A Personal Leadership Analysis

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Pages: 5

1. What is your definition of leadership?
When this question was originally asked in class, we had to define the similarities and differences between leadership and management. The differences were substantial, but they correlated well. My definition of leadership was formed based on leaders that surround me in my personal life. Leaders have all different shapes and styles and many of those leaders that I look up to were managers that I worked under. To define leadership, you need to first define what it is to be a leader. A leader is someone that people go to for direction. You can lead a small group of people or an entire country. Leadership is a characteristic of someone who is in charge. Leadership can be seen as week or as powerful.
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I like to take the bull by the horns and handle everything myself. This shows lack of trust in my subordinates and volunteers, which can hurt the organization. In many cases, I get burnt out because I have too much on my plate at one time. If I learn to trust others to handle important tasks, it may be beneficial to the organization. My mind will be right because I have less to think about, which is only a good thing for my employer. I can take on and prioritize projects easier. I will make less mistakes. I have been starting to delegate two or three items a week on my list that I would normally handle to workers that would like more responsibility. That I substantial for organization morale and I love that something as simple as passing work onto others can make things better for the organization and my stress …show more content…
Which MPA classes were most influential in helping you develop your leadership skills? Why?

Administrative Leadership with Dr. Phillips, for the reasons I listed above, was probably the most influential class that I took during my time at Arkansas State. We had to read a book titled, Good to Great, by Jim Collins and a lot that I learned in that class I applied to my current job. A lot of organizations are good, but they are not great, and Collins (2001) wrote, "good is the enemy of great," (p. 1).
I took what I read in that book to heart. The organization I manage had a lot of good and I wanted to make a whole lot greater. There are so many principles and ideas that Collins shared and I tried to implement some of what he said into organization management. Collins (2001) stated, "everyone would like to be the best, but most organizations lack the discipline to figure out egoless clarity what they can be the best at and the will to do whatever it takes to turn that potential into reality," (p. 128). My organization has its weaknesses and being able to define what they are and figuring out what we do well was difficult. I shared some thoughts with my supervisors and they ran with many of my