Alycia Holwerda

           During my Honors first year experience class, I learned more about leadership through various activities. We had many class discussions. Our professor asked us to read multiple articles that discussed various leadership philosophies. Also, I took multiple leadership quizzes to better understand my personal leadership values. Through this class I achieved a better understanding of leadership values and a leader’s role in teams.

 

            Through my leadership essay I was able to identify my personal leadership values (Values Level 1). I believe everyone has the possibility to become a leader through practice, but most leaders have natural abilities. A leader must be able to inspire trust, compassion, stability, courage and hope in others. The authoritarian approach is the most efficient and effective method to lead. In this technique, a leader delegates responsibility to associates, and followers are accountable for both successes and failures. A team is only as strong as its leader, but a leader is only as strong as its team. A leader must not only know their strengths and weaknesses but also those of their supporting team. Everyone plays an important role in making a team successful. A leader must be able to lead others down the right path, but others must be able to follow their leader in the right way. After this class, I am also able to identify various types of roles within group and team settings (Teams Level 1).

 

            After this class and formulating my personal leadership values and team objectives, I was able to take that knowledge and apply it to other leadership roles. I was able to lead the MNSU swim team as a role model, D.R.E.A.M. as a President, and Willmar as an ambassador for my hometown. This essay allowed me to reflect upon my present leadership knowledge and how I hoped to expand my leadership abilities. This essay gave me a solid foundation to build my leadership capabilities upon for the next four years at MNSU. I hope to continue to build my knowledge of various leadership styles to continue to strengthen my leadership philosophy into my career and personal life.