Values in Leadership

            In chapter 4 of the Exploring Leadership book, it discusses how it is often difficult to articulate our own values that guide our actions, but how the ability to do so will help you to be more conscious and understanding of your own actions.  It also talks about how each of us has different preferences on how we construct our own value system, and the ability to understand how we construct our value system will help us better understand ourselves and others.  I think this is a very important concept in leadership for a few reasons.  First off, in order to be an effective leader, you have to understand your own values and tendencies.  Understanding yourself and what is important to you allows you to better communicate your expectations to those you are trying to lead.  Secondly, you must be able to understand your follower's values in order to effectively work together with them.  As was mentioned before, everyone constructs their value system differently and hence responds differently to leadership; therefore it is up to the leader to understand these differences, and figure out how to effectively align their values with those of their followers.  Communication between the leader and followers is crucial to this, and an effective leader must be able to communicate their values, while also making their followers feel that their values are understood and are important to the group.

            Chapter 4 of the Exploring Leadership book also mentions a study that was done which settled on eight commonly shared values around the world. They are love, truthfulness, fairness, freedom, unity, tolerance, responsibility, and respect for life.  As far as my own personal values go, it is difficult for me to narrow this list down to a few specific values, because I honestly feel that they are all equally important.  I think that love is a necessity to achieve happiness in life, whether it comes from family, friends, or a significant other.  Truthfulness is very important, especially when it comes to leadership, because to be an effective leader you have to establish trust with your followers, and vice versa.  Fairness is also important to leadership and trust because disagreements often arise when working with others, but as long as a leader treats their followers fairly and objectively, there will not be a loss of respect.  Freedom of coarse is what drives the success of humanity.  Freedom of speech, expression, thinking, and happiness are what have driven the advancement of human society.  Unity is crucial to leadership and group success because unity involves working together toward common goals.  Tolerance is important to understanding our peers' value systems, and understanding that everyone's beliefs count for something.  Responsibility is also tied to trust.  Being responsible for your actions and keeping your promises establishes trust with your peers and commands respect from them.  Lastly, I truly believe that we must all have respect for all forms of life.  Understanding that the world doesn't completely revolve around us is humbling, and allows us to see the bigger picture in life. 

            

What Leadership Means to Me

         My decision to enroll in this course is part of a recent change in direction that I have experienced in my goals for college and my career path.   When I first decided to become part of the business school here at OSU, I really wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go in my career, in fact my main motivation was simply that OSU has a highly regarded business school and I wanted to get a good degree when I graduated.  Then came this semester and my Introduction to Operations Management course, and with that came my newfound passion.  Generally speaking, Operations Management deals with working with teams to constantly innovate and improve company processes to achieve greater success.  That being said, leadership and teamwork abilities are essential to the job.  So when session two came along, I saw this course as an opportunity to further develop my leadership skills and have insightful discussions about the true meaning of leadership.

            I believe that leadership can take many different forms depending on the situation.  As we discussed in class, leadership ranges from the highest-ranking government officials in the world all the way down to leadership within small teams of people.  While leadership does take many different forms, I believe there are a few important necessary traits that every leader must posses.  I think that above all else, it is essential for leaders to have the ability to adapt to different situations.  Adaptation requires leaders to have an open mind at all times, and be able to learn from others as well as their own mistakes.  As we discussed in class, the concept of Moral Conversation is key here.  Leaders must be able to recognize their own faults, be open to other's suggestions, and be able to realize that not every situation has a black and white answer.  The second essential trait is the ability to communicate well with peers.  Communication drives success, and without it, it is impossible for a team to work together and accomplish goals, as was displayed in our hula-hoop activity in class.  Leaders must not only be able to communicate, but be able to recognize the best ways to communicate with peers on a case-by-case basis.

            Coming into this class I feel that I already possess some leadership ability, but not on the level where I'd like it to be.  As of now I feel that my best leadership qualities are my strong work ethic, organization, and communication skills; however, I feel that I can improve on my ability to practice the principles of Moral Conversation.  In no way do I consider myself to be a know-it-all or a perfectionist, but I am aware that I often times dismiss people's opinions that differ from mine.  That being said, I am hopeful that the discussions we have in this class will allow me to practice listening to and accepting other people's opinions, not necessarily as fact, but as valuable contributions that may or may not differ from my own.