final leadership paper

Submitted By kimmo1234
Words: 4724
Pages: 19

One of my highest priorities is to continue my education, and to work toward my professional goal of attaining a leadership role within either the MnSCU Office of the Chancellor, or at one of our MnSCU system colleges. The Educational Leadership Higher Education graduate degree program fits well within my priorities and goals, and I believe it will give me the skills and knowledge necessary to advance my career, while helping me to learn more about myself, and how I deal with various situations. The following essay provides my definition of leadership, and outlines my style and views regarding all aspects of leading an organization, and of organizational behavior. I believe a leader is someone who has the ability to influence, encourage, listen, and nurture. They are able to inspire, stimulate, persuade, shape, and have an effect on others. According to John C. Maxwell in his book Leadership 101, everyone is a leader because everyone influences someone. Not everyone will become a great leader, but everyone can become a better leader”. Maxwell states that “each of us influences at least 10,000 other people in our lifetime”. Maxwell challenges us by stating, “The question is not WHETHER you will influence someone, but HOW you will use your influence. I have been fortunate to have many opportunities to take on leadership roles, and to use these roles to influence others in very positive ways. As a teenager, my farm work experience helped to form my work ethic, and my ability to lead by example. During high school, I was chosen by my peers to lead them as class president, and as FHA president. During my years in college, I was involved in a number of groups and organizations which helped to build on my existing leadership abilities, and interest in being an exemplary leader. As an employee at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM), I was chosen to be a Senior Fellow in the W. K. Kellogg Foundation Leadership Exchange Program. This program gave me valuable system and practical experience through a variety of components built into the fellowship. I was also chosen by MSUM leadership to represent MSUM in the Fargo Moorhead Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program. After completing the Fargo Moorhead Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program, I became involved in the program as a planning committee member and facilitator. I was then chosen to be the chair of the planning committee, and I am very proud of the work the group did, and the accomplishments of the graduates of the leadership program. This program not only helped to advance my leadership abilities, but it also encouraged citizenship, and community involvement. My current position at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities is that of a Support Analyst. In this position I work with college campus staff to help to train them, facilitate meetings for them, and to provide communications to them. I am able to assist them in understanding new technology, and I work with user groups to try to make the system better for them. I have good organizational skills and I am very good at multi-tasking. I am able to lead by example, and I am often asked to organize and lead team meetings for my work group. To me a paradigm is how a person views things. The definition is “a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline” My paradigm for leadership is to have a clear vision and to be able to communicate this vision successfully. I think that the leadership capacities of collaboration, consensus, visioning, empowering others, developing teams and being a change agent are necessary skills for today’s leader. These capacities are essential not only in the school, or workplace, but also in service organizations, and clubs. Schools and school leaders from the local level to the national level are faced with declining budgets,