Dan's Leadership Philosophy

Leadership Philosophy

I used to think being a leader meant you talk and people listen because you are the leader. I learned that you have to be a leader you are not just a leader because that's what your title says. I learned that I am a passive leader. I like to let people do their job and help them when they get off track or can't figure something out. Throughout this class and in most situations where I am a follower I disliked an overbearing leader and felt restricted. I believe that people must be allowed some space or they will not be able to reach their full potential. A situation of equal opinion but not equal power.

A very important part of being a leader is understanding your employees. You must understand them and they must understand you. This is one of the most important parts of being a leader because you must know your employees abilities, thought processes, and faults or you will never have an efficient and successful staff. Knowing these things gives you the ability to chose the right person for each job. Understanding your employees is the general formula to success.

Another very important quality is communication. Communication is a key part of understanding your employees. For almost a year and a half I worked for Mariano's in Northfield. Throughout that time I noticed that their communication between management and its employees definitely needed improvement. Schedules would overlap or there would be gaps where no one was scheduled to work in a department and it would get kind of chaotic. Management's inability to communicate caused many employees to get frustrated and quit, As an employee there my responsibility was to maintain popular items and keep the shelves organized. There were three managers who tell me what needed to be done. One would give me a job and another would tell me to stop and do something else halfway through and that would go on throughout my shift. Nothing got done and it just was not efficient. If the managers communicated better I would have been able to do more for them.

Organization is a key factor of being a good leader as well. Without organization communication would have no structure. If you asked me what my greatest weakness is I would most likely say organization. However, through the Leadership Impact Project I learned that without organization you will not have a backup plan, or you won't know what your responsibility is or when it needs to be done. Organization is something that is hard to maintain but if you do you will have a better product. Organization is the groundwork of a solid professional relationship and help you and your employees to synergize.

Organization is key in having good communication in order to understand your employees. These things all build off of each other. If you are missing one of them you do not have any of them. These are the building blocks to a successful business. Throughout this class I have learned the importance of these things and I will try to incorporate these aspects in my future endeavors.    

Toby's Leadership Philosophy

Be CONFIDENT: By displaying confidence you will show passion in your work which provides a sense of trust in the workplace. In class we learned that being confident allows others to see that you care about your work and you want the organization to succeed. A leader with confidence has more than a positive attitude, as he or she is perceived to be trustworthy and reliable. I believe that all good leaders have confidence within themselves and their employees which contributes greatly to successful outcomes. 

Be Proactive: While reading the book Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, the author discusses how leaders should not be passive and reactive, just waiting for things to happen. A successful leader must be proactive and make things happen. For a leader to be proactive, he or she must think ahead and anticipate issues that could arise in the future. Problems are inevitable for leaders, but the best way to handle them is to plan ahead and take action to preventing them from ever occurring again. Leaders must be proactive and deal with adversity in the most efficient, well thought out way possible. 

Think Win-Win: Having a win win attitude is a character based code that gives you and me an outcome that leaves us both pleased. This attitude seeks mutual benefits and it is important that a leader can obtain this mindset. Less negative competition in a company can increase the productivity and quality of work. Thinking win-win will will boost the morale of employees and allows everyone to feel satisfied.  

Be Positive: A leader should demonstrate a positive attitude at all times. Having a positive attitude is key in being a good leader. Being able to deal with stress and difficult issues and keep a positive attitude can result in a much greater success. This attitude is tough to maintain at all times considering problems will occur, but it defines the leader's character by how he or she handles the situation. Will they break under pressure or stay positive and find a way? This question is crucial for a leader to remember to stay positive and turn difficult situations into positive outcomes.

Ethan's Leadership Philosophy

To successfully lead people in a group, class or team, one must implement their leadership philosophy. Throughout this semester I have learned the necessary skills of leading a group and how every aspect of a group must be addressed for it to run smoothly. The philosophy that I have become accustomed to using requires positivity, listening, planning, team building, and self-knowledge.

