Week 13 Definition- My definition of Leadership is a person who influences others towards the achievement of a goal or a set of expectations.They do this for the better of the group they are leading with an objective perspective. As a group progresses in towards their goals, a culture is developed, this gives the group an identity. While a leader is looking to improve the cohesiveness and function of a group they must also reflect inward to improve/better themselves as an individual.

My definition for this week stays the same. The readings for this week did not have an impact on what my true definition of what leadership is. There was some good content and research that was interesting to read but overall didn't make an impact.

One interesting aspect that I did find from this week, was the idea of meeting group members after working online with them for the semester. It would be interesting to see how the dynamics of our group changed if we were to meet each other. I have a hard time agreeing with the readings that it will strengthen the relationship amongst us. I have my own ideas about all of the members and meeting them might alter that.

Week 11 Definition- My definition of Leadership is a person who influences others towards the achievement of a goal or a set of expectations.They do this for the better of the group they are leading with an objective perspective. As a group progresses in towards their goals, a culture is developed, this gives the group an identity. While a leader is looking to improve the cohesiveness and function of a group they must also reflect inward to improve/better themselves as an individual.

This week's reader applied to me quite a bit. So for this week I added a piece about self improvement, it is important for the leader to be growing as a leader through the process. I also re-worded a phrase just to make it more clear. Boyatzis's piece talked a lot about self improvement and development. It tied into previous weeks readings about 360 degree feedback and the balcony perspective.

(this is personal application-extra)- I related to this specifically because as a member of a basketball team, I was put in a situation that forced me to do some self reflection and change some of my habits. There was an attitude problem brought to my attention and although it was very hard to admit to my faults, I either needed to change my ways to be socially isolated (in a not too extreme way). The cycle that Boyatzis describes basically outlines exactly what I had to do in order to gain back respect and the social company of my teammates.

--So this illustrates to me how crucial it is for self change. Also discovery 5 was "relationships that allow us to learn" and just a thought, but not every situation provides someone to encourage or support the change (617). Sometimes in a competitive situation you rely on someone else's faults to put yourself in a better situation, and while this seems selfish, it can be for the better of the group.

References

Boyatzis, R. E. (2006). "An Overview of Intentional Change from a Leadership Perspective." Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 607-623. doi:10.1108/02621710610678445

Week 10 Definition- My definition of Leadership is a person who influences others towards the achievement of a goal or a set of expectations.They do this for the better of the group they are leading with an objective perspective. As a group develops a culture is developed, this gives the group an identity.

Again my definition stays the same this week for the most part. This weeks reading did not have much of an impact on my view of leadership. However, they were interesting and applied to the work that we are doing in this class. The "Phases and patterns of group development in virtual learning teams" was an outline of the work that we do every week. The types of communicating and organizing that we must to in order to function as a group were depicted. The idea of patterns were particularly interesting as I think my group as fallen accustomed to a certain format in the way we submit and collaborate each week. The fact that we change up the way we are communicating forces us to adapt our layout that we have developed to the new online tool. This has strengthened our group.
In "Interacting in Teams and Groups" the stages that the authors describe as forming, storming, norming and, performing are easy to identify. I can see in almost every group situation that I have been in some form of those stages in being able to be productive in the end. This changes my definition by adding the idea of a group 'culture' or the way that they intend to do things. It's important for the group to have an identity and something to focus on.

References

Komives, S. R., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T. R. (1998). "Interacting in Teams and Groups." Exploring Leadership: For college students who want to make a difference (pp. 165 - 194). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Yoon, S., & Johnson, S. (2008). Phases and patterns of group development in virtual learning teams. Educational Technology Research & Development, 56(5), 595-618. doi:10.1007/s11423-007-9078-x

Week 9 Definition- My definition of Leadership is a person who influences others towards the achievement of a goal or a set of expectations.They do this for the better of the group they are leading with an objective perspective.

This week my definition stays the same because this weeks readings that spoke mostly to me were about perspective (in my opinion), which was already in my definition. "The Warren Harding Error" by Gladwell, and "Defining Racism: Can we Talk" by Tatum tied to perspective. What I took both from these reading was that preconceived notions (Gladwell) and racism (Tatum) influence us as people. This ties to leadership because the leaders who are able to overcome the large foreshadowing influence of racism and preconceived notions are the leaders who have the potential to be the most influential. The idea from Tatum about looking at people for what they have opposed to what they are lacking is similar to the idea of looking at the best in everyone. The positive of this is you find a way to appreciate everyone you are leading and use people's strengths to the your advantage. By focusing on the negatives you are focusing on what you do not have ('non-male' example: Tatum)
As for the objective perspective, in society there are tons of stereotypes, racist prejudices and ideas that we have learned and experiences that affect our choices. If a leader is able, to the best of their ability, ignore those things they lead with an objective perspective; looking out for the best of the group, embracing all differences, but not letting them negatively affect choices.

My main goal of my developing definitions is to keep it simple. Leadership has many components, some of which I am learning about weekly. But there are overall consistencies that leadership has no matter what the circumstance and that is the part that I am trying to focus on. While doing that, I am trying to explain where the readings come into that definition and how the implied pieces of leadership tie in as well.

References

Tatum, B. D. (1997). "Defining Racism: Can we talk?" Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (pp. 3 - 17). New York: Basic Books.

