"Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them."
- John C. Maxwell
- John C. Maxwell
The leadership competency is demonstrated by understanding the 2 major themes: values and teams. To do this, I first had to identify my own personal leadership values. I did this by taking the Introduction to Honors course. We learned to how to use our individual strengths to become a leader. The Strengths Finder Assessment allowed me to identify my top five personal strengths as a leader: consistency, harmony, input, intellectual, and restorative. Learning more about these strengths, and using them in my leadership experiences at Mankato State University, led me to develop my own personal leadership style.
A vital concept of leadership is the ability to consider the roles in a group and reflect on how they contribute to the team. My first experience with this was when I volunteered as a science fair judge, and had to in with a group to collectively judge and award the student projects. It taught me how to be a team player, and I learned that although we were all judging the same projects, each person had their own unique contributions. My second experience with this was when I was doing research under a professor. When I was in my fourth year of college, I was promoted to lead team researcher. As the lead researcher, I was responsible for overseeing the group and teaching the techniques and procedures to the others. This role forced me to understand how each student played a role in the group, and how to integrate each student’s contribution.
The ability to critique leadership is also a vital part of the competency. My first critique was actually a critique of my own leadership style. I did this while I was a peer tutor. I was responsible for teaching a Pakistani girl things such as studying tips and time management, as well as tutoring her in her science classes. This was my first experience as a leader, and I had to quickly learn what approaches worked, and which ones did not. At my workplace, I had an opportunity to critique my own boss and his leadership style. As the assistant manager, I oversee a team of people and must direct them to properly run the store. Before I was promoted to this position, I was able to watch how my manager chose to lead the team, and learn from him. I used these critiques to practice being a leader myself to drive my team towards a common goal.
The final test of the leadership competency is the ability to use everything that I have learned and apply my theories of leadership to the real world within a group setting. I had my chance to do this when I was selected by corporate to go to California as a team trainer at the opening of a new store. I had to reflect on what I’ve learned and decide what kind of leader I wanted to be, because I oversaw a large group of people and only had three days to teach them what they needed to know. I learned that I couldn’t be everyone’s friend, and that I often had to be ‘tough’ to make sure everyone was on track. This role allowed me to reflect on my five strengths as a leader, and decide how and when I wanted to use them to be the most effective leader I could be. I took all my knowledge and applied it to the real world to demonstrate my understanding of the leadership competency.
A vital concept of leadership is the ability to consider the roles in a group and reflect on how they contribute to the team. My first experience with this was when I volunteered as a science fair judge, and had to in with a group to collectively judge and award the student projects. It taught me how to be a team player, and I learned that although we were all judging the same projects, each person had their own unique contributions. My second experience with this was when I was doing research under a professor. When I was in my fourth year of college, I was promoted to lead team researcher. As the lead researcher, I was responsible for overseeing the group and teaching the techniques and procedures to the others. This role forced me to understand how each student played a role in the group, and how to integrate each student’s contribution.
The ability to critique leadership is also a vital part of the competency. My first critique was actually a critique of my own leadership style. I did this while I was a peer tutor. I was responsible for teaching a Pakistani girl things such as studying tips and time management, as well as tutoring her in her science classes. This was my first experience as a leader, and I had to quickly learn what approaches worked, and which ones did not. At my workplace, I had an opportunity to critique my own boss and his leadership style. As the assistant manager, I oversee a team of people and must direct them to properly run the store. Before I was promoted to this position, I was able to watch how my manager chose to lead the team, and learn from him. I used these critiques to practice being a leader myself to drive my team towards a common goal.
The final test of the leadership competency is the ability to use everything that I have learned and apply my theories of leadership to the real world within a group setting. I had my chance to do this when I was selected by corporate to go to California as a team trainer at the opening of a new store. I had to reflect on what I’ve learned and decide what kind of leader I wanted to be, because I oversaw a large group of people and only had three days to teach them what they needed to know. I learned that I couldn’t be everyone’s friend, and that I often had to be ‘tough’ to make sure everyone was on track. This role allowed me to reflect on my five strengths as a leader, and decide how and when I wanted to use them to be the most effective leader I could be. I took all my knowledge and applied it to the real world to demonstrate my understanding of the leadership competency.