Leadership Analysis and Reflection Paper

Challenges and Changes to Leadership

Jamie Conley

jamie.conley@nichols.edu

Nichols College

Leadership

Professor Conrad

Several areas in my life that I am trying to change is first, understanding what kind of

leader I will be. Change can be hard, because of the behaviors I have already learned. These
behaviors are taught from what I call grandma. Grandma teaches us a lot that we use throughout

our lives, like making assumptions of people or things in our society and how we behave and

show emotions to others. Sometimes these behaviors inhibit the way we lead and inspire others

in our life time. Most times it easier to simply learn new by training, education and experiences

throughout life.

Leaders like Derek Jeter, Tom Brady, and Warren Buffet werent born leaders. It took

commitment to themselves by understanding self-awareness to achieve greatness. Throughout

the chapters we have learned that this greatness does not come from being bossy, but by simply

leading others by aiding, mentoring, coaching, and inspiring others to reach goals. These men are

not barriers to others, and have certainly proven to us that they understand their own strengths

and limitations. These leaders play a huge role whether the task is small or large. And knowing

that leadership is the soul of the organization, brings me to empathize the importance of each of

these men in my understanding of leadership.

I talk of these leaders, because with my lack experience as a leader, except of those displayed in

this class. I truly need to learn from others, their mistakes and achievements. Warren Buffet, the

man with a sense of humor that can turn garbage into gold. He is the shark like investor that is

business savvy and smart. He has built a reputation for himself that is well respected by many,

including Bill Gates. Mr. Buffet suggests that we take smart risks, but be educated about the risk;

Never have ignorance. He also suggests that we look ahead to our future and never look behind

us, know when to call it quits. And simply be frugal, it is ok to have a burger and a fry form

McDonalds the extravagance is not always needed. As for Tom Brady and Derek Jeter, these men

I can easily relate to, because I have spent time on the field collaborating with team mates.

Learning to engage, listening and knowing what motivates a team player is important. I think

2
these two men do it well on and off the field. These men have one quality that I will work on and

that is communication. Communication can impact many people in different ways in an

organization. Being understood and building relationships with others is one way a leader has to

show their skills and values to others.

Derek Jeter, the greatest second base man for the NY Yankees now retired, has lead by example

to many people. For me he has the ability to inspire, teaching me to take on new challenges by

focusing on myself first and not always worry what others may think of the steps I take. Derek

Jeter has made his dream come true by learning what failure is, this is something I learned about

coming to Nichols. Even though I have failed at a class or two does not mean that I will not work

hard to work towards my goals. Leading by example like Derek Jeter is something that a leader

needs to take pride in and thank those around them that have helped them be successful. This is

the way I want to be, when it comes to being a leader.

Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots is a super star to many, but he is humble

and does not take his success for granted. He earned respect amongst his players and from his

fans by having determination and a solid work ethic. I want to work on having better respect for

myself in order to show appreciation to others in the workplace and community that I will

surround myself in. In order for me to be successful like these men I mentioned above, I will

have to get use to change and success will be quicker and hopefully I will enjoy and have passion

in whatever I choose to do in my life.

In reference to my experience as a leader in class, I have proven to my group that I am a

democratic leader. I did make good decisions for the group and tried my hardest to influence

interest with the entire group. I had some difficulty acquiring the whole groups interest. I am not

sure if this may have been due to some confidence. I was able to gain exposure as leader by

3
speaking and making progress with at least one peer and decisions and coming to an

understanding together was made. I was trying to show that social equality was important to

myself and amongst my peers. I wanted to simply share my views and questions, by receiving

feedback form others. As a leader my main goal was to have full participation from the group to

achieve success from all.

Having strength as leader like the men I mentioned, reading in chapter three, six and along with

experiencing the small group discussions as a leader. I hope that this experience will help me to

develop the skills needed to be a great leader in our society one day. When, it comes to having

good interpersonal skills is something we all start to develop as a child, but take granted of this

skill as we get older. As a leader in the small group this skill may have been lacking due to not

being confident or positive as the group leader. When presenting in the future to a group, I will

need to stay calm and make good eye contact with peers. My strengths as leader is encouraging

creativity, but need to concentrate on encouraging the group to work together to reach a common

goal and to influence the group to support each other.

There is a leader in all of us, we just need to step back and look at who or what influenced us in

life. Everywhere around in business and in the community is leaders. Myself as leader will have

to adapt to many individuals backgrounds and life experience; in order to connect, inspire and

influence them. The change will have to come from being confident in myself as leader that is

diverse enough to be socially responsible as a leader in our society.

Work Cited

4
Northouse, Peter Guy. "Engaging People's Strengths." Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and

Practice. 3rd ed. N.p.: SAGE Publication, 2015. 49-55. Print.

Northouse, Peter Guy. "Developing Leadership Skills." Introduction to Leadership: Concepts

and Practice. 3rd ed. N.p.: SAGE Publication, 2015. 123-130. Print.

Simmons, Jon. "5 Career Lessons We Can Learn from Tom Brady | Monster.com." Monster.

Monster.com, 06 Feb. 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.

Torres, Liz. "4 Career Lessons From New York Yankees Captain Derek Jeter | Monster.com."

Monster. Monster.com, 01 Nov. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.

Locke, Robert. "10 Leadership Lessons That Warren Buffett Taught Us." Lifehack RSS.

Productivity, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.