1. Positive Enforcement

During my freshman year, I was on the volleyball team. There was an A and B team and the coaching styles between the two coaches had an enormous difference. My coach had a calm attitude and was patient while we adapted to new forms and positions. The other coach had an incredibly reactive attitude, and instead of having a fear of losing, the players developed a fear of messing up and facing the coach's wrath. GBN lost a match after winning the first game because they completely fell apart. The coach's anger was expressed by breaking a clipboard and screaming at all of the players. My team played directly after the loss and we rolled to an easy victory because our coach continued to encourage us throughout the game. My coach had a proactive attitude: he corrected our mistakes instead of yelling at us, supported us when we were losing, and had fun coaching. I have adopted this aspect of leadership from my coach and continued to hone it in my Management and Leadership class. I learned that negativity does not help the outcome. Through positive reinforcement, the people will want to perform as best they can. This style of leadership works even as a follower, and I have vowed never to lose my temper when my group members are not performing to a certain standard.

2. Listen thoroughly

Being a good listener is crucial to becoming a good leader. Without proper listening, relationships can never be established and people will have a low desire to work for a certain leader. This semester we did a bird house building activity. I observed this process and watched the results unfold in front of me. Initially the leader did not pay much attention or listen to what the workers were doing and they went off on their own course. Once the leader began to pay attention, they were upset that the bird house had been built in a way that they did not approve of. When good listening skills are used, many problems can be avoided. I have learned to always communicate with my group members. When I have listened well and can keep all of the members on the same page, operations run much smoother and all of the problems in this sector are eliminated.

3. Create a team

Have a common goal in mind so everyone is motivated to complete the task. When we went to the team challenge course and had to complete the obstacle course, we failed quickly. People acted as individuals and left the rest of the group to suffer alone. When the group crossed the bridge, it was imperative that the group worked together so no one fell off. Also, when we planned ahead we were able to complete the course in a lesser amount of time.

4. Understand leadership

Sean Covey, the writer of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, explains how leadership style can affect the group outcome. In business, if members are not happy with the rules that the leader puts in place, the company can suffer. People often act negatively in these situations by not performing up to their best ability. This lowers the production of a company and everyone suffers. When people are happy with their leader they are more inclined to work hard. Thus, production will increase and the company will benefit. Also, never overstep your bounds as a leader; followers deserve a level of autonomy to keep them happy. Allow people to provided for the cause. An example of this is a participative leader, they make the big decisions but give their followers a voice and a certain amount of freedom. A leader must understand how to lead and who they are leading in order to effectively lead.

All of these skills are crucial for a leader to run a successful group. Leaders must be open to criticisms to improve their skills and have an open mind to adapt to the needs of the followers. No leader can be perfect, but gaining new values will create success in any situation.

Jason's Leadership Philosophy

The act of leadership revolves around three P’s: Passion, Purpose, People. Over the past semester in Management and Leadership and throughout my high school career, I have learned that this is what sets apart “leaders” from “managers” and other people in supervising positions. To be a powerful and effective leader one must posses passion for something, have a purpose in mind, and inspire people to follow and acquire the same passion and purpose that the leader has.

Passion is what motivates people to wake up earlier, work harder, and love what they do each day. Whether a person is passionate for personal, social, political, or economic reasons, it is what drives them to persevere through difficulties and strive to achieve their own definition of success. Without passion, a person has no reason to lead and there is no reason for anyone to be inspired. But when a leader demonstrates a strong passion and commitment to something, then people can become inspired and when people are inspired they will usually work harder to achieve the goals set out by the leader. This passion that the leader demonstrates will then lead to a purpose.

