Leadership Blog

Week 11

2012-04-07T04:33:54Z

Old definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths, context, goals, self-concept, values, and communication style repertoire of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should always be open to feedback. Effectively managing a group of people includes helping people to overcome their limitations.
New definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths, context, goals, self-concept, values, and communication style repertoire of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should also always be open to feedback. Effectively managing a group of people includes helping people to overcome their limitations.
Analysis: I didn't change my definition this week because I wasn't sure how important it was to mention bias and racism in a leadership definition. The ideas presented in Gladwell and Tatum's articles seem to build upon the parts of my definition that were established by Terry's "Deciding What You Believe" from week 1. Knowing where you stand on ethical issues will make you able to lead with conviction.

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 9

2012-03-27T01:50:44Z

Week 9 readings:
Old definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths, context, goals, self-concept, values, and communication style repertoire of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should always be open to feedback. Effectively managing a group of people includes helping people to overcome their limitations.
New definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths, context, goals, self-concept, values, and communication style repertoire of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should always be open to feedback. Effectively managing a group of people includes helping people to overcome their limitations.
Analysis: The cultural detectives packet goes back to the leader's need to understand themselves and their followers on a deep level. Knowing why someone does something (context) and what motivates them (values) is a critical step in learning what kind of leadership will help them to be most effective. Getting to know myself through the cultural detectives packet was much more eye opening than I thought it would be; I can't imagine trying to be a great leader without understanding the people around me in the way that I now understand myself.

[Am I supposed to cite the cultural detectives packet?]

Week 8

2012-03-27T01:27:42Z

Week 8 readings:
Old definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths, context, goals, self-concept, values, and communication style repertoire of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should always be open to feedback.
New definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths, context, goals, self-concept, values, and communication style repertoire of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should always be open to feedback. Effectively managing a group of people includes helping people to overcome their limitations.
Analysis: Kegan and Lahey introduce and discuss the concept of competing commitments. Many people have a "hidden" commitment that keeps a person away from the commitment that they want everyone to see. Once someone's competing commitment is identified, it is easier for that person to get what they really want. This is important when working in groups because identifying competing commitments helps people and groups to shed unnecessary efforts and focus everyone's energies on the group's common goal.

Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2001). The Real reason people won't change. Harvard Business Review, 79(10), 85-‐ 92. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=18217059&site=ehost-‐live

Week 7

2012-03-27T01:05:02Z

Week 7 readings:
Old definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should always be open to feedback.
New definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths, context, goals, self-concept, values, and communication style repertoire of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should always be open to feedback.
Analysis: To lead a diverse, perhaps multicultural, group of people, a good leader must understand the context, goals, self-concept, values, and communication style repertoire of each person in the group. These five factors that affect communication were also discussed in my speech class, since the class has a multicultural emphasis and the students in the class are multicultural. Students who grew up in America, China, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Somalia have to work hard to understand each others' communication styles, and in order to do this, it's important to understand each others' cultural context, self-concept, and values so that the entire message being communicated goes through to the receiver.

Saphiere, D. H., Mikk, B. K., & Devries, B. I. (2005). Factors affecting communication style: Starring acts in the circus. Communication highwire (pp. 47 - 82). Boston: Intercultural Press

Week 6

2012-03-27T00:49:03Z

Week 6 readings:
Old definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should always be open to feedback.
New definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should always be open to feedback.
Analysis: This week's article reiterated several points about effective groups from previous articles. Astin and Astin discuss the need for a balance between self-knowledge and knowledge of others, a common purpose among all members of the group, the importance of feedback, and mutual respect. These points strengthened the parts of my leadership definition that were created when I read the assignments for week 3 and week 5.

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.

