem solving process.

• Flexible - Being able to make exceptions to general rules or think outside the box is key to success - like Bono’s theories of differing hats, sometimes different perspectives or solutions are needed to accomplish a goal.

• Role Model - To motivate other people, you also have to exemplify the qualities you want to see in others. Personally, I try to be unbiased and open to suggestions; I see the leadership process where a leader guides those following towards a victory, not someone who pushes the group to success.

• Practical - It’s important to not overset goals and tell people to shoot for the stars. In the real world, real goals and honest leadership is what I try to exemplify.

To summarize my philosophy, I would identify myself as a leader that focuses on realistic goals that are in the interest of those being led.