Positive Person's Thoughts of Leadership - Essay Example

Personal Essay SUCCESS. I suppose, it is everyone’s goal. In life, we have paths that we want to follow, dreams that we want to reach. And we really do not stop until we successfully reach these goals. We go to school to earn the capacity to be someone – a teacher, a businessman, a lawyer, a doctor, or simply have a good paying job. We also have personal goals, to build a house, to raise a family, to retire from work at a young age. All these are destinations that we want to reach. Yet we all know that it is the trip; the road towards these destinations is actually what makes up our whole being. I believe I was raised to be a positive person, with positive values and a positive disposition in life. Despite the major changes I needed to undertake even before I reached adulthood, I have learned to embrace changes and work towards conquering fears and uncertainties. Optimism seems to be a natural trait that has brought me through some of life’s challenges. It is something that I know, would bring me through the next phases in my life. On the other hand, I know that cultural and social differences sometimes hinder me to become the best that I can be. Having been raised in a different society and cultural setting, where people are conservative and education is somewhat more structured, I encountered difficulty blending into classroom discussions. The values instilled in me as a student of another country somehow limits my interaction with fellow students and professors. This is something that I have yet to overcome. I am aware though that I am a work in progress. I am young, and at the onset of achieving success. I do not want to limit my opportunities. And though I have qualities that are innate in me, there are still a lot of external factors to deal with while making steps to self improvement. INITIATING AND ACCEPTING CHANGE Change is the only thing constant in life. When I was younger it was difficult to accept change. Maybe, this is also what most young people feel. When there already is a pattern one got accustomed to, it is hard to imagine deviating from this pattern; this routine that has fueled your personality daily. Sometimes, schedules bring a sense of stability. When there is a series of things that you expect to happen, there are fewer tendencies to feel displaced. Everything will just fall into place the way you planned them to be. And yet, often times, change is necessary to attain bigger goals. When you fall into a routine, the tendency is to stop working on higher purposes. But life is not all about being stuck in a routine. Sometimes, there are bigger goals to accomplish, not just for oneself but for society. This is why we should learn when to develop things and take steps towards change. Having to undergo a major change is no stranger to me. When my family moved from Taiwan, there were a series of decisions that my parents had to make to ensure that the change that about to take place would consequently bring good to the group. Indeed, the processes needed to implement organizational change happened without me realizing it then. Due to economic and other personal reasons, my parents decided to pursue opportunities that would bring them to another country. The plan was to study the options, prepare everyone else who may be affected then bravely implement the plan. Of course, along the way, there was a virtual list of actions that need to be accomplished, and another list of options should the plans backfire. Bringing on a major change in a family is no easy feat. Apart from taking chances with the family’s livelihood, there is a need to uproot the children from the familiarity of a community and bring them to an unfamiliar territory which would make or break them. I have worked with family members to ensure that common goals are met. Every now and then, we discuss plans to make the new set up work. I was able to acquire the trait of consulting the listed plans whenever making major decisions. Long term goals have been set by my elders. The younger people have been trained to accept and embrace these goals. I have learned that careful planning is the key to implementing changes regardless of the environment. The impact and the system of change being implemented within a family are no different from that of a corporate office. There are two key words to success in change management: planning and implementation. As a student, this process of managing change has somehow stayed in me. Patience and careful planning has enabled me to embark in a journey within unfamiliar territories. This skills and values are something that I look forward to using whenever there is a need to enter into something new. In Academic and hobby groups, for instance, I can make a difference by aiming for higher goals and getting the group to acknowledge and accept the changes that are about to happen. ENHANCING RELATIONSHIPS – WORKING IN GROUPS In the article, Why Teams Don’t Work, it is necessary to put in hard work to ensure that a group is indeed working towards common goal (Why Teams Don’t Work 2010). A group is composed of people with unique personalities and capabilities. It is the diversities that actually make the whole thing work. There are processes involved in actually raising a team. And each team member has his own responsibility; his own role in putting together the plans for a common goal. A team player is what a group needs. These concepts have taught me that to effectively contribute, I must first identify what my role is within this group. I am known to be a team player, giving importance to affiliation thus, making me work hard at being in synch with a group that I belong to. I value relationships a lot, and it really matters to me to build strong ties while working for a common goal. However, as indicated in the same article, groups have a tendency to defeat its purpose when members lose their individualities to the group’s cause. As in my case, there is indeed a tendency not to communicate my thoughts due to socio-cultural differences. I often focus on the work at hand, careful not to do anything to disrupt the processes. I take my tasks to heart to the point of becoming mechanical in performing these tasks, For example, in a group project that we had to do in school, I simply provided what was asked of me although I felt that there could be more improvements had I explicitly shared my inputs. This weakness is what I need to work on to genuinely be able to contribute to the teams that I belong to. I must celebrate my individuality and have faith that the other team members will respect my views and opinions. As a team member in an organization, being in synch is as important as maintaining individuality. While performing tasks required of me, I can always look again and see if there are other things I still need to share to improve the processes. Organizations are necessary in one’s life. Organizations exist everywhere. A family is the most basic form of organization. There are also organizations in school, in the community, in church, and in work places. Therefore, everyone must learn how it is to work in groups. Having learned this, I plan