8. If you had a magic wand that could help you become a better leader, what would you do with it? Think of a leader you would consider to be a role model, someone who practices what he or she preaches and lives by high standards. What is it about the role model you identified that qualifies that person as an exemplary leader? What values does he or she profess, and what practices does he or she consistently live by? Think of local, national, or historical exemplars.
If I had a magic want that could help me become a better leader, I would definitely use it. I would make myself a strong, independent women that all people believe in. I would make it so that everyone had faith in me and were able to see all of the abilities that I have. A leader who is the highest role model for me is my mother. She definitely practices what she preaches and lives by high standards. She is the most honest person that I know. No matter what she has encountered in life she has always lived by high standards. When my parents were divorced and my father was doing things that weren’t right to me and my sister, my mom never said anything bad about him. She kept her grace and even though I am sure she had feelings that weren’t nice towards my father, she kept her mouth shut. Also, throughout my whole life she has practiced what she preaches. The main thing that she wants from my sister and I is honesty. I have never had my mother lie to me in her entire life. She is the most truthful honest person I know. She also preaches for us to be hard workers and to get things done. Both of these are things that she always does. A good leadership quality that she
has shown me is to get the responsibilities that you have out of the way before you do anything else. Also, she has always said not to procrastinate. And she does all of things in a perfect way. Over time I have realized that if I possess even half of the qualities that my mother does, I would be a great, successful, great person and wonderful leader.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Journal Seven
7. When you are 80 years old and reflecting back on your life as a leader, what successes do you think you will have? What experiences do you need to develop your leadership to take it to the next level?
I hope that when I am eighty and reflecting back on my life, that everything is viewed in a positive way. Especially the type of leader that I was in life. I hope that I have grandchildren and children who speak nothing but positive things about me and the person that I am. I think that my main successes will be my children and my marriage. I want to go and earn my Masters in Business Administration after this semester is over. I hope that a success I have by the time I am eighty is to be a business owner of a law firm or some type of business. I want to have my name be part of a business. And when anyone says the name of the business, have people talk about me in a very positive way. I want people to say that I was a great boss that understood their wants and needs, got everything accomplished and we had fun along the way. I think that I will be viewed in a bright light and have people think highly of me. I want to always present myself in a positive manner. I think another success is that I am a polite woman, a strong woman, and I over came certain beliefs of barriers people have in women. Some of the experiences that I need to take in order to take my leadership to the next level is to continue with my education and get an MBA. Also, work in a professional business environment to begin that part of my life and to understand the way in which those businesses operate.
I hope that when I am eighty and reflecting back on my life, that everything is viewed in a positive way. Especially the type of leader that I was in life. I hope that I have grandchildren and children who speak nothing but positive things about me and the person that I am. I think that my main successes will be my children and my marriage. I want to go and earn my Masters in Business Administration after this semester is over. I hope that a success I have by the time I am eighty is to be a business owner of a law firm or some type of business. I want to have my name be part of a business. And when anyone says the name of the business, have people talk about me in a very positive way. I want people to say that I was a great boss that understood their wants and needs, got everything accomplished and we had fun along the way. I think that I will be viewed in a bright light and have people think highly of me. I want to always present myself in a positive manner. I think another success is that I am a polite woman, a strong woman, and I over came certain beliefs of barriers people have in women. Some of the experiences that I need to take in order to take my leadership to the next level is to continue with my education and get an MBA. Also, work in a professional business environment to begin that part of my life and to understand the way in which those businesses operate.
Journal Six
6. What qualities do you bring to leadership? How have you been encouraged or discouraged in exercising your leadership skills? What leadership qualities would you like to develop further?
There are many qualities that I bring to leadership. One is that I am an honest person. Also, I have many different things going on in my life and I know how to balance all of them in a positive way. I think that this is a good quality to have in leadership because people need to be able to handle many things at once, and handle it in a timely, positive manner. Another quality that I bring is that I am direct. I do not beat around the bush and I usually handle conflict in a proper way. When something is not going right I can voice my opinion and try and fix things. Times when I have personally felt discouraged in exercising my leadership skills is when I have felt overwhelmed with all of things I need to take care of. I can get tired, stressed and over whelmed and if I am caught at that particular moment, I may not be so positive in doing a lot of things and getting them done. Instead I may discourage people to not do so many things. I have also been discouraged at my current job as manager. My boss tends to not deal well
with conflict and would rather hide from things instead of dealing with it. So there are times when I am told not to deal with certain situations, and instead let things feel awkward and not taken care of. I have been encouraged to exercise my leadership skill of being honest at all times. Everyone likes a person that is honest and that should always been encouraged. While I think that I have many qualities as a leader, I do want to develop further certain things. I want to be able to balance things better. I also want to further my knowledge in communication skills and how to deal with different types of people. I think that I have things I can work on, but I am a good leader with great skills.
