These Intellectual Virtues
As I’ve been learning more about the intellectual virtues, I feel the greatest connection I’ve made with these virtues is with Perseverance vs. Laziness. According to Paul and Elder (2014), I need to use truths despite frustrations and irrational opposition of others. In many ways, I feel as if I have only just begun to exercise my skills as a leader. To be a leader, it requires inner strength to overcome challenges and much of the time, think skin. My strategy has always been to learn from those around me, both from mentors and subordinates. Some people I’ve spoken to about my leadership qualities have said I am overly logical and analyze data before deciding. However, if I had to pinpoint the gap in my abilities, it would be my emotions getting the best of me.
My Early Leadership Realization
I have been in a role of leadership since 1999. While I have not cultivated my leadership skills over that entire time, I have made numerous attempts to add new skills to my toolbox that cultivated different approaches to certain situations. For example, as I learned more about race and sex discrimination, I made every attempt to be blind to different races and sex when making decisions. I specifically and consciously made efforts to put those biases aside and based my decision making on the quality of someone’s work. It’s not that I previously had much bias based on these factors in the past, but after attending workshops and training seminars on these topics, I realized that all too often, minorities were treated with unconscious bias, as were women and more recently people from the LGBTQ community.
The Uncritical Connection
As it relates to these biases, there is a specific instance many years ago in which the company I was working for did not value its workers as they should have. Looking back at that time now, my company’s bias was built on uncritical tendencies, specifically those that put their own culture above of all others (Paul & Elder, 2014). This type of behavior was not logical, nor sustainable in the current environment. What’s worse, these unfair behaviors were occurring on a college campus. I was too young to understand the impact this egocentric behavior had on me, but as a supervisor, I knew that I needed to treat people as equals and not unfairly. Although, I was young and still growing as a leader, I stood out from the rest of the employees because I wasn’t going to let my own values succumb to the arrogance of this company. While I didn’t stay with this company very long, I used this experience as a positive influence in my future development not just as a leader, but as a human being.
Where do I go from here
As a leader, I can serve an organization faithfully if I remain unbiased and rise above all the outside noise. I must make myself an example to all others that fairmindedness is a virtue that everyone develops, but like a muscle, it must be exercised frequently. By persevering, I will create a deeper understanding of intellectual virtues and use them appropriately.
I can. I must. I will.
Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2014). Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools (7th Ed.)
As I’ve been learning more about the intellectual virtues, I feel the greatest connection I’ve made with these virtues is with Perseverance vs. Laziness. According to Paul and Elder (2014), I need to use truths despite frustrations and irrational opposition of others. In many ways, I feel as if I have only just begun to exercise my skills as a leader. To be a leader, it requires inner strength to overcome challenges and much of the time, think skin. My strategy has always been to learn from those around me, both from mentors and subordinates. Some people I’ve spoken to about my leadership qualities have said I am overly logical and analyze data before deciding. However, if I had to pinpoint the gap in my abilities, it would be my emotions getting the best of me.
My Early Leadership Realization
I have been in a role of leadership since 1999. While I have not cultivated my leadership skills over that entire time, I have made numerous attempts to add new skills to my toolbox that cultivated different approaches to certain situations. For example, as I learned more about race and sex discrimination, I made every attempt to be blind to different races and sex when making decisions. I specifically and consciously made efforts to put those biases aside and based my decision making on the quality of someone’s work. It’s not that I previously had much bias based on these factors in the past, but after attending workshops and training seminars on these topics, I realized that all too often, minorities were treated with unconscious bias, as were women and more recently people from the LGBTQ community.
The Uncritical Connection
As it relates to these biases, there is a specific instance many years ago in which the company I was working for did not value its workers as they should have. Looking back at that time now, my company’s bias was built on uncritical tendencies, specifically those that put their own culture above of all others (Paul & Elder, 2014). This type of behavior was not logical, nor sustainable in the current environment. What’s worse, these unfair behaviors were occurring on a college campus. I was too young to understand the impact this egocentric behavior had on me, but as a supervisor, I knew that I needed to treat people as equals and not unfairly. Although, I was young and still growing as a leader, I stood out from the rest of the employees because I wasn’t going to let my own values succumb to the arrogance of this company. While I didn’t stay with this company very long, I used this experience as a positive influence in my future development not just as a leader, but as a human being.
Where do I go from here
As a leader, I can serve an organization faithfully if I remain unbiased and rise above all the outside noise. I must make myself an example to all others that fairmindedness is a virtue that everyone develops, but like a muscle, it must be exercised frequently. By persevering, I will create a deeper understanding of intellectual virtues and use them appropriately.
I can. I must. I will.
Marques Thomey
August 28, 2019
References:
References:
Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2014). Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools (7th Ed.)
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