Critically analyze your leadership and followership performance, referencing leadership theory and practice concepts.
Throughout the leadership major I have critically analyzed my leadership and followership performance. I never considered myself a leader before declaring myself a leadership major. Sure, I had leadership roles in high school but it was never a title I had given much thought to. The moment I realized I was a leader was when I worked at a summer camp in California as a high ropes facilitator. I have written about this moment in numerous leadership reflections and papers. I had assumed the job as a high ropes facilitator but never imagine that I would be the sole person responsible for a group of kids on a high ropes element. I thought the title was just an assistant title because why would they ever trust me to send a child down a zip line all on my own. But they did. I went through intensive training and eventually I was ready to lead children on high rope adventures. That was not the moment that I became confident in my leadership skills. Sure the child was safe and I knew what I was doing, but I still had much to learn about leadership.
Looking back at this moment and critically analyzing the development I had as a leader, I was a leader before this moment but I wasn't consciously aware of it. Just above I said, "sure, I had leadership roles in high school but it was never a title I had given much thought to." My high school resume was stock full of leadership roles and screamed leader in and out. But that didn't matter because I didn't consider myself a lead. In order to be a leader, an individual needs to be consciously aware that their actions impact other individuals. This is why it is important for an individual to critically analyze their leadership performance. Reflections are one of my favorite ways to analyze my leadership performance. Reflections are personal and allow individuals to express their feelings and belief. It wasn't until I reflected on my summer in California that I realized the great leadership qualities I had possessed that summer.
In order to be a successful leader, I must also practice being a good follower. This is important because in order to lead individuals you must also spend a day in their shoes. I must be able to relate to my followers on a personal level and know what they are experiencing and what their wants and desires are. I am on the rowing team at UD and an important characteristic of the sport is following. In a board of 8 girls, we all need to be rowing in sync with our bodies matching up to the individual in front of us. The stroke seat leads the stroke and that stroke sets the entire pace of the race. The stroke rate can make or break the race. I rarely sit in the stroke seat and therefore am deemed a follower. As a follower in the boat, I must do everything I can to mimic the girl in front of me to minimize technical errors. Outside of rowing, followers are just as important to making up a team. There are no leaders without follows. One of my favorite followership clips is the video of an individual dancing at a concert. The individual looks like a whacko at first and it's his first follower who makes him a leader. The first follower plays a key role in the leadership process because they take a risk on the leader's idea. As a follower, I tend to be one of the last people on the bandwagon. I am not one to change with popular tends and it usually takes me a while to get onboard.
In Lead200 we learned that there are countless leadership theories that all tend to overlap in various ways. A great leadership theory I learned in that course is the Leader Member Exchange Theory. The Leader Member Exchange Theory is relationship-based approach that stressed the important two-way relationship between leaders and followers. This theory stresses the importance of trust and respect between the two parties in order to successfully collaborate. This theory accurately describes my leadership style because I think it is extremely important to build a positive relationship with my followers. I also like this theory as a follower because I want to build relationship with leaders who I admire and strive to be like. Relationships are important to build for knowledge to be shared between the two parties. My leadership credo begins with me inspiring new leaders and using this theory will help me to inspire new leaders by creating a two-way relationship.
Looking back at this moment and critically analyzing the development I had as a leader, I was a leader before this moment but I wasn't consciously aware of it. Just above I said, "sure, I had leadership roles in high school but it was never a title I had given much thought to." My high school resume was stock full of leadership roles and screamed leader in and out. But that didn't matter because I didn't consider myself a lead. In order to be a leader, an individual needs to be consciously aware that their actions impact other individuals. This is why it is important for an individual to critically analyze their leadership performance. Reflections are one of my favorite ways to analyze my leadership performance. Reflections are personal and allow individuals to express their feelings and belief. It wasn't until I reflected on my summer in California that I realized the great leadership qualities I had possessed that summer.
In order to be a successful leader, I must also practice being a good follower. This is important because in order to lead individuals you must also spend a day in their shoes. I must be able to relate to my followers on a personal level and know what they are experiencing and what their wants and desires are. I am on the rowing team at UD and an important characteristic of the sport is following. In a board of 8 girls, we all need to be rowing in sync with our bodies matching up to the individual in front of us. The stroke seat leads the stroke and that stroke sets the entire pace of the race. The stroke rate can make or break the race. I rarely sit in the stroke seat and therefore am deemed a follower. As a follower in the boat, I must do everything I can to mimic the girl in front of me to minimize technical errors. Outside of rowing, followers are just as important to making up a team. There are no leaders without follows. One of my favorite followership clips is the video of an individual dancing at a concert. The individual looks like a whacko at first and it's his first follower who makes him a leader. The first follower plays a key role in the leadership process because they take a risk on the leader's idea. As a follower, I tend to be one of the last people on the bandwagon. I am not one to change with popular tends and it usually takes me a while to get onboard.