Purpose is what guides a leader, it is the reason why the leader is doing something. A big aspect of leadership that I learned this semester is that it is always important to ask yourself “why” you are doing something before you know “how” or maybe even “what” you are doing. Without knowing that “why”, or the purpose, of what you are doing, you have no backbone or guidance to fall back on along the journey of achieving your set goals; you can easily get lost in what you are doing and not be able to succeed because you don’t know why you are doing something. This is why having a purpose is important to being a successful leader. Also, having a purpose will bring together people that share the same reasons or values as you for doing something. A good example is Apple; in a TED talk, Simon Sinek explains how Apple is different from other companies because in their commercials they tell you why they are doing something which then inspires people to follow that same passion and wait in line for 24 hours to buy a new iPhone. In doing so, apple is able to inspire change based on their purpose for doing what they do. But nothing would be achieved by the leader if it wasn't for the people that follow.

People that share the passion, purpose, and vision of the leader are just as important as the leader. No leader can successfully be recognized as a leader if it wasn’t for the support and action of the people following. The job of the leader, though, is to inspire the people to share the same vision, purpose, and goals in order to achieve their desired success. A manager will tell a group of employees what to do and scold them when they are doing it wrong but a leader will inspire the employees to want to take action and work to achieve success. Aculture should be created by the leader and embraced by the people which makes the leader effective and successful.

A leader must trusts his passions which shape a purpose that brings people together in order to achieve great things. A leader without the three P’s is simply a follower so take the risk, pursue your passions, and inspire change by being a successful leader.

Emily's Leadership Philosophy

What is a leader? Before taking this class I didn't have background information to help me answer this question. 6 months ago I probably would have said that a leader was somebody who could lead a group of people to success. But now I understand that leaders are all different types of people and exist in every environment. Being on the GBN Varsity Swim Team, the leaders on our team are the captains. The captains on my team have such a big impact on everyone and are involved in every aspect of what a team is. Planning team bonding activities, choosing team suits, helping teammates through hard times, making rosters, being mediators, and communicating needs between the team and coach plus many more are all things that captains do. Captains are such good leaders because they do all of this without anybody really even noticing that all of this is going on. I believe in order to be a good leader on a team you need to be able to be proactive and understand that becoming a captain you are putting the team before yourself now. This can be hard for some people making it very hard to find a good enough leader to take on the role of a captain of a team.

Captains need to be proactive because nobody is ever 100% sure how things are going to end. During the fall, I had 21 girls on my team and it felt that somebody was always going through something whether it be bad grades or family problems. Captains have to be able to communicate with our coach to tell him what is going on and what needs to happen in order to make the best out of a situation. Because they know that anything can happen, they must prepare for future problems. Captains are great leaders because they need to synergize with each other and our coach to do something that will be the best for the majority of the team. This can be very hard to do because captains are typically seniors and they are still pretty young and end up making big decisions that will affect everyone. Effective leaders provide the vision and motivation to the team so everybody can work together toward the same goals.

To be a good leader you need to have self awareness and work with your other captains which can be hard for some people. It is critical for the captains to be on the same page because they are leading everyone. Captains have to be good at understanding their weaknesses and trying to improve them. For example one captain may be better at communicating with the team while the other captain may be better at communicating with our coach. These captains need to have self awareness to understand what they are good at individually to then work together to create a strong communication team.

The captains need to carry the vision out of the team. Everybody has different goals and different meets they would be swimming at for their final meet of the season like JV conference, Varsity conference, Sectionals, and State. Although it is very important for the entire team to have a great final meet regardless what meet it is, the most important meet is State. The captains have a hard job of creating an atmosphere to show to everyone that they are important and their final meet is also but, they also have to put the message out there about State and how GBN should be represented. This is a reason why it is important to have a captain that will be going to State so they understand what is also best for the most elite group of people on the team because ultimately they are who people see at State. This can be hard when a captain is not going to state because then they have to make decisions that is putting other people in front of yourself. Since many people who are captains do not go to state it is very important for these people to have the ability to put other people in front of themselves without it affecting them too much.

