I figured that in the lifelong journey of self-development brought about by leadership self-reflection is indeed essential and crucial. It is indeed important to be self-aware before pursuing leadership. It is essential that one fully knows his or her own values before leading others. One should not only be aware of his or her values; he or she should also understand these values and have a strong conviction in standing by these values. In the same way, it is also important to put a conscious effort in leading others.
One should treat leadership with utmost care and put high value to it. Leadership is not to be taken lightly for it is a heavy responsibility. I also believe that it is indeed easy to get carried away when we hold power. Being powerful and important are tempting. Abusing our power becomes easy when we are powerful and important to others. Constant self-awareness and conscious effort are requisites for successful leadership. These values help ensure integrity in leading, that the power of leading other people is not abused. Like Kouzes and Posner, leaders should learn to be humble and perhaps not see leadership as a privilege to be abused, rather a responsibility to others.
Equally important is the continuous and constant learning which goes hand in hand with constant self-awareness. In leadership, leaders should be able to find every experience as a learning exercise as they endeavor for constant improvement of themselves...
Alongside communication, relationship with others is equally important in achieving goals. It is for this reason that I have put a conscious effort in communicating with all the members of the teams in my work at the Illinois Public School District Office. This is also the reason why I strived to remain consistently friendly, warm, emphatic, and approachable with a sense of humor in communicating with each member on a daily basis. I saw these as ways to improve the relationship I have with the people around me. I was constantly on guard to remain sensitive to the people around me. I thought that good communication and relationships will help me in being a successful leader and help me in enabling the people around me to change and eventually become good leaders for others as well. Kouzes and Posner are right, real leadership is a daily activity, a daily activity which happens in every moment. Leadership does not only happen when we work. We live leadership. We imbibe it in our daily lives, from home to work, in all areas of our social world.
I appreciate the learning that leaders must always be hopeful, realistic optimists. Indeed, people look for a leader who give them hope and who appears passionate about bringing about change particularly in the most challenging of times. I realized that leaders are beacons of hope.
