Personal Leadership Philosophy Assignment

Jacob Azzarello
100654931

Part 1:

After completing the self-assessments, it is clearer to me what makes a good leader, what I
value as a leader, as well as the type of leaders that I have been exposed to in my life. My
current leadership strengths surprised me in the sense that I learned that the skills I use on a
daily basis is what can make a good leader in the work environment. For example, I value what
my co-workers think of me and I work well in independent and group settings. The weaknesses I
uncovered about myself are not surprising to me as I believe I am a very self-aware person. The
specific weakness I learned more about in myself includes my ability to adapt with change. I am
a person that enjoys having routine and as a leader I believe you need to be ready to adapt to
changing environment often.

As I transition from a college student to a potential business leader, it is clear that I have room
for improvement in many aspects. In my past and present jobs, I have worked with a wide
range of leaders who all have their own unique style on leading their employees. This has given
me the opportunity to learn what leadership style I enjoy the most as an employee as well as
the type of leader I want to be in the future. By using and developing important skills such as
adapting to change in my work environment, upholding myself to a high degree of standard, as
well as working well in team environments I believe I will be a successful leader. I anticipate I
will experience situations where I will question the leader I am; however, I remain hopeful that I
will stay true to myself just how I am in my personal life; with honesty, dignity, and respect.

Part 2:

Throughout the past 6 years of my life working in various retail environments, I have been
exposed to plenty of managers and supervisors. A manager that stands out to me that models
the characteristics of a positive leader is my manager Debra at Costco. A few things that make
her a positive leader is that she is easy to talk to about work-related things as well as personal
things, she motivates me to do better, and she also takes her job seriously but with an easy-
going approach. As I develop my leadership skills set, these are things I would definitely want to
model. By doing these things I believe it makes for a better work environment and better
manager-employee relationships.

A leadership skill I have demonstrated in the past is displaying transparency. No matter who I
am talking to I always strive to be authentic and stand up for what I believe in. I have shown
this when I witnesses a rude customer yelling at a co-worker and stood up for my co-worker in
the situation. Another skill I have is influencing others. Having a positive influence on those
around you can make for a great leader by building up those around you. A specific time I have
demonstrated this skill is when I adapt my approach to speaking with different people. I can
quickly adapt my style of communication to build a stronger relationship. Another strength I
possess is process management. Being able to organize people in a way to maximize efficiency
is a very important skill for leaders to have. A time when I have displayed this skill was when I
had to assist in the making of my departments schedule for a period of time when hours per
each person had to be minimized but the efficiency had to be maximized. This was a difficult
effort however it proved to work well and efficiency in the departments remained at a high
standard.

Two areas that I realize I would like to develop are conflict management and adaptability. I have
chosen these areas as they are very important when working with a large group of people.
Conflict management is important because often times people find themselves in
disagreements and it is important to have the knowledge on how to settle disputes. By
developing this skill, it will ensure that as a future leader I can be seen as a person people can
come to when they are facing challenges in their work environment. Adaptability is something
that I would like to improve upon because I am a person that enjoys consistency in my work
environment so quick changes can sometimes be a challenge to navigate. As a leader, this skill
is important because often times leaders are faced with a constant change of challenges
throughout not only their careers but each and every day.

Part 3:

Step A:

Humor – I believe that humor can solve a lot of problems as well as assist in situations where
there may be awkward tension. Humor is not just a personality trait but a tool that leaders can
use to boost morale as well as make everyone’s lives a little better.
Authority- Authority is what makes a leader stand out from the rest. Although there is a fine
line of being a person of authority and someone who takes advantage of the title and uses the
power to benefit just themselves.
Collaboration- I believe that collaboration amongst leaders and followers is very important. It is
how ideas are shared and creates a better environment for everyone. By allowing everyone to
collaborate and share their passion for one end goal; to be better, grows ideas into action.
Advancement- Advancement is something I believe strongly in. It is also important that
businesses allow advancement within the company. As a leader it is important to allow those
who work for you and hopefully admire you to work their way up in the business. This creates
passion to move forward as well as motivation within an organization.
Integrity- I believe that integrity is what holds a business together. Leading with integrity is how
you build trust as well as respect from those around you. Being a leader that does business in a
fair way is critical when faced with challenging circumstances that can often times make leaders
doubt themselves. I expect that a leader with integrity stays true to themselves as well as those
around them.

