Leadership is growing through crisis and change, sometimes by stepping back, in an ethical manner to inspire people to fulfill a vision.

Communication is an integral part to leadership. You may ask then why I decided to not update my leadership definition to include something about communicating effectively and using the power that you have in communication. To me, communication is the key. You cannot be a leader without it, and so I find it too obvious to put into my definition. The social capital that is received from being in a position of leadership allows you to communicate in different ways, which was the main idea that I got from Sessions' article (2009). Knowing how your social capital shapes how you are able to communicate will help to ease your way through the circus of communication, where several key factors are in play (Saphiere et. al, 2005).

Leadership is growing through crisis and change, sometimes by stepping back, in an ethical manner to inspire people to fulfill a vision.

Change is necessary. Sometimes, people need to change their actions or habits in order to become a better leader, and that is what made this article pertinent to a definition of leadership. In order to make that change happen, you need to beat the NEA defensive reaction to change. PEA will make the person more likely to activate that change in their own life (Boyatzis, 2006, pg. 616). Before you can change, you need to identify the areas of change that are needed, which can be done by looking at who you are (your real self) and who you want to be (your ideal self). The areas where those two do not meet is where the change needs to occur (Boyatzis, 2006, pg. 613).

Leadership is growing through crisis, sometimes by stepping back, in an ethical manner to inspire people to fulfill a vision.

Thinking about this week's readings, Get On the Balcony, and Identifying Each Person's One Big Thing, really caused my definition of leadership to change. When thinking about identifying my one big thing, it caused me to realize that not only is leadership about working, but it is also about growing. Getting feedback from others about how I can better myself just by changing one thing in my life is a reminder that leadership is a process (Kegan and Lahey, 2009, p. 64). Also, identifying one thing to work on, rather than receiving wide feedback, will make it easier to pinpoint efforts to grow (Kegan and Lahey, 2009, p. 64).

Also, I have been guilty of thinking of leadership as a constant endeavor, and never taking a break to reflect. Thinking about "getting on the balcony" and off of the dance floor is really changing the way that I think about taking a break. I used to feel bad when I was not constantly in the fray with everyone. This reading helped me to realize that breaks are necessary in order to process and figure out what is working and what isn't. Once I have that figured out, I can adjust what is being done as a leader, and hopefully make everything work much more efficiently (Heifetz and Linsky, 2002, p. 53).

Leadership is working, no matter the crisis, in an ethical manner to inspire people to help fulfill your vision.

The world today is in a permanent state of crisis, according to Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky. Even once our current economic crisis is over, the world is going to be different, and leaders are going to have to acknowledge that. This is known as adaptive leadership, and involves making changes within an organization to allow excellence in a turbulent environment (Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky, 2009, pg. 1).

To me, leadership is working in an ethical manner to inspire people to help fulfill your vision.

Working in an ethical manner is sometimes hard, because choices are not always clear cut and black and white. Several times you have to make a choice between right vs. right. These choices are often confusing, since there is no wrong choice (Kidder, 2003, p. 18).

In my life, my vision is simple: I want to graduate college, get a job teaching agriculture, get married, have kids. Within my classroom my vision is to be a mentor for my students, and provide a safe haven for students that don't have anywhere else to go. This vision will hopefully translate to an open and inviting classroom for all students.