My Approach to Leadership

Leadership is defined as leading a group of people or an organization.  According to Webster dictionary, Management is defined as the act or skill of controlling and making decisions about a business, department, sports team, etc.  The difference to these approaches all depends on the task or goals that one wants to accomplish in project or a work environment. Many qualities that differ the manager from the leader are developed in simple projects that many of us have been doing since elementary school.  Remember the dreaded group project. When the teacher would give topics or projects that a pair or team would have to complete together.  The teacher who would act as manager/leader would normally pair strong students with weaker students to get the job done. I read an article, The Power of Peers and Libraries, which pointed out that when students get overwhelmed while during research, they tend to look towards their peers rather than traditional resources like teachers and libraries. But I got to thinking why is that? Is it because our friends are so much smarter? Or is it because CERTAIN friends will have the answers or be able to guide you to the correct answer? This kind of decision making is what many organizations find themselves when it comes to separating managers from leaders. I believe in working together to the answers. For example remember the dreaded group projects in some of our course, a leader would always have to be chosen. The group would survey the table and choose a leader. In some cases, the leader would step up and volunteer to be the leader. The project success was determined whether the leader could teach everyone in the group the necessary task to get the project done. If the leader worked hard, the group worked hard, and typically had success to where they may also have the potential to reach beyond the involved students because they pass on what they have learned to other students or employees. A leader understands if the project is to be successful just verbal instructions may not work. The project fails when leaders watch from a far and tend to get involved unless absolutely necessary. Where a good leaders show everyone how to accomplish the task rather than just tell them how to complete the task. This is how I lead. I cannot set expectations that I am willing to meet as well. As a leader, I cannot just  give directions and expect the job to get it done. My job as a leader should inspire how to get the project done. Many leaders are methodical and not open to change. I am a leader that looks for innovative ways to not only manage but keep everyone engaged to get the job done. A leader is not afraid of hard work and has to work hard to be influential in any project whether that be in a school, professional or home setting to inspire their peers to complete and create great projects. 

Making Connections

“Old Dominion University’s LeADERS program connects students to courses and real world experiences in the areas of: Leadership, Academic Internship, Diversity, Entrepreneurship, Research, or Service Learning. This LeADERS ePortfolio shares how my experiences in the areas of communication, consistency, and hard work has supported my personal and professional development. 

Looking Forward

This program helped me realized that I am the type of leader that my hard work and passion for my job wanted me to create avenues with other fellow code professionals to be leaders. Many of these passions are the artifacts that I used for creating this ePortfolio. From teaching, to networking, to my 1st national speaking engagement was all apart of being recognized as a leader. This has been a challenge all the while attending school, being a mom, and working full time.