Building My Leadership Philosophy: Recap of Leadership Colloquium Learnings

My Definition of Leadership

At the beginning of the semester, Donnie Williams asked us to write down our definition of a successful leader. For me 5 months ago, that was someone who could "Provide a vision and spearhead it; Someone who can guide others during change and ensures a vision is achieved and carried out.” Since there is technically no wrong answer because the definition of leadership is very personal to each individual, I believe my definition was very sound and comprehensive. However, I was stumped and questioned my belief upon being asked by Dr. Williams whether figures such as Adolf Hilter, Gandhi, and Joseph Stalin would be successful leaders based on our definitions. I was quickly taught that you will never truly know everything about a subject even if you believe so and that you will (and should) never stop learning — a lesson I'll discuss more in this article. Because of a simple question, I found that the question below was a lot harder to answer than I expected.

"What makes a good leader?

After this introductory class, I realized that while seemingly contradictory, being a successful leader does not necessarily mean that you are a "good" leader; meeting those criteria all depends on our individual leadership philosophy. As the semester progressed, I learned more about the various types of leadership styles, read academic articles, and heard from renowned guest speakers. Most importantly, I learned more about myself, related my life experiences to lessons learned, and applied these lessons to my leadership philosophy development.

My Leadership Development

While theories like the Trait Theory lean towards the side that there are some innate qualities that all leaders should have or are born with, I personally believe that no one is born a perfect leader or has to meet all the required checklists deemed to be those of a "good" leader. Rather being a good leader is the accumulation of years of learning, tackling challenges, facing uncertainty, and most importantly, learning to interact with those around you.

"Becoming a leader is a journey, not a destination" - Bill George.

For me, my leadership journey started when I was barely 18 years old with my first official leadership title as a shift lead at 7 Brew Coffee. At that point, I was by no means a perfect leader and it took time before I fully understood and took ownership of my role. However, being retrospective, I acted more as a manager than a leader by focusing more on the task at hand: making high-quality coffee fast while providing great customer service. I was not necessarily focused on thinking about the future of a relatively small local business (at the time) but still tried to help my fellow baristas grow and maintain our amazing work culture amidst many company changes and turnover. Only after a lecture from Mr. Matt Connolly , the VP of Supply Chain & Distribution at Sam's Club , did I realize that I have been using the two (managing and leading) interchangeably. Matt stated that the key difference between a manager and a leader is:

"Leading others means to encourage, grow, and develop others who work WITH you, not for you." - Matt Connolly.

I see this to be true in other jobs and internships I have had. Like what distinguishes a manager from a leader, I have had past leaders who have acted as coaches and mentors to me and who wanted to succeed beyond the required day-to-day tasks (e.g., turning in a report). These few individuals have contributed most to my leadership development and have become role models for what I believe is a truly "great" leader. I've engrained what they have taught me and the abundant lessons I've gained from the executives who have spoken to our class.

Lessons From Executives

Similar to how leadership has continuously evolved in its meaning and approach, so too has my leadership philosophy. I originally started this class with a belief that I could one day become a servant leader; something that was always praised in past internships and jobs that I’ve had. However, I realized that I never truly learned what exactly a servant leader was until I met Mrs. Shelley Simpson, the CEO & President of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. Now I find that my ideal leadership philosophy is a combination of all the theories and executive leadership styles that I've read or witnessed.

The first lesson that has influenced my leadership philosophy is from Mr. Mark McEntire , CEO of Princeton TMX, and that is to never compromise your values and principles. This means that being a great leader sometimes means being uncomfortable with confrontation and being someone who does what is right, even when no one is watching. As someone who tends to avoid confrontation, this struck a chord with me as I reflect on times when I have had to go against my moral compass to avoid shifting the team's mood or performance. Often, I would have thoughts like "I'll just let this go this one time to keep the peace". However as stated by Clayton Christensen in his article "How Will You Measure Your Life?", the damage of giving into a "just this once" decision is greater than we imagine. Once a leader lets go of their principles even one time, it is extremely damaging to their reputation, trust, and image. As Mark mentioned, leaders should strive for their employees or team members to be able to predict their behavior even in their absence meaning that they know their leader's ethics would never waver. This should be true for a leader's values and character as well.

"How can I support you?" - Shelly Simpson.

My ideal image of a "good" leader is someone who fits many of the key leadership principles that Mrs. Shelley Simpson shared with us. First, a leader who shows empathy and values deeply about their people, and asks questions like the above thus fostering a culture that values employees as individuals. Secondly, a leader who is genuine, authentic, and respects those around them. To achieve this I believe that a leader must have both humility and accountability at the core of their character as these are key in building trust and since ego is a leader's greatest enemy. Humble and authentic leaders see their role and duty as being what can they do for their organization and not vice versa. Their main goal should be to answer the following question: "How can they help those around them recognize their full potential?" These principles are ones that I believe are crucial and are common across all guest lectures.

"The only thing that stays the same is change! - Jeff Lough.

Lastly, as I reiterated earlier I believe that there is no such thing as a perfect leader BUT I believe that ANYONE can become a leader simply through their willingness to learn. This aligns with a key lesson that all executives including Mr. Jeff Lough , the SVP of Logistics and Procurement at Tyson Foods , shared with us. That being leaders must continuously learn and adapt. Leaders who embrace lifelong learning and adaptability are better equipped to navigate the challenges of an ever-evolving industry. Not only does this mindset foster personal growth, but it also sets an example for those around us. This means that a leader never wants to be the smartest person in the room but rather should seek to learn from whomever that may be. This is where humility and respect come into play. As we can see all of the lessons that I have received from various executives all with different backgrounds and unique experiences are all interconnected.

My Growth Plan to Become a Stronger Leader

All of these ethics, values, beliefs, and character traits are a reflection of my upbringing and background. Because human nature is to be innately biased towards oneself I realized from various questionnaires and articles how susceptible I am to have a "just this once" mentality or non-confrontable stance that goes against what I believe in. However, by first accepting this fact and reflecting on my experiences, I have already begun being more cognizant of myself when faced with these situations and have started to transform myself into a stronger leader based on the advice I've received or read. For example, falling back on how managers differ from leaders, I want to utilize my developer strength (from the Strength Finders Assessment) to become a coach and develop others into leaders too. This is also what differentiates a successful leader from a good leader in my opinion. As Mark McEntire perfectly summarized:

"True leaders are passionate about creating more leaders and are credit makers rather than credit takers." - Mark McEntire.

This is also similar to the transformational leadership style and leader-leader model that L. David Marquet embodied in Turn the Ship Around. For the key takeaways and my action plan to invest in this model and style, please read my past article!

To achieve all of my goals and become my ideal image of a leader, I must strive to never stop learning whether that be by subscribing to various business literature like Wall Street Journals, doing LinkedIn Lessons, shadowing a cross-functional department, etc. This is the most common advice that I have received not only in this leadership colloquium but across my entire college career and while seemingly so simple is ever more important in this increasingly dynamic world. I have also made a habit of taking written notes when attending conferences, meetings, or guest lectures that I can review anytime. With all of these amazing lessons and advice given, I will continue to reflect on this course and those that I've gotten to meet while pursuing my post-graduate career and leadership journey! Thank you Donnie Williams and all of our amazing guest speakers!

Citations:

Christensen, Clayton M. “How Will You Measure Your Life?” Harvard Business Review, vol. 88, no. 7, 8, 2010.