Three Semester Review

Before entering Public Leadership, my view on what an effective leader was very basic and undeveloped. I was under the impression that a good leader is simply someone who can compel others to listen to them. While this is certainly an attribute of a leader, it fails to understand the processes in which a person develops his or herself and leadership style in order to accomplish this. My time in Public Leadership has exposed me to these qualities, including charisma, transformational leadership, emotional intelligence, negotiation, and servant leadership and authenticity. My view on leadership today is that an effective leader is selfless; he or she puts others first, commits towards serving the group, and carefully regulates emotions while remaining authentic towards their true self.

My personal leadership style is centered around servant leadership. As a leader, I believe that a primary goal should be to motivate and compel others to develop into their best selves, and to bring out their leadership strengths. I believe that the goals of the group or organization trump the personal goals of myself or other members in the group; therefore, as a servant leader, I believe that I will be leading the group to success. I also center my leadership around emotional intelligence. Understanding my own emotions is key in order to be self-aware about the limitations of my abilities and impacts of my actions on others. Furthermore, emotional intelligence enables me to be empathetic and consider the feelings of the group. This will lead to a sense of community and trust within the group, which in turn boosts motivation.

The PLCY201 Leadership Analysis Final Paper was one of the most influential factors in shaping my understanding of leadership. For this assignment, I analyzed John McCain and his personal leadership style. While going into writing this paper I understood McCain was a respectable, well known leader, upon completion I was able to dissect exactly what made his leadership so effective. McCain was a servant leader at heart, having served in the Vietnam war and becoming a prisoner of war. He even refused to be released when offered by his captors, demanding the other POWs be released first. McCain was also highly authentic, keeping his views despite the enormous political pressures surrounding him. McCain constantly sought common ground during his time in the Senate, joining several bipartisan groups and seeking compromise with the Obama administration.

While I do not necessarily anticipate being nearly as influential as McCain, studying his leadership style was eye-opening. In a world that is increasingly polarized and divided, being able to unite a group towards a common goal has never been both more difficult and important. Doing so with a servant attitude is even harder. As a leader, I aspire to convey the same qualities and traits McCain did during his decades of public service.

One of the biggest takeaways from Public Leadership was the focus on emotional intelligence. In my Introduction to Marketing course, a large chunk of the course is completed doing group work, with a group assignment due every week. One particular week, the grade my group earned on our team submission was lower than what I had expected and wished for, with points taken off from questions other people had answered. To ensure this would not happen again, I decided that I was going to look over the next assignment after everyone was finished, and make my own edits and submit myself. When we received our grade, it was also not as high as it could have been. This showed me the limitations of what I myself can do on my own. Furthermore, my groupmates all agreed that we needed to collaborate collectively on the assignments to succeed. I was open to feedback, and took responsibility for my mistaken understanding. When this occurred, I believe that learning emotional intelligence in Public Leadership helped me achieve this outcome.