There are many qualities that I bring to leadership. One is that I am an honest person. Also, I have many different things going on in my life and I know how to balance all of them in a positive way. I think that this is a good quality to have in leadership because people need to be able to handle many things at once, and handle it in a timely, positive manner. Another quality that I bring is that I am direct. I do not beat around the bush and I usually handle conflict in a proper way. When something is not going right I can voice my opinion and try and fix things. Times when I have personally felt discouraged in exercising my leadership skills is when I have felt overwhelmed with all of things I need to take care of. I can get tired, stressed and over whelmed and if I am caught at that particular moment, I may not be so positive in doing a lot of things and getting them done. Instead I may discourage people to not do so many things. I have also been discouraged at my current job as manager. My boss tends to not deal well
with conflict and would rather hide from things instead of dealing with it. So there are times when I am told not to deal with certain situations, and instead let things feel awkward and not taken care of. I have been encouraged to exercise my leadership skill of being honest at all times. Everyone likes a person that is honest and that should always been encouraged. While I think that I have many qualities as a leader, I do want to develop further certain things. I want to be able to balance things better. I also want to further my knowledge in communication skills and how to deal with different types of people. I think that I have things I can work on, but I am a good leader with great skills.
Journal Five
5. What are the most significant leadership experiences you have had to date and what did you learn from them? How can you take your previous experiences and apply them more optimally to your leadership now?
The leadership that I have had in my family has given me a blessed view and I am very lucky. My mom is the best leader I know, along with my grandparents. They always led by example. My mother is honest, caring, gets things done right away and never procrastinates. While my grandmother is the sweetest person that I know. She has never been judgmental and is always there when I need advice. She never leans in one direction, always hears everything, thinks about things for awhile and then comes up with a great plan or idea to fix any problem. For me, these were the two main people that I have considered leaders in my family. Although, in my large circle of family there are two other leaders that many people in my family have viewed. These two people are my grandpa and uncle. My grandpa started a company from the bottom and grew it into a huge successful company. He has shown leadership through the type of business man he is. My uncle has been a leader through his emotion and strength. He has suffered from a brain tumor that is too dangerous to do surgery on. He has seizures and has had to give up a lot of things in life. Through all of this he has found God. His religious beliefs are great leadership skills for the members of my family.Growing up, I did have leadership from both genders right at home. While over time, my dad was not the best example of leadership, as a young kid he was. I had my mom and dad, both great people and both great leaders. Leadership in my home was defined as being an honest, hard working person. It was about getting things accomplished and being a successful person. Leadership was also defined in my home through our sports teams and showing good sportsmanship. We were all into sports, and made sure that we were always team players. That showed me a lot about leadership through the years.
The leadership that I have had in my family has given me a blessed view and I am very lucky. My mom is the best leader I know, along with my grandparents. They always led by example. My mother is honest, caring, gets things done right away and never procrastinates. While my grandmother is the sweetest person that I know. She has never been judgmental and is always there when I need advice. She never leans in one direction, always hears everything, thinks about things for awhile and then comes up with a great plan or idea to fix any problem. For me, these were the two main people that I have considered leaders in my family. Although, in my large circle of family there are two other leaders that many people in my family have viewed. These two people are my grandpa and uncle. My grandpa started a company from the bottom and grew it into a huge successful company. He has shown leadership through the type of business man he is. My uncle has been a leader through his emotion and strength. He has suffered from a brain tumor that is too dangerous to do surgery on. He has seizures and has had to give up a lot of things in life. Through all of this he has found God. His religious beliefs are great leadership skills for the members of my family.Growing up, I did have leadership from both genders right at home. While over time, my dad was not the best example of leadership, as a young kid he was. I had my mom and dad, both great people and both great leaders. Leadership in my home was defined as being an honest, hard working person. It was about getting things accomplished and being a successful person. Leadership was also defined in my home through our sports teams and showing good sportsmanship. We were all into sports, and made sure that we were always team players. That showed me a lot about leadership through the years.
Journal Four
4. How did your family view leadership? Who were considered the leaders in your family? Were there leaders of both genders right at home? How was leadership defined?
My family viewed leadership in a positive way. We have always viewed leadership as people who do good things for the world. People considered leaders in my family have been both sets of my grandparents as well as my great grandparents. My grandparents on my mother’s side have come to America from Yugoslavia. They came here due to the communism and the conflict between the different ethnicities within their country. They are seen as leaders because they came with nothing on their back. They have worked extremely hard to be at the place they are today. Today, their farm that they grew and developed when they came to the country was bought out by Foster Farms Chicken, as well as having a casket company that was sold to Batesville Caskets. Their leadership has been the path that my family strives to follow. They worked so hard and built two businesses from the ground up. They were always honest in their work, always modeled hard work, high levels of integrity and respect to all their employees and workers. While my great grandfather was the one that worked the casket company, my great grandmother was highly involved in everything. She is viewed as a great leader within our family. Growing up, leadership was defined through having respect for others, being an honest person, working hard and always putting in one hundred percent. I was also taught not to gossip and be direct in my ways. I think that the leadership that surrounded me was highly positive and effective.