In the future I see myself upholding these values by following what I know best- staying true to
myself. A leader that is true to themselves and doesn’t try to be like someone else will always
be seen as just that. By bringing these five traits into my future leadership role will give me the
opportunity to get as much respect as I put into my work and how much respect I give to
others. These traits are not what only helps me define myself as a leader but is also what
defines me as a person and the person I am striving to be. Being fair to others, staying true to
myself, taking authoritative action when needed, and providing humor to those who need it
most.

As a leader I truly believe in building relationships and trust between everyone. I value others’
opinions as well as people who are honest.

What causes me to have these core values as a leader is the times I have faced in my life where
I have doubted myself and also times where I lost hope and didn’t have a leader in my life to
help me.

As a leader, I refuse to compromise my ability to be understanding of other people, working

with integrity, as well as working with others to solve a problem.

I have not always been comfortable with who I am as a leader. I have faced times where I had
to ask myself questions and have now been in a place where I am confident, brave, and not
afraid of other people’s opinions of me as a leader.

The most single important thing to me as a leader is being able to work in a way where people
feel appreciated, understood, and allow people to feel comfortable when approaching me
about something personal or business related.

Step B:

Throughout my life I have been faced with having to make bold decisions that not only have an
impact on my life but those around me. Although these were tough decisions to make, I knew it
is what was best for me in order to be true to myself. Being honest, living and working with
integrity, and doing my best at no matter what I do are just some of the core values I live by.
For those around me, I expect them to be respectful, be patient, and be collaborative. What this
does is create a safe work environment in which they have respect for themselves and each
other. It is important to me that my people can expect the same characteristics out of me that I
expect from them. Without that, I would lose respect and trust. This comes from a time in my
life when I was faced with a difficult leader and it inspired me to become everything that they
were not. This has given me the opportunity to realize potential in others as well as myself.
After difficult situations it has made me realize that I need to commit to upholding those
around me to a high standard and also be understanding when they feel as if they are not good
enough. I will also commit to proving a safe environment where everyone feels welcome and
feels as if they are essential to the organization.
Step C:

Personal Leadership Philosophy

My Perspective on Leadership: Being a leader is important. Whether we realize it or not each

action we do will have an impact on another person. This means that we are all leaders in our
own way.

We often ask ourselves the difficult question, “What did I do to end up where I am today?” It is
with that question that I hope everyone is able to answer in a positive way but for some reason
many relate it to a negative circumstance. We have the decision to be a leader or a follower in
our own lives. We can take action to change the situation we find ourselves in or we could just
let it be. Being a leader to me is someone that takes action and will use their actions in a
positive way to help those around them. Each person has the opportunity to answer that
question positively, but I believe that only good leaders will answer that question with dignity,
integrity, and honesty.

Core Values; The Foundation of my Leadership Philosophy:

Each day it is with these values that I uphold myself to not just follow, but to put in place
backed by my actions.

Humor – I believe that humor can solve a lot of problems as well as assist in situations where
there may be awkward tension. Humor is not just a personality trait but a tool that leaders can
use to boost morale as well as make everyone’s lives a little better.
Authority- Authority is what makes a leader stand out from the rest. Although there is a fine
line of being a person of authority and someone who takes advantage of the title and uses the
power to benefit just themselves.
Collaboration- I believe that collaboration amongst leaders and followers is very important. It is
how ideas are shared and creates a better environment for everyone. By allowing everyone to
collaborate and share their passion for one end goal; to be better, grows ideas into action.
Advancement- Advancement is something I believe strongly in. It is also important that
businesses allow advancement within the company. As a leader it is important to allow those
who work for you and hopefully admire you to work their way up in the business. This creates
passion to move forward as well as motivation within an organization.
Integrity- I believe that integrity is what holds a business together. Leading with integrity is how
you build trust as well as respect from those around you. Being a leader that does business in a
fair way is critical when faced with challenging circumstances that can often times make leaders
doubt themselves. I expect that a leader with integrity stays true to themselves as well as those
around them.

My Commitment to Others:
My commitment is to be real. Real with those around me in the sense that they truly know me
for me, and I know them for being them real selves. I will be honest when I need to, but only for
the better. I will encourage growth and open dialogue between everyone to create a safe
space. If I ever catch myself losing focus on what I aspire to be, it will be with pride and not
shame to confront those issues head on and overcome any barrier I face, just as I have done
before. I want those around me to know I am not only committed to myself, but I am
committed to their development and growth as people.