Chelsea's Blog tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010-09-20:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789 2010-11-27T03:22:13Z Movable Type Enterprise 4.31-en Leadership Definition #10 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789.261635 2010-11-27T03:21:35Z 2010-11-27T03:22:13Z To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to be goal-oriented and have a passion for what they are doing. It is vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In... murph658 To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to be goal-oriented and have a passion for what they are doing. It is vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In addition, one must form a trend for personal expression .The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership.

Again, this week I have decided against changing my definition of leadership. I'm at point where I'm happy with my definition and how it explains leadership. However, reading Defining Racism "Can we Talk?" (Tatum, 1997) I found a quote I really liked and think it embodies part of what leadership is. One of the last sentences in the passage reads, "We have to be able to talk about it in order to change it." This very simply explains that we need courage to in order to change injustices. Change will not occur without dialogue among parties which may be the hardest part, that is to confront issues, but it's the only way leaders can fight to make their visions reality. Leaders have courage and this quote very nicely shows how far courage can go.

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

]]> Leadership Definition # 9 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789.260998 2010-11-21T05:25:45Z 2010-11-21T05:26:19Z To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to be goal-oriented and have a passion for what they are doing. It is vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In... murph658 To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to be goal-oriented and have a passion for what they are doing. It is vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In addition, one must form a trend for personal expression .The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership.

This week I'm choosing not to change my leadership definition. I feel it has transformed into a strong definition over the course of this semester. Also, while reading the assigned articles, I often find myself thinking that my definition embodies much of the content written about leadership. While reading Interacting In Teams and Groups, I gained some insight about working in groups and how to be an effective contributor in the given dynamics. "Group dynamics include such processes as how the group makes decisions, how the group handles its conflict, and how the group meets its leadership needs."(Komives, Lucas &McMahon) I liked this quote because positive group dynamics can be created with the help of a strong leader. The last sentence in my definition reads, "Combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership." Following this definition, a leader will be able to foster a good group environment.

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 San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

]]> Leadership Definition #8 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789.259959 2010-11-14T03:17:26Z 2010-11-14T03:18:14Z To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to be goal-oriented and have a passion for what they are doing. It is vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In... murph658 To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to be goal-oriented and have a passion for what they are doing. It is vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In addition, one must form a trend for personal expression .The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership.

This week I decided that I'm not changing my leadership definition. The readings were basically just on online and offline relationships, and didn't read anything that compelled me to alter my definition. Although, while reading Learning Together in Community: Collaboration Online, much of the reading is on how a teacher should act. Figuring that teachers are leaders every day, I pulled a quote that fits in with my current leadership definition. "A teacher cannot be a fly on the wall if that means being an unobtrusive observer. If you say nothing, this will be interpreted either as withholding of approval or as tactic agreement." I thought this aligned closely with having a sense of vision and being able to unite people in a common direction. A leader has to be active and participate in activity to teach or lead.

Palloff, R & Pratt, K. (2005). Learning Together in Community: Collaboration Online. University of Wisconsin.

]]> Leadership Journey #7 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789.258842 2010-11-07T04:49:43Z 2010-11-07T04:50:38Z To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to be goal-oriented and have a passion for what they are doing. It is vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In... murph658 To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to be goal-oriented and have a passion for what they are doing. It is vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In addition, one must form a trend for personal expression .The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership.


This week I added a small part in the first sentence about being goal-oriented. After reading Metamorphosis: Sustaining Leadership Change, and reflecting back on writing Leadership Journey Two, I realized that being goal-oriented is a large part of being a leader. "In the 1960's, David McClelland of Harvard University showed that setting specific goals and developing a plan to achieve them made entrepreneurs more successful."(Goleman, McKee, &Boyatzist, 2002)People who set goals have a specific plan for success and are taking steps to ensure their plans are successful. Good leaders have specific goals for themselves and also for members of their team. Goals are very important tactics in obtaining the objective of the leader or group.


Goleman, D, McKee, A, & Boyatzist, R. (2002). Metamorphosis: Sustaining Leadership Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

]]> Leadership Journey #6 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789.258006 2010-11-02T01:42:08Z 2010-11-02T01:42:45Z To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. It is also vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In addition, one... murph658 To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. It is also vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In addition, one must form a trend for personal expression .The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership.

My father is a leader. My definition is coming from witnessing him assemble and motivate students, employees and community members as a high school principal at Shakopee for 21 years. He has done an absolutely brilliant job in his position by bringing many great programs to students, building a new high school, steering the district through a huge population increase in the last 10 years and supporting students and employees in a human approach. He maintains authority and is highly respected, while also being very approachable and empathetic to anyone he comes in contact with.

"Such leaders know that what people value most deeply will move them most powerfully in their work. Because they are aware of their own guiding values, they can articulate a vision that has the ring of truth for those they lead."(Goleman, McKee, &Boyatzist, 2002) Leaders have the passion which leads to a vision and is the backbone of strong leadership. Knowing the values within an organization and moving people to uphold those standards is what a good leader practices.

