Portfolio - Thomas G. Korth - Home



Developing a Philosophy of LeadershipA leadership philosophy is the way we see ourselves as leaders. This philosophy guides our actions, our behaviors, and our thoughts. Our philosophies are influenced by external and internal forces. We can change who we are as leaders by simply changing our philosophy of leadership. Leadership philosophies can change as you grow to understand yourself within the context of leading. Creating or finding your leadership philosophy means that you must explore and reflect upon your personal values, assumptions, and beliefs about leadership.Personal values are qualities or characteristics that you value. You would rather leave an organization or step down as a leader than violate your values. Your values guide your intentions and they influence how you lead. When your personal values are clear and you are conscious of them, you create a solid foundation for leading.Assumptions are ideas that are assumed or believed to be true. As a leader it is important to understand what assumptions fuel your leadership thinking. Often leaders are not aware of the assumptions because they are operating from certain paradigms that will not allow them to see assumptions. Reflection into one’s leadership is an excellent way to uncover assumptions.Beliefs are ideas that we hold to be true; they shape our realities. If a leader believes that the only individuals in an organization that can make decisions is the management staff, then that belief will influence how the leader treats others. Beliefs can also be unconscious; they are for us a habitual way of thinking and acting that it doesn’t cross our minds that our beliefs may be prohibiting us.The following is an exercise to help you create, find, or define your personal philosophy of leadership. Exercise 1: Identifying Your Leadership ValuesFrom the list below, pick five core values that you feel describe and guide who you are as a leader. You may choose other values that are not on this list. Place them in the following chart and answer the questions in the matrix.Achievement Balance CreativityIntegrity *Activity ChallengeDiverse perspectives JusticeAdvancement Change DutyLoveAdventure Collaboration *Economic security Loyalty *Affiliation Community Friendship Personal Development *Affluence Competency Health RecognitionAuthority Competition Humor Self-respectAutonomy CourageHarmony Wisdom Other values that you would like to include but are not on the list?Objective *Empathy DedicatedHonest Stage presence Identifying Your Leadership Values VALUESList your values herePersonal Definition of ValuesList here your definition of these values hereHow do you envision these values playing out in your leadership?1. Integrity To be honest and truthful in all matters relating to life with the standard of the moral law as my guideWhile people appreciate honesty and integrity; not all people and situations can appreciate high standard2. LoyaltyTo be dedicated and focused to duties and allegiances formed, developed, and nurtured In leadership, I think I would choose loyalty over talent or aptitude since it takes a mindset and resolve to be loyal, while all else can be superficial 3. ObjectiveTo be open to other opinions, suggestions and criticism and then reasoning common ground and other possibilitiesIn leadership, this is the ground work for creating compromise and teamwork through the knowledge other thoughts and solutions will be thoughtfully considered4. CollaborationTo work with others in developing plans, goals, decisions, and alternatives Leadership without including staff in the process is autocratic and is counter-productive since not one person or method holds all the answers5. Personal DevelopmentContinuing education, continual attention to life and my surroundings – staying current, relevant and involvedLeadership needs to look the part and articulate the parts so others can learn, evolve, and developExercise 2: Uncovering Your Leadership AssumptionsWrite down two stories of leadership. One story should describe a positive experience you’ve had with leadership and the second story should describe a time when you had a negative experience with leadership. First story: My earliest leadership opportunity and an overall positive experience when I was 12 years old. Our family moved into the new suburb of Sterling Township, now Sterling Heights when I was 11 years old. Our church was a new parish and start-up first in the recreation building. I served as an altar boy during that time. As the church membership continued to grow and the new building was being constructed, the parish priest asked if I would be in charge of the altar boys. I was to do training and scheduling for the new servers coming in. I felt very important to be asked to be the leader and given the responsibility to oversee the group. Of course, the job was small, but for a 12 year old, I had some big thoughts as I performed the mundane tasks such as, writing up the boys schedules and calling it in to the church office. I had a good time in the position and had some good times with the group.Second story: Employee correction and consequences: Scott was an employee I had hired in my landscape business as a lawn technician. His daily work included following a route, visiting customer homes in order to apply fertilizer and weed control. The daily route, or number of stops, was based on total square footage in order to have the employees finish the entire route in one 10 hour work day. Each employee had an assigned truck with all necessary tools and products needed for the day, including a cell phone in order to call customers from the road and for limited personal use. Scott had personal issues with a girlfriend during his employment with my company. I noticed that Scott’s production numbers were dropping over a few weeks, as well as not completing his daily routes. Scheduling times to talk to Scott confirmed that his attitude was agitated, as well as, Scott was angry being called on his lack of production and bad attitude. Scott acknowledged he was having girlfriend problems but he could still concentrate and do his work. Following the interviews with Scott, I evaluated his daily phone record to find he was on the phone an average of 6 hours per day over a two week span. Some calls lasted for 4 hours. I again interviewed Scott about the phone data and overall production only to be met with an agitated attitude. Asking Scott how he was able to do his work being on the phone through a multitude of stops, his response was either propping the phone or his earpiece. All conversations were documented and signed by myself and Scott except