Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Leadership Capstone
Liz Horgan
August, 2010
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use what I have learned from this class, on the setting of SMART personal goals
“a driving life force that will ultimately lead to maximizing one's abilities and
determine the path of one's life and work with excellence on a project basis”).
Not everyone is a leader or wants to be a leader. If there are only leaders, there
are by definition no followers, and by extension things won’t get done – vision
But then I realized that leadership comes in many forms. While I do not
influencing my three children as a single mother. I also take initiative, plan and
try new things; last weekend I led a camping and whitewater rafting trip where I
definition of leadership) – none in the group of six would have either camped or
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rafted had I not taken the lead and helped everyone push past their fears and
comfort zones. In May, 2010 I spearheaded and ran the program for a group of
Discussion of Theory
(2010) textbook that resonated the most for me were path-goal theory, Leader
leadership study has to entail all aspects of leadership engagement, rather than
simply concentrating solely on the leader. The theories that I felt were the most
informative had a focus on the group, on the followers, and on the dynamics
leaders choosing behaviors that are missing from or that can complement the
where “in” and “out” groupings play out, is instructive for the whole idea of
over time, and an emphasis on the follower and his/her needs – which add
too subjective, yet just because we don’t know how to effectively identify and
analyze outcomes, it does not mean it isn’t important. There is definitely room
Learnings
believe the learnings from this class will help me with all of my interpersonal
job); my new insights will help me better understand people I am working for
• The definition of leadership is complex. The more you get into it, the
• Leaders are both born and made. They emerge from situations and they
grow through experiences. Leaders excel in one way or another; they are
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them, and they have a variety of ways of influencing others to act. Some
collaborating. It is a term broadly used, yet the saying ‘the devil’s in the
• People, followers and collaborators, are the engine that drives success.
management and personnel issues that take up so much energy and time
in business today.
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• The theory and research we were exposed to in this class framed our
My key learnings were also interpersonal. I believe I have learned more about
needs of both leaders and followers better as a result of having had this class.
instance, in the Team Leadership chapter of our book (2010), I learned the
Other learnings from this course came from the Psychodynamic Approach
types (Myers Briggs, etc.), I have done this before, doing the DISC and other
working with the other personality types in my office. I also did the
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questionnaire in the book, and came out “ESFP” – according to the analysis from
that this chapter emphasized the relationship between leader and follower. I
found it interesting that most leaders are Thinkers and Judgers where I am the
with personal leadership and the difficulty I have with this assignment.
children, allow them to figure out what they need to/should do.
the lead.
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actions.
training personnel.
he cannot do this, I plan to ask him for a referral and have two
relevant to me.
1, 2010.
o Specific – volunteer for the big year-end event the Charlotte ASTD
training event
Ending thoughts
Thank you for what I feel was an excellent class. I valued your leadership
as our teacher as we explored this broad topic. I come away from this class
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with new knowledge, new perspectives, and new questions. For instance, I
want to understand more fully the cultural aspects of leadership, and really
more. It’s a good note to end our class on, knowing that I will continue to
References