Again this week I'm choosing to not change my leadership definition. I think I'm at a point in the semester where I have learned about different leadership definitions and qualities which have formed one that makes sense to me. I have crafted it through seven weeks of reading about other authors and looking into my own experiences and values. By no means am I saying that it won't change again before the semester ends, but just explaining how it will become harder and harder to tweak what I have created as my leadership definition.
I did find something in this week's reading which helped affirm my definition created so far. Reading Becoming a Servant Leader: Do you Have What it Takes? and learning about the 11 characteristics it takes to be a servant leader, reflected to me that many of those qualities are somehow contained in my definition. Having a calling, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, growth, stewardship and building community are mostly all included in what I think leadership is. Reading about the empathy aspect especially seemed to click with me. "Do people believe you will understand what is happening in their lives and how it affects them? Servant leaders can 'walk in others' shoes."(Barbuto &Wheeler, 2007) Empathy is needed to understand people and realize what it will take to move them forward in a common direction.

Barbuto, J.E & Wheeler, D.W. (2007). Becoming a Servant Leader: Do you Have What it Takes? Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska.


Goleman, D, McKee, A, & Boyatzist, R. (2002). The Leadership Repertoir. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

]]> Leadership Definition #5 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789.256609 2010-10-24T04:01:22Z 2010-10-24T04:11:44Z To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. It is also vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In addition, one... murph658 To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. It is also vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In addition, one must form a trend for personal expression.The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership.

My father is a leader. My definition is coming from witnessing him assemble and motiviate students, employees and community members as a high school principal at Shakopee for 21 years. He has done an absolutly brilliant job in his position by bringing many great programs to students, building a new high school, steering the district through a huge population increase in the last 10 years and supporting students and employees in a human approach. He maintains authority and is highly respected, while also being very approachable and empathetic to anyone he comes in contact with.

"Such leaders know that what people value most deeply will move them most powerfully in their work. Because they are aware of their own guiding values,they can articulate a vision that has the ring of truth for those they lead."(Goleman, McKee, &Boyatzist, 2002) Leaders have the passion which leads to a vision and is the backbone of strong leadership. Knowing the values within an organization and moving people to uphold those standards is what a good leader practices.

This week I chose not to change my leadership definition. Neither reading this week had a huge impact on me and how I view leadership. Although the reading on choking and panic was really interesting to me. I had not known the difference between the two, or even that was a difference until I read the article. It really gave me a much better insight on reasons for failure and why people react the way they do in stressful situations.

Writing Leadership Journey Two this week was another reason why I'm not changing my definition. Reflecting on my current definition and using it as the backbone of my paper, I realized I'm very happy with it and feel it's a strong explanation of leadership and articulates my views well. Writing the paper was a good way to put it to the test and make sure my emerging definition wasn't just words, but truth formulated from my learning and personal experience. This week, at least, it passed the test.

LasGolemant, D, McKee, A, & Boyatzist, R. (2002). The Leadership Repertoir. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

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.

Rushworth M. Kidder. (2003) The Ethics of Right Vs. Right. How Good People Make Toght Decisions. New York: Simon & Schuster

]]> Leadership Definition #4 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789.255385 2010-10-16T22:41:48Z 2010-10-16T23:00:38Z To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. It is also vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In addition, one... murph658 To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. It is also vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding core values and living in proximity to those principles. In addition, one must form a trend for personal expression.The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership.

My father is a leader. My definition is coming from witnessing him assemble and motiviate students, employees and community members as a high school principal at Shakopee for 21 years. He has done an absolutly brilliant job in his position by bringing many great programs to students, building a new high school, steering the district through a huge population increase in the last 10 years and supporting students and employees in a human approach. He maintains authority and is highly respected, while also being very approachable and empathetic to anyone he comes in contact with.

"Such leaders know that what people value most deeply will move them most powerfully in their work. Because they are aware of their own guiding values,they can articulate a vision that has the ring of truth for those they lead."(LasGolemant, McKee, & LasBoyatzist, 2002) Leaders have the passion which leads to a vision and is the backbone of strong leadership. Knowing the values within an organization and moving people to uphold those standards is what a good leader practices.

This week I added to my leadership definition to include a part about understanding who you are personally before expecting to help others. To be a leader, one must have a clear sense of vision, and defined personality trends to be an effective leader."Leadership can be an instrument of personal expression that enriches your choice of trade, speciality, or vocation." (Discovering the Leader in You) Vision is manily exposed through personal expression-- including expression of different leadership styles, which is something that makes an individual stand out and may enrich leadership abilities. A clear sense of being is absolutly necessary in order for others to understand who you are and what your about."

