I have been a leader in the retail industry for well over 12 years (not counting my part time positions with Target for 6 additional) and I have never been tasked to think about past leaders that have shaped my leadership style. I have certainly never reflected on how those personally close to me have done so as well. Thinking about that now, I can see a correlation between who I am today and past influences in my life. When I think about who has had the most impact on who I am as a person today, not just as a leader, my mom is the first person I think about. At an early age my parents divorced and my mother took on the responsibility of raising 3 girls all on her own. We went from a family of 5 living in a 4 bedroom house with a huge backyard …show more content…
She worked 40+ hours a week at a $9/hr job and never asked anyone for help. She managed to pay the rent, utilities, food, clothes etc and my sisters and I never felt as if we went without. My mom led our family with her heart and still does. Her family is everything to her. What I learned from my mom has a direct impact on how I am today as a leader. I learned to work hard, fight for what you want, and fight with your heart. I learned to be Independent and take charge of my future. If you want something, work hard for it and don’t let anything get in your way. I learned to not just accept what has happened to you in your life, that you can still change it. We went through some very tough years, but my mother’s love for us never faltered and it always got us through the rainiest of …show more content…
I had been a young, ambitious leader that had volunteered to take on additional responsibility just to continue to learn and grow. I was determined not to let the struggles my mom went through repeat themselves and was confident in my abilities to rapidly advance in Macy’s. I had accepted a position as Regional Logistics Manager only 2 years after I started working there. The position required a lot of travel from Buffalo to Western Massachusetts and would be visiting our 18 stores with my leader, Emmanuel quite often. The relationship between myself and Emmanuel was all about business and I had never experienced a leader who took very little interest in me as a person. My ambition and motivation suffered greatly as I didn’t feel I had a leader that took interest in who I was at all. A couple months into the travel I had received a phone call from EK while I was in a staff meeting. I had to excuse myself as he was yelling so loudly I was worried others would hear him. He had looked at our stockroom survey scores that I complete each week and did not like what he saw. He accused me of trying to make him look bad and asked me “who did I think I was?” He angrily told me I was to communicate to him prior to inputting any stats and get the go ahead from him on what to input. After listening to every profanity he had to throw at me, it was my turn. I
A leader is someone who guides and motivates you. Leadership is a responsibility, and is very important. Without leaders what would the world look like? People need leaders to help, aid, and guide them through tough times and make important decisions. I play multiple sports, and they all have a captain to make sure everything goes right, and is there for the team when things do not. Leaders set an important example for others. Overall, leadership is putting others before yourself, and showing the world that anything is possible.
There are several characteristics a person in a leadership role should portray. My philosophy of leadership encompasses characteristics such as compassion, collaboration, innovation, perseverance, and competence. I believe to be a competent leader one must be authentic to one’s self and beliefs. One must know where he or she stands concerning ethics and innovations surrounding the education field. A leader must convey understanding, be on the forefront of research, advocate for colleagues and students, and collaborate with other professionals.
Throughout my life, I have never really been a follower in the typical sense. While I have looked to people older than me for help and advice. In addition, I never really saw myself as a typical leader. What I mean by that is I felt that I was a leader by doing my own thing and not worrying about everyone else or being a part of a particular clique. What I realized by just going about my business is that my attitude attracted others in the sense that they knew I was about work and wanted to emulate my demeanor in order for to be successful in school. One time that I recall in which I had to lead a team of my peers was this past summer. I enrolled in a few summer classes in order to better prepare me for college. For one of my classes
Who am I as a leader? What comes to mind when you hear the word leader? Some would think of our Commander in Chief, others may think of their boss or their teachers. All of these are just titles. I believe that leadership is something that can’t be narrowed down into a title or a position of employment. The choices we make and the obstacles we conquer is what I believe to define us as a leader. With the personal experiences I have had to bear as a U.S. Marine Infantryman and civilian worker, my leadership abilities have proven dedication to my team, knowledge and determination in specific trade, and the ability to motivate those around me.