My family viewed leadership in a positive way. We have always viewed leadership as people who do good things for the world. People considered leaders in my family have been both sets of my grandparents as well as my great grandparents. My grandparents on my mother’s side have come to America from Yugoslavia. They came here due to the communism and the conflict between the different ethnicities within their country. They are seen as leaders because they came with nothing on their back. They have worked extremely hard to be at the place they are today. Today, their farm that they grew and developed when they came to the country was bought out by Foster Farms Chicken, as well as having a casket company that was sold to Batesville Caskets. Their leadership has been the path that my family strives to follow. They worked so hard and built two businesses from the ground up. They were always honest in their work, always modeled hard work, high levels of integrity and respect to all their employees and workers. While my great grandfather was the one that worked the casket company, my great grandmother was highly involved in everything. She is viewed as a great leader within our family. Growing up, leadership was defined through having respect for others, being an honest person, working hard and always putting in one hundred percent. I was also taught not to gossip and be direct in my ways. I think that the leadership that surrounded me was highly positive and effective.
Journal Three
3. During your early years, which people had the greatest impact on you? Who were the heroes and heroines? And for what traits? Make a list and notice who is included and who is excluded?
During my early years, the people that had the greatest impact on me were my family members. I was around my family all of the time. As a child, your social life revolves around the things that you do with your family. I had an amazing family. I was lucky enough to have an older sister who is only two years older than I am. As a child, I think she had the greatest impact on me. I wanted to be just like her and I would try and run with her anywhere she went. I lived next door to my cousins, who were two and four years older than I was. Basically, I ran with a group that was bigger than me. I would try and be as brave as they were. I would go down the big kid slide with them, even if I were extremely afraid to do so. While my sister and older cousins had a large impact on me, so did my parents. They were my hero’s. I looked up to them so much and thought that their life was magical. I was fascinated with the jobs they would do, and how they could drive cars. Everything they did, I was amazed at and envied. As a child, parents are the one’s that no matter what they do, they do it perfectly. I wanted to be just like them. I would play house and pretend to be my mom, because she was perfect. (And in my mind, she still is!) Other hero’s that I had were the characters on the Disney movies. I loved Cinderella, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Ariel. They were my idols. I would sing all of their songs and watch their movies over and over again. They were beautiful, smart, talented and always in love. As a kid, I wanted to be all of those things. I thought that life was about those traits; being pretty, falling in love, singing and living a magical life.Another person that I would always look up to were my teachers. As a kid, I loved every single one of my teachers. I thought that they knew everything. I looked up to them because they were smart. Anytime I had a question, they knew the answer to it. I think the traits that I enjoyed in my teachers were that they were always kind, helpful, taught me interesting things and were a leader figure. They were in charge of the classroom and everyone knew it. You never wanted to do wrong towards the teacher because everyone respected them. Those are all traits that even today are good to have. Even as a child, you learn so many things about the President of the United States. They are the head honchos in your life. They are the main heroes that people look up. When I was a kid, George Bush Sr. was in charge. As a kid, it is difficult and confusing to understand politics. All I remember was that we would study the Presidents of the past and present and look up to the things that they had. They had power, they ran our country and they knew all the right things to do.When trying to remember who had the greatest impact on me when I was young, my family was at the top of the list. Fictitious characters are typically thrown in to a child’s list as well. Today my list would still be similar, but I would take away the Disney characters. While they do have heroic traits, I would trade them out with other women figures. Such as Mother Theresa, Amelia Earhardt, and Sandra Day O’Connor.
