Personal Philosophy of Leadership
1
Personal Philosophy of Leadership
Liberty University
CJUS 610
Blake Lafond
August 25th, 2025
Abstract
Personal Philosophy of Leadership
2
In this study I will discuss my life’s vision, mission and my values. Some people just spend their
life without a purpose and some live a life with a purpose. God has given us a life, brain, wisdom
and made us able to gain knowledge and improve our lives. A person’s vision gives his or her life
a meaning and to work towards that vision a mission is created and to accomplish the mission
we have to have values. The vision helps to explain the values and the mission provides the
purpose and the dedication. “While the vision explains the situation and the value of the
organization in the future, the mission provides us with the reasons for the existence of an
organization, which is not only in the competitive struggle for greater profits” (Collins and
Porras, 2008). A personal vision, mission and values are based on a person's knowledge,
expertise, conviction and the motivations. The purpose of having a vision, mission and values is
to further social development and integration of an individual. Every individual who has vision,
mission and values become a productive part of a society and contribute towards the
community’s wellbeing and development. The value created brings benefits primarily to society
rather than to private individuals so having a vision is not only for an individual but it helps the
society. The significance of the mission can be easily understood by Steve job’s words when he
defined apple’s mission in 1980 "Man is the creator of change in the world. As such, it should be
above all systems and structures, without being subordinate to them (thebalance, 2017).
In this paper I will present the meaning of my personal vision, mission and values by keeping in
mind my social and environmental changes.
My personal vision statement
Personal Philosophy of Leadership
3
An individual vision is the bright future they create for themselves and for the society around
them.
My personal vision is consist of two fundamental elements:
1. The ideal and safe world for me and my family and people around me
2. Directions and work I need to get done to achieve my vision and my mission is part of it
3. Empower and educate others in how to prevent mass violence and terrorim
I have a vision to create a safe community around me and that is the short term vision. My long
term vision is to create a world which is safe for everyone. My vision sounds very short but it's
not an easy and short term achievement. I was born and raised in Pakistan and growing up I
have seen real terrorism and its impact on a family, city, society and a country. After the 9/11
terrorist attacks when the U.S went to Afghanistan, Pakistan became an ally to the United States
in the war on terror. Terrorists did not like it and started terrorism inside Pakistan killing more
than eighty thousand innocent civilians, men, women and children in the course of ten years. I
lost my family members, friends and co-workers in suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan. I have
witnessed people so helpless and in the morning mothers would send their children to school
not knowing if they will come back home alive at the end of the day. There was no public
awareness and education on how to prevent terrorism. I moved to the United States in 2003
and felt I am the luckiest person who escaped every day terrorism and saw the loss of innocent
lives around me.
When I became a police officer in 2015 my goal was to make my community a safer place by
educating our community members on how to prevent mass violence and terrorism.
Mission:
Personal Philosophy of Leadership
4
My personal mission is my desire to serve God and others, relying on His grace and power and
emphasizing honesty, courage, accountability, integrity and self-control, respecting others and
self-indulgence.
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks threat perspective has evolved and we have voices coming from
everywhere. “We believe domestic terrorists pose a present and persistent threat of violence
and economic harm to the United States; in fact, there have been more arrests and deaths
caused by domestic terrorists than international terrorists in recent years. We are most
concerned about lone offenders, primarily using firearms, as these lone offenders represent the
dominant trend for lethal domestic terrorists. Frequently, these individuals act without a clear
group affiliation or guidance, making them challenging to identify, investigate, and disrupt” (M.
McGarrity, 2019).
Deuteronomy 28:1:68 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to
do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above
all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you
obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in
the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of
your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket
and your kneading bowl” (n.d.).
Values:
“Generally, values are viewed as inner realities of an individual that are reflected through habits,
behaviors, beliefs, expectations and relationships. Values lay the foundation for an individual’s
Personal Philosophy of Leadership
5
pattern of thinking and way of acting. They play a vital role in how one makes decisions, choices
and builds perceptions and attitudes” (Gamage et al., 2021).
To bring my vision and mission to a goal I developed values which helped me to work towards
my goal of helping our communities in learning how to counter terrorism. I always tried to
achieve my mission by empowering my community partners and community members through
education and awareness. Through the efforts of years I have developed the trust that my
community members reach out to me any time without any hesitation and share the problems
and concerns with me. I achieved that by implementing following values to my professional life:
●Personal Development: I am a firm believer of learning and gaining knowledge. We start
gaining knowledge from our birth till our grave. After I became a law enforcement officer
ten years ago I never became complacent and constantly engaged myself in learning,
gaining knowledge and understanding homeland security. I took several courses, training
and certifications to understand the motives of terrorism and how to prevent mass
violence and terrorism. To educate myself I completed a Bachelor of Science degree in
criminal justice and homeland security and am currently working towards the
completion of my Masters in homeland security.
