Recently I have had several experiences that have shaped who I am and how I lead. These experiences can be tied to personal improvements in the four components of authentic leadership: self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency.
Starting college presented me with much more diversity and differing opinions than I was used to, coming from a very homogeneous small town. I quickly learned that in order to effectively communicate and understand others, it was necessary to reflect on my beliefs and my actions and their causes. This leads to more complete self-awareness, allowing me to identify any misconceptions I may have and correct them, as well as allowing me to see my strengths and understand how I communicate best. This is very important to leadership and has helped shape my personal leadership style.
My position as Webmaster for EWB has put me in many situations where I know I am not the most knowledgeable and must seek out the advice and opinions of others. I must take what prior knowledge I had (or thought I had), and the input of others, and combine them without bias. This practice has improved my balanced processing, and has in turn improved my leadership.
My current relationship has taught me the importance of sharing my feelings and being open. Keeping everything to myself leads to uncertainty in others, and they aren’t sure if we share the same goals, which can be very harmful in a leadership position. Practicing relational transparency has led to me being more connected to my followers.
I still need to work on sharing my views and being open with my thoughts and feelings. I also allow others’ opinions to override mine because I want to avoid conflict. My goals are to be more involved in conversations and to be more assertive, while still being inclusive. I’d like to start raising concerns instead of ignoring them to avoid conflict.
Starting college presented me with much more diversity and differing opinions than I was used to, coming from a very homogeneous small town. I quickly learned that in order to effectively communicate and understand others, it was necessary to reflect on my beliefs and my actions and their causes. This leads to more complete self-awareness, allowing me to identify any misconceptions I may have and correct them, as well as allowing me to see my strengths and understand how I communicate best. This is very important to leadership and has helped shape my personal leadership style.
My position as Webmaster for EWB has put me in many situations where I know I am not the most knowledgeable and must seek out the advice and opinions of others. I must take what prior knowledge I had (or thought I had), and the input of others, and combine them without bias. This practice has improved my balanced processing, and has in turn improved my leadership.
My current relationship has taught me the importance of sharing my feelings and being open. Keeping everything to myself leads to uncertainty in others, and they aren’t sure if we share the same goals, which can be very harmful in a leadership position. Practicing relational transparency has led to me being more connected to my followers.
I still need to work on sharing my views and being open with my thoughts and feelings. I also allow others’ opinions to override mine because I want to avoid conflict. My goals are to be more involved in conversations and to be more assertive, while still being inclusive. I’d like to start raising concerns instead of ignoring them to avoid conflict.