In Lead200 we learned that there are countless leadership theories that all tend to overlap in various ways. A great leadership theory I learned in that course is the Leader Member Exchange Theory. The Leader Member Exchange Theory is relationship-based approach that stressed the important two-way relationship between leaders and followers. This theory stresses the importance of trust and respect between the two parties in order to successfully collaborate. This theory accurately describes my leadership style because I think it is extremely important to build a positive relationship with my followers. I also like this theory as a follower because I want to build relationship with leaders who I admire and strive to be like. Relationships are important to build for knowledge to be shared between the two parties. My leadership credo begins with me inspiring new leaders and using this theory will help me to inspire new leaders by creating a two-way relationship.
Effectively and regularly assess and adjust your leadership behaviors to more effectively meet the diverse (including cultural, socioeconomic, ethnic diversity) and changing needs of the communities/people/organizations with whom you’re interacting.
As a leader, I have learned to effectively and regularly assess and adjust my leadership behaviors to more effectively meet the diverse and changing need of people I interact with. I don't lead the same way I do on the rowing team as I do at work as a youth intern at a church. As a leader it is important to recognize who your audience is and then adapt your leadership behaviors to aid that specific audience. Utilizing this aspect of leadership will help me to take into consideration the various cultures, socioeconomics, and ethnic diversity my audience possesses. This evaluation can be done in various forms but I personally like to utilize self-reflection. This way I can keep a journal of method that worked and what community they worked well within. It's a reference point for me to go back to.
My sophomore year, I went on a volunteer trip to Tanzania over winter break. I went on this trip all by myself and was the only person from the East Coast going. It was a unique experience where I got to put my leadership skills to the test. While abroad, I took a Univ370 and spent a lot of time writing reflections on my experience in Tanzania. Below is an excerpt from my journey.
My sophomore year, I went on a volunteer trip to Tanzania over winter break. I went on this trip all by myself and was the only person from the East Coast going. It was a unique experience where I got to put my leadership skills to the test. While abroad, I took a Univ370 and spent a lot of time writing reflections on my experience in Tanzania. Below is an excerpt from my journey.
The excerpt represents the importance it was for the volunteer organization to adapting there behavior to better the community of Cairo. We were constructing a building for a school. I worked on the construction for only 2 weeks but the project would take over a year. The project took this long because we were building the school the way the locals would of built it. We we're obnoxious Americans who brought in cement machines in order to complete the project in 3 months. We mixed the cement with shovels and used local businesses to purchases the supplies. The point of the project was to proved the labor, not convert the community to our culture. We dressed respectively while visiting there and supported local businesses. It was an eye opening experience where I learned too how to create a stable leadership project while abroad. We adjusted our customs and behaviors while on the trip to change the needs of the community. By showing respect and supporting local business, we build trust with the Cairo community.
This lesson I learned in Tanzania will take me far and it wasn't until I sat down to reflect on my experience that I realized why we were mixing cement by hand. One night our group sat down to have a conversation about the future of Cairo. The reason we were building this school was to prevent a resort company from overriding the village and destroying their homes. This was an important project for the community but as leaders we needed to approach the project with caution. I had learned all these skills throughout the leadership major. We had discussed the importance of knowing your audience and using proper business greetings. It wasn't until I put those skills into action while in Tanzania that I had a realization as to how powerful adjusting leadership behaviors can be.
This lesson I learned in Tanzania will take me far and it wasn't until I sat down to reflect on my experience that I realized why we were mixing cement by hand. One night our group sat down to have a conversation about the future of Cairo. The reason we were building this school was to prevent a resort company from overriding the village and destroying their homes. This was an important project for the community but as leaders we needed to approach the project with caution. I had learned all these skills throughout the leadership major. We had discussed the importance of knowing your audience and using proper business greetings. It wasn't until I put those skills into action while in Tanzania that I had a realization as to how powerful adjusting leadership behaviors can be.