Exemplary Leader Analysis

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Understanding leadership and the skills required to be a successful leader are goals that are necessary for anyone who wants to be in charge or even a team player. Being a leader is something that can be difficult. The difficulty can alter depending on the situation. For example, in a personal experience I was given the role as captain for both the swim and water polo team in high school. I was a leader for younger students and my coaches. Understanding my strengths and weaknesses would have been beneficial. After reading Learning Leadership: The Five Fundamentals of Becoming an Exemplary Leader and the First Ninety Days; Critical Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels I gained perspective of what it entails to be a successful leader. I …show more content…
As a team leader in high school the one thing that I would pride myself on would be my ability to support my girls in their races, school, or even person issues they were dealing with outside of swimming. Being a captain of the swim team was one of the most educational experiences. It was the first taste of leadership. It left me as the individual that 20 girls looked up too. I was their role model when it came to the fundamentals of the team. As explained in the book, being able to model and to observe molding allows for individuals to gain knowledge about the dynamics of the skill being acquired or the dynamic of a structure. As a freshman, I was in their position. Having the ability to gain their perspective to how they wanted to be treated based off the modeling I had been exposed to prior to my senior year. To be the best captain I could be I had to first understand what it took to be the best captain. I had three years of previous individuals to look up too. Learning from their mistakes, it helped to shape a better outline of what I needed to be to be a great captain. But even in have previous role models to look up too, and seeing their mistakes, it still left me facing other weaknesses. As someone who will have the responsibility to train new hires, it will also be my responsibility to support them in their new positions. Same would go for managers who would depend …show more content…
Confrontation with others is a new territory for anyone in a leadership position. More so, helping others deal with their own issues. Knowing the correct thing to say, or knowing that information being given will be beneficial. Dealing with personal confrontation is one thing, but to deal with confrontation between two individuals escalates the issue. For instance, if two teammates were fighting, it was my responsibility as their captain to help them solve the disagreement. Being a leader meant that I needed to know both members' individual and see their arguments from their point of view. Without knowing my team and their individual issues, I would have failed to help in their disagreement. It would have been a poor example of me as a leader. This was one trait I professed that I saw as a weakness due to my desire to avoid conflict. It was also a weakness of mine that has been brought to light in group assignments and previous work related issues. I prefer to ignore conflict if I believe that it can be looked past. Others disagree and I continue to avoid the conflict. As a leader, I need to be able to deal with conflict, whether it is internal or external with others. Avoidance is childish and fearful. Exemplary leaders are neither. As stated in my professional development plan, a job of a human resource administrator is to train and deal with multiple employees at once. If there is a