Week 5

2012-03-27T00:39:28Z

Week 5 readings:
Old definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership.
New definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership. A leader should trust their gut when making decisions, but should always be open to feedback.
Analysis: Goleman and Boyatzis discuss the importance of a leader's ability to trust his or her gut. While this is mostly an instinctual action, they give a few suggestions to channel a leader's thinking when making confusing decisions and become "socially smarter". A good leader should be empathetic, attuned to how others think and feel, understand unspoken norms, get support from key people, coach and mentor others, provide feedback, inspire, and encourage cooperation among team members.

Goleman, D., & Boyatzis, R. (2008). "Social intelligence and the biology of leadership." Harvard Business Review, 86(9), 74-‐81. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=33983120&site=eh ost-‐live

Week 4

2012-03-27T00:25:24Z

Week 4 readings:
Old definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership.
New definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership.
Analysis: My definition didn't change much this week because I thought that this article discussed group roles more than the leadership role. Komives, Lucas, and McMahon define group roles such as information seeker, opinion seeker, opinion giver, summarizer, clarifier, gate keeper, encourager, mediator, and follower. This part of the article reminded me of group task roles that I was learning in speech class last week, which included similar roles to this article and other roles including tension reliever, aggressor, withdrawer, and joker. Knowing about how these roles affect groups that I have to work in helps me to choose positive roles so that I contribute to the group instead of detracting from it. It's also interesting to think about how each person can have an important role, which makes each person with a positive group role a kind of leader in the task that they have been assigned.

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.

Week 3

2012-03-27T00:24:18Z

Week 3 readings:
Old definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling.
New definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling. Knowing your own values and strengths and the strengths of everyone that you are working with is also effective in leadership.
Analysis: Everyone's unique strengths can serve him or her well in a leadership position if they know how to use their strengths to their advantage. Using the StrengthsFinder test to identify one's top 5 strengths is the first step. Once you've identified your strengths and values, it's easy to recognize others' strengths and values and how you can work with them based on how you are similar to and/or different from them. Learning about the strengths of my classmates makes me excited for our future projects together because we all have very different top 5 strengths, which will make group work interesting and hopefully very effective.

Clifton, D. O., Anderson, E., & Schreiner, L. A. (2006). StrengthsQuest: Discover and develop your strengths in academics, career, and beyond. (pp. 1 - 11) New York: Gallup Press.
Lee, R. J. & King, S. N. (2001). Base your leadership values on personal values. Discovering the leader in you: A guide to realizing your personal leadership potential. (pp. 55 - 70). San Francisco: Jossey-‐Bass.

Week 2

2012-03-27T00:22:43Z

Week 2 readings:
Old definition: In my experience, leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations.
New definition: Leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations. One effective leadership technique is to step down from the "leader" position in a discussion and identify what others are thinking and feeling.
Analysis: The "get on the balcony" concept, as explained by Heifetz and Linsky, is a metaphor that urges leaders to do four things: distinguish adaptive from technical challenges, find out where people are at, listen to the song beneath the words, and read the behaviors of authority figures for clues. When a leader finds out "what's really going on," it is easier to make decisions that are best for everyone and for the cause or organization that you are leading. I used this method in class this week when I was having a discussion with Tessa about religion's place in a leadership role. We disagreed, and when we were done explaining our different perspectives to each other, I told her that I wasn't trying to intimidate her with my opinion and that I respected her for standing up for what she believes. This allowed us to build on a relationship of mutual respect and will hopefully make it easier for us to continue to learn and lead together.

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 1

2012-03-27T00:14:08Z

Initial definition: In my experience, leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires.

Week 1 readings:
Old definition: In my experience, leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires.
New definition: In my experience, leadership is a lot more than being in a position of power. An effective leader is one who earns the respect of their followers, has integrity, and motivates and inspires. Leadership is complex and different tactics must be used in different kinds of situations.
Analysis: A good leader does these things by making firm decisions about what they believe makes an effective leader. (Terry) A good leader often has to make incredibly difficult moral decisions, and determining when to use ends-based thinking, rule-based thinking, and care-based thinking in a "right-versus-right" decision is an important distinction for a leader to make. (Kidder)

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