Hello all,
I hope that for a second week in a row, the government
shutdown isn't affecting you to bad. If our leaders would just come to a
consensus, this could all be over and done with it. Anyways, over the past nine
weeks, I have had the privilege of learning all about leadership and have
gained a lot of insight on the topic. Now, by no means, am I professing or
claiming that I am an expert on the matter, but I have acquired a great deal of
knowledge on the subject and can tie into situations that occur in my
life. For this last blog, I will focus
on the “leader in you” based on my newly acquired knowledge on the matter.
What is a Leader?
When I think of a leader, I think of someone that is
motivational, inspiring, and who’s in charge, but a leader is so much more than
this. A leader is an individual who
delegates responsibility, can assess the strengths and weaknesses of others (subordinates),
guide others, rewards employees in times of success and displays personal
accountability in times of loss. A
leader is not afraid to push the envelope and defy the normal standards and
redefine the structure of organizations. Hmm, sounds a tad bit like a
rebellious teenager, lol! Yet, not quite exactly.
Leaders are transformational beings, servants of the people,
authentic, and in recent times women.
The role of leader has always been associated with the male gender, but
women are leaders too. Look at who are
holding the positions of school teacher, school principal, senator, city
council member, judge and even police chief.
Women are acquiring these once male dominated positions and though they
may meet a little adversity along the way, they are well-respected in these
roles. Yet, being a leader does not begin or stop here.
The Birth of Being a Leader
I firmly believe that within each and every one of us are a
few teaspoons of leader. I believe that we are all born with the innate traits
of leadership. It is in our upbringing
and schooling that we emerge as leaders. This is where the “natural leader”
comes from. However, not all of us are
lucky to emerge naturally into the role of leader; it takes a bit of time and
formal training. It’s kind of like
Robert Frost’s, The Road Not Taken,
some of us prefer to just not take the leadership route, and that’s the better
road to travel. For those that do travel down the leadership
path, it’s from that first risk that their lives as a leader evolve. Although I’m
not an assigned leader, I think that over the years I have emerged as a leader.
The Leader in Me
As aforementioned, we
all have some leader in us. It is those few teaspoons that equip us with the
armor needed to be a leader. For me,
being a leader is not about a title or label, it’s about being me. Being a leader is striving to have an impact
and making a difference in the lives of others.
Growing up as one of five kids, it’s always been about what makes you
different from your siblings. Since as far back as I can remember, I have
always had a drive and passion for reading, writing and helping others. Today,
at 27 years of age, I still have that passion, with more emphasis on the last
one.
I have always had a fire about me and in everything that I
do. I cannot count the number of times that I served as class secretary or vice
president over the years. Also, throughout
middle and high school I was a student ambassador for my schools. In high school, this position led to me
having the opportunity to visit and serve as a representative for my high
school at the University of Notre Dame for a week my sophomore and junior
years.
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| Senator Linda Coleman (AL)District 20 http://senatorlindacoleman.com/ |
My senior year of high school, my
class voted me to give the introductory speech for the guest speaker, Sen.
Linda Coleman (AL), at our graduation. It was their belief and faith in me to
handle such an important task, which equipped me with the ability to eloquently
do so. My tenacity and passion for
helping others followed me to college, where I served as once again an
ambassador for the school, to recruit minority students and promote
diversity. During my undergraduate years
at the University of Alabama, I served as a member of a group called Women in
Leading and Learning and as a resident assistant (RA) for a short while. Looking back on those roles now, I can see
that I was a leader, whereas back then it only seemed like I was a member in
those organizations. From studying and reading about leadership over these last
few weeks, I can now point out and assess the leadership traits and styles I
exuded while involved in these organizations.
Presently, my leadership roles may seem slightly bleak in
comparison to my undergraduate years, but I think they are just slightly different leadership roles. I currently serve as teacher of the praise
team ministry at my church. This position entails me working one-two times a
week with our young girls and teaching them liturgical dance. They range in age
from 4-14 and can be quite rambunctious at times. Yet, it’s a job and I love
teaching them. To my family, I am the first of my four siblings to earn a Bachelor’s
Degree and in December, I will be the first to attain a Master’s Degree. In the eyes of my family, I have defied the
odds and set a new precedence. To me, I’m just being me. At my part time job, I am an inspiration to
the other associates that there is nothing one cannot do if they put their mind
to it. This is my second family, they
have been in my corner since day one that I started grad school and always
call, text or email me to ask me how school is going and to offer a few
encouraging words. I have evolved as an
individual and as a leader throughout this MPA program, unbeknownst to
myself. It is in the words and actions
of those around me that validates this. As
I continue on this journey and complete it in exactly two months, I will
continue to evolve as a leader and will take with me all the discussions and
knowledge that I have gained along the way from Dr. E’s Leadership class.
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