for the termination report, which Scott refused to sign. Although this story sounds negative throughout the employment relationship, Scott returned 7 years later and asked to talk to me. Scott was now in business for himself and wanted to thank me for the manner in which I handled him as an employee. He told me that he follows some of the same techniques that I used on him with his employees. The real positive for me came when Scott told me that I was always willing to listen to his side of the story, even when it involved his personal problems at the time. Scott also mentioned that he knew I had ethics and integrity as well as patience in not dismissing him from his job after the first problems occurred. In spite of the fact dealing with problematic people is difficult; somehow this employee learned something and is using it for his own self-improvement and personal development now that he is in a leadership position. People know, even when they may oppose you, that you are holding fast to your set of values even when they are challenging you and don’t appear to care. 2. Write down your definition of leadership. Leadership is the management of time, personnel and resources involved in a specific area of responsibility with the ability to direct these factors toward the stated goal in order to accomplish that goal. Leadership also articulates the vision in a way so people are drawn to the vision and leader collectively.3. Using your definition of leadership, please elaborate how you first came to understand (or know) your leadership definition. More through the experiences I have had in leadership and managerial situations than from education. Additionally, by observing the leaders that I admired and emulated, regarding their style, method and content, is how I learned to define leadership in action. I needed to see them, hear them, study them, observe them, in action and determine how authentic they were in their style and character4. Describe who are the individuals or organizations that influence your leadership definition.Two teachers, one pastor and one employer influenced my leadership definition. My teachers as individuals developed my thoughts at a younger age as I was forming my opinions and attitudes relating to learning and life. My teachers taught me the need and sheer joy of gaining knowledge as part of the journey in life, not stopping after the high school or undergraduate level, even when learning was not formal, but also self-taught. My teachers exposed me to the arts and social interactions through the theater and fine dining experiences. In these events I learned social skills and etiquette that I would never had the opportunity to experience otherwise. This was part of my professional development, preparing and readying myself to move beyond the cultural norm within my family. My pastor was a master at oration and had the ability and charisma to draw people unto himself and the vision. He also achieved his Doctorate in Theology and was a skilled teacher. Through osmosis, observations and practical experiences, I was able to gain professional development and sharpen my desire and ability to practice and be objective and loyal.My employer was ruthless, lacked a straight moral compass, but taught me considerable and valuable lessons about people, life and business. Truth is I was surprised to learn anything good from this man. However, after I allowed my filter to separate the good from the bad, I respected him and myself in a new dimension. This man taught me how to go toe to toe with people while appreciating the fact that as individuals they had value and worth. He taught me part of leadership style was to have the ability to act, and pour on the charm, in spite of how he really felt. The best way to state it is – he disagreed, argued, got over it, worked together with his team and built a great place to work. He had the outward appearance of the dictator, but knew how to empower his team to work collaboratively to achieve. For each of the questions in this section, ask yourself:1.What were my assumptions? a. People will see and understand my point of view and realize it is correct and worthy of consideration.b. People view me as a competent leader c. People trust and respect me, value my opinion and know that I keep my word2.What influenced my assumptions?a. The most influential consideration in my assumptions is practical experience; circumstances I have worked through. When there are problems to face and work through, this is where you can determine rather quickly if you have personal values and beliefs that hold true. By practicing keeping my word and not giving up when the time is tough, remaining objective and honest; people can sense that in their leader3.Would others (co-workers, friends, supervisors) see the situations I described differently?a. My answer is yes. However, I do understand the complexity of the “human element” in self-service, superficiality and even the flippant. In respect to my ability to express a different point of view clearly so they can understand a different perspective; yes. Will they see it as I see it and then agree with my points or perspective; not necessarily. This of course will depend on my level of persuasiveness and passion in arguing my case. Exercise 3: Understanding Your Leadership BeliefsAnswer the following questions about leadership beliefs. By reflecting on these questions, you will find what beliefs you hold about leadership.1. Can people who have caused others harm be leaders, e.g. Adolph Hitler?Yes. In spite of the fact leaders harm people, they can still be leaders. People need someone who is in charge and will grant even despots the power to lead when there is a void or vacuum in leadership. Hitler is a good example of how the masses rallied around someone who was a common man, saw a vacuum in the established leadership, articulated the need for change and a vision the people could rally behind. Even when people could see the evils and destruction, Hitler could sell that as collateral damage and the means to greater accomplishment. “Power is always preferable to anarchy; tyrannical order is less noxious than chaos. When there is a power vacuum, it will inevitably be filled. In such a condition, any individual capable of doing is so bound to take power; if it lies in the streets, he must pick it up CITATION Ber67 \p 29 \l 1033 (Berle, 1967, p. 29).” Hitler “picked it up, namely power, and became the leader.2. Should leaders have certain qualities to be able to lead?The desire and opportunity to lead is the determining factor. In all of my education, the models presented have an array of personality traits and qualities that good and great leaders should have. I would state that leaders must be charismatic and articulate in order to have people follow them and accomplish the goals and plans of the leader. Even though I would like to believe other notable qualities like loyalty, harmony and objectivity would be qualities in leaders; since I have worked for and transitioned through leaders who did not possess those qualities and were still able to lead, build and succeed; apparently the qualities are not a necessity. 