PERSONAL RELFECTION ABOUT LEADERSHIP

          Watching and learning about leadership has strengthened my views about leadership. I never contemplated the fact that there are many paths leaders take when it comes to leading their team. The main question is? Do leaders (especially historical leaders) lead with a certain type of theory because it comes naturally to them or is it something they learned and decided to use because they knew it would be most effective? For example, did Ghandi know he was using transformational leadership to influence his followers? Did Adolf Hitler know he used his innate traits such as charisma and confidence to make believe a whole group of people that those who weren’t blond with blue eyes should be exterminated? Students in the present are learning about all these different leaders and how they have succeeded in life. They have the option to choose which type of leadership they want to go by

This class has also made me realize how there are a thousand different ways to lead a group of people. Personally, I have gone through several theories in different stages of my life:

         The first example is when I was about 16 years old and I was a volunteer counselor for my community’s youth group that met every Saturday from 1-4. My co-counselor and I were in charge of 8^th grade girls. This particular group was very problematical and did not get along at all. My partner and I without knowing used path/goal theory to motivate the girls to discard their differences and learn to get along. We had a vision that by the end of the year, the girls at least respected each other and tried to get along. This vision and goal was very well communicated since the very beginning of the school year. Every Saturday, my co-worker and I organized activities in order to influence and motivate the girls to learn to get along. By the end of the school year, the group of girls did not end up becoming best friends but at least they did not hate each other. 6 years later, I ran into two of the girls that used to bully each other at an event. They went up to me and thanked my co-counselor and I for all the hard work we put in trying to bring the group together because in the long run, it worked. I am confident that using this type of theory with certain situations will help me achieve success.

         The second example involved situational leadership and deals with my experience as a student at San Diego State. We all know that we have had many group projects in our HTM classes. In group projects, I usually like to take a leadership roll and make it easier for the group to complete the assignment.  Looking back, I have realized how I have used situational leadership in order to cope with the different groups that I have encountered throughout my student career. For example, in one occasion I was in a group with only foreign exchange students. I used the “telling” method to lead the group. Since I had more experience with the English language than my group had, I tried to guide and direct them in what each person had to do to complete the project. In another situation, I was in a group where we where all on our senior year and had lots of experience. The group still needed a leader and I decided to be the main communicator. This leadership behavior I used was participative because the capacity and maturity level of the group where both very high. I used my spirit of optimism to encourage the group to get to the finish line but the major decisions where made unanimously.

         One of the wonders of today is that leaders have the ability to shape their leadership style to people they admire.  If someone really likes Oprah and the values she leads with, that person can learn to lead like Oprah and create a positive change in the world. However, this can also be dangerous and go the different way. If someone who is bad and wants to cause damage, that person can simply learn how Adolf Hitler influenced a huge group of people to exterminate the lesser races.  Personally I believe that a leader should lead with strong values. Having a strong set of morals and a good sense of ethics will lead people to create positive changes either in the workplace or in life.