Essay Choice A: John Quincy Adams said, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." Everyone's approach to leadership is different. How would you describe your personal leadership style? What values do you consider the most important when leading others? How do you inspire and influence others to get behind your vision?
I started my leadership journey by being selected as a Project President of world's largest youth organization concern in leadership named AIESEC. I managed a social project focused to support and realize Sustainable Development Goals number 4 (Quality Education) initiated by United Nations. I worked with 9 Organizing Committee (OC), 15 local volunteers and 6 international students to facilitate more than 300 children in slum areas.
At the beginning of the project, I assumed myself has democracy leadership style. I would like sharing of decisions making abilities to my member. This method produced ideas from different perspectives. We also learned about tolerance and understanding each others. But, my leadership style could not stand any longer because the situation on my project went through up and down like a roller coaster which led us to uncertainty and it needed some adaptability.
In the middle of the term, my team had slowly progress and development. Our partners were just a half from our total targets, our exchange participants who were involved in this project were just three people until a week before realization (the previous term had 14 people). Every aspect was messy. My member were burned out and I got a lot pressure from my leader. I was being slapped by the condition of my team and its progress. I could not apply the same method again in making any decisions because my member needed some directions.
Those problems I mentioned have driven me to a valuable lesson I could take as consideration as the most important when leading others. I learned from contingency theory by Fidler, 1967-a relationship between leader, follower, and situation. Every team would face various situations in different dimensions , therefore there is no best leadership style. In other words, leader has to know which phase of his team is going through on team development phase (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning), when every part needs a different leadership style.
From my story, I could not even take any discussion in the middle of storming phase. I had to act as director of my team because the problems needed to be solved faster. Besides, on performing phase, I had to pull myself away a bit to give my member freedom to train their responsibility. I just gave them a little direction in the beginning and let them think, act, decide and take risk by their own. But still, I controlled their task and helped them when they needed. Evidently, my member said that they got personal development and found their confidence level has increased from this method.
Besides, to inspire and increase other to get behind my vision is to take them to every part of team building. Leader is not all about position, but how to empower others to get success-a successful leader can be measured when his followers gain development and meaningful experience beyond their expectations. So, it is important for me to know what are my member's goals and expectations, personally or professionally. By knowing that, I could help my member to get behind his success. Also, for the rest of the team, they could help each other to achieve either personal or professional goals together. When every member has highly sense of belonging and assumes that the vision does not belong to the leader, but also his own, member will reach the vision automatically.
_____
Please give me any impression of my essay above :)
Thankyou
my leadership journey
I started my leadership journey by being selected as a Project President of world's largest youth organization concern in leadership named AIESEC. I managed a social project focused to support and realize Sustainable Development Goals number 4 (Quality Education) initiated by United Nations. I worked with 9 Organizing Committee (OC), 15 local volunteers and 6 international students to facilitate more than 300 children in slum areas.
At the beginning of the project, I assumed myself has democracy leadership style. I would like sharing of decisions making abilities to my member. This method produced ideas from different perspectives. We also learned about tolerance and understanding each others. But, my leadership style could not stand any longer because the situation on my project went through up and down like a roller coaster which led us to uncertainty and it needed some adaptability.
In the middle of the term, my team had slowly progress and development. Our partners were just a half from our total targets, our exchange participants who were involved in this project were just three people until a week before realization (the previous term had 14 people). Every aspect was messy. My member were burned out and I got a lot pressure from my leader. I was being slapped by the condition of my team and its progress. I could not apply the same method again in making any decisions because my member needed some directions.
Those problems I mentioned have driven me to a valuable lesson I could take as consideration as the most important when leading others. I learned from contingency theory by Fidler, 1967-a relationship between leader, follower, and situation. Every team would face various situations in different dimensions , therefore there is no best leadership style. In other words, leader has to know which phase of his team is going through on team development phase (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning), when every part needs a different leadership style.
From my story, I could not even take any discussion in the middle of storming phase. I had to act as director of my team because the problems needed to be solved faster. Besides, on performing phase, I had to pull myself away a bit to give my member freedom to train their responsibility. I just gave them a little direction in the beginning and let them think, act, decide and take risk by their own. But still, I controlled their task and helped them when they needed. Evidently, my member said that they got personal development and found their confidence level has increased from this method.
Besides, to inspire and increase other to get behind my vision is to take them to every part of team building. Leader is not all about position, but how to empower others to get success-a successful leader can be measured when his followers gain development and meaningful experience beyond their expectations. So, it is important for me to know what are my member's goals and expectations, personally or professionally. By knowing that, I could help my member to get behind his success. Also, for the rest of the team, they could help each other to achieve either personal or professional goals together. When every member has highly sense of belonging and assumes that the vision does not belong to the leader, but also his own, member will reach the vision automatically.
_____
Please give me any impression of my essay above :)
Thankyou
