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.
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.
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.
As a Baylor student, the leadership theory that many of us can identify with the most is servant leadership. We grow up and are taught in our churches to serve one another. This theory requires one to be aware of problems or issues within our societies and organizations and to be willing to heal and nurture one another. Being a servant leader requires one to put themselves in other shoes, rather than just connecting with a follower like other theories may suggest. This theory focusses on individuals and the good of the people rather than the organizational aspect. Servant leadership is guided by morals and heart to become better and to empower others to become better. A lot of students at Baylor will seek to provide their support through mission trips or volunteering. As servant leaders, we want to be able to provide the help that people need but also inspire others to help and make a change as well.
Like this theory of servant leadership, the theory of authentic leadership also comes from the urge from within to lead. Authentic leadership is greatly defined by knowing oneself and gaining trust in your followers. These leaders are very aware of their actions, strengths and weaknesses and what must be done to better themselves and their team. Authentic leadership focuses on purpose, values and relationships with one another. Like servant leadership, a leader must be empathetic to effectively lead. This leadership theory is guided by moral theories and life events that occur to drive a purpose in an organization. I like to think of authentic leadership as having the faith and confidence in what one does and what one can offer in order to have the faith and confidence in others, especially trust. I think of our Baylor University President, Linda Livingstone as a great example of authentic leadership because she goes out of her way to connect with and create relationships with all students and their cultures here at Baylor.
Much like servant leadership and authentic leadership, transformational leadership theory aims to cause positive change and development in a leader’s followers. Transformational leadership involves four concepts that help leaders achieve their end goal: influence, motivation, stimulation, and consideration. A transformational leader must act as a role model that a follower will want to follow. I think of transformational leaders as my teachers or coach that I looked up to and always strove to be like because they were nice or did something that I wanted to do. These mentors to me always had the knowledge and the wisdom that led them to doing great things. They inspired me to keep moving forward. Transformational leaders are contagious in this way that the follower wants to be what they are and are, as a result, inspired by the actions they take and the words they say. These leaders help and support the creativeness and innovation in their followers. They lead as a coach or as a mentor with their followers’ best interests always in mind.
