I define leadership as getting people to do what you want because they want to. No
threatening, no transactions, just doing the thing you want because you asked them to.The
biggest improvement to leadership skills comes from exercising empathy, treating people
with respect, and not waiting to address employee concerns. I usually recommend James
Hunter's "The Servant" to my employees because he touches on all of these subjects.I have
been leading since 2002, so I definitely think I have what it takes to be a leader. I have
definitely made mistakes along the way, but the teams I have lead have all been successful,
and more importantly, those folks that worked for me went on to be good leaders in their
own right. Development is important for any skill, and leading is no exception. You need
practice, and lots of feedback. Leaning on the more experienced people around you can get
you through hard times as a leader. Need the team to stay late? Here is what I did when my
team had to do it. Understaffed and you need more from the people you have? This is what
we did to cover our gaps.If I was coaching an aspiring leader about inclusion and diversity,
I would suggest they participate in any local organizations they could. Volunteer leadership
still counts as leadership. My company is very large, so we have corporate and local
inclusion and diversity elements. I bring my new supervisors along with me to meetings
and have them help out with events. The textbook defines leadership as a complex
phenomenon involving the leader, the follower, and the situation to influence others in
achieving a goal. I define leadership as an act performed by an individual or a group of
people who can effectively motivate, and more people to achieve the same goal, which is
beneficial to the company, employees, and the people the company serves.Art of leadership
is designed to teach and provide leaders with directly related, easily applied tools and
techniques that can be implemented within any corporate culture, The "Art of Leadership"
is designed to assist leaders with making adjustments based on the current situation. The
"Art of Leadership" is designed to assist leaders to recognize that all situations must be
addressed, but not always in the same way.After completing the self-assessment I do
believe I have what it takes to lead in the workplace. I have scored high on each section of
the assessment. I have proven myself as an effective leader in the workplace on several
occasions. I was classified as an effective leader because I was always willing to listen to
my team and value their input. I have not had formal training on being a leader, I guess you
could say I am one of those "Born Leaders".Growth and Development are vital to becoming
a more inclusive leader because like any other art/science training is a must. The business
world is an ever-changing place and in order to grow and develop training is a must.I would
coach or mentor aspiring leaders to better appreciate diversity and inclusion by encouraging
them to spend time with their team to gain insight into the differences and learn to value
what each person has to offer, despite their differences. Different does not mean bad, it is
just different. The textbook says it best, leadership is widely argued and most people
disagree on its definition, the text says its a complex phenomenon involving the leader, the
followers and the situation, so that means leadership can be defined differently based on
dynamics. So leadership is the process of influencing an organized group towards achieving
its goals.Leadership is both an art and a science. The art of leadership is all about the skill
in deploying the proper tactics in a situation to influence others in achieving a goal. Certain
situations call for certain measures and the art of leadership may show you how to move
and pivot throughout them; and not use a one-case scenario for all situations.I have what it
takes to lead in the workplace. I've combined structure, organization and high adaptivity to
be successful. I can bring poise and structure and still be agile. Lead when needed and scale
back when others strengths rise to get the overall best result from a group. Leadership is
about growing, concepts change so much you have to be 'up with the times and techniques'.
Leaders need ongoing training to be inclusive. I just completed USF's DEI training in
October of last year and learned so much and have a greater appreciation for diversity and
inclusion that is needed when people work together. You really do get the best from
diversity. Leadership to me is the act of taking on managing through influence rather than a
dictatorships and understanding the dynamics of a team effort rather than benefits of the
individual.Leadership is definitely an art and not every manager is a leader. A leader can be
just a part of work team, not necessarily the manager of the department. As I mentioned, it's
understanding how to use influence and being tactful on communication. It's not easy to
always comprehend the difference of telling someone what to do rather than showing and
having them understand the importance of the task, while feeling valued for it. I myself
have had to learn the difference. I believe it comes with time and it also depends on each
manager's viewpoint. What is most important to that individual? The growth of their team
as a whole or themselves as an individual?I think I have learned about leadership more so
now that I'm in management. I love to see individuals excel and grow within their career.
That's what is important to me. I continue learning everyday, but I always focus around
ways to influence and strategize especially around diversity and inclusion. The only way to
get better at anything is to develop. Find what is lacking and apply methods to improve
those opportunities.If I had to coach or mentor aspiring leaders on how to better appreciate
diversity and inclusion, I would explain how important it is to have multiple viewpoints.
Every persons opinion matters and you might be able to be successful with just your own
view for a short time; however, to be more successful you have to look around you and
grasp little bits of information from everyone. That's really the only way to grow, to not be
stuck in the same mindset and understand how wonderful it is to have diversity and
inclusion be a part of the workspace.
Here are some of the characteristics of leadership:
Leadership stems from social influence, not authority or power
Leadership requires others, and that implies they don’t need to be “direct reports”
No mention of personality traits, attributes, or even a title; there are many styles, many
paths, to effective leadership
It includes a goal, not influence with no intended outcome