Lastly the captains are kind of like the middle men of the team between our coach and the rest of us they have more power than just a regular member of the team but they don’t have as much power as our coach. To be a good captain they need to know the difference between power and authority. Many times our coach gives the captain's power to make decisions and speak for him but the captains cannot abuse this and turn it into authority. Power is coming from the person who has authority and is respected from that and a captain needs to know the difference between these and to not cross the line and become to authoritative. A captain at most has a 4 year age gap between the youngest person on the team and if a captain became more of an authority, it would defeat the purpose of having a coach and captain separate.

To be a captain you have to be good at so many things and have very few weaknesses. Captains cannot be shy and are going to have to put the team before themselves. Many people are not capable to be a captain because of the dedication the role takes. It is very hard to find a good captain that is good for the entire team and enjoys doing what they do. I believe that captains need to be dedicated, willing to put the team in front of themselves and be able to communicate extremely well to be a good leader.

John's Leadership Philosophy

Leadership is something more complicated than it seems, and it comes in different forms. It's not just telling other people to do what you want; leadership is more of a complex trait that requires multiple parts to work at once. There are many leadership styles and philosophy, but my philosophy is that there is always room for improvement. Maybe it's from the way I was taught growing up, but I think there's always something to tweak for a better result in the future. This means that some things must be constant, but at the same time things must be innovated as well.

1. Lead yourself before you can lead others

http://compumatrice.com/leaders-inspire/

One of the things that leaders must evaluate is themselves. They need to know if they are capable of leading other people. Sean Covey, the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens said, "We must fix ourselves before we can fix others." If the leader is going to be the one that brings changes, they should change themselves first. There is a sad story about an Anglican bishop who wanted to change the world. However, he realized that the task was difficult because no one wanted to listen to him, even his family. All his life he wanted to change this, but he just couldn't find the way. On his deathbed, he finally realized that if he changed himself, others could have followed him and potentially the world could have changed. No leader ever wants to be that bishop, regretting what he did not do to live his dream.

2. Have a vision in mind

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Tony Robbins, a motivational speaker, once said, "Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." That is something that leaders should do. A leader must know what he or she is doing; they can't just improvise as they go. Leaders and teams with goals in mind know what they are striving for, and they can reflect on the their performance so they can improve in the future. Without a strong goal and a vision in mind, the team as a whole has no direction to go to. A stuck team that is confused can get frustrated as well, which can potentially jeopardize the team. In the leadership impact project, the Burger Day Group had a vision; we had a set goal in mind and we were working to achieve it. With this goal in our minds, we were able to accomplish our goal.

3. Be Communicative

http://effectivecommunicationadvice.
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Good leaders must have strong communication skills. They must be able to talk to the team so everyone is on board. Leaders should not be hesitant with what they are going to say. The team must know what is on the leader's mind. Otherwise, if the leader won't share, then the team won't know what to do. The followers must also know what their role is so they can be an effective team as an unit. Employees who are comfortable in the environment tend to be more productive. Another skill the leaders should have is that they must also be good listeners. They can't be a brick wall and block everything when fellow employees or fellow leaders are talking to them. Likewise, they can't be a tube and let the noise enter in one ear and leave the other. They should instead be like a sponge; soak in what they are listening to and think of how they can improve, which could be feedbacks or suggestions. In class, the class conducted interviews to applicants, and this forced everyone to use their communication skills effectively, including the use of body language and listening carefully.

4. Be proactive

http://perryloop.com/2014/
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Everyone knows nothing is perfect; there is always something that can be improved. Leaders should be aware of this, and should constantly improve. With this in mind, they should still be happy with what they have. If a leader is constantly unhappy with the current production, the team morale is going to plummet. In order to keep the morale high, leaders should congratulate and reflect on the current success, but should always strive for more. This parallels my overall philosophy. This also comes from the lesson of being proactive. Leaders should not be reactive and wait for things to happen; they need to go out and make decisions. Leaders who are more proactive and more aggressive gets better results.

