What’s My Leadership Vision?

When you watched a movie or read a book as a child, to whom does your attention lie?

The main character, of course. It was a mystery to me as to why the unassuming ones are the main characters. But as you get along with the story, the unassuming character gets noticed by a mentor, who trains and guides them. The main character grows as they learn their craft and overcome challenges. But when the largest challenge appears the mentor disappears and the main character, after extreme difficulty overcomes that as well, becoming the person they are supposed to be.

Why the short blurb above about all that? My belief is that it is the same with leaders. Leaders don’t always start off as leaders. They needed someone to believe in them and refine them into something they could become (Prummer et al., 2024, p. 2). Like a diamond in the rough. Hence, those aspiring to be leaders should be careful who they emulate and follow.

The Shapers of My Leadership Aspiration

There are many people in my life who influenced my vision of leadership. My first influence was my father. A leader in many ways in business and as a father. He is the kind of leader who will lead with charisma and a bit of an old-school leadership style on the side, which are functional and situational approaches (Eman et al., 2023, pp. 1, 7; Ford et al., 2021, p. 89-91; Thompson & Glas?, 2018, p. 575; Pasaribu et al., 2022, p. 3). But more than that, he led with ethics (Halbusi, 2021, p. 162). These formed the basis of my leadership foundation, which has changed over the years. However, two things stick with me, and that is leaders need to be charismatic and ethical.

Another person who has influenced me was George Lucas. As a person with a creative background, my value and respect for collaboration sit well with how George runs his studio, Lucasfilms (Finkelstein, 2015). He was known for pushing the boundaries of cinema in terms of special visual effects and bringing the groundbreaking film “Star Wars” to the silver screen.

However, more than that, he managed the studio with a leadership style that is both transformative and transactional (Hunt & Fedynich, 2018, p. 24; Mekonnen & Bayissa, 2023, p. 2). This resulted in a highly collaborative working environment, which pushed boundaries, and a flatter organisational structure (Turi et al., 2022, p. 1; Finkelstein, 2015). The level of camaraderie between the employees was something special and rarely seen in other companies. This is something I want to foster and emulate for my team.

How Ready Am I to Lead as Compared to Last Time?

If people had asked me this question, “How ready am I to lead?” a few years ago, or even last year, the past me would have been willing and yet uncertain at the same time due to my lack of experience and confidence. But now, my answer is a “yes”.

So, What Change?

Going through and learning from my many failures and successes has built up my experience and made me more confident. But also, the people who believed in me leading played a role in giving me the boost to step forward. In my current capacity as a leader in the student body, my team in both projects and student groups have made it known that they appreciate my planning skills and tenacity to be forthcoming. However, there are things to work on, such as my weakness in speaking in front of a crowd or being too pushy to get things done. For them to be honest is a privilege, which should be the way as being a leader is an ongoing journey.

Final Thoughts

So, the question remains, “What is my leadership vision?”. My vision is one where leaders lead by example that is transformational, transactional, ethical, and charismatic (Hunt & Fedynich, 2018, p. 24; Mekonnen & Bayissa, 2023, p. 2; Halbusi, 2021, p. 162; Eman et al., 2023, pp. 1, 7). That is my ultimate goal in my journey as a leader.

To my readers, comment below and let me know yours.

References

Baver, K. (2020, May 21). Empire at 40 | George Lucas on Making “Something That Had Never Been Done Before,” Again. Star Wars. https://www.starwars.com/news/empire-at-40-george-lucas-interview

Eman, G., Hernández, A., & Vicente González Romá. (2023). Charismatic leadership, intra-team communication quality, and team performance: The role of average leadership perceptions and their homogeneity.?European Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2023.04.011

Finkelstein, S. (2015, December 16). George Lucas: Management Guru?. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sydneyfinkelstein/2015/12/16/george-lucas-management-guru/

Ford, J., Ford, L., & Polin, B. (2021). Leadership in the Implementation of Change: Functions, Sources, and Requisite Variety. Journal of Change Management: Reframing Leadership and Organizational Practice, 21(1), 87-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2021.1861697

Halbusi, H. A., Williams, K. A., Ramayah, T., Aldieri, L., & Vinci, C. P. (2021). Linking ethical leadership and ethical climate to employees' ethical behavior: the moderating role of person–organization fit. [Linking ethical leadership and ethical climate] Personnel Review, 50(1), 159-185. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-09-2019-0522

Hunt, T., & Fedynich, L. C. (2018). Leadership: Past, Present, and Future: An Evolution of an Idea. Journal of Arts & Humanities, 8(2), 20-26. https://www.theartsjournal.org/index.php/site/article/view/1582

Mekonnen, M., & Bayissa, Z. (2023). The Effect of Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles on Organizational Readiness for Change Among Health Professionals. SAGE Open Nursing, 9, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1177/23779608231185923

Morady, M. (nil). The Influence of the ILC’s Workshops on my Leadership Journey. The #IlliniLeader’s Digest. https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/8605/1395639786

Pasaribu, S. B., Goestijahjanti, F. S., Srinnita, S., Novitasari, D., & Haryanto, B. (2022). The Role of Situational Leadership on Job Satisfaction, Organizational Citizenship (OCB), and Employee Performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896539

Prummer, K., Salomé Human-Vogel, Marien Alet Graham, & Pittich, D. (2024). The role of mentoring in developing leaders’ emotional intelligence: exploring mentoring types, emotional intelligence, organizational factors, and gender.?Frontiers in Education,?9. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1393660

Thompson, G., & Glas?, L. (2018). Situational leadership theory: a test from a leader-follower congruence approach. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 39(5), 574-591. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-01-2018-0050

Turi, J. A., Khastoori, S., Sorooshian, S., & Campbell, N. (2022). Diversity impact on organizational performance: Moderating and mediating role of diversity beliefs and leadership expertise. PLoS ONE, 17(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270813