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Leadership Philosophy
Fernando Villalpando
EDUC 702
LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY 2
Leadership Philosophy
which has also affected the way I perceive leaders today. These changes have made me reflect
back to evaluate if those who I believed were true leaders or not. Leadership goes beyond
leading a group of people or an organization. After years of working with multiple leaders and
mentors, I can say that leadership is not only be being the leader in different possible situations,
but it also should represent understanding those who are being led. It goes beyond being the
person with all the answers and who will make all the decisions, but it should also be a person
who listens and learns from others, takes that into consideration, and makes decision based on
not only what is best for her or him, but what is best for all parties involved. A leader should be
more than just an expert in a field, but she or he should also be able to be a good listener, be
empathetic, have a sense of working as a community, not afraid of demonstrating their human
side, and not be afraid to speak up for others and for what is good. Being ethical is a key
characteristic for leadership. There are many people who start with the best intentions and goals,
and as they move up in hierarchy, they tend to forget their ethical obligations for personal gain
and empowerment. This could be one of the biggest challenges for those who reach leadership
positions in a hierarchy.
On the other hand, there are many leaders who do not have a recognizable position and
their name is in golden letters, but definitely possess the qualities that a leader should
have. There are those who work tirelessly without any spotlights or the need of
recognition. They work hard, and dedicate their lives with true conviction to a cause or goal they
truly believe in and has a personal attachment to them. These leaders can be found dedicating
their spare time helping their communities, helping the less fortunate, or possibly being mentors
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for others. They also work in conjunction with others, and know the power of collaboration for a
common goal. Are they any different from the traditional leaders? I believe the biggest
different is a title and salary, other than that, both are similar even though they might seem
different. Both provide a service to others who might need support or guidance. Both have the
ability to work with others for the benefit of those being served. Both have a mission to
accomplish and goals to achieve. Both serve as mentors to future leaders in their field.
Personally, I have grown, and continue to grow as a leader. I have had the opportunity
with multiple leaders of different with different leadership styles from which I have gain
knowledge on being a leader (both good and bad). My current supervisor is an example of a
leader who, in my view, operates from an Applied Critical Leadership framework (Santamara &
Santamara, 2012), and who lives and breathes her goals and dedication for students. She is a
champion for her students and her staff. She recognizes that there are inequities at our
university, and fights to ensure that our students are getting a fair treatment. She is not afraid to
be the unpopular supervisor among other supervisors and the universitys administration. She
empowers us to transcend our interests for good of the group and those we serve, as well as
giving all us a role within our program so we all become experts within an area (Santamara &
Santamara, 2012). I have also work with other leaders who dedicate their off time to a cause or
organizations that have a serious need and share a personal connection to the leader. I can think
of one who even though she does not have a title of leadership at her work of employment, she
dedicates her own time to help and bring people together to help undocumented people, deported
U.S. Veterans, collect clothing and other hygiene items for the thousands of Haitian refugees in
Tijuana, Mexico attempting to gain asylum in the United States unsuccessfully. She dedicates
her weekends to drive to the border to help work on restoring an old building and turn in into a
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shelter for deported immigrants. Her work has inspired me to do more than what I do, and that if
Im truly passionate about my mission as a leader, there is not 8am to 5pm schedule for my
work. These leaders have helped me shape my attributes as a leader who wants to create an
Due to what I have learned from these two leaders, and others that Ive worked with or
been able to witness their work, I have gradually change my perspective and skills as a leader. I
that those I work with and serve, need me to lead by example, and that my work and title are
more important and impactful than just a work schedule. My mission to help create access to
college for underrepresented populations, provide resources and support to all my students, guide
them and their families to navigate the higher education arena, or be a light of hope to our
undocumented student population, is far more important than my personal needs or my work
shift. A true leader does not have a schedule and lives her/his mission and advocacy at all
times.
Thinking about who I am as a leader and how my leadership has changed, I need to think
of my values, assumptions, motivations, and beliefs. I was raised with strong values of family,
helping others, and taking advantage of the education that many others in my family were not
able to get or continue. I grew up knowing that no matter our poor conditions, there was always
a way to continue moving forward with hard work and not giving up on
ourselves. Unfortunately, many in my family were not able to continue on to accomplish their
goals, but I was fortunate to do it, and continue doing it. My grandmother used to tell me, el
que seamos pobres no significa que seamos sucios o mal educados, which translates to the fact
that we are poor does not mean that we are dirty people or uneducated. These are words that I
cherish and follow me everywhere, among many other phrases from her life experiences. From
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her and my mother I have learned so much in terms of recognizing others, the value of hard
labor, the need to help others and not judge them. These women in my life have been a true
pillar of knowledge and social and cultural capital that I did not know I had.
