Aly Kirchhof

April 29, 2014

Communication and Effective Leadership Thompson

Leadership Philosophy
Leadership can be a hard concept to define. It can be an even harder to define exactly what you
believe about leadership in your own life. Thorough this paper I will seek to clearly identify what I
believe leadership to be. There are many aspects of leadership that I think are necessary to discuss. I will
identify my own beliefs and how I believe those play out in my leadership roles, what one should expect
from me as a leader, goals or areas of growth. Through the exploration of these different areas I hope to
be able to articulate how I see leadership.
One of the most important topics to discuss when evaluating my leadership philosophy is my
own personal values, morals, and principles. This is certainly a topic that is hard to define and even
harder to clearly share with others. First and foremost I think it is necessary to understand that I believe
in living my life in the way that Christ showed us. I aim to live my life in such a way that brings glory to
God. For me, this is accomplished by loving others the way Christ loved us and putting others needs
ahead of my own. While this is certainly an ideal that is nearly impossible to achieve, I still believe that it
is necessary to try. I was raised with certain values instilled to me by my parents. One of these was to
always tell the truth. I know this value has gotten me in trouble over the years, however I still believe
that is important to never intentionally deceive someone. My parents also raised me with a strong
respect for others. Within this my parents always respected me. It has been important to me for a long
time that I be taken seriously even though I am young. I do not believe that someones idea should not
be taken seriously simply because they are young. I know that I am certainly not seasoned in years, but I
still think that I have interesting ideas that are worth hearing. I think this shapes how I interact with
children. They are the future and I truly believe that they are more capable than they are usually given
credit for. Together these values shape who I am and how I live my life. These values ultimately shine
through in how I lead. It is not only important to me that I am able to implement these values
consistently in my life, but it is important that I am able to implement these values in how I lead others.
The values I have are important in leadership roles. My belief that others should be first lends
itself nicely to the idea of empowerment leadership. This is a method that seeks to elevate followers to
a role that has power and autonomy ultimately inducing a stronger passion and drive. I think
empowerment is important and useful in many situations. This method allows for a less hierarchical
system and more of a flat system. It also allows people to feel needed and necessary in their work.
I also believe that there needs to be open communication between leaders and followers. This is
centered on my belief that everyone should be treated with respect, and also that trust needs to be
earned. Open communication is important to developing relationships that allow for information to flow
freely and new, and creative, ideas be shared. As a leader I know that I will not be applying a strict
dictator style leadership, because this does not allow for all members of the group to participate. With
my work in schools this would look like using students different strengths to build a classroom
environment that is beneficial to the learning of all students. Similarly, s a teacher it is incredibly
important to work with other teachers to learn from their experiences and knowledge, especially in
areas that are not areas of strength for you.
Many of the characteristics, ideas and morals I have listed above are most easily seen in how, as
a leader, I aim to treat people. As a teacher I am required to be a leader of my students every day.
Treating each student with respect and being able to truly hear what they have to say is of the upmost
importance.
In times of crisis it is often easier to overlook standards you have set for yourself. However, I
think it is immensely important that your behavior in a crisis be reflective of how you lead in times
where you are not faced with a crisis. My father used to point out to me that how people act in times of
crisis is reflective of their true character. This has always pushed me to maintain a consistency in my
actions and beliefs.
As a leader one can expect me to be an efficient and encouraging leader. Time management is
something that is often overlooked, but I have a keen understanding of its importance in all leadership
roles. I also think it is important as a leader to build others up. The team or group is made better with
the betterment of its members. While there are many aspects that I feel characterize me as a leader I
think these are incredibly important.
As a leader I feel that it is important to recognize areas for growth. There is never a time when
one is through growing, or when it is not beneficial to do so. Personally I think that some areas of
growth for me would be conflict management and assertiveness. In general I am the kind of person that
thinks the conflict and disagreements should be avoided. However, I know that they are bound to
happen in groups, in the work place, and in times of crisis. I often feel flustered and overwhelmed in
personal conflicts and feel that I get my feelings out better in written words. In the future I would like to
be able to communicate my feelings clearly and effectively during these times of conflict. I would also
like to be able to assert myself as a leader. In previous cases where I have come in as a replacement for
a previous leader I often feel that any change I bring would be unwelcomed. However, as a leader I
would like to be able to balance this feeling with constructive and well thought out information that is
able to move the group or organization forward. I feel that this would help establish me as a leader
within the group. These are areas that I know I struggle with, but am focusing on improving.
Leaders must be able to know and address what makes them capable of being a leader. With
this reflection an assertion of my beliefs, hopes, and intentions I hope that I am able to clearly articulate
how I will manage myself as a leader. Every day there is opportunity to create and strive for more, and
working together there is even more to accomplish.