Since my goal was to work towards counter terrorism I tested and started working with the
fusion center as fusion Liaison management team officer and currently working towards my
mission I am working as a counter terrorism detective.
●Collaboration & Diverse perspective:
I believe in collaboration and created multiple coalitions and collaborations between my agency
and the community. My vision is to make my community safe and I always bring all kinds of
communities together to sit at one table and talk about our differences and accept each other.
Whenever there is an impactful world event it always has a local impact since people around
Personal Philosophy of Leadership
6
the world live in our communities. After major incidents reaching out and connecting with the
community members builds trust, togetherness and inclusion.
I created an interfaith coalition where I brought community members and leaders from eight
different religions and made them feel like a family. Bringing diverse group together and
celebrating their high holidays with them brings a sense of security and peace.
● Affiliation:
I took several courses, training and certifications to better understand the problem, Ideology
and motives behind the menace of mass violence and terrorism.
I attend and participate in homeland security and counter terrorism related conferences and
Summits to better understand the issue and meet with the real victims and witnesses of
terrorism and terrorist activities and learn from their experiences.
● Education &Community: Counter terrorism is not only law enforcement or first
responder’s responsibility everyone is responsible to counter the common problem of
terrorism. I became part of our fusion center team and stayed there for four years and
promoted Department of Homeland Security “See Something Say Something” National
Suspicious Activity Reporting and U.S Violent Extremists mobilization indicators. I
achieved my goal through awareness, education, engagement and outreach. During my
four years I taught hundreds of classes to our law enforcement agencies, public and
private sector partners including houses of worship, schools, critical infrastructures,
hospitals and businesses. I trained thousands of people in how to prevent mass violence
and terrorism.
I could have not achieved my mission without the support and assistance of my team,
supervisors and the community members. To achieve my vision and mission I always believe in
Personal Philosophy of Leadership
7
team work and respecting others who help me to achieve my mission. I believe that leadership
is a journey that consists of followers and leaders and I believe open, respectful collaboration
can solve any problem.
Constitution:
My purpose in life is not just living a life but serving mankind. Sharing my knowledge and
empowering others and making them able to understand and learn from my experiences. We all
live for ourselves and create a circle around us with tunnel vision. Real life is living for others,
pulling hands, extended assistance and respecting others. To achieve that you have to have
discipline, patience, integrity, accountability and courage.
I want to make sure I can educate and share knowledge with as many people as I can so they
can become empowered about how to prevent mass violence and terrorism. I want to save
every single life which can be a potential victim of terrorism and mass violence. I will continue
and advance my work, knowledge and expertise in making this world a safer place by educating
and empowering people through collaboration.
World view:
Personal vision is God's plan for your life, your mission is to join God in His purpose, and your
values are the principles of God's Kingdom, such as love, humility, and integrity. Key biblical
figures like Jesus and Paul provide examples of living with a clear mission, while scriptures like
“Galatians 5:22-23tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the result of
the Holy Spirit’s presence in the life of a Christian” (What Is the Fruit of the Holy Spirit? n.d.).
Personal Philosophy of Leadership
8
Conclusion:
In this paper my purpose was to define my reason and purpose to be in this world and to be in
the profession of law enforcement. I explained my background and what I experienced and how
I want to help the world to be empowered in preventing mass violence and terrorism. We all
have to learn from our personal experiences, collaborate and create teams and help others.
What I went through and experienced in my personal life I got lucky enough to have the
opportunity to learn, move forward and help others in learning. Terrorims is a global issue and
we lose thousands of people around the world everyday due to this menace. Counter mass
violence and terrorism is a collective effort of law enforcement, intelligence community, first
responders, emergency management, public and private sector partners. As we appreciate the
technology and its advancement we should never forget that its making terrorist life easy in
connecting with vulnerable people across the world.
References:
Collins, J. C., &Porras, J. I. (2008). CMR Classics:
OrganizationalVisionandVisionaryOrganizations. California management review,
50(2), 117-137
Thebalance (2017). What Is Apple'sMissionStatement? Available on:
https://www.thebalance.com/apple-missionstatement-4068547
(28.4. 2018)
M. McGarrity, (2019), Confronting the Rise of Domestic Terrorism in the Homeland, [Article],
Counterterrorism Division Federal Bureau of Investigation
(n.d.). Https://Www.biblegateway.com/Passage/?
Personal Philosophy of Leadership
9
Search=Deuteronomy%2028&Version=NIV.
Gamage, K. A. A., Dehideniya, D. M. S. C. P. K., & Ekanayake, S. Y. (2021). The role of
personal values in learning approaches and student achievements. Behavioral Sciences,
11(7), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11070102
What is the fruit of the Holy Spirit? (n.d.). GotQuestions.org.
https://www.gotquestions.org/fruit-of-the-Holy-Spirit.html
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
