Personal Leadership Style Depends on Experience and

¶ … personal leadership style depends on experience and self-awareness. "To thine own self be true" does not seem like a maxim relevant to leadership, but during our interview, Jane Carson described how personal integrity and honesty directly relates to leading a group. The informational interview conducted for this project focused on Ms. Carson's own leadership experiences and how they helped her develop a personal leadership philosophy. Echoing what the class textbooks outline about the various models of leadership, Ms.

Carson described leadership as "an ability to organize and direct others to accomplish a specific goal." The marketing director of a local technology firm, Jane Carson needs to be goal-oriented in order to further her company's assets. But leadership is more than just delegating authority and keeping an eye on the bottom line: Ms. Carson clearly stated the need for personal integrity. Avoiding hypocrisy can be deceptively difficult when in positions of power, as giving orders may seem easier than taking action.

Admirable leaders are willing to do exactly what they expect others do to for them; good leaders are active, not passive. Setting a positive example for the group is one of the most important aspects of being an effective leader. A skilled leader guides others not through words but through actions and example. Recognizing and acknowledging the needs of others, a leader will create and maintain group harmony. A good leader must develop the ability to mediate and to handle conflicts, challenges, and difficult problems with aplomb.

Making clear, effective, and timely decisions is also a hallmark of an effective leader. Each opportunity to lead a group of people eventually informs an individual's unique leadership style, which is not based on theory but on practice. Jane Carson unexpectedly became a leader during her current term of employment. Rising to the occasion without much warning, let alone any formal training, Carson found herself thrust into a position of authority. Her personal leadership philosophy arose gradually out of her increased responsibility to the company. Listening carefully to Ms.

Carson ponder her own role as a leader, I realized the primacy of experience. Learning about leadership through classroom textbooks and lectures is helpful to conceptualize the definition and implications of leadership, but theory can never substitute for first-hand knowledge. Like me, Carson never had a mentor or role model to help her formulate a leadership style. Instead, she learned from her environment and her coworkers. The importance of seemingly simple skills like organization and goal setting became tantamount when placed in the context of leading a group. Ms.

Carson also learned the importance of avoiding hypocrisy, as she works "as hard as she expects her staff to work." Clearly a Type Y leader, Ms. Carson explained the necessity of trusting her staff. Encouraging others to take responsibility when ready, an ideal Type Y leader will delegate responsibility as it is earned and not merely requested, recognizing when a person is ready for more responsibility. This focus on the individual members of the group encourages independence, another admirable trait of Type Y leaders.

Carson also promotes rewarding a job well done, another Type Y trait. Her active seeking of others' opinions and her encouragement of empathy within the group setting indicates some servant leadership in Ms. Carson as well. Because she reflects my own ideals as a Type Y and servant leader, Ms. Carson concretised the abstract theories taught in class. Interviewing an effective leader who mirrors my innate leadership style helps me to solidify my personal leadership philosophy.

I also found it refreshing that a leader need not fall into the trap of megalomania or hypocrisy as many "public servants" and corporate leaders can. One outstanding element of the interview was Ms. Carson's emphasis on honesty, self-honesty in particular. Her iteration of the quip "to thine own self be true" relates to humanistic leadership in a direct manner, reflecting both transformational and servant leadership. This emphasis on the character of the leader as it relates to her style reminds me of trait theories of leadership.

Balancing "soft" traits like empathy and compassion with "harder" traits like persuasiveness, decisiveness, and goal-orientation, an effective leader will demonstrate an ability to get the job done. Goals should never be sacrificed; the members of the group do not always need to like the leader personally, so long as harmony is preserved. "To thine own self be true," because a leader can't please everyone. From the theories taught in class, I can better comprehend the intricate psychological and sociological dynamics of leadership, which are often taken for granted.

Left unanalysed, leadership can seem out of reach. Examining the various theories of leadership from the textbooks and class lectures helps me become more aware of my own potential as a leader. The theories also make me more conscious of my shortcomings and strengths, encouraging me to focus attention on areas of my personality that need coaching or change in order to become a more effective leader. This analysis also helps me appreciate better the tasks and trials of public figures.

Someone like Tenzin Gyatso, better known as the Dalai Lama, is an extraordinary leader and public figure. Governing his people while he and they remain exiled in India, the political and religious leader of Tibet demonstrates personal qualities like humour that inform his leadership style. Emerging from the immense struggle of being banished from the Tibetan plateau, the Dalai Lama was chosen at a young age to lead his people. With some formal training by monks and advisors, Tenzin Gyatso developed a unique governing style based on servant leadership.

Because his training was as spiritual in nature as it was political, the Dalai Lama's leadership style naturally seems steeped in stewardship to the community and to the world at large. His refusal to take up arms against the Chinese government demonstrates wisdom and foresight. His transforming leadership.