Erin's Blog tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011-01-20:/denne052/erinsblog//13310 2011-04-23T21:04:22Z Movable Type Enterprise 4.31-en Week 14 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.288326 2011-04-23T20:55:05Z 2011-04-23T21:04:22Z Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent and collaborative environment, where a positive, encouraging, supportive, and learning oriented feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when balancing stress... denne052 Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent and collaborative environment, where a positive, encouraging, supportive, and learning oriented feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when balancing stress and adapting to changes for the good of the group,using your personal vision in connection with the "bigger picture" and others perspectives to see all sides of an issue, respecting and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

Week 14 Definition:
Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent and collaborative environment, where a positive, encouraging, supportive, and learning oriented feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions. Using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when balancing stress, judging others character, and adapting to changes for the good of the group, while using your personal vision in connection with the "bigger picture" and others perspectives to see all sides of an issue. Respecting and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

The power of stereotyping unconsciously was a central theme in this reading and I thought it was a significant theme that I should incorporate somehow into my definition. Gladwell stated that "sometimes we can know more about someone or something in the blink of an eye than we can after months of study," which is mainly because he or she fits a stereotype (Gladwell, M., 2005, pg 76). So to include this in my definition I added good judgement of character to illustrate that seeing the true character of someone is important, rather than judge based on a stereotype.

Gladwell, M. (2005). "The Warren Harding Error: Why we fall for tall, dark, and handsome men." Blink: The power of thinking without thinking (pp. 72 - 98). New York: Pushkin Enterprises.

]]> Week 12 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.285558 2011-04-10T03:48:54Z 2011-04-10T03:55:41Z Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, supportive, and learning oriented feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when balancing stress and adapting... denne052 Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, supportive, and learning oriented feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when balancing stress and adapting to changes for the good of the group,using your personal vision in connection with the "bigger picture" and others perspectives to see all sides of an issue, respecting and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

Week 12 Definition
Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent and collaborative environment, where a positive, encouraging, supportive, and learning oriented feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when balancing stress and adapting to changes for the good of the group,using your personal vision in connection with the "bigger picture" and others perspectives to see all sides of an issue, respecting and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

The important element of collaboration, on a project or issue, is a significant theme I thought stood out to me in this weeks readings. As shown in this quotation, its effect is substantial. "The likelihood of successful achievement of learning objectives and achieving course competencies increases through collaborative engagement" (Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K., 2005, pg 1). Due to the importance of collaboration in group settings or in the social environments, I thought it would be a good addition to my definition.

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Learning together in community: Collaboration online. Paper presented at the 20th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, Retrieved from http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/04_1127.pdf

]]> Week 11 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.284523 2011-04-03T02:42:49Z 2011-04-03T02:48:10Z Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when balancing stress and adapting to changes... denne052 Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when balancing stress and adapting to changes for the good of the group,using your personal vision in connection with the "bigger picture" and others perspectives to see all sides of an issue, respecting and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

Week 11 Definition

Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, supportive, and learning oriented feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when balancing stress and adapting to changes for the good of the group,using your personal vision in connection with the "bigger picture" and others perspectives to see all sides of an issue, respecting and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

A theme I took away from one of this weeks readings was the significance that learning oriented growth plays in personal development and further into leadership skills. "Small wonder that improvement plans crafted around learning-rather than performance outcomes-have been found most effective." (Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A., 2002, pg 141). This theme stood out to me so I decided it was significant to include in my new definition.


Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). "Metamorphosis: Sustaining leadership change." Primal Leadership: Learning to lead with emotional intelligence (pp. 139 - 168). Boston: Harvard Business School Press

]]> Week 10 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.283012 2011-03-26T22:13:26Z 2011-03-26T22:29:21Z Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when adapting to changes for the good... denne052 Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when adapting to changes for the good of the group,using your personal vision in connection with the "bigger picture" and others perspectives to see all sides of an issue, and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

Week 10 Definition
Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when balancing stress and adapting to changes for the good of the group,using your personal vision in connection with the "bigger picture" and others perspectives to see all sides of an issue, respecting and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

One of the seven criteria in A social change model of leadership development: Guidebook (version III) that I realize I had not added to my definition was respect. Respect for a leader is essential and with out respect credibility for leadership can be lost. I decided that this was very important for solidifying my definition further.
Also I noted that balance between boredom and anxiety is very important for mental functioning at a level where a leader can think most clearly. "We do best at moderate to challenging levels of stress, while the mind frazzles under extreme pressure." (Goleman, D., 2006, pg 272). So I included balancing stress in my definition as well.

