Mitten Shaped Flights

Looking back at my personal definition for leadership, I wouldn't really change anything about it. My definition of leadership was the action, thoughts, processes and dedication taken by a person or persons in a passionate and honest attempt to assist, guide and provide for other people. If anything, perhaps this definition sounds more appealing, because it captures all of the heart and soul that I believe leadership can be.  Prior to taking MSLD 511 and learning about all of the leadership types and behaviors, I thought I knew enough about leadership to be dangerous. But, now that we've gone through Northouse's Leadership: Theory and Practice (2018), I can say that my outlook on the various types of leadership has expanded tenfold. I still believe that women are great leaders and they should be scored more appropriately in future opinions. I still believe that Winston and Patterson (2006) went too far in their analysis of leadership.  Dr. P, I humbly apologize, but we ...

This is an excellent time for this blog to happen, as I’ve recently completed my end of the year performance review at work. In my organization, you’re required to do a mid-year review and end of year review so that employees and their leaders have a formalized time to meet to discuss goals. During my recent review, I had the opportunity to discuss where I see myself in a few years. After already serving as a director, logically, my next step is vice-president and with that comes additional leadership requirements. But, during my review, it became apparent that this was going to be an instructional conversation. My boss really tried to get me to focus on what I wanted to do and understand what I was passionate about. “The goal of adaptive leadership is to encourage people to change and learn new ways of living so that they may do well and grow” (Northouse, pg. 258). We went around and around for about 10 minutes as it kept trying to draw closer to the root answer. I found his task ...

When I think of the many leaders that I’ve had in my career, so many different attributes come to mind. I think of those leaders that sometimes just didn’t give a shit to those that treated me better than my own family. There was one leader that exhibited the traits of a transformational leader, whom I will never forget. His name was Mike Santos and I worked for him at Denver International Airport. Transformational leaders do their best to inspire and motivate their followers without micromanaging their every move. Mr. Santos gave me and other followers more opportunities to be creative and find our own vision and solutions to problems. He was this type of leader and he executed this style quite successfully. I was very happy to have worked with Mr. Santos during my time in Denver. Leaders are authentically transformational when they increase awareness of what is right, good, important, and beautiful, when they help to elevate followers needs for achievement and self-actualization,...

The Ted talk video clip with Talgam was an interested look at how leadership behaviors are shown through musical conductors. Having played an instrument in an orchestra style band for 10 years, I can relate to the different conductor’s styles. During my time in the band, we had 4 different conductors and each of them had different expectations and had varying demands. Using conductors is a genius idea. It allows for the comparisons, similarities and differences between the theory of leadership and conductors acting as leaders. The comical way Talgam portrays the conductors and their individual personalities was a great way to emotionally connect the ideas presented through the conductor’s leadership methods. I think that Talgam was able to make these connections because of the straightforward manner each of these conductors led their orchestras. Whether it was aggressively or passively, each conductor was exhibiting some kind of reaction and it was fun to see this throughout the vi...

Control Your Locus How I got where I am can be summed up with a few decisions I made. First, in 2006, I decided to go to a house party where I was hit over the head with a horseshoe stake and almost died. Having made that recovery several months later, I ran into the woman I had bumped into at work before the accident and we got married 3 years later. After time had passed, I decided to leave aviation and the government sector and work for a distribution center that doubled my commute. After experiencing the pain of non-government work, I left that job for one in construction. Again, after about a year, I left that job and bounced around for 5 more months until I interviewed for a position with Denver International Airport. My wife and I decided to leave Michigan behind and move to Colorado. I was only there for 6 months before my wife said she changed her mind and I needed to come home. Meanwhile, I tore my left Achilles stepping into a swimming pool at a conference in Las Vegas...

I Know I Know Critical to all walks of life is to be aware of the situation around you. If a hunter wasn’t quiet, he’d scare away the animals. If a doctor wasn’t precise, he could kill a patient. If the mechanic wasn’t knowledge, the vehicle wouldn’t work. Knowing your surroundings, understanding the situation and what you should and shouldn’t do is part of the learning experience. It is why you still hear children screaming in church! With all that being said, I have found myself still figuring out when to use my leadership skills in many different situations, both at work and at home. There are four styles or development levels a person can use, but it depends on the development level of the person, much like being aware of your situation. Those four development levels are directing, coaching, supporting and delegating. So how do I know when and which to use? I don’t! But I’m still learning. For instance, directing is something I would do as a p arent. I would need to be di...

The Baseline Traits  When I think of the traits, I see from the leaders I look up to in my organization, I find it interesting to compare my level of expertise to theirs. I’m naturally a competitive person and like to baseline myself or my skills against other people. Sometimes, that can be a downfall of mine where I should be using the comparison to boost my own potential, rather than looking at how far advanced others are with these traits. Stepping back from the ledge a bit and putting my critical thinking hat on, I see that my confidence is one my strongest strengths. I understand that to be an effective leader, you must have confidence, but too much of it will turn off those around you. An overabundance of confidence can be misconstrued as arrogance or cockiness and end up being more of a detractor than an enhancer. I have had to watch myself in that I don’t push people with this strength, because it can quickly turn against me. Another trait that I see enhancing my ...