Many define leadership as the action of leading a group of people, but to me leadership
As a leader, it's important to know yourself. In fact, I believe you can't lead if you don't have some basic knowledge of who you are as a person; like beliefs or strengths and weakness. My leadership must incorporate not only my positive attributes but must be willing to make changes with aspects of my personality that don’t work. Admittedly, I am sensitive and also passive. I tend to avoid conflict as much as I can. These characteristics might lead to issues of weakening my leadership. Being a leader to me shows having to show a strong front to most people. That doesn't mean a person should compromise who they are. I have to have a certain image when I enter a classroom. I can learn to be more assertive and have a firm voice in a classroom. I looked at the Johari Window website, to see what results I would get on their quiz.
I’ve always considered myself to be a leader. Looking back over the years I’ve learned that my style of leadership has changed over time. Through conversation with myself I have discovered my leadership style and characteristics. I became a leader at a very young age. Leadership to me has always been guiding an individual or group of people in an organization. I’ve always had a desire for interacting with my peers and influencing them in a positive way. In reference to leadership what I have learned is my style of leadership and what leadership really is.
When you send out several request’s to complete a survey and you receive only one back it shows what type of leader you possibly are. The lack of Leadership Influence I‘ve had on others is significantly different than the survey. Leadership role models differ. There are several leaders out there that I truly admire but no individual figure, from my first Command to my last, the first Chief’s Mess to the current. Leadership is someone to whom we look up to; someone who follows the rules, leads by example and forms the path to which others will follow. My own leadership philosophy is simple: Lead in the direction you want to follow. .
My mom respects everyone she come into contact with whether it be in her house or on the street. She knows that everyone deserves respect and that is what she gives them. She always made sure everyone was used to their best potential and would motivate my family to finish an activity when we thought we couldn’t. That is why my mom is a leader in my personal life that I think has had a positive impact on shaping my leadership skills.
Often we tend to remember the supervisors that we were the least fond of and then compare their leadership styles to subsequent supervisors thereafter. For me, a former Director of Nursing left a lasting impression. The long-term-care facility that I was working for at the time was undergoing a managerial overhaul with a new administrator and DON as the former administrative team was forced into retirement after providing 50 years of service. The new DON was a nurse with a very impressive resume and an Authoritarian leadership style (Blais & Hayes, 2011) that was apparent early on. She gained control over her team by the use of fear. For example, it was not uncommon to get a telephone call on your weekend off – demanding you report to work
My mother’s life is one that I look back to for guidance and up to with admiration. It has impacted me. Growing up, she did not have much. She was a part of a family that
I have been working in my family’s business since I was 12 years. I come from a business-oriented family, both my sister and I have worked the family business. Through sheer hard work, I have been able to rise up to a management position by virtue of being made an assistant store manager. In my life as a leader, I have always strived to apply the path-goal leadership theory, by Northouse (2013). I have come up with a clear-cut leadership model. I have learned what works best, what works and does not work for the family business. I continually emphasize to the employees the importance of working together as a team and try as much as possible to be a role model to other workers. I continually encourage other workers to do their best and be
“Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It 's about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others ' success, and then standing back and letting them shine. -Chris Hadfield “
A Leader is someone who people want to work for. They lookout for their people, yet hold them accountable. People follow them due to the respect for the person and not because of their position or rank. They are respected both up and down the chain of command. Leaders are people not afraid to make decisions. Sometimes the wrong decision is made, but a great leader learns from that move which helps on future decisions. To date, I have gathered the good values from the leaders I respected and found a way to incorporate it into my leadership skills. I have also taken the bad principles from leaders I didn’t agree with and have made every effort not to do what they did. The best leaders I have worked for didn’t always give an answer or order right away; sometimes they would get back with the answer after some time to think on it.
Leadership is a very unique concept. One leadership style could be great in one situation and then the same style could be horrible in another situation. As a leader it is important to know the situation that you are in. My style of leadership is mainly leading through example. I believe that leading through example will work in most situations that you will find yourself. As a leader one of my main talents is knowing what kind of situation I am in. I can learn quickly how I should act in that certain situation.