Leadership Reflection Based on Class Presentations and Stephen Covey's Book
The request from the professor:
Based upon your choice of a book related to leadership, self-awareness and leadership skills and on at least three of the class presentations, write an essay about how issues from the book and presentations relate to your specific challenges of taking the role of a leader, whether now or in the future. You may use examples from your own life and stories to explain.
Remember!!! the paper is about you and not simply to report on the theory from the book or presentation.
The powerpoints I'll put on the files so don't worry about.
The recommended resources and books about "leadership/self-awareness" :
Do the Work: Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way – by Steven Pressfield, 2015
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink, 2011.
Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master's Lessons in Living a Life That Matters by Bernie Glassman and Rick Fields, 2010
Leadership from the Inside Out: Becoming a Leader for Life, by Kevin Cashman, 2008
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek, 2014.
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead– by Sheryl Sandberg, 2013
Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy, 2015
Principles: Life and Work, by Ray Dalio, 2017.
Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee 2013
Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal
The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership by Steven B. Sample, 2003.
The Leading Brain: Neuroscience Hacks to Work Smarter, Better, Happier, Friederike Fabritius, 2018.
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, 2014
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven Covey, 2013
What to Do When It’s Your Turn (and its Always Your Turn)- by Seth Godin, 2014
Also, the Amazon the best seller list “Business” for many more choices.
!!!!The last and IMPORTANT thing is:
I got one paper for this class already. And this essay is still going to be in the same class. So, PLZ!!!!!! Make the essay look like ONE PERSON'S WRITING!!!!!
I'll put my writing on the files
(The "AIG" file is my writing. The "IMAGINES OF ORGANIZATION is the class book )
THX A LOT!!!
If anything is confused you just contact me anytime!
Leadership Reflection
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Leadership Reflection
Leadership refers to the ability of an individual to influence others towards a given goal (Carmeli, Meitar & Weisberg, 2006). It involves directing and influencing others to accomplish a particular objective while at the same time being responsible for the whole group. For individuals to be effective leaders, they should start by developing self-awareness. In 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey outlines a framework for personal effectiveness. The book offers important insights into self-awareness which is essential in becoming an effective leader. This essay is a reflection of the challenges I have encountered in taking my role as a leader. It highlights the challenges based on the principles outlined by Covey and class presentations.
In the first habit, Covey (2004) indicates the need to be active. He believes that what distinguishes us as humans from all the other species in the inherent ability to examine our character and control our effectiveness. I have to admit that I have not been proactive. Instead, I have been reactive in my approach to issues. I have always thought that things happen to me and that there is little I can do about it. I have increasingly felt out of control and failed to take charge of my life. For example, coming from a humble background made me think that I was not suitable to become a leader. I felt that others were more suitable for taking positions of leadership because they were privileged. I felt that I could not change my circumstances which led me to shun away from being proactive. However, reading Covey’s book has made me recognize the need to become proactive. Covey indicates that change must start from within by deciding to improve my life.
Group five’s presentation, “Leader Success and Failure” outlines optimism and confidence as some of the requirements for self-awareness. The group refers to Winston Churchill who was a Prime Minister if the United Kingdom. Winston believed in staying positive even in the worst of situations (Troitiño & Chochia, 2015). Regarding confidence, the group refers to Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc. who displays confidence in his activities. Considering both Winston Churchill and Elon Musk, I have realized that I have lacked both optimism and confidence to lead. The lack of optimism has prevented me from envisioning a better future and inspiring others. I find it challenging to inspire even my classmates to work towards achieving a particular goal. For instance, I shy off from being a group leader for the fear that I may not inspire the members to achieve the objectives of the group. As a result, I allow other classmates I consider to have the optimism and confidence to lead.
Additionally, the group outlines the ability to deal with the setback as essential for self-awareness. The group refers to Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company who had to deal with failure to become successful. Ford was dyslexic, a severe learning disability (Buxton & Provenzo, 2010). However, Ford used the challenge to his advantage. Although today Henry Ford is a household name, he was initially known as a failed engineer who could not produce anything. However, Ford did not let this problem to discourage him from persuading his dreams. He perfected every product he produced which changed his tarnished reputation. The inability to deal with earlier setbacks have made it challenging for me to move on. I struggle with mistakes that I made in the past as leader which makes it challenging to move forward. For example, when I was in high school, I was appointed as a class leader. However, some of the students did not like my leadership because they said I lacked ambition. Due to their pressure, I eventually stepped down and vowed that I would never again accept a leadership position. Although that is a couple of years ago, I have not managed to move on from that incidence, and whenever I desire to lead, I always imagine that the same could happen to me. However, considering the life of Henry Ford has inspired me to realize the need to overcome the setback. I now realize that I should not use the setback as my reference point. Instead, I should work towards improving leadership skills.
Group seven members discuss self-awareness and self-confidence. The group provides three ways of improving self-awareness. The first one is performing daily reflection by considering what happened during the day. The second one is practicing meditation and other mindful habits. The last one is asking my friends to describe me. I have failed to develop my capacity as a leader because I have not improved my self-awareness. Although I undertake self-reflection, it is not on a daily basis. I rarely analyze what went right or wrong which diminishes m...