Leadership

I would like you to take a few minutes to sit and think before you go too far into reading this post.  Think about the tape recordings that run through your mind on the different issues that you have come in contact and how you handled those issues.  In many instances our tape recordings in our mind play over and over again and they influence not only our reactions to situations, but how we are when we are faced with similar issues.  Think about  what your greatest fear about becoming a leader contains.  Do you have pictures of great managers and leaders that you have come in contact with?  I  know I do.  For all of us to understand and use management and leadership prinicples, we need to understand ourselves and what is improtant to us.  Leadership and management, two very distinct terms that are often blended in the minds of our students, colleagues and even ourselves, without a clear and defined picture of what either term means.  One of the more finite definition that I have learned of leadership is that leadership is a collection of personal traits that is present in order to establish a vision and goals for a particular group and implement them, whereas, management is more along the lines of organizing, motivating and making sure the plan of action is carried out.

So, what are you?  Are you a leader or are you a manager? What characteristics do you believe a person needs to be a leader? When do you think the roles of a manager and a leader could conflict?  Take a few moments and pause on these questions.  We may find our answers if we take a few moments and reflect on them.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Oliver Wendell Holmes.