Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the actions of a whole, and guides others towards specific vision through actively and genuinely participating in improvements on a personal level and crafting specific and manageable learning goals in a process-oriented group setting. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and the whole initiative as it is happening to facilitate an optimal state of learning and performance.

This Week's Definition:

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the actions of a whole, ignores personal biases and prejudices, and guides others towards specific vision through actively and genuinely participating in improvements on a personal level and crafting specific and manageable learning goals in a process-oriented group setting. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and the whole initiative as it is happening to facilitate an optimal state of learning and performance.

Analysis:

This week I added the idea that to be a leader, one needs to ignore any personal prejudices or biases while making decisions. Often, not doing so would result in the Warren Harding error (Gladwell, 2005, all). A unbiased perspective is key to successful leadership.

References:

Gladwell, M. (2005). "The Warren Harding Error: Why we fall for tall, dark, and handsome men." Blink: The power of thinking without thinking (pp. 72 - 98). New York: Pushkin Enterprises.

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

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 is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the actions of a whole, and guides others towards specific vision through actively and genuinely participating in improvements on a personal level and crafting specific and manageable learning goals. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and the whole initiative as it is happening to facilitate an optimal state of learning and performance.

This Week's Definition:

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the actions of a whole, and guides others towards specific vision through actively and genuinely participating in improvements on a personal level and crafting specific and manageable learning goals in a process-oriented group setting. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and the whole initiative as it is happening to facilitate an optimal state of learning and performance.

Analysis:

My definition basically stayed the same except for the addition of the idea that "leadership in groups is process-oriented" (Komives, Lucas & McMahon, 1998, p.165). I believe this was a valid point to put into the definition because often we see groups and leadership within those groups fall into a certain pattern which therefore yields a process.

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

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the actions of a whole, and guides others towards specific vision through actively and genuinely participating in improvements on a personal level and crafting specific and manageable learning goals. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and the whole initiative as it is happening to facilitate an optimal state of learning and performance.

This Week's Definition:

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the actions of a whole, and guides others towards specific vision through actively and genuinely participating in improvements on a personal level and crafting specific and manageable learning goals. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and the whole initiative as it is happening to facilitate an optimal state of learning and performance.

Analysis:

The definition of leadership did not change from last week to this week. I thought both articles had some very relevant information, but I thought they were more so tools to be used by a leader rather than something that defines him or her. Our society is moving closer and closer to a primarily web-based business world which is why leadership skills must translate from in-person skills to web-based skills.

References:

Sessions, L. F. (2010). How offline gatherings affect online communities: When virtual community members 'meet up'. Information, Communication & Society, 13(3), 375-395. doi:10.1080/13691180903468954

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Learning together in community: Collaboration online. Paper presented at the 20th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, Retrieved from http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/04_1127.pdf

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the successes and failures of a whole, and guides others towards a personal and professional vision. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and and the whole initiative as it is happening in order to facilitate an optimal state of learning and performance.

This Week's Definition:

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the actions of a whole, and guides others towards specific vision through actively and genuinely participating in improvements on a personal level and crafting specific and manageable learning goals. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and the whole initiative as it is happening to facilitate an optimal state of learning and performance.

Analysis:
First off I just changed some wording to try and condense the definition a little bit. Secondly, I decided to add the idea that a leader must not leave themselves out of the equation for the assessment of the team as a whole because being genuine can go a long way when trying to get results (Kegan & Lahey, 2009, p.80-81). Lastly, I thought it was important to add the idea that leaders must be able to craft specific and manageable learning goals in order to obtain legitimate motivation and ignite ones full repertoire of talents (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002, p.141).
References:

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). "Metamorphosis: Sustaining leadership change." Primal Leadership: Learning to lead with emotional intelligence (pp. 139 - 168). Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2009). "We Never Had a Language for It" Immunity to Change: How to overcome it and unlock the potential in yourself and your organization (pp. 61 - 84). Boston: Harvard Business Press.

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the successes and failures of a whole, and guides others towards a personal and professional vision. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and and the whole initiative as it is happening.

This Week's Definition:

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the successes and failures of a whole, and guides others towards a personal and professional vision. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and and the whole initiative as it is happening in order to facilitate an optimal state of learning and performance.

Analysis:

I thought that it was crucial to add the idea that the leader must try and facilitate the necessary properties to help the ones they lead to fall into the optimal state of productivity and learning. This would be beneficial for the individual as well as the organization of the whole. I believe that it is up to the leader in charge to provide the stimuli to make the peak of the inverted-u possible to obtain.

Goleman, D. (2006). "The Sweet Spot for Achievement." Social Intelligence: The new science of human relationships (pp. 267 - 284). New York: Bantam Books.

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the successes and failures of a whole, and guides others towards a personal and professional vision. It also is the ability to be flexible and learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment and to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused.

This Week's Definition:

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the successes and failures of a whole, and guides others towards a personal and professional vision. It also is the ability to be flexible, to learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment, to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused, and to have the capacity to gain a balcony perspective by seeing what is happening to oneself and and the whole initiative as it is happening.

Analysis:

I thought it was important to add the idea that a good leader needs to be able to gain balcony perspective (Heifetz & Linsky, 2002). This critical skill can determine the mediocre leaders from the great one's because looking at the whole picture, especially being able to look at oneself objectively, can lead to great insight into a situation and any adjustments that need to be made to make it better.

