Leadership is so much more than just being a boss or being placed in a role or position that requires one to act as though they should be the one making decisions. In every leadership position I have been in, I had a set list of objectives and a list in my head of expectations. It was not until I was placed into my largest leadership role that I realized what I really needed to do. I needed to focus on everyone else. I needed to focus on what the best thing was for my school and for my peers.
I have always believed that leadership is contagious. Not so much the act of being a leader, but contagious in the way that leadership is inspiring. Leadership is a chain reaction that will encourage those, who are at first unwilling, to create change. Throughout the semester, I have found that I can most relate to both authentic leadership and servant leadership theories. I have found my deepest connection with servant leadership because I believe in lending my own hands to help the needs of others before the needs of my own. Although, I believe that we must be able to better ourselves and have an open mind to become our best selves in order to best serve the needs of others.
While being at Baylor, I have found that most people here can connect the most to this servant leadership. Many people go on mission trips here and I have thought about doing this myself. I am not connected or affiliated to a specific church, but I believe in the words of God and simply being a good person. I believe that the universe always has our best interest at heart and always has a way of taking care of us. I feel it is our responsibility to care for one another, as it is our civil duty to have our best interest in our surroundings and how it impacts our society as a whole. Without this interest, we simply cannot grow.
I have refrained from taking any leadership roles here at Baylor, as I have been focusing on my adjustment into college and taking harder classes. Having said that, I feel as though we all have the ability to be a leader. Simply by inviting others to go to a football game or any event to show support can be seen as leadership. I believe going out of our way to provide for others is very contagious when you have the ability to make someone else’s life better even if it is just for a split moment. The Leadership LLC has been the best example of this for me. Many of the residents living in this hall have the most school pride I see at Baylor. School pride is incredibly contagious when people see others who are excited about an event, especially when they are able to hype it up.
I have a long journey ahead of me here at Baylor and I have a lot of decisions to make. I believe continuing to see others before I see myself will help me find my purpose as a person and as a leader.
Leadership in the media is portrayed as one being “confident”. Today, I believe that, when people think of leadership, they think of themselves, and how they are already a leader, rather than how they can become a leader. I believe the media teaches us to embrace the skills and attributes that we already have and teaches us to think that is all we need.
I believe self-confidence and having faith in oneself is a very good thing. It can inspire others to do amazing things. Though, I believe the media is leading out the idea that one may need to grow. Growth as a leader is a very important part of leadership. How can a team grow if a leader won’t grow themselves? A leader needs to stay open minded and become open to all ideas in order to receive the best results.
I believe the best way one can lead is to lead with their heart. Followers are inspired by the passion a leader will have. When a leader is passionate and compassionate, they will lead for the cause. The will work harder themselves, show resilience, and never lose sight of their goal. My philosophy combines the theories of authentic leadership and servant leadership. We must give and love others, but we must also have faith in ourselves in order to be able to give.
My Personal Values
My personal values relate a great deal to my leadership philosophy. I value love, curiosity, wisdom, growth, and courage. I value having something great to hold onto rather than just something easy.
Attending the Tiff’s Treats talk on October 8th was exciting for me because this past summer I actually started a cookie business myself and was able to make a tuition payment using the money I earned. What impacted me the most was the five things they valued the most in their business. They continuously made statements that expressed their focus on their customers and the idea that they want to make people happy. That is what their business does. They sell warm cookies and deliver them to people. They expressed their great investment in, not just their customers, but also those who work for them. Making people happy starts with giving their employees a good experience. This is how they help to portray their loving and positive image.
Another value they held true to was keeping their passion for their product. Both owners kept reiterating this goal of making other people happy. Their business started that way. Back in college, when both Leon and Tiff were attending UT Austin, Leon asked Tiff on a date, but Tiff stood him up. To apologize, Tiff made Leon cookies and delivered them warm to him. This is when Leon got the idea to start a cookie business doing this exact thing. At first, Tiff said “no way”, but now, her advice to us in the audience, is to “say ‘yes’ to things earlier.” They started their cookie business right out of their apartment in Austin. They worked every night besides weekends and never had time for anything other than their business. They’ve come a long way, largely due to their passion for their product and making other happy.