I also have to constantly have to check myself, my values, motivations and any
assumptions I have. Like many other first generation students, when I earned my bachelors
degree and received my first job offer, I was ecstatic. I had a sense of accomplishment for my
hard work that I felt I was on highest peak. I felt that I deserved my new job that brought a good
salary with the best income that I have ever had. I felt that I deserved to treat myself and my
family, that I deserved a brand new SUV, and that I could give me the luxury that I never
had. Unfortunately, that led to a series of bad financial, personal and professional decisions that
led to me falling from that highest peak that I was in. I had forgotten the values and motivation
for my initial success, and the lessons from my family. I had assumed that I deserved so much
because of my hard work, that I took the wrong turn in the fork of life. After I almost lost
everything, including my job, I had to check myself and reevaluate my values and motivations. I
had to self-reflect on why did I ended up still failing after reaching the top. It took me years to
recuperate from my biggest fall and change the way I saw my true mission and conviction in
life. During this time, I was just cruising in life without a true purpose in life, just surviving
every day and letting each day pass me by. This lesson has been the most important piece of
knowledge that I have gained in life. I need to stay true to my values and do not let the shiny
new car, and the newest adventure take me to the wrong road. Most importantly, it led me to
find my most important goal in life, to be a mentor and a role model for other who like me, could
leadership style, as well at the practices of cultural pedagogy (Santamara & Santamara,
2012). Also, without knowing, many of the characteristics of both are part of the values and
beliefs that I learned growing up from my family. I have also learned on my own that race in
this country matters and that the stories of people matter as well. The lens of Critical Race
Theory has been part of my own values without knowing a name for it. I also learned this from
my family. Not until a few years ago, I did not know that my mother had walked with fellow
grape pickers on marches for social justice and change. She walked with Csar Chvez for the
fair treatments of farmworkers. Even though not vocal and highly activist, my other did her part
in the movement for social justice. After learning about this, I knew I had to do more. I have
always felt that my family looked up to me for success and getting a career, but now I also know
that I have never done anything like my mother did. Her quiet leadership has been more
I now know that as Chvez (2009) mentioned, privilege of any kind can act as a learning
disability (p. 43). This has been one of the most eye opening learning experiences in my
life. The fall that I suffered after I had gained some privilege, blinded me on continue learning
and taking others into consideration. I know now that my job is more than just a job and a shift
of my day, and that I must live and breathe my mission every day. I know that I can still enjoy
some of the pleasures in life, but need to regulate and check myself not to get lost in them. I
truly try to be a resource for my students, community, and a role model. I do not mind sharing
my story and success, failure, and revival to those around me, especially to those who are in their
way to getting accomplishing their goal of their first degree. This has made my job much more
emotional than before. I used to not know any emotion on every aspect of my life. I knew that I
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had to change that in order to feel free and be able to accomplish my goals. After reading
Gonzlez & Rincones (2013), I was able to see how important our emotions are when it comes to
what we do at work, and in our mission. More than ever, I feel that what I do is
emotional. When I work with students, when I express my values, and when I strive to help
those are in need, I use my emotions. I have had to learn how to manage my emotions when
needed because after many years of suppressing them, I feel like I am going to explode if I do
amount of knowledge that has helped me move forward and get back on my feet to be able to
help others. I have surrounded myself with other who understand this struggle and who are
supportive. I know that I still have to find a way to make more of an impact. I feel that this is
my main area of improvement; finding my voice to create more of an impact. Since what I do
now is so much more emotional and meaningful that before, as I speak and express opinions and
important matters, I feel like I cannot control my emotions. This leads to me suppressing them
again and staying quiet because I feel like I am going to explode. I need to be able to not be
fearful of letting go of my emotions, find my voice, and standing up higher for the injustices that
Reference
Chavez, A. F. (2009). Leading in the borderlands: Negotiating ethnic patriarchy for the benefit of
Gonzales, L. D., & Rincones, R. (2013). Using participatory action research and photo methods
Report, 18(32), 1.
Santamara, L. J., & Santamara, A. P. (2012). Applied critical leadership in education: Choosing