Leadership is the act of motivating a group of people and subsequently guiding and directing them to the accomplishment of a common goal. It requires playing one's functional role within the group as well as stepping back to evaluate the group's performance. However, one is only a leader if others willingly follow.

My definition changed a little bit this week. I combined some of the contents of my previous definitions into my current working definition. Through class discussion and articles such as "The Leadership Repertoire", I believe it involves motivation as well as guidance and direction. It is more of two-stage process. Therefore, leadership can't exist without both of these steps.

Leadership is the act of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. It requires playing your functional role within the group as well as stepping back to evaluate the group's performance. However, you are only a leader if others willingly follow.

My leadership definition didn't change this week. I found the methods outlined in the Cultural Detective packet helpful to include in effective leadership. It is always helpful to seek to understand the values and beliefs your followers. However, these processes aren't essential to my concept of leadership. It is often incredibly effective to view situations through the cultural lens of others, but it is not absolutely necessary in order to practice leadership. I still find the "Get On the Balcony" analogy very helpful and applicable though.

Leadership is the act of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. It requires playing your functional role within the group as well as stepping back to evaluate the group's performance. However, you are only a leader if others willingly follow.

I added a sentence to my definition this week. The analogy of a choreographed dance in the "Get on the Balcony" reading really made sense to me. As a result, I added another stipulation to my definition. I now recognize leadership as a balancing act between playing your role within the group and also stepping back to view the group's direction as a cohesive picture. In essence, one must be simultaneously be a adaptable follower and a visionary leader in order to exhibit great leadership.

As far as the group activity summary, I feel I took a leadership in developing our "7 R's". I set up a Google Doc so we could collaborate during the creation. Shortly after I created the Google Doc, Eddy sent out an email with suggestion for a "7 R's" model. After some minor tweaking, I copied these suggestions into the Doc and printed it out and brought it to class. I believe the others in the group viewed the document and approved it as our final product.

Leadership is the act of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. However, you are only a leader if others willingly follow.

I changed the whole first sentence of my definition this week. I mainly changed the definition because I feel it emphasizes the act of trying to lead more. I believe that if you are trying to lead and fail, it should still qualify as leadership. One could theoretically try to motivate a group and fail and still be considered a leader in my eyes. This change was mostly inspired by the failed objectives I saw throughout this week in class.

Leadership is the act of guiding or directing a group of individuals. However, you are only a leader if others willingly follow.

My definition didn't change this week because I believe, at this time, this definition is a satisfactory definition of leadership given the length we are allotted. I could add more particulars in the definition, but they would apply only in certain circumstances of leadership and would not be appropriate for a definition. Most of the recent readings have provided successful strategies to go about leadership and different frameworks for thinking about the topic, but I don't believe these would be appropriate for a definition. If I were to write a paper about my views of leadership, these works would definitely deserve some recognition.

Leadership is the act of guiding or directing a group of individuals. However, you are only a leader if others willingly follow.

My definition changed slightly this week. I removed the phrase "being in the position of" because I believe leadership isn't limited to being in a certain position. Leadership is everywhere, and anyone within an organization can practice leadership. I added the word "willingly" to my definition as well. I believe leadership can't be coercive in nature. The follower must willingly respond to the leader's direction.

Leadership is being in the position of guiding or directing a group of individuals. However, you are a leader only if others follow.

The second half of my definition changed this week because I feel that the stuff I removed is just a small aspect of what leadership is to me. The fact that others must follow for you to be a leader is much more essential to the role of a leader. Sometimes, it even takes more courage to be the first follower rather than the leader. These thoughts were inspired by the TED video we watched in class and the "Understanding Why People Follow" reading.

Leadership is being in the position of guiding or directing a group of individuals. This power of guiding and directing is not reserved for those in a position of power. Opportunities for leadership are everywhere.

The first change to my definition is the inclusion of the phrase "a group of individuals." If you are directing a pack of dogs, I don't consider it leadership. I also mention that leadership is not just positional. People in every conceivable position within an organization can and do engage in leadership.