Discuss your strengths and the areas you want to grow in as it relates to leadership. Articulate at least three (3) specific steps you can take to continue to develop your leadership. Be sure that your plan is both realistic and attainable (S.M.A.R.T.)
I believe that I am a good leader, however I have a lot of room to grow, which is great. I think that in the past I have not been decisive enough and I’ve let indecision be my decision, which is not the best leadership trait, and being more decisive is an area I’d like to improve on. But I do believe that I have a lot of emotional intelligence. I know that I am not only self aware but also socially aware. Not only that, I have pretty good self management.
I also believe that I am a very empathetic leader that can connect with others by listening and truly being interested in others. I think listening and engaging with people is one of my best traits. I think that by listening to others and connecting with them, you can build a relationship and truly connect with people. In this class and other leadership classes at OSU I’ve been able to analyze my leadership skills and get more insight into how to listen more effectively. One of the videos that I’ve been exposed to reach people by getting to their why, not the how or the what. Below is a video about Simon Sinek explaining this theory.
In order to continue my leadership progress, I would like to do several things:
- Over the next six months, I would like to take two more leadership courses and get A’s in both courses. I hope that this continued path of academic pursuit of leadership will help me better understand leadership and help me evolve my own leadership skills.
- Over the next three months, I will wake up at 5AM and for the first hour I will meditate for 20 minutes, exercise for 20 minutes, and journal for 20 minutes. This is something that I did at the beginning of 2020, which greatly helped start my day off on the best foot.
- Over the next year, I will study for and take the Foreign Service Exam, in hopes of advancing my career into a job that uses many of my leadership strengths – diplomacy.
Bibliography: Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | TED Talk. Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action
