Module 2
Identifying and Developing a Personal Leadership Style
Reflection
"The foundational prerequisite for all leadership effectiveness is self knowledge. It seems that leaders who first take the time to understand themselves are better able to understand others and lead them effectively" (Rutherford, Module 2 Notes). Dr. Rutherford led us through the steps to form a Personal Leadership Platform.
1. Foundational Planks
- Personal Mission Statement - My purpose in life is to bring honor and glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to be a loving and supportive wife and mom, to offer my husband and children opportunities to grow spiritually, mentally, and emotionally, to eternally impact my students, their families, and my coworkers by giving them my very best every day, and to lead others in my church and community to a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
- Core Values - Integrity, Grace, Relationships
- Insights from my DiSC profile - Specialist, others focused, self-control, team-person, loyal
- My Unique Selling Proposition - Realistic Team-Person, Hard on Myself and Loyal to You
- My Positive Prophecy - "Born a leader" "Perfect blend of your parents"
- My Model Resonant Leader - Servant leader, integrity, sacrifice, humility
- Dissonant Traits and Behaviors to Avoid - Critical, self-serving, lack of integrity, entitled
- Ego Excess - Get walked on or taken advantage of
- My Wild Card - I've been around leaders my whole life and through observation studied many different types of leaders.
- My Wild Card - My faith in Jesus Christ.
- We shared our foundational and platform planks in small groups. Through this time I added things like my first wild card. I had a lot in common with one of our group members, Brittany. We both grew up in the same community in the families of community leaders. We were able to share about these experiences and how they influenced our leadership styles.
Action Steps
As I went back through my Personal Leadership Platform, I realized that while the observation of leaders has been very helpful in developing my leadership skills I have not spent time reading books on leadership. My next step is to read several leadership books that will help me grow as a leader in my school, family, and church. In the first session of the fall retreat, Dr. Barlow gave a list of books he has read. I have recently read the book Mindset by Carol Dweck and Focus by Mike Schmoker. Other books I plan on reading are Uncommon by Tony Dungy and Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman. Reading these leadership books and blogs by Dr. Rutherford and Tim Elmore will help me to further develop my Personal Leadership Platform.