Aspirations

Here I am somehow finding time to write this blog during the busiest week of the semester besides finals, the week before spring break. This third section of A Leader’s Legacy was about Apsirations.

Chapter 11 was mostly about a process of self examination. I have been undergoing this process since starting GLAD. I’ve been trying to put aside the “preconceived ideas of leadership” and figuring out who I am right now. It’s about the new territory that we reach during this journey. Also, a lot of thought has come up about values. And since all of our organization were founded on their own values, we should all be trying to get closer to them not just because they are part of our organizations but because these values are important to us as good people. Without these values, we don’t know what we are representing. “Until you passionately believe in something it’s hard to imagine that you could ever convince anyone else to believe. And if you wouldn’t follow you, why should anyone else?” This quote makes a lot of sense. I can admit that I thought I wasn’t right for leadership but now that I have opened myself up to a new way of thinking, I am someone worth following.

Chapter 12 talked about being hostage to the present. And although we all have deeply tied roots in our organizations, we can all get stuck with where we are at right now. We’ve discussed in GLAD how many organizations are very resistant to change and that is not the right mind set to have. We need to be more forward looking without neglecting the present. “To notice things you have to be present, you have to pay attention, and you have to be curious.”

Chapter 14 described how everyone will have their chance to be a leader and that there is a leader in everyone. We are all in GLAD to learn about leadership and become leaders and this book talks about how leaders can be taught to be a better leader and we are the proof. We will all get something out of this experience whether it’s from this book or the weekly meetings or both. Leadership is based on “motivation, desire, practice, good coaching, and feedback.” We all need to be developed properly to be the best leaders we can be.

The last chapter of the section focuses on limitations. Everyone has limitations. No one can do and be everything. This is why we have teams. If we didn’t have teams we wouldn’t be able to delegate tasks to the people who have a more useful skill set for the task. And finally, good leaders are good followers. We can’t be good leaders without following others at first or recognizing our limitations and allowing others to lead.