After attending this lecture, I nearly debated going further with my cookie business that I started this past summer. I thought they had the sort of dedication that I need to succeed. Their talk reminded me that the most important aspect in business and leadership is how we want other to be impacted by what we do and how we do it. It was really inspiring to hear about, not only their passion for their product, but their passion for the people they sell their product to and always making sure the customer comes first.
Derek Clark had a very inspiring and motivational approach to his speech tonight. Like any good leader he had a goal for us. He wanted us to take away this idea that our pasts are strictly our pasts and we need to let go of our pasts in order to succeed in our futures.
He shared his stories about growing up with violence and in the foster care system. His story is what fueled the flame to his fire and what encouraged him to persevere through so much more than what any child should have to bear. Now, he owns fastmortgage.com and, as he says, makes a lot of money. This is nearly unheard of for a child going through the foster care system, as most children in the system will end up homeless. He referred to these kinds of consequences as cycles.
He explained a domestic violence situation in his family that led him to the foster care program to begin with. His biological dad was someone who so obviously did not care to be a dad. His mom was involved in horrendous domestic abuse which led to a never-ending cycle of Derek continuously being put down and being put last. He goes on to explain that his sister ended up in the same situation of abuse and the cycle continued. I took this reference to a “cycle” as support for his statement “you must divorce your story from victim to victor.” He explains that we are just as much in charge of making sure we have success and making sure that we are doing the things we need to do to be the best we can be. He said, “we are defined by the stories we tell ourselves” and used a metaphor to explain what exactly we are. He described this idea of an orange. He said the orange doesn’t produce lemon juice or apple juice, but instead it produces what’s within and inside the orange: orange juice. It is the same for us. Whatever we are telling ourselves and whatever we feel is what is going to come out of us. If we are telling ourselves we are worthless and don’t belong then we are going to act like we’re worthless and don’t belong. He says, “you have to make sure you’re the leader of your own life.” This is especially true before we can have the ability to lead others.
This idea of what is within us is so important when it comes to authentic leadership. We must be able to take control over our attitude and thoughts. When we succeed in this, that is when we can be good leaders. We can’t lead with negativity or nothing will ever succeed. We can’t lead without a care for those around or there will be no purpose. We must lead with compassion and empathy for others and courage in ourselves. We must be willing to listen and understand stories from others in order to grow and succeed in a common goal. We must have faith in ourselves to overcome obstacles and forgiveness in others and bad situations in order to move on and have that ability to take control of the success of our lives and aid others for the success in theirs. Clark said, “make peace with your past or you’ll pay for it.” We must divorce from the victim that we once were and that we once made ourselves. We must live in the moment and become the victors of our lives.
I’ve placed myself and been elected into leadership roles since I was in middle school. For every position, I’ve centered myself around the idea of having contagious positivity and spirit. I always wanted to make sure my friends and my peers in general were happy to be where they are and encourage them to make the most out of every situation.
My ideas of being a leader stem from my opinion on what I would want to gain from someone else who is leading me. Most often, I value someone who is passionate, compassionate, and selfless. I l think the best leaders are those who truly have the best intentions for all. A leader should be aware of their surroundings and the road blocks that face them and those around them. They think of themselves as if they were everyone. Most often, they are selfish for the ones they are leading. Not to be taken as arrogant or self-centered but instead to be thought of as one of the people and, also for the people.
A leader needs to know they are being watched and studied in their every move by those following them. A leader must always lead by example and be prepared to face hard situations in a moral way. A leader must take nothing personally.
A leader leads those who are unsure of where they are going and those who could use encouragement. A leader will leave no person behind.
To me, leadership means the world is being brought together in unity. In the past, we’ve had leaders who performed terrible actions and persuaded the people to do the same. We had to learn as a country and as a world just how important leadership really is. By nature, humans are followers. We need the best and most compassionate leaders to make the world the greatest it can be and the most united it can be. Leadership is how we can advance together.
