LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY

Leadership Philosophy
My views on leadership have been taking form and evolving for as long as I can
remember. My earliest ideas of leadership came from my parents and immediate family. While I
was growing up, I saw many different forms of leadership. My grandpa was a business owner,
my dad is a public works director, and my mom and several of my aunts and uncles are teachers.
I can remember sitting with these people and hearing stories of their values, leadership styles,
and how they handled difficult situations. As I continued through my adolescence my view on
leadership continued to evolve through interactions with my various teachers and coaches that I
interacted with. After completing college, my idea of leadership has continued to change as I step
into different leadership roles.
Leadership is an almost impossible word to define. There are as many different
definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it. (Northouse, 2013, p. 2) I
believe the aim of leadership is to establish a direction for the future of an organization. It also
inspires others to work together to achieve a common goal. Leadership empowers and teaches
others to become leaders themselves. The ultimate goal of leadership is to create a respectful
climate of continuous improvement and forward thinking.
To be an effective leader you first need to know who you are and what you stand for. You
need to have a clearly defined value system and live your life based on those values. There are
many values that I believe a leader should have. The first of these is integrity. Integrity is the
quality of honesty and trustworthiness. (Northouse, 2013, p. 25) Without integrity, people will
not trust you. Without peoples trust, you cannot lead them. Leaders with integrity have a strong
moral compass and know the difference between right and wrong. Just knowing the difference

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between right and wrong isnt enough; leaders also need to have courage to do the right thing.
Courage is important for strong leaders because it is often difficult to do the right thing due to the
fact it can be an unpopular choice. An example would be a coach sitting the best player on a team
for violating team rules even though it could mean that the team will lose the game. Another
value I believe effective leaders should have is respect for others. It is easy to say that you
respect someone, but showing it can sometimes be a more difficult task. Respect means that a
leader listens closely to subordinates, is empathic, and is tolerant of opposing points of view. It
means treating subordinates in ways that confirm their beliefs, attitudes, and values. (Northouse,
2013, p. 431) It is difficult to always be tolerant of people when they have a different viewpoint,
but leaders who show respect are able to listen attentively to opposing viewpoints and respond to
them in a respectful manner. Great leaders should also value hard work and dedication. Leading
others is a difficult task for anyone to take on. If leaders are going to be successful, they need to
show that they are willing to put forth the effort that is takes achieve great things. By working
hard, leaders also create a climate in their organization where hard work is valued. Another value
that leaders should have is the idea of service. Leaders need to be there for their followers.
Service is a key component in two leadership styles that I believe are the most successful are
transformational leadership and servant leadership. Servant leader behaviors include
conceptualizing, putting followers first, helping followers grow and succeed, behaving ethically,
empowering, and creating values for the community. (Northouse, 2013, p. 225) While I believe
all of these behaviors are important, there are two that stand out to me. The first is helping
followers grow and succeed. To help followers grow leaders need to understand their strengths
and weaknesses. After understanding what people are capable of leaders can find training and
development activities for the people to attend. As followers begin to eliminate their weaknesses

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they will see an increase in self-confidence. This increase in self-confidence will help people
achieve their goals. Organizations that have invested more than the average amount of money on
training enjoy higher levels of employee involvement and commitment and better levels of
customer service, along with greater understanding of and alignment with company visions and
values. (Kouzes & Posner, 2012, p. 259) The second servant leadership behavior that stands out
for me is empowering people. Empowering people is allowing people the freedom to be
independent, make decisions on their own and be self-sufficient. (Northouse, 2013, p. 229) When
leaders empower people they show that they trust them and their ability to accomplish assigned
tasks. I think that when leaders empower people they also allow people to take risks. I believe
that leaders shouldnt only allow people to take risks, but also encourage people to do so. Finally,
I think that to be a great leader you must value a growth mindset and have grit. To become a
leader you are going to face many challenges. Leaders with a growth mindset will not see these
challenges as failures, but as roadblocks and opportunities to learn from. Leaders that have grit
are able to stick with things even when they take a long time and are able to overcome setbacks
and challenges that they face. (Kouzes & Posner, 2012, p. 207-208)
Strong communication skills are needed for someone to be an effective leader. For
leaders to be effective communicators they need to first be good listeners. It is important for
leaders to listen first so that they understand what their followers need from them. While
listening, leaders need to have eye contact with the person talking and be aware of their body
language. They need to make sure that the follower knows that what they are saying is important.
Once the leader listens to the questions or concerns, they should respond honestly with their
follower. If they are unsure of the answer, it is important for the leaders to acknowledge that they
dont know the answer. Leaders should then try to find the answer. Effective leaders are also

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good at asking questions. Asking good questions engages people in solving their own problems.
Effective communication is also important for leaders when they are talking about their values
and goals as well as the values and goals of the organization.
Effective leaders should engage in reflection on a daily basis. It is important that leaders
reflect because it will allow them to view things that they think went well, as well as things that
they would do differently. When leaders reflect they should take notes on their thoughts so they
can refer back to them at a later date. Reflection should allow leaders to make better decisions
because they will understand things that have been effective, or ineffective in the past. Reflection
is not enough for leaders to grow and make better decisions. Leaders also need to seek feedback
from the people they are leading. Getting this feedback allows leaders to see if their reflections
match the thoughts of their constituents. Seeking feedback isnt always easy. People dont
generally like to hear what they are doing wrong. Effective leaders value this feedback and dont
see it as a failure, but as a way to grow and improve. When receiving feedback leaders should
remember these five tips: dont be defensive, listen carefully, suspend judgment, ask questions
and ask for examples, and say thank you. (Kouzes & Posner, 2012, p. 86)
My ideas about leadership started at a young age and have continued to evolve with every
new experience I encounter. The most important thing I have learned in my leadership journey is
that in order to be an effective leader you must stay true to your beliefs. It is important to learn
from other peoples leadership styles, but you must remain true to yourself.

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References

Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications.
Kouzes, J. M., Posner, B. Z. (2012). The leadership challenge. San Francisco, CA: Jessey-Bass.