A Leader's Legacy Parts II & III

Relationships and Aspirations

     I found that parts two and three of A Leader's Legacy were uniquely intertwined. I also found that, just as in part one: "Significance", there were aspects of leadership discussed by Kouzes and Posner that I had not considered before.

     

     When one considers being a leader, or characteristics of a leader, there are a few things that naturally come to mind: someone who is outgoing, extroverted, passionate, someone who people naturally follow; an influencer. All of these connotations of leadership and the resulting limits people set upon themselves to become leaders, are exactly what Kouzes and Posner combat within these two sections. Of course, if someone is naturally gifted at influencing others, that is a good thing. However, it is not necessary for someone to be the stereotypical "leader" when they are leading a project or a team of people. 

     That was another aspect that was brought up in these two sections; people. What this book is arguing, is that leadership is all about the people. There has been, according to Kouzes and Posner, a long history of people believing that leadership is about the leader and their goals and "aspirations". Quite on the contrary. leadership is about listening to and understanding the people around you. Knowing who they are, what they want, and what they need is something that a leader must do to do their job right. It is important to instill trust within a group of people.

     

     One thing that really hit me within these sections as well, was the notion that as a leader, we must know what it is that we are passionate about; what it is that motivates us. This seemed to really affect me in that, being a student that is almost halfway done with her senior year in college, I really am struggling to figure these things out. While I know that my goal is to make a change or to help others in some way, I have yet to find the exact medium through which I plan to enact this passion. I'm sure through time, this will become more clear to me. And while I don't have a five year plan in place quite yet (like some of the other forward-thinking leaders may), I'm confident that I will find my place and my motivation to do what I have developed the skills to do...lead.