3. Who decides who leads?First the leader, then those they lead. 4. How do leaders gain credibility?By continually showing up and demonstrating a measure of success in the accomplishment of stated goals and visions. 5. In general, is there something good about leadership?Leadership is necessary and creates an order or protocol for people and organizations to follow.6. What do you think is the purpose for leadership?Leadership fills the void and provides direction and guidance to the population that does not have the desire or capacity to lead. 7. Is leadership behavior developed through personal experiences or through external forces?I contend that leadership behavior is developed more through personal experiences that have been gained through the circumstances of external forces. Without adversity, neither the person nor the organization can be tested to see if it is resilient, flexible, and adaptable to change and external forces.For the questions above, write down one statement for each question that best illustrates your belief about that question. For example, if you answered #6 with: The purpose of leadership is to provide vision, guidance, and bring people together for a common good. It unites people and gets them to join together for a goal, and then your belief statement may be: I believe that leadership provides a vision to create a common good. Write a statement for each question. These statements will be used in combination with the other activities to create a philosophy of leadership for you.Can people who have caused others harm be leaders: I believe that imperfect and immoral people can be leaders if allowed by the people they lead.Should leaders have certain qualities to be able to lead? I believe that leaders should possess the quality of articulation, vision, and charisma in order to lead effectively. Who decides who leads? It is my belief in the decision of who leads; it is first the leader, then those they lead. How do leaders gain credibility? I believe that leaders gain credibility by continually showing up and demonstrating a measure of success in the accomplishment of the stated goals and visions. In general, is there something good about leadership? I believe there is good in leadership in that leadership is necessary and creates an order or protocol for people and organizations to follow in order to achieve the desired goal.What do you think is the purpose for leadership? I believe the purpose of leadership is that it fills a void in order or power and provides direction and guidance to the population that does not have the desire or capacity to lead. Is leadership behavior developed through personal experiences or through external forces? I contend that leadership behavior is developed more through personal experiences that have been gained through the circumstances of external forces. Without adversity, neither the person nor the organization can be tested to see if it is resilient, flexible, and adaptable to change and external forces.Exercise 4: Finalizing Your Leadership PhilosophyNow that you’ve identified your leadership values, uncovered your leadership assumptions, and understand what beliefs guide your leadership thinking, you are now ready to write statements reflecting your leadership philosophy using the responses above. Statements about your leadership should be written in the present moment not in the future tense. Creating “present moment” statements helps you to internalize and visualize your philosophy as it is happening now, not in the future or the past.Your leadership philosophy should be a statement that consists of your responses from the above exercise. It doesn’t have to include everything, but it should encompass the general idea of what you’ve written. It doesn’t have to be formatted in a certain way – just whatever makes sense to you. You can write one sentence statements or you can write a story explaining your philosophy. Start with an initial draft of your philosophy and write it down. Revise it as often as you need. Remember, your philosophy can change depending on where you are at with your leadership. After you’ve finished, type out your philosophy on a nice sheet of paper and frame it. Add pictures or artwork to your philosophy. Place it in an area where you will see it all the time; this will serve as a reminder to you to remain true to your leadership. The following is a sample philosophy statement consisting of one sentence statements. Remember, you can write your philosophy in any way that makes sense to you.My Leadership Philosophy is…I always strive to do my best in my work as an honest and trustworthy leaderI strive to be objective and listen intently to other people’s point of view and concernsI understand that people want a leader for purpose of order and direction I want to work and collaborate with others so as to include them in the process of work and decisionsI strive to be a champion for the people I serveMy Leadership Philosophy is…Iwill always strive to do my best in my work as an honest and trustworthy leader. People will be able to know they can depend on me because they will see at work in me principles and values that are worthy of their confident trust in me as a leader.Iwill always strive to be objective and listen intently to other people’s point of view and concerns. As a professional administrator, I know that I can never have all the answers. Other people have opinions and ideas that can allow solutions in ways I may not have thought of before. Iunderstand that people want a leader for purpose of order and direction. I will be the authority and the guiding force to keep the goals and vision clear and achievable to my staff, students and their families. Ipromise that I will work and collaborate with others, so as to include them in the process of work and decisions as needed, in order to achieve success in achieving the goals set before us.Istrive to be a champion for the people I serve by defending the rights of my staff, students and their families and keeping a positive attitude in all of my work, even when the days and decisions are tough. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download