Angel McHugh

Professor. Liptrap
Leadership Seminar 101
May 6th 2015
Leadership Reflection
1. Understanding Leadership:
If you want to be a leader, first you must understand what
leadership is. Leadership is described in relation to the many
forms it takes on. Its a skill I have learned over the course of the
semester, a trait I was gifted with at birth, or perhaps a behavior
in which I have observed and replicated. Leadership is constantly
described in different forms as every individual engages in
leadership uniquely. After the projects, and group activities I have
engaged in throughout the semester I feel I have an
understanding of leadership and the variety of forms it can take.
2. Recognizing Your Traits:
Effective leaders all share a set of fundamental characteristics
that are vital in the leadership process. Intelligence, Confidence,
Charisma, Determination, Sociability, and Integrity are the
recognizable traits of an effective leader. Recognizing your
strengths is a key step in becoming an effective leader; this
course has assisted me in identifying which leadership traits I
possess are strongest. The self-examination underwent
throughout the course helped me to strengthen myself as an
individual and leader.
3. Engaging Peoples Strengths:
The most common mistake leaders make is overlooking
someones strengths. To be effective a leader must self evaluate
as well as evaluate their subordinates to identify individuals
strengths. This behavior promotes the overall success of the

group because every individual contributes to their full-realized

strength. This course has taught me an understanding of what
key traits to seek to engage such as charisma and integrity from
my group members and myself. Through self-evaluation and
feedback from the group I have an understanding of myself as a
leader and in turn can fine tune my behaviors as a leader to be
more effective for the betterment of the group.
4. Understanding Philosophy and Styles:
The most difficult part of the leadership process is the implication
of leadership. Visions, ideas, and plans are only effective once
they have been actualized and a group has come together in
order to achieve a common goal. The three main styles of
leadership are Authoritarian, Democratic, and Laissez-Faire.
These three are the most basic breakdown of every sub-set of
leadership styles. As a leader identifying my style requires
assessment from my followers. The case studies conducted
revealed leaders who possess unique styles of leadership to the
position in which they hold.
5. Attending to Task and Relationships:
A leader will find it easiest to inspire their followers if they form a
relationship style of leadership. The contrast style is a taskoriented leader in which leadership focuses heavily on
completion achievements. Finding the balance optimizes the
positive attributes of both styles. This course put me into
leadership positions in which I orchestrated discussions on case
studies. My peers and I are familiar with each other enough that
a relationship style leadership naturally occurred. Tasks were
completed on time because I held referent power over my
followers, balancing between task and relationship styles ensures
the group is creating cohesiveness while being productive.

6. Developing Leadership Skills:

Once a strength has been identified it is impertinent the skills
surrounding
That trait is developed in order to maximize effectiveness of
leadership. If a
Leader is highly sociably; likely they will have a relationship style
tendency
to
Engage their followers. To increase the effect of the
engagements the leader
Should develop high interpersonal communication skills. The
development of
Skills can be done through learning from experience, if
leadership is
Interpreted as a skill it is obtainable by anyone who has the
capacity to learn.
7. Creating a Vision:
A vision is a mental image of an ideal future state. As a leader it
is crucial for long term success of the group you posses a vision
for the group and the direction in which you will lead. The values
a leader holds are expressed in the vision they hold for the
group. I was never given a long term leadership position in this
course and so I never faced a vision for the group in which I
controlled.

8. Establishing a Constructive Climate:

A constructive climate is key to a healthy group because it
promotes positive activity to the betterment of the whole. A
constructive climate can make or break group in terms of
production depending on the external influences on the work
environment. Providing structure to the group is the single best
way to create a constructive climate, this includes establishing

goals and setting the tone in the group. As leader it is my duty to

maintain a healthy work climate.
9. Listening to Out-Group Members:
Out-group members are a necessary and ever existent
occurrence in a group. They exist as a devils advocate
questioning leadership decisions; it is wise to listen to them with
caution. By understanding a perspective of opposition to a
decision a leader can better decide if a decision is the optimal
outcome choice. This course has presented me with multiple outgroup member encounters, whereas the counsel they gave
helped to shape my decision with a compromise.
10.
Handling Conflict:
Conflict is a felt struggle of two entities with perceived
incompatible differences. Conflict management focuses on the
most positive aspect of conflict change. If conflict arises, and
negotiations are made, conflict successfully created a more
complete idea. There are a few ways of dealing with conflict such
as avoidance or compromise. The leader must feel out the
situation in order to identify the correct approach to utilize in
dispersing the conflict. This occurred in case study work groups,
when two parties ideas clashed often conflict arose over
leadership where comprise was found to share.
11.
Addressing Ethics in Leadership:
Ethical leadership is the behavior of a leader that is committed
without harming another and was done in the best interest of the
group. Ethics is widely studied as it measures the rights and
wrongs in the business world. Often large corporations fall to
ethical issues because of practices where shortcuts are taken, If
a leader is too hard it can be unethical too because of the harsh
condition the followers would face.
12.

Overcoming Obstacles:

Obstacles will always exist; it is the leaders duty to help group

members overcome those obstacles because it is done for the
betterment of the group. Obstacles present a challenge to the
group in which as leader I can spear head with visions to
overcome massive obstacles in the future. By establishing
unclear goals challenges that would otherwise end my aspiration
only hinder. This course has given me the leadership strength to
inspire my peers into action and lead them as one.