For so long, I have wondered whether I was a leader or not. First of all, what does it take to be a leader? What does it take to be a good leader? These were the questions that would rack my brain.
When Stephen Buckley was invited to speak to our class, he said that as a leader, he job “is to serve you.” That took my a bit off guard. To serve me? This was something I usually don’t hear from leaders or role models. Buckley takes a different approach on leadership (similar to what Julia Tylor said in her blog post, Buckley is a servant leader). He leads by not only by mastering his craft, but also by listening and serving his followers to be the best they can be. He admits and learns from his mistakes. Effective leadership is all about healthy relationships. It promotes better work, when working with others who have the “passion to learn, grow and get better at what they’re doing.”
A leader has to lead with both his/her head and heart with integrity, responsibility as well as forgiveness and compassion.
Jessica,
What a great picture to accompany your post! While I don’t have a cool graphic to add to the “head” and the “heart” components, I did want to add two other elements: “feet” and “hands.”
We discussed this type of leadership in one of my other classes and arrived at these conclusions:
1) The leader who leads with his hand understands each and every situation and modifies his approach to fit each unique instance (Sounds like Stephen doesn’t it?)
2) The leader who leads with his feet is one who builds trust through personal example. In other words, he walks the walk.
I posed this question on twitter a while back but will do so here again: Will you lead with your head, heart, feet or hands?
Jess V.
I think I most strongly lead with my feet, but I also try to adapt to to fit each unique situation.
I have questioned whether or not I am a leader as well. I believe I have some leadership qualities but there are still more leadership traits I need to cultivate. I feel like I have the leadership qualities in the chart posted in your blog, but in another blog post by Emily Timm, it said leaders should not complain about being overwhelmed, which is something I am guilty of. I feel like there are many leadership qualities and traits that people always have room to improve on.