Closely aligning with the update I made to my leadership definition last week about personal vision, this week I added another aspect about core values. Before one can have the vision, they must first understand their core values. Just like companies and huge corporations, people need to know their core values and live by them to be successful. In addition, it is simple to just list a set of values that we would like to live by, but leaders follow the values in their everyday life in how they form relationships and handle situations. Reading "How Good People Make Tough Choices", really helped me understand this concept. One of the opening paragraphs explain, "Those are people, after all, whom we think of as "good" people. They are good, we say, because they seem to have some conscious sense of vision, some deep core ethical values, that gives them the courage to stand up to the tough choices." Being a leader, and living by a strong set of core values, may actually make decisions more difficult, by not wanting to stray from any values that a certain action may omit. But it is the courage that comes from living by ethical values that make people leaders.


LasGolemant, D, McKee, A, & LasBoyatzist, R. (2002). The Leadership Repertoir. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

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.

Rushworth M. Kidder. (2003) The Ethics of Right Vs. Right. How Good People Make Toght Decisions. New York: Simon & Schuster

]]> Leadership Definition #3 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789.252134 2010-10-11T04:00:13Z 2010-10-11T04:18:27Z To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. It is also vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding personal strengths and forming a trend for personal expression.The inner- drive, combined... murph658 To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. It is also vital to enrich leadership abilities by understanding personal strengths and forming a trend for personal expression.The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership.

My father is a leader. My definition is coming from witnessing him assemble and motiviate students, employees and community members as a high school principal at Shakopee for 21 years. He has done an absolutly brilliant job in his position by bringing many great programs to students, building a new high school, steering the district through a huge population increase in the last 10 years and supporting students and employees in a human approach. He maintains authority and is highly respected, while also being very approachable and empathetic to anyone he comes in contact with.

"Such leaders know that what people value most deeply will move them most powerfully in their work. Because they are aware of their own guiding values,they can articulate a vision that has the ring of truth for those they lead."(LasGolemant, McKee, & LasBoyatzist, 2002) Leaders have the passion which leads to a vision and is the backbone of strong leadership. Knowing the values within an organization and moving people to uphold those standards is what a good leader practices.

This week I added to my leadership definition to include a part about understanding who you are personally before expecting to help others. To be a leader, one must have a clear sense of vision, and defined personality trends to be an effective leader."Leadership can be an instrument of personal expression that enriches your choice of trade, speciality, or vocation." (Discovering the Leader in You) Vision is manily exposed through personal expression-- including expression of different leadership styles, which is something that makes an individual stand out and may enrich leadership abilities. A clear sense of being is absolutly necessary in order for others to understand who you are and what your about."


LasGolemant, D, McKee, A, & LasBoyatzist, R. (2002). The Leadership Repertoir. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

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.

]]> Leadership Definition #2 tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789.250799 2010-10-02T23:38:14Z 2010-10-03T00:44:06Z To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is... murph658 To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership.
My father is a leader. My definition is coming from witnessing him assemble and motiviate students, employees and community members as a high school principal at Shakopee for 21 years. He has done an absolutly brilliant job in his position by bringing many great programs to students, building a new high school, steering the district through a huge population increase in the last 10 years and supporting students and employees in a human approach. He maintains authority and is highly respected, while also being very approachable and empathetic to anyone he comes in contact with.

"Such leaders know that what people value most deeply will move them most powerfully in their work. Because they are aware of their own guiding values,they can articulate a vision that has the ring of truth for those they lead."(LasGolemant, McKee, & LasBoyatzist, 2002) Leaders have the passion which leads to a vision and is the backbone of strong leadership. Knowing the values within an organization and moving people to uphold those standards is what a good leader practices.

After reading this weeks readings about leadership, my definition stays mostly the same based on the fact that my previous difintion is about having passion, drive and the ability to move people based on building relationships and understanding their common values. What I took from reading,"Social Intelligence and The Biology of Leadership" is that leadership skills come from mirroring others emotions and connecting with them to build a relationship and reach people on a level where they are vulnerable to be lead. This added part only strengthens last weeks explaination of leadership.

]]> Definition of Leadership tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2010:/murph658/chelseasblog//12789.249671 2010-09-25T23:32:03Z 2010-09-26T00:12:13Z To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction... murph658
To be a leader, or demonstrate leadership, one needs to have a passion for what they are doing. The inner- drive, combined with a sense of vision and the ability to unite and move people in a common direction is leadership.
My father is a leader. My definition is coming from witnessing him assemble and motiviate students, employees and community members as a high school principal at Shakopee for 21 years. He has done an absolutly brilliant job in his position by bringing many great programs to students, building a new high school, steering the district through a huge population increase in the last 10 years and supporting students and employees in a human approach. He maintains authority and is highly respected, while also being very approachable and empathetic to anyone he comes in contact with.

"Such leaders know that what people value most deeply will move them most powerfully in their work. Because they are aware of their own guiding values,they can articulate a vision that has the ring of truth for those they lead."(LasGolemant, McKee, & LasBoyatzist, 2002) Leaders have the passion which leads to a vision and is the backbone of strong leadership. Knowing the values within an organization and moving people to uphold those standards is what a good leader practices.


LasGolemant, D, McKee, A, & LasBoyatzist, R. (2002). The Leadership Repertoir. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

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