OLCU 325 – Week 3 – Discussion
PART 1: Significant Sentence
Peter G. Northouse, Chapter 5, Page. 47 – “Each of us approaches leadership with a unique set of beliefs and attitudes about the nature of people and the nature of work; this is the basis for our philosophy of leadership,”
All leaders have their individual styles of leadership: some are the in-charge type who closely monitor subordinates, while others are the laid-back type who allow subordinates a lot of freedom. There are three most common philosophy/style of personal leadership: the authoritarian, the democratic, and the laissez-faire. The individual styles define how the subordinates respond to the leader, how they respond to their individual roles, and ultimately the effectiveness of the leader.
Warren Bennis, Chapster 2, page 34 – “The second basic ingredient of leadership is passion—the underlying passion for the promises of life, combined with a very particular passion for a vocation, a profession, a course of action”
Passion means the leader loves his or her work and gives both hope and inspiration to other people through it. Enthuasism on the part of the leader is good evidence that the leader has passion for what he/she does and also loves doing it.
Warren Bennis, Chapster 3, page 49 – “But people begin to become leaders at that moment when they decide for themselves how to be”
A person starts to be a personal leader when he/she discovers himself/herself and choose the individual path to follow. This may be totally different from the way they have grown up or how family, society, school and friendly may have expected of them. One manipulates his/her own destiny by figuring out the way they want to move forward and then implement it.
PART 2: Manager versus Leader
Northouse, ch. 5, page. 86 – “Administrative skills help a leader to accomplish the mundane but critically important aspects of showing leadership”.
In light of my present position and the results of the “Leadership Skills Assessment”, I regard myself more of a leader than a manager. This is because I believe I posses the three core leadership skills namely: administrative, interpersonal, and conceptual skills. I believe it is possible to integrate both managerial and leadership skills because they almost complement each other.
PART 3: Champion or Chump?
Northhouse, ch.5, page. 89 – “Interpersonal skills are people skills—those abilities that help a leader to work effectively with subordinates, peers, and superiors to accomplish the organization’s goals”
In doing fashion shows, magazines and commercials, I felt like a champion and not a chump. I integrated interpersonal skills to build a great working relationship with my colleagues and seniors such as several designers from some of the country’s top labels, leading photographers, fashion studios and advertising agencies. It was not easy because all these players were high-end, career-oriented people with complex characters and demands. My boss often handled me in an emotionally-intelligent manner. One time he saved me from me from an imminent nervous breakdown through his wise friendly counsel and 2 day leave to have rest after a marathon of modeling activities that took a toll on me. However, I regarded it emotionally un-intelligent his decision to fire a couple of new models who were having problems adjusting to the overly demanding schedule of modeling.
References:
Bennis, G.W. (2009). On Becoming a Leader. New York, Basic Books.
Bennis, W., & Bierderman, W.P. (2009). The Essentials of Bennis. New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons.
Northouse, G.P. (2011). Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice. California, SAGE.