to enhance my relationship with other members of the organizations I work with. In school, I will exert more effort to contribute not just by following instructions and accomplishing assigned tasks. I will initiate to be more analytical of the processes to consequently contribute in planning and implementation. So far, the points of improvement basically lie on my being able to interact more freely in the university. In contract to how I was like when we just moved in, I have learned to loosen up and discuss my thoughts and feelings with close friends and team members whom I know. As a work in progress, I have yet to overcome my hesitancies to engage in public discussions or simply voice out my feelings. I am still learning how to trust in others, enough to give them credit to hear me out and listen to my thoughts. I should overcome my fear of rejection. I am positive that I will get there in the future. Personal management is the key to become effective team players. By knowing who I am, what I am capable of, and what I can do, I will have more confidence in expressing myself to others. IDENTITY – KNOWING HOW TO DEAL WITH ME Basically, to be a good member of an organization, the first step is to know oneself. There are processes involved for one to really be able to manage oneself. These steps are necessary to discover one’s identity and eventually develop a sense of self worth. First in the process is identifying ones strength. My strength, according to a study, is my ability to maintain close relations with others by knowing how to reciprocate good gestures and deeds. I believe so since I always have this desire to nurture as much as I am nurtured. It is important to me to please other people, especially in groups that really matter to me such as family and friends. I also have a deep sense of loyalty that makes me equipped to be a good team player. Next is to be able to identify the manner by which I work. Unique as I am, there are some techniques that work best with me than in others. For this matter, I am most effective learning in groups as a listener. Concepts sink in when they are discussed and demonstrated in front of me. Perhaps the rhythm by which someone speaks maintains my interest in the topic, enabling me to process and digest the message being conveyed. Most likely, I will be like this for the rest of my life. Classroom settings are most effective on me. I appreciate hearing lectures, even debates that would stimulate how I think. Having to participate in the debates, or interact in lectures however, is a different matter all together. I am by nature, optimistic. I always try to reciprocate things positively despite the fact that some people may not be as kind or generous to me. I appreciate beauty and excellence, and I am forgiving by nature. These are the core values I posses. As such, I will work best in an organization that promotes all these within its members. I feel that I cannot excel in groups where competition is very stiff. I have this tendency to give way to others, not wanting to annoy or offend them with my comments. Groups are made for and by people who have common goals and interests. Social groups have the basic aim to bring together several people who have common denominators. Self identity enables people to consequently identify the organizations which they want to belong to. If you know what you can do, you will know which groups best fits you. Groups also have this capacity to enhance personalities – group members interact in such a way that aims to improve the individualities of the members. Self management is something that must be practiced, not just once but over and over again. To become a good contributor, self identification is very vital. Personally, my goal is to continuously enhance myself knowledge, such that I will have to carry on writing journals and noting down important milestones and decisions I make. Journals are best way to recount an event, and also write down ones feelings regarding recent activities. As mentioned in the article, identifying patterns in ones behavior is vital, and so does measuring results every time a decision is made. This enables me to assess myself and measure my capabilities. Being conscious of the values that I have is also essential in implementing self management. Scenarios and situations may change, but values are usually constant. Values are what makes you decide how to react to certain situation. Values are also determining factors whether you can thrive in a certain organization or not. I will take time to evaluate whether my personal values conflict with that of the organization I am in. Otherwise, there would be a lot of difficulty achieving common goals. LEADERSHIP – GREAT POWER AND GREAT RESPONSIBILITY What makes a great leader is his ability to influence people’s minds, beliefs and decisions. This is what the article “Exercising Influence” says. In an organization, there are leaders as well as managers. Managers tend to control; Leaders stimulate action by setting a good example and encouraging others to do the same. Of course, there are also those who are born followers, which do not make them any less of a member. The followers are usually those who implement, and are equally important in an organization. Without them, the organization would not achieve its goals, and there would be no one to do the legwork for the managers. I am a born follower, but I also believe that I can be a leader in my own right. As a follower, I am conscious of my roles in the organization. I process directions when cascaded to me, in such a way that I can identify and list down for myself a step by step guide in accomplishing these. I take pride in knowing that I am a vital link in an organization and at this point, even if I tend not to be vocal about certain issues, I can contribute with my actions. I feel that I also have the capacity to be a leader by using my analytical skills in identifying and implementing policies within a certain organization. I am not a very good speaker, but when given the chance, I can get a team to work on common goals. All these I could do because of my enthusiasm, optimism, and my capacity to relate with people in a certain group. As depicted in one personality test, I posses social intelligence, meaning I am capable or relating with other people. Of course, my ability to see a positive side to every situation will allow me to set leadership by example. Any individual has a role to play in a community. And anyone has the capacity to influence people. In our society, even children can influence their parents to patronize certain products. By knowing my skills, values and capabilities, and by being able to manage myself, I can be a very good team player, contributing to the causes of the group I belong to. By being in tune with my real self, I would best be able to perform my roles, and thus be able to influence others into portraying their roles in the community. Eventually, when I get out of the university to find a job, I would be able to contribute well by applying these concepts on behavioral organization. Works Cited “Why Teams Don’t Work”. Harvard Business Review. April 20, 2010. www.hbr.org Read More