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.