The lecture given by Alana Hill was enlightening and gave me a new perspective on diversity. Before attending her lecture, my definition of diversity was multiple people of different faith, ethnicity, age, or anything that makes us different from one another and coming together as one rather than separates. Hills definition of diversity was similar but she described it in a very colorful way that depended on leadership and those who are willing to be change-makers.
One thing that Hill brought up repeatedly was the idea of respect. She shared her story about running classes in Dubai during the time when many people in that part of the world are practicing Ramadan. Many people in her classes were fasting, but she was not. She said, “I had to be aware of their faith and respect their faith, but I expect them to respect my decisions as well.” She talks about this idea of being aware of one another and having this respect because team work their very best when everyone is feeling included and accepted. People will work their hardest when they are given the same opportunity as everyone else. They will work hard when what they can bring to the table is noticed. This is so essential and explains why it is so important to have a leader to follower relationship. Hill calls a good work place a family or a marriage.
Another one of her main points focused on the fact that if we have a bunch of the same kind of people who think the same kind of way in a room where we are trying to cultivate ideas, we won’t have nearly as many and as diverse ideas as we would if we filled the room with people of multiple different backgrounds. As innovators, we need to get to know one another and to make, as Hill says, “unlikely relationships” to bring a diverse group of people together who feel comfortable enough in their surroundings to contribute to the innovational atmosphere every company should strive to have. There is nothing more powerful or motivating than a connection with someone else; different or alike.
My hometown is only diverse where income is concerned, so until now, I’ve never lived in a place where there is more diversity and I am aware of such diversity. This is a place where it is embraced. At home, I always felt like I was wiser than many of my peers simply because I had traveled around the country so much so often and had travel to a few countries outside of North America. I always felt like many of my peers would be able to better themselves if they stepped out of their groups with people just like them and experienced new things. This has always been so important to me. One of my favorite things to do is listen to stories from other people. I am constantly trying to better myself through other people and what I learn from them. The lecture given by Alana Hill was a great reminder to stay open-minded and diverse in my thoughts and to embrace every idea as if it had the potential be the next big idea. Here at Baylor, we have so much opportunity to do just that.
1. What researchers are most associated with path–goal theory?
Evans, House, House and Dessler, and House and Mitchell
2. What are the assumptions of expectancy theory and how do they undergird path–goal theory?
The path-goal theory says that leaders must engage in behaviors that compliment subordinates’ environments and abilities in a manner that compensates for deficiencies and is instrumental to subordinate satisfaction and individual work unit performance.
3. Explain each of the four leader behaviors considered in path–goal theory.
Directive leadership: initiating structure and telling style
Supportive leadership: consideration of behavior. Being friendly and approachable.
Participative leadership: Inviting followers to share in the decision making.
Achievement- oriented leadership: Challenges followers to perform work at highest level possible.
4. Identify the follower characteristics that influence how workers interpret a leader’s behavior.
Needs for affiliation, preferences for structure, desires for control and self-perceived level of task ability.
5. How does each follower characteristic affect that interpretation?
Followers with a need for affiliations prefer supportive leadership. Followers who need structure prefer directive leadership. Internal locus of control followers think they are in charge of events that occur in their life. External locus of control believe fate controls life.
6. Identify the task characteristics that influence how workers interpret a leader’s behavior.
Ambiguous, unclear rules, complex, repetitive, unchallenging, mundane, unstructured, and unclear.
7. How does each task characteristic affect how the leader’s behavior influences motivation?
There has to be a good balance of the extremes of and between all of these task characteristics in order to maintain motivation. Something can be challenging but there will be no motivation if it isn’t challenging enough or if it is too challenging.
8. Explain the conditions under which each of the four leadership styles is optimally used.
Directive leadership is used when structure needs to be put into place.
Supportive leadership is used when the follower has a need for affiliations and satisfaction.
Participative leadership is used when the follower has a need for control or clarity.
