2 responses
Class mate 1
Redefining Leadership
Maintaining Authenticity and Integrity has been instrumental to me as a leader. Chin and Tremble (2015) explained how diverse leaders are often pioneers of firsts and pursue social change. Undoubtedly, this has been my mission as a leader within Higher Education and Student Affairs. In this field, we are charged with the holistic growth of our students. This charge, undoubtedly, requires me as a professional every day to show up as my authentic self. In my experience, I have not had the opportunity to be the best version of myself growing up because of how that translated to those who did not understand or felt threatened by my existence. As a Black gay man, there are various challenges carrying multiple minority identities that have aided in my ability to persevere and help others find value in their own identity.
Several years ago, I made the decision to show up every day as the best version of Justin. Consequently, this pushes my team to show up as their best selves to support our students. It is important in this field of work to help our students navigate the challenges of understanding themselves as they begin to experience life in ways they have not before. Being authentic in my approach has steered me from being seen by my students as trustworthy, caring, and student-centered. Leadership is fluid and requires us to show up differently at various times of our experiences. However, having core values like integrity and authenticity will continue to aid me in my approach to helping students become better versions of themselves.
References
Chin, J. L. & Trimble, J. E. (2015). Diversity and leadership. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Classmate 2
I believe in order to truly redefine leadership one must invest in professional development. In order for us as leaders to be truly transformational, we must engage in educational practices that boots our leadership techniques. Nevertheless, in order to successfully redefine leadership we must invest in a coach. I believe that as we invest in a coach to redefine our leadership techniques we learn how to relinquish control. Moreover, this allows us to distribute roles within our team which leads to organizational cohesiveness. Taylor (2010) opined that coaching skills for leaders is essential in the workplace to develop, motivate and inspire your staff. As our society continuously changes we as leaders must understand the importance of leadership mentoring and counselling. In order to be truly content as leader, we must understand that as leaders we must continuously work on ourselves in order to maintain a competitive edge. Leadership is not easy and now that society has changed drastically we must find ways to reinvent ourselves to keep our teams and staff involved. One important skill that we need to stay on top of is technology. Understanding technology is extremely important as a leader because I need to understand how to adapt to the concept that eventually, our roles as leaders will become virtual. It is important to keep abreast of new technology and software to enhance my technological skills. I think that it is fundamental I incorporate multiple media techniques to enhance my leadership techniques. The implementation of technology as a leader enhances my overall performance. Global migration is occurring rapidly and domestic and international markets have become more connected. Therefore, as an emerging leader my knowledge and skills of new technology is essential to my leadership potential. Being able to quickly learn new technology will assist me when necessary to manage a virtually diverse team. Research has shown that individuals who invest in technology are advanced in their careers. Söllner, Hoffman & Leimeister (2016) opined that the importance and acceptance of technology as leaders in this technological age has proven to have many positive outcomes in organizations. As society becomes more digitalized and interconnected, it should be top priority to ensure that I engage in new technology and software to keep abreast of the changes to come. In this digital age, it is fundamental to stress the importance of technology and its benefits. Moreover, because society has become so technologically inclined, there has been an increase in consumer and worker satisfaction as well as internal growth and development. Attaran, Attaran & Kirkland (2019) stated that as technology is advancing, the workplace must be equipped with smart devices to accommodate changes in the workplace. Furthermore, the benefits of digital leadership has proven to be significant especially if the necessary steps are taken to adapt to new strategic processes. In order to successfully advance and adapt to new and current technology, as a leader I must be adaptable to change. Enhancing adaptive capabilities is essential to my career development as a leader. Ye (2015) mentioned that frequent changes in workforce patterns has increased the awaren