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.

Leadership is the individual attitude and vision molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the successes and failures of a whole, and guides others towards a personal and professional vision. It also is the ability to be flexible in any situation and be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused.

This Week's Definition:

Leadership is the individual attitude molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the successes and failures of a whole, and guides others towards a personal and professional vision. It also is the ability to be flexible and learn new skills in an ever changing leadership environment and to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused.

Analysis:

This week's definition and last week's are very similar except for the changing of some wording here and there and the addition to the idea of flexibility. That addition incorporates the idea that the world demands new leadership skills because the ever changing leadership environment is fast paced, high staked, and very uncertain (Heifetz & Linsky, 2009, p.64).

Source:
Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). "Leadership in a (permanent) crisis." Harvard Business Review, 87(7), 62-69. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=41997981&site=ehost-live

Leadership is the individual attitude possessed from birth that takes responsibility for success and failure of a whole. It is also the ability to be flexible in any situation and to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused.

This Week's Definition:

Leadership is the individual attitude and vision molded throughout one's lifetime that takes responsibility for the successes and failures of a whole, and guides others towards a personal and professional vision. It also is the ability to be flexible in any situation and be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused.

Analysis:

Compared to last week's definition the main parts I changed were where leadership comes from and the idea of vision. Through much thought I have repealed my statement that leadership is born. When challenged by the professors last week in the comment I looked into it more and believe now that leadership, and the degree of leadership for that matter, are obtained throughout one's experiences and influences. It is like the whole nature vs. nurture debate. The other change that I made was adding the idea of vision. Through this week's readings (Lee & King, 2001) I believe that one's vision and personal vision must be sought after in order for the leadership to be purposeful and not stray away from the intended path. If one is not sure of their vision, then no goals can be obtained.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). "The leadership repertoire." Primal leadership: Learning to lead with emotional intelligence (pp. 53 - 69). Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Kyle, D. T. (1998). "The sovereign: The power of presence." The Four Powers of Leadership: Presence, intention, wisdom, compassion (pp. 159 - 191). Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications Inc.

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.

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.

This Week's Definition:
Leadership is the individual attitude possessed from birth that takes responsibility for success and failure of a whole. It is also the ability to be flexible in any situation and to be conscious of one's own personal and positional power so that it may not be abused.

Analysis:
Compared to last week's definition, this weeks definition is basically a condensed form instead of a full analysis of what leadership means. Other than the condensation of the material the only thing that has been changed is the addition of the idea that leadership requires the leader to acknowledge his power so he or she may not abuse it.

I have always thought of leadership as a noun with a simple definition. After the various explorations through this weeks' readings, however, I have realized that leadership is so much more than a noun with a clear cut definition. Leadership is in fact an attitude that one possesses, and the shape that the attitude takes on comes from the eyes of the beholder. Now the question stands, what does leadership mean to me? Leadership is a predetermined quality that an individual possesses from birth. It is assigned according to trait theory in other words (Terry, p.24). Leadership is geared toward the individual because the leader is accountable for successes and failures based on his or her position in a company, government, or other body. In order to be a leader and possess leadership, the leader must be coercive and non-coercive depending on the situation at hand. But most importantly, leadership must be flexible. Without flexibility, the leader is destined to fail.

This Week's Definition:

I have always thought of leadership as a noun with a simple definition. After the various explorations through this weeks' readings, however, I have realized that leadership is so much more than a noun with a clear cut definition. Leadership is in fact an attitude that one possesses, and the shape that the attitude takes on comes from the eyes of the beholder. Now the question stands, what does leadership mean to me? Leadership is a predetermined quality that an individual possesses from birth, according to trait theory (Terry, p.24). Leadership is geared toward the individual because the leader is accountable for successes and failures based on his or her position in a company, government, or other body. Bosses and CEO's, on the other hand, often are not leaders because "The vast majority of the time, we recruit by job function-and all but ignore individuals' strengths" (Rath and Conchie, p.21). It is the individuals that can embrace there own leadership qualities that may become true leaders. In order to be a leader and possess leadership, the leader must be coercive and non-coercive depending on the situation at hand. But most importantly, leadership must be flexible. Without flexibility, the leader is destined to fail.

Analysis:

My definition of leadership was not changed, but rather expanded upon. I truly hold firm that leadership lies in the individual, and in order for that individual to become a "great" leader he/she must find the strengths that they possess and embrace them to the fullest potential. It is that action of embracing personal strengths that will make a great leader, not the technical skills, or IQ the person has.

I have always thought of leadership as a noun with a simple definition. After the various explorations through this weeks' readings, however, I have realized that leadership is so much more than a noun with a clear cut definition. Leadership is in fact an attitude that one possesses, and the shape that the attitude takes on comes from the eyes of the beholder. Now the question stands, what does leadership mean to me? Leadership is a predetermined quality that an individual possesses from birth. It is assigned according to trait theory in other words (Terry, p.24). Leadership is geared toward the individual because the leader is accountable for successes and failures based on his or her position in a company, government, or other body. In order to be a leader and possess leadership, the leader must be coercive and non-coercive depending on the situation at hand. But most importantly, leadership must be flexible. Without flexibility, the leader is destined to fail.