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My Successful
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HR)

Leadership Philosophy
Brianna Hamade

I believe that leadership is the ability of an individual to uphold a

vision. I think that the leader should have both a vision for his or her
self as well as a vision for their followers. It is important for a leader to
have a strong sense of who he or she wants to be whereas they should
have a vision for their followers so they are able to accomplish goals. I
think overall, it is most important for the leader to have a vision of
themselves because if they know where they want to go, then the rest
will follow.
I used to think that leadership meant the capability for a person
to communicate effectively with their followers to create a change.
Since the beginning of the semester, my definition has certainly
changed. My definition has broadened to include aspects of some
leaders use, or dont use, that I didnt consider before. I no longer
believe that a leader necessarily has to make a change. Perhaps what
the organization the leader is in simply needs stability. For example,
my store manager is a leader. She is not necessarily trying to make a
change in the company; she is upholding the success that it already
has. She is an example of the path-goal theory. She is essentially the
problem-solver and finds the easiest path to any goals we are trying to
reach. She also provides incentives, such as employee recognition and
gift cards for when there is a job well done. However, some managers
may not use path-goal leadership. Some may be laissez-faire and the
work gets done all the same. All leaders have a vision but may have

different means of getting there. I dont think that there is anything in

particular that a leader must do to be considered a leader. I think that
there are many approaches, may they be authoritarian, democratic, or
anything else. I think the only thing that a leader really requires is
holding a firm vision of both themselves and their followers. I think that
by experiencing different types of leadership, I was able to better
identify which leadership style I wanted to lead with.
My personal leadership style is transformational. One of my
passions as a leader is to help others become a leader too. I think that
bringing out the best in others is one of the most effective ways to
making a real difference in any organization. I like to have an equal
balance of relationship-orientated leadership and task-oriented
leadership when Im working with a group. One of my talents is
individualization. I like to understand others and help put them in roles
that they will be successful at. I feel that if I take the time to get to
know people Im working with, I will be able to identify their strengths
that could benefit an organization. In a way, it is almost strategic but I
genuinely like getting to know people and it just so happens that it
tends to work in my favor. I feel like this ties into my transformational
leadership style. One example in my personal life is when I was the
vice president of my high schools SCA. I would delegate different tasks
to certain people based on who they work well with and what they
were good at. There was a girl named Blake in SCA who was always

coming up with fun games in the classroom to play and was shy talking
in front of large crowds. By knowing this about Blake, I knew that she
would probably be a good fit for coming up with pep rally games. I also
realized that it was probably a bad idea for her to be speaking during
the pep rallies so she helped to set up each of the games. She was
happiest with these type of responsibilities and it showed in the
progress she made. Now this year, she is able to help the new
members of SCA and be a leader herself.
Today, I practice leadership by being the scribe (or as I like to
call it, the Communications Princess) in PNPYs Hall Council. At each
meeting, I take minutes. I also manage the Facebook page, website,
and help run the list serve. I like being able to be a leader in hall
council because it makes me feel like Im helping to establish a better
community in PNPY. I especially enjoy being able to do something that
coincides with my talents in communication. I like that I get to build
relationships with others in hall council and practice different ways of
communicating with the community.
I also am in SGAs Marketing Committee. I feel that in that
aspect, I am more of a follower because I am someone who
participates in the opportunities that I am given but am not necessarily
totally involved with everything SGA does. However, I do see this as
something I can grow into as I get more involved throughout my years
at Virginia Tech.

Further into my future, I see myself working with a company as

an HR director. I would enjoy being able to get to know employees on a
personal level and practice transformational leadership by helping
them grow within the company. I would like being the person that
employees could come to when they have a problem because I am
very personable and like being able to help others when they are in
need. I would like being able to help remedy any problems or give
advice to employees when they need it.
I am successful in my roles in hall council and SGA because of
my natural communication talents. I am good at relaying messages to
people both within the organization as well as outside the organization.
I think that the fact that I am personable will help me in my future
profession. I think that people are more likely to respect referent
leaders than perhaps other types of leaders. I am also an intellectual
leader. I think that its important to build a vision. I have a strong vision
for hall council, as my vision is a close-knit PNPY community. I have a
vision that in SGA, more people will be involved and SGA will be able to
do more things for students and the school. Something that I want to
work on is being more open to other peoples suggestions on how
something should be done. Sometimes I get so consumed in my own
way of doing something that I forget that others can have something
really fresh and amazing way of doing something.

I am a leader who uses her strengths to lead. I use my

individualization talents to develop relationships with my followers,
which then in turn leads to me helping them to become leaders as
well. I share my beliefs and visions with others to hopefully have an
impact on the organizations Im in. I believe Im a leader who has room
to continue growing, but also is also able to contribute much to what
Im already involved with now.