First three Journal Entries (1 of 2 assignments)

Running head: KARL CHILDERS LEADERSHIP JOURNAL 1

Karl Childers

Initial Eldership Journal

PSY 3541: Psychology of Leadership

Fall 2015

Note: Use the naming scheme from the syllabus for your file.

This would be Karl_Childers_Journal 1.

KARL CHILDERS LEADERSHIP JOURNAL 2

Journal Entry 1: Best Leader I have Experienced (This is not in your text.)

(Instructor Note: This example is an average response worth a “C” for a grade. Good ones

are a bit longer.)

The best leader I have encountered was a supervisor I had at the Sheriff’s Office. I am a

deputy sheriff and have been so for over seven years. I have seen leadership. A prime example of

this was a supervisor that I had, who is now deceased. The man always came to work, no matter

how ill he was due to his chemotherapy treatments. He went to calls with his deputies and even

took reports when he knew that they were down several men each. He asked for advice from the

younger deputies as technology had passed him by in his some 44 years of police work.

He was someone that would never deny someone the night off, even if he knew he was

short on staffing, and he knew that he would have to answer calls for service. In order to get one

of his deputies to come to work because he didn't have enough money to get the tire on his car

replaced, this supervisor opened his own wallet giving the deputy the money to get the tire fixed

with the stipulation to pay it back whenever he could afford it.

This supervisor in his first assignment took a squad of deputies, all with less than six

months experience. By the time this supervisor took his second assignment, his squad of brand

new deputies led the precinct in all statistics, as they worked as hard as they could for their

supervisor. The most important thing about this is that the supervisor never asked his

subordinates to do anything that he would not do himself.

KARL CHILDERS LEADERSHIP JOURNAL 3

Journal Entry 2: Leader’s Self Insight 1.1: Your Learning Style: Using Multiple

Intelligences

(Instructor Note: This example is from an old text. We do not use this assessment any

longer but it provides an example of an average response worth a “C” for a grade.)

I scored highest with logical-mathematical intelligence answering mostly true on all three

questions. Interpersonal intelligence was my second highest scoring mostly true on two of the

questions. For the three other intelligences, I answered mostly true on just one of the questions

for each category. I think this fits in well with my career path. Being in the field of law

enforcement, you need to have strong problem solving skills. You also need to positively interact

with people on a daily basis, and this is where interpersonal intelligence is important.

I believe I am on the right track, but I still realize there are some areas I will continue to

work on. One of these areas is better communication skills when dealing with people in highly

stressful situations. This is a good tool to have when entering the field of law enforcement. I

understand the importance of writing reports in a professional manner, and my verbal

intelligence is also another area that needs work.

Journal Entry 2: Leader’s Self Insight 1.5: Leadership Potential

(Instructor Note: This example is from an old text. We do not use this assessment any

longer but it provides an example of an average response worth a “C” for a grade.)

On the leadership potential survey, I answered six out of the seven questions mostly true

for the odd numbers. These questions are considered more important to managerial activities.

On the even numbered questions, I answered four mostly true out of the seven questions. These

questions represent behaviors and activities typical of leadership. Since I answered more

KARL CHILDERS LEADERSHIP JOURNAL 4

questions mostly true for the odd numbered questions, this indicates that I may have better

managerial qualities compared to leadership qualities.

I think that the scores may be somewhat correct. I tend to focus on long-term goals and

being organized with setting priorities. But I do not think this survey gets too in-depth to be able

to label an individual with just twelve questions. I think some of the questions can be indicative

of being a good leader or a good manager.

I do take away that there are similar and very different skills and attributes for

management and leadership. I should use the ones I am good at and recognize where I can

improve. If I recognize those areas, I can work to improve and even compensate and rely on

teammates in certain situations.