Authentic Leadership

I took away some key points from Justice Yvette McGee Brown in class.  Leadership is intentional and it is tough.  I think that its important to know that being a leader is a lot of hard work and dedication.  You have to want to be a leader and be genuine about it.  I have been in certain situations that I was not agreeing with the popular decision and it was tough to say I don't agree with this but rather we should look at another option.  That is not always easy to do when you know you may not necessarily be supported by your management team or peers.  The questions Justice McGee Brown brought up made me think.  What are the things that make you able to lead?  What am I good at?  What am I not so good at?  The common thing through the readings and the speakers I am seeing is surround yourself with people that are different or are smarter than me.  It makes conversations more robust and brings new ideas to the table.  I also enjoyed listening to Dr. Val Moeller speak.  It really impressed upon me concerning the theory of Leadership of Service vs. Leadership of Power.  I strive to be a servant leader I think this is so important.  I want to be able to support those that I am leading and work for them.  I know some leaders out there that are more towards the Leadership of Power and they are not the best leaders that I have worked with.  They are selfish and are only concerned about themselves.  On the other side, I have had the privilege to work with those that are Leadership Servants and they are some of the best leaders that I know.  They care about their followers and will do their best to help them.  I am not a perfect leader and I know that I have at times disappointed those that I lead.  But, I do my best to always do the right thing and put others above my needs. 

How I Lead

How have the readings and speakers influenced the way I “lead” my life

There has been a lot of valuable information that I have taken away from this course.  The ones that stand out to me are, being better prepared than anyone else, be passionate about what you do, don’t be scared to take risks, and be genuine.

I have definitely implemented preparing myself for meetings that I attend so that I can contribute to the meeting, anticipate possible questions from other attendees, and have possible solutions formulated to aid in resolving if there is an issue the team is working through.  This has helped to resolve issues quicker and I am more confident in myself and what I am contributing to the meeting.  This seems so simple and I question why I haven’t been doing this! 

I have always thought you need to be passionate about anything that you do.  If you are not passionate about it you will not be engaged and you will not bring value to whatever you are doing.  The best leaders that I know are passionate about leading.  I am very passionate about leading people and helping people to be successful in their roles.  I hope my passion is shown in my actions.  I have a team of 12 people that I currently work with to help them meet their personal and professional goals.  It is exciting to me to see my team members grow and be with them through their journey.

I am working on taking more risks as a leader.  This is an area of opportunity for me. 

Finally being myself in all that I do!  I have many different people that I look to as mentors but I take what I learn from those many people and mold it into who I am.  So that I remain genuine.  I am unique and have my own personality.  People around me know who I am and I remain consistent in my actions because I am being genuine and being myself. 

Political Women Leaders

Class on 10/26 we were introduced to different women that chose politics as a career.  I was so honored to be able to listen to Anne Gonzales as I voted for her!  Her story was also an inspriation to me as it is similar to mine.  It took her 10 years to get through college while juggling raising kids and running for city counsel. 

What I gained from listening to these women is be better prepared than anyone else, be willing to take a risk, get over not being competent, and join networking groups to support each other.  As I look back on my career I do shy away from taking risks for fear of failure.  But, through this class there is a common them amoung the speakers is that you have to step out and take that risk!  Don't let fear hold you back as Anne Gonzalez stated.

I enjoyed the reading on the Psychodynamic Approach this past week.  I find this topic to be interesting.  I like to know about different personalities people have and how that affects how we relate to each other.  In my role as a supervisor you really need to know the different personalities that you have on your team so you can be flexible in how you interact with each individual.  It is very important to be self-aware.  I am passionate about building relationships is why this appealed to me so much.