Astin, H. S., & Astin, A. W. (1996). A social change model of leadership development: Guidebook (version III) (pp. 4 - 27). Los Angeles: University of California Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute.

Goleman, D. (2006). "The Sweet Spot for Achievement." Social Intelligence: The new science of human relationships (pp. 267 - 284). New York: Bantam Books.

]]> Week 8 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.279889 2011-03-12T23:51:45Z 2011-03-13T00:20:43Z Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning when adapting to changes for the good of the group,... denne052 Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning when adapting to changes for the good of the group, using your personal vision and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

Week 8 Definition:
Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning and previous experience when adapting to changes for the good of the group,using your personal vision in connection with the "bigger picture" and others perspectives to see all sides of an issue, and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

Our reading this week discussed the significance of noticing the "bigger picture" in any issue, handling the situation with no bias."The observational challenge is to see the subtleties that normally go right by us. Seeing the whole picture requires standing back and watching even as you take part in the action being observed." (Heifetz, R. A., & Linsky, M., 2002, pg 52). In reflection of this, I included this important leadership skill in my definition. Along with the bigger picture perspective, I also add the essential quality of experience in a leader. Our reading stated that "stress wipes out short-term memory. People with lots of experience tend not to panic, because when the stress suppresses their short-term memory they still have some residue of experience to draw on" (Gladwell, M., 2000, pg 88). I believe that having the extra edge of experience in the face of stress is a very important quality to posses in order to be a great leader.


Heifetz, R. A., & Linsky, M. (2002). "Get on the balcony." Leadership on the Line: Staying alive through the dangers of leading (pp. 51 - 74). Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Gladwell, M. (2000). "The Art of Failure: Why some people choke and others panic." The New Yorker, 84 - 92. Retrieved from http://www.gladwell.com/pdf/choking.pdf

]]> Week 7 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.278860 2011-03-05T23:07:08Z 2011-03-05T23:49:04Z Leadership: Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; where using your personal vision for the group and inspiring others using... denne052 Leadership: Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; where using your personal vision for the group and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

Week 7 Definition:
Leadership:Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; using ethical/moral reasoning when adapting to changes for the good of the group, using your personal vision and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.


My definition this week contains the importance of adaptability in a leader. As discussed in our reading this week, a good leader "must adapt what and how things get done in order to thrive in tomorrow's world. They must develop "next practices" while excelling at today's best practices" (Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M., 2009, pg 65). I found this aspect significantly important so I decided it was essential to add to my definition this week. Adaptability in a leader can cause a group to rise or fall, making it a uniquely influential element of leadership worth noting in my definition. I also mention using ethical and moral reasoning in leadership to reference our other reading this week, stressing it is up to us and our core-values to decide which "right" is more "right" (Kidder, 2003, pgs 14-15).

Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). "Leadership in a (permanent) crisis." Harvard Business Review, 87(7), 62-69. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=41997981&site=ehost-live
Kidder, R. M. (2003). "Overview: The ethics of right vs. right." How Good People Make Tough Choices (pp. 13 - 29). New York: Simon & Schuster.

]]> Week 6 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.277675 2011-02-26T21:49:04Z 2011-02-26T22:54:56Z Leadership: Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; and using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise others in centrally... denne052 Leadership: Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; and using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise others in centrally focused directions leading to a goal.

Week 6 Definition
Leadership: Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; where using your personal vision for the group and inspiring others using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise them in centrally focused direction leading to a goal.