During my early years, the people that had the greatest impact on me were my family members. I was around my family all of the time. As a child, your social life revolves around the things that you do with your family. I had an amazing family. I was lucky enough to have an older sister who is only two years older than I am. As a child, I think she had the greatest impact on me. I wanted to be just like her and I would try and run with her anywhere she went. I lived next door to my cousins, who were two and four years older than I was. Basically, I ran with a group that was bigger than me. I would try and be as brave as they were. I would go down the big kid slide with them, even if I were extremely afraid to do so. While my sister and older cousins had a large impact on me, so did my parents. They were my hero’s. I looked up to them so much and thought that their life was magical. I was fascinated with the jobs they would do, and how they could drive cars. Everything they did, I was amazed at and envied. As a child, parents are the one’s that no matter what they do, they do it perfectly. I wanted to be just like them. I would play house and pretend to be my mom, because she was perfect. (And in my mind, she still is!) Other hero’s that I had were the characters on the Disney movies. I loved Cinderella, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Ariel. They were my idols. I would sing all of their songs and watch their movies over and over again. They were beautiful, smart, talented and always in love. As a kid, I wanted to be all of those things. I thought that life was about those traits; being pretty, falling in love, singing and living a magical life.Another person that I would always look up to were my teachers. As a kid, I loved every single one of my teachers. I thought that they knew everything. I looked up to them because they were smart. Anytime I had a question, they knew the answer to it. I think the traits that I enjoyed in my teachers were that they were always kind, helpful, taught me interesting things and were a leader figure. They were in charge of the classroom and everyone knew it. You never wanted to do wrong towards the teacher because everyone respected them. Those are all traits that even today are good to have. Even as a child, you learn so many things about the President of the United States. They are the head honchos in your life. They are the main heroes that people look up. When I was a kid, George Bush Sr. was in charge. As a kid, it is difficult and confusing to understand politics. All I remember was that we would study the Presidents of the past and present and look up to the things that they had. They had power, they ran our country and they knew all the right things to do.When trying to remember who had the greatest impact on me when I was young, my family was at the top of the list. Fictitious characters are typically thrown in to a child’s list as well. Today my list would still be similar, but I would take away the Disney characters. While they do have heroic traits, I would trade them out with other women figures. Such as Mother Theresa, Amelia Earhardt, and Sandra Day O’Connor.
Journal Two
2. Thinking back over all your leadership experiences in your lifetime, which ones are you proudest of?
At my current job, I am one of four managers. I was extremely proud of myself when I became the manager there. I was the first female manager in ten years. My main focus for management is to over see all of the waitresses. I have eight waitresses that I am in charge of. I hire them, train them, schedule them and make sure that they are fulfilling the needs of the owner. At times, it can be a difficult task. I have run into problems, because through the affiliative leadership style that I display, I have often become too close with the girls. There are times when we are close friends, and when I tried to manage them, they would not take it seriously. I have come to learn that although my affiliative leadership style is one that I am proud of, I cannot take it to extremes. I have learned that in order to be a leader, I need to display several types of leadership styles. I still am empathetic towards the staff, and they appreciate that as well as respect that. However, I have also become more of a coaching style. I try and maintain the working environment only, and try and teach and train the waitresses for future goals. I am also very authoritative. Throughout my management time at this job, I have become emotionally stronger and able to stand up for myself better. I have a very enthusiastic personality and I have been able to apply this towards my job. I am able to display our goals and strategies to the waitresses and they are able to commit to them and succeed.
Through this class, I have learned the importance of emotional intelligence. I believe that my self-awareness is one of my strongest abilities. Not only am I deeply in touch with my inner being, but also I can read people well. I have a kind soul and I try to make sure that things are going well for everyone. My social skills are also something that I am good at. I am able to be friends with many different types of people. I am always able to achieve a common ground with people. Not only that, but I can have people gain my respect and work with me towards things that we both desire to accomplish.
All in all, I am proud to have the experience and opportunity to be a manager. I think that it has helped me grow and in my future endeavors, I will look back on this time and try applying the things that I am most proud of.
At my current job, I am one of four managers. I was extremely proud of myself when I became the manager there. I was the first female manager in ten years. My main focus for management is to over see all of the waitresses. I have eight waitresses that I am in charge of. I hire them, train them, schedule them and make sure that they are fulfilling the needs of the owner. At times, it can be a difficult task. I have run into problems, because through the affiliative leadership style that I display, I have often become too close with the girls. There are times when we are close friends, and when I tried to manage them, they would not take it seriously. I have come to learn that although my affiliative leadership style is one that I am proud of, I cannot take it to extremes. I have learned that in order to be a leader, I need to display several types of leadership styles. I still am empathetic towards the staff, and they appreciate that as well as respect that. However, I have also become more of a coaching style. I try and maintain the working environment only, and try and teach and train the waitresses for future goals. I am also very authoritative. Throughout my management time at this job, I have become emotionally stronger and able to stand up for myself better. I have a very enthusiastic personality and I have been able to apply this towards my job. I am able to display our goals and strategies to the waitresses and they are able to commit to them and succeed.
Through this class, I have learned the importance of emotional intelligence. I believe that my self-awareness is one of my strongest abilities. Not only am I deeply in touch with my inner being, but also I can read people well. I have a kind soul and I try to make sure that things are going well for everyone. My social skills are also something that I am good at. I am able to be friends with many different types of people. I am always able to achieve a common ground with people. Not only that, but I can have people gain my respect and work with me towards things that we both desire to accomplish.
All in all, I am proud to have the experience and opportunity to be a manager. I think that it has helped me grow and in my future endeavors, I will look back on this time and try applying the things that I am most proud of.
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