Leadership

While reading Trait Approach, I came across numerous traits that I agree with that are essential to being a leader.  Reading this piece I had a couple of connections that I know all leaders should obtain, for instance responsibility and self-confidence. From experience by being a softball captain from my senior year in High, I had to make sure all the responsibilities on the team were taken care of to make sure that the team was going down the right path in a positive direction. Every day I had to make sure all the players had their equipment and uniforms together before we left our school to go to away games. More on I also had to make sure that everyone on the team was doing their daily routines which was stretching before a game and also warming up before the game. Having responsibilities you must also be self-confident. As mentioned in excerpt, “Leadership involves influencing others, and self-confidence allows the leaders to feel assured that his or her attempts to influence are appropriate and right.” When you’re a leader of a group of protégés, you must stay confident within yourself as well as your team. Whenever my team was faced with a very competitive team I made it important to remain positive and confident at all times because the individuals that I am leading are all looking up to me. I cannot be intimidated and put down by their accomplishments because my team was looking for me to guide them through this obstacle to make a win from this game. If I showed fear then my team would have been in distress also. I also agree that being intelligent is a good trait to have within a leader. A leader should be intelligent to overcome any obstacle that comes their way such as, on my softball team if a player was having a hard time catching ground balls it is the leaders job to find other smart techniques to help that player overcome that challenge. Being intelligent do not necessarily mean you have to be book smart, but knowing the smart and clever ways to get around troubles that come your way and your followers. As explained, “Having strong verbal ability, perceptual ability, and reasoning appears to make one a better leader”.  I agree with this quote because you have to be dominant by verbally approaching your aspiring followers to go forth in what you are directing them to do.  Last but not least Determination is something I can connect and agree with in being a leader. When you are determined to get a goal completed, as a leader you are going to do anything possible to get that job done. For example, I was determined to pitch less balls while I was playing softball, and by stay motivated and determined I managed to get this accomplished with the drive I had in myself and team. In conclusion I admire this last quote from the article, “Determination is the desire to get the job done and includes characteristics such as initiative, persistence and dominance and drive. Being determined includes showing dominance at times and in situations where followers need to be directed.”

Leadership

The readings were very informational to me. But the one that was very powerful and held an interest to me was the excerpt named Loa-Tzu. Reading that piece shared a connection with me that brought back memories from my senior year in High school. I was team captain on my softball team and I felt the burden to make sure that the team was going down the right path in a positive direction. In special part when he compared a leader to water as “water cleanses and refreshes all creatures without distinction and without judgment”. I could relate to that because as a team leader/ captain, you are not to judge anyone that you are helping because no one is perfect and you are to set an example also not only for that person but your peers around also. And by being a team captain I stood in the role to not laugh at any player if they made a mistake on the field, because I am there to guide and help motivate that person into improving on their mistakes. Laughing only sets a bad example and encourages everyone else one the team to do the same also, which not only is healthy mentally but it could also negatively destroy the physically because certain people may not put in much effort on the field anymore because they have their teammates and captain laughing them. More on with this same excerpt, I could agree with the statement he used discussing being an unbiased leader. He quoted “can you mediate emotional issues without taking sides or picking favorites”. I can relate to this because being the oldest child out of 3 girls, I have to be the one to stop and negotiate arguments between my sisters. When things go wrong I cannot pick the one sister who I am getting along with currently and choose her side over the other sister who I just got mad at for not picking up dirty socks. I have look at both sides to the story as to why they are arguing and not get caught up in the emotional frenzy that just occurred, because I have to be biased and be honest as to who side I pick.  Also this can relate back to being captain o the softball team because when girl’s get into an argument I cannot pick sides to the person I like the most. Being a team captain you have to be fair and make sure that everyone is treated equally. I have to be respectful because I am not aware to how sensitive that person is, so by being calm and understanding I could solve those issues out. As the author mentioned “I can do all these things by remaining unbiased, clear, and down to earth”.  By experience I know being a leader it could be difficult at times, by being an older sister and team captain, but that is when you put your ego aside and think of others because even when you do a lot, and say a lot, you have aspiring leaders who want to be just like you, so you have to make sure that you are doing the right positive thing because you setting an example for that person and the next.