A Personal Statement on Leadership

To conclude a course I took this summer on Public Health Leadership and Management, taught by Dr. Heather Wipfli of the USC Institute for Global Health, I wrote the following personal statement on leadership. In it, I discuss the leadership style I would like to integrate into my future work. I wanted to share this statement because it has forced me to consider where I am, where I want to be, and how I can get there. In 5 or 10 years, I would like to look back and be able to say that I made progress toward my goal. I hope that this inspires you to think about your own leadership journey as well.

In the summer of 2018, I found myself in a strange place. Having just graduated from college, I was full of apprehension for the future. I was applying to medical schools, but I was not thoroughly convinced that I had the leadership skills necessary to become a successful physician. Fortunately, I started the Master of Public Health program at USC, which gave me the opportunity to take a class that I will never forget: Public Health Leadership and Management. Over the course of the semester, I reflected on my accomplishments and activities in leadership, and I realized that there are many more steps I must take in order to become an effective leader. My observations of numerous public health leaders have shown me that there is great diversity in leadership styles. Thus, I have crafted my own leadership model based on my personal values. Leadership, to me, is energizing and creating a sense of purpose in others, incorporating feedback, and fostering momentum for change.

My model of leadership is centered on dignity. I believe that boosting others’ confidence and self-efficacy can help them cultivate the skills necessary to contribute to the community and the world. Under this model, the most important tasks of a leader are to listen, motivate, and respect others. The first task, listening, is perhaps best demonstrated by Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen. From reading her book, The Blue Sweater, I developed greater insight into what it truly means to help others without treating them as “dependent." In Novogratz, I saw a reflection of the type of leader I wanted to be: somebody who values the dignity of others as much as she values her own. Her transformation from someone who merely “helps” to someone who “listens” is a crucial transformation. It is a change that I am working towards in my own personal and professional life.

During my time as an intern at a nursing home, I noticed the problem of “helping” without “listening,” specifically as it relates to eldercare. I saw that unidirectional, impersonal top-down philanthropy, monetary or otherwise, often creates dependency, the opposite of dignity. As Jacqueline demonstrates, listening to the people we work with or for can make us better leaders. It forces us to acknowledge the human desire for freedom to make one’s own choices and decisions, to have agency over one’s own life. With this understanding, we are subsequently better able to motivate and respect others.

While developing my own public health organization for a course project, I found myself especially drawn to the concept of dignity. My organization’s mission, vision, and values all revolved around this concept. Throughout the semester, I noticed that instilling a sense of purpose in others is a skill common to many great leaders and managers. Effective teamwork places a strong emphasis on dignity and respect, and the job of a team leader is to ensure that these values are integrated into the organization’s culture. In times of crisis, dignity can help team members maintain their respect for one another and avoid blaming each other.

In my field of interest, eldercare, dignity is key to promoting a better quality of life in older adults and nursing home residents who might feel devalued or overly dependent while in the nursing home setting. This is why I built my idea for a public health organization on the concept of improving the mental health and quality of life of senior citizens by increasing their sense of purpose through community engagement and entrepreneurship development. I intend to incorporate this focus on dignity in my interactions with patients in my future medical career.

As many accomplished leaders in the field of public health have demonstrated, leadership development is an ongoing process that requires sustained, conscious effort. I am in the early stages of my leadership journey, but there are many things I can do, starting today, to make the values I have described above a part of my life. Firstly, I can improve my listening skills. I recently joined Toastmasters intending to work on my presentation skills, but in fact this has also given me the opportunity to expand my listening skills by listening to the feedback of others and putting their suggestions to practice. I am sure that these skills will also benefit me in my future medical career, for which I will need to be attentive to the feedback of patients and colleagues. Not only will listening help me become a great physician, but it will also make my patients and colleagues feel more respected. The main takeaway is this: Feedback is necessary for improvement. It helps us assess our strengths and weaknesses, especially those that we are not aware of.

Listening to feedback will also be a major challenge for me, as my sensitive personality often makes it hard to handle criticism. Instead of finding ways to defend myself and deny my weaknesses, I will boldly accept them and work on them. Another challenge is knowing when to listen to the advice of others versus follow my own judgment. I rarely disagree with other people and assert my own beliefs, though I admit that occasional assertiveness is useful and necessary, especially for health care providers. When faced with noncompliant or rude individuals, one must be attentive but also forthright and assertive. My mother, a physician, often advises me to “listen to the advice and suggestions of others, but always do what you feel is the right thing to do.” By working on these aspects of myself, I hope to become the attentive, inspiring, and respectful yet assertive leader that I envision myself to be. The future is bright.