Kezar, A. (2000). "Pluralistic Leadership: Incorporating Diverse Voices." The Journal of Higher Education, 71(6), Nov. - Dec., 2000, pp. 722-743. http://z.umn.edu/kezar

Week 8 Definition- My definition of Leadership is a person who influences others towards the achievement of a goal or a set of expectations.They do this for the better of the group they are leading with an objective perspective.

This week Heifetz's points about being on the dance floor verses the balcony make it clear to me that a leader cannot be wrapped up in what is going on in order to succeed. They need to be able to see it from multiple perspectives. Also the idea of understanding one's role within the structure of how things work is crucial in developing objective leadership.

References

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.

Week 7 Definition- My definition of Leadership is a person who influences others towards the achievement of a goal or a set of expectations.They do this for the better of the group they are leading.

This week Barbuto, J. E., & Wheeler's piece, "Becoming a Servant Leader", was the one that stuck out to me the most. It influenced my definition by causing me to add a piece about leaders leading for the good of the group. Being able to serve others is a coveted skill that I believe puts people in good situations. Also if you are looking to serve others your actions will be selfless and will follow into many of the of other traits that were in my previous definitions.

Week 6 Definition- My definition of Leadership is a person who influences others towards the achievement of a goal or a set of expectations.

This week I decided to simplify my definition because this weeks assigned reading, "Leadership in a (permanent) crisis", made me realize that leadership comes in too many forms to continue to change it. There are many aspects of leadership and all of those situations call for different types of leadership. For example in a crisis there are different techniques that are used to try to gain control. Such as, hunker down or press reset. A good leader is someone who can adapt to many situations and that has many of the traits that were described in my previous definitions. I just think that the actual definition of leadership stays the say but there are many aspects and traits, as the reading has shown me. So unless I read something that warrants change of my definition I will be adding the traits to the list, but not changing the actual definition.

References

Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). "Leadership in a (permanent) crisis." Harvard Business Review, 87(7), 62-69. Retrieved from

Week 5- My definition revolves around the idea of being someone that others can look up to. A leader is someone who does things right even when nobody is looking causing others to be drawn to their presence. Trust is a very important aspect of leadership as well, the bond that trust creates among a group, team, or organization is something that a leader initiates with their known desire for the group to succeed. (which also increases production and effectiveness) A leader makes decisions that positively reflect their ethical code and can be justified by some kind of moral logic. The ability to lead with a certain subtleness is a skill; when people are following you and they are willing to do it without thinking about the fact that they are being told what to do it makes the work or the goal easier to obtain. Leaders are people who can be held accountable for their decisions and actions because they are always thinking about how their decisions are always watched.

After this weeks assigned reading I altered my definition by adding a piece about ethical codes. This is due to something that stuck out to me from Kidder's article. The idea about "right vs. right" is something that is very true, not only with people in general but in leader's decisions specifically. There is something to be said about what decisions are made when both choices seem to be ethically right. The decisions made begin to shape the type of leader one will be, it provides a sort of precedent that can be followed through many of the decision that the leader makes.

References

Kidder, R. M. (2003). "Overview: The ethics of right vs. right." How Good People Make Tough Choices (pp. 13 - 29). New York: Simon & Schuster.

For this week my definition stayed the same. There are many aspects of the reading that I found true, but they seemed like implied facts that do not apply directly to how I view my definition. The dilemmas that a leader faces are inner issues that they choose to handle how ever they see fit, and the way that they do so defines them as having certain characteristics

Unethical and Ethical is a framework that I see as important. Terry said "I think Hitler exhibited leadership", and that is what leads me to agree with both ethical and unethical (34). Hitler did indeed have leadership, he was coercive and his goal was negative and horrible, but he got people to follow him and believe in what he was doing. Thats why I think it can be both because we would like to think that leadership skills are only used for good, but what one person sees as good may not be the same as another.

References

Terry, R. (2001). "Deciding what you believe." Seven zones for leadership: Acting authentically in stability and chaos (pp.20-40). Mountain View, CA: Davies- Black Publishing, Inc.

Week 3--- My definition revolves around the idea of being someone that others can look up to. A leader is someone who does things right even when nobody is looking causing others to be drawn to their presence. Trust is a very important aspect of leadership as well, the bond that trust creates among a group, team, or organization is something that a leader initiates with their known desire for the group to succeed. (which also increases production and effectiveness) The ability to lead with a certain subtleness is a skill; when people are following you and they are willing to do it without thinking about the fact that they are being told what to do it makes the work or the goal easier to obtain.

From the Rath and Conchie article trust seemed to be a needed factor in leadership, personally it is very hard for me to follow someone who's intentions I doubt, but if I know that they have my best interest in hand it is far easier to follow them wherever they may lead me. According to Rath and Conchie (2008) a way of establishing trust is by allowing the followers to see you candidly, if they see your mistakes they are more accepting because you are trusting them to respect your faults that you acknowledge.
In the Goleman artical what stood out was in all the styles of leadership; coercive style, authoritative style, affiliative style, democratic style, pacesetting style, coaching style, the people following wanted to be lead. In each one there was a level of trust that was established by the circumstance or the person themself.

References

Conchie, B. & Rath, T (2008). Strengths-Bases Leadership. New York: Gallup Press.