My definition this week adds the importance of the two key elements discussed in our reading, " (1)creating a vision of the future and (2) inspiring people to make the vision reality"( Lee, R.J., King, S.N., 2001, pg 31). I thought that these points were the most essential to include in my definition because without a vision for your goal and inspired people to help there is no clear way to lead or to make your goal come true. Therefore, the two key elements are now an important piece in my definition.

Lee, R. J., & King, S. N. (2001). "Ground your leadership vision in a personal vision." Discovering the Leader in You: A guide to realizing your personal leadership potential (pp. 31 - 54). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.


]]> Week 5 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.276579 2011-02-19T22:07:46Z 2011-02-19T22:34:48Z Leadership: Using the strength's you are gifted with as tools to allow you to work in your strengths when you are guiding, educating, and advising others. By utilizing your strengths you become a better leader because you understand what you... denne052 Leadership: Using the strength's you are gifted with as tools to allow you to work in your strengths when you are guiding, educating, and advising others. By utilizing your strengths you become a better leader because you understand what you are particularly good at and focusing on leading in those areas.


Week 5 definition:
Leadership: Using your strengths as tools to help foster a socially intelligent environment, where a positive, encouraging, and supportive feeling is reflected by your presence, emotions, and actions; and using your strengths to guide, educate, and advise others in centrally focused directions leading to a goal.

My definition was changed this week to include some important aspects of our reading, mainly focusing on the importance of presence and creating a positive feeling as a leader that your followers will reflect. As suggested in the reading "Mirror neurons have particular importance in organizations, because leaders' emotions and actions prompt followers to mirror those feelings and deeds"(Goleman). So to show this important discovery I have learned from our reading, my definition includes the importance of a positive environment created by your presence, emotions, and actions. I also add the importance of central focus created by the quality of stewardship as talked about on page 161-162 from our Kyle reading.

]]> Week 4 leadership tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.275403 2011-02-13T05:25:42Z 2011-02-13T05:55:34Z "Leadership: The action of guiding, educating, and advising a group of individuals in a direction that is deemed correct by the head of the group, the leader, and is also in the best physical and emotional interest of the group."-... denne052 "Leadership: The action of guiding, educating, and advising a group of individuals in a direction that is deemed correct by the head of the group, the leader, and is also in the best physical and emotional interest of the group."- previous week definition

Week 4
Leadership: Using the strength's you are gifted with as tools to allow you to work in your strengths when you are guiding, educating, and advising others. By utilizing your strengths you become a better leader because you understand what you are particularly good at and focusing on leading in those areas.

My definition has changed substantially this week due to the knowledge I have gained from our reading. The reason my previous definition was not suitable is because it did not include anything about the leader's strengths. Leaders who know their strengths and work from them are the greatest at what they do, and many followers come when leaders are great at what they do. Our reading says "The vast majority of people do not have the opportunity to do what they do best everyday"(Rath 11-12). Since this quote is very true not may people learn to use their strengths or even know what they are. This is why I felt it was important to acknowledge the importance of strengths in this weeks definition.

Rath, T. and Conchie, B. (2009). Strengths-based Leadership: Gallup Press: Washington, D.C.

]]> Week 2 Definition of Leadership tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.271496 2011-01-30T00:33:45Z 2011-01-30T00:39:12Z Leadership: The action of guiding, educating, and advising a group of individuals in a direction that is deemed correct by the head of the group, the leader, and is also in the best physical and emotional interest of the group.... denne052 Leadership: The action of guiding, educating, and advising a group of individuals in a direction that is deemed correct by the head of the group, the leader, and is also in the best physical and emotional interest of the group.

]]> Definition of Leadership tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2011:/denne052/erinsblog//13310.270106 2011-01-20T16:57:38Z 2011-01-20T17:03:11Z Leadership: The action of guiding, educating, and advise a group of individuals in a direction that is deemed correct by the head of the group, the leader.... denne052 Leadership: The action of guiding, educating, and advise a group of individuals in a direction that is deemed correct by the head of the group, the leader.

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