5. Be passionate

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Good leaders love what they do, and they use this passion to motivate the team. He alone cannot be a productive team, and, likewise, a group cannot be a productive team if they are not motivated. A leader with a driving passion brings energy to the team, and this energy can increase productivity or performance.  This goes with the positive/negative motivation lesson that we learned in class. I think positive motivation, like energetic leaders and rewards, are more effective than negative motivation, like threats. A team full of highly motivated, energized workers in a happy mood makes the team full of creativity and potential.

Throughout the year, I learned many things about leadership that can be used in the near future. Like I said before, there are many philosophies in leadership. They come in different forms and different point of views. However, no matter how different they may be from each other, leadership separates the leaders from the led.

Sam's Leadership Philosophy

Leadership Philosophy

When I think about the word “leadership” I think about leaders of countries, huge organizations, and successful companies. However, leadership is much more than having a title and maintaining a reputation. A true leader does not necessarily need to have a high paying position; they don’t even have to be well known or famous. Everyone has different views on leadership, and it is true, there are different types of leaders. In this post I will outline what I believe to be the best leadership philosophy, using ideas and morals I have learned from my experiences, as well as classes I have taken, and people I have spoken to.

Openness/Transparency

No matter what type of leader you are, I believe that you must be open and transparent with regard to the people around you. A leader is not truly a leader if they don’t have the ability to stay accessible and listen to ideas or criticisms, whether it be from outside influences or internal voices. This concept is a hard one to actually implement in your job and even in your life. However, the people who learn to stay open in the workplace and in the rest of their lives are the ones who are the most successful. In my Management and Leadership class, we did an interview activity to simulate what a real job interview is like. We got to interview teachers and staff members at our school for the theoretical position of Dean of the Students. What I saw in all four candidates we interviewed was that they strive to be transparent leaders with an open door policy. That really stuck with me, and I will try to always stay open as I lead in my life.

Positivity

Staying positive on a daily basis is a hard task in itself. Staying positive as a leader is even harder. All leaders must be able to remain positive in both the bad times and the good ones. A leader’s job is to lead people, and the people need to be confident in their leader in order for success to happen.

Part of staying positive is always maintaining a Win-Win mentality. As a leader begins to see the positive side of every situation for every person involved, he/she becomes more motivated, and therefore, more successful. One of the people who I learned this idea from is my Dad. He holds a high management position at his company, and he comes home stressed out almost every day. He has to deal with many people on a daily basis, as well as his own problems. The only way he can get be successful is to stay positive at work and at home. People will see your positivity, and emulate it. In my daily life, I strive to stay positive even in the most stressful times. This will help me as I grow into a leader.

Conscientiousness

Another key quality a leader must possess is conscientiousness, or the ability to be aware. This applies to many facets of leadership, whether it be staying aware of the people around you, the environment in which you lead, and even yourself. It is extremely challenging to maintain a good idea of what is going on around you when you have so many things to worry about. A true leader knows and learns how to balance everything in their job and in their life in order to stay conscientious. When I participated in our Leadership Impact Project, I learned that this skill was one I needed to work on and master. The more people you work with, the harder it is to stay focused, while still keeping a general awareness of the situation and environment. The best leaders know what the people below them want and need and how to deal with that day in and day out.

Passion

Lastly, and I think most importantly, is passion. Without passion, what is the motivation to lead? It is my belief that to be successful in anything, you must be passionate in that particular thing. When it comes to leadership, passion is the key. The reason someone becomes a leader is to help other people become just as passionate as they are. From political leaders to business leaders, there is one common denominator: the most successful leaders are passionate in what they do. A great example of someone who has passion is Dr. Paul Pryma, Glenbrook North’s principal. Everyday I see Dr. Pryma with a huge smile on his face, enjoying every aspect of his job. The stereotypical principal is hated by the students, but he is different. The reason he is so beloved is because he demonstrates such a true passion for the GBN community and all that it offers. If there’s anything I have learned in my life, it’s to do what you love and love what you do.