1

Running Header: Final Paper

Final Paper

LDRS 670: Leadership and Personal Development

Heather Gennette

03 May 2020
2
Final Paper

Introduction

In LDRS 801, I learned a lot about the various types of leadership theories and

characteristics, so my original thought was that this course would be a great follow-up in my

journey of self-discovery. I figured that it would be able to help me further realize what kind of

leader I am or want to be, but it was much more than that. This class made me dig a lot deeper

into who I want to be, not only as a leader but as a person. I learned so much about myself

through the books I read. I want to find a job or a purpose in life like those individuals in Life

Entrepreneurs. I want to soak up every precious minute with my family and friends and make

time to reflect on all of my blessings like Randy Pausch in The Last Lecture. I also want to be

able to handle every work and personal situation with grace and tact like those talked about in

Dale Carnegie’s book. I have so many take-aways from this class that go far beyond being a

good leader, but I'm sure if I put them to use correctly, it will help me in that aspect too.

Reflection

Life Entrepreneurs opened my eyes to a world where money isn’t everything; happiness

is. I was familiar with the traditional definition of an entrepreneur as "a person who organizes

and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do

so” (Mirriam-Webster, 2020). Gergen and Vanourek introduced me to the next level of

entrepreneurs. The authors defined a life entrepreneur as "one who creates a life of significance

through opportunity recognition, innovation, and action" (Gergen et., al, 2008 p. 4). People who

have taken the time to figure out what they want in life and seized it through unbelievable

journeys. After writing my paper, you said that you wanted to see more of my reaction to the

book. So, here it is.

3
Final Paper

I would love to be a life entrepreneur, but I feel as though I haven't found my calling yet.

I know I love my job, and I think I'm pretty good at it, but is it what I want to do for the rest of

my life? I don't know. One of my favorite things that I have done while working at Cloud

County Community College is event planning. I do have a dream of moving out to the country

outside of Concordia with a little land. On that land, I want to build a beautiful event space for

weddings and reunions. This is a need in our small town because there is nowhere to get married

outside a church, and the only place to hold a reception is the Fairgrounds or the American

Legion (where people can still smoke). I would like to manage this place and offer services the

other spaces can't. On the one hand, I think it would be so fun, but on the other hand, it would

probably require me to work every weekend for the rest of my life. There is still a lot to figure

out in my dream, but I hope one day I have the guts and the money to go after it!

The Last Lecture had me thinking about what kind of legacy I want to leave behind for

my children to remember. How do I want them to remember me? I would love for them to

remember as the mom who was always smiling and fun, one who never yelled and kept her cool,

but that isn't realistic. I get stressed and emotional over little things, especially during

pandemics. Finding out that I am pregnant with our third child didn't help matters either. So, I'm

extra hormonal, stressed, and emotional, and I hope that my kids don't remember this time.

Otherwise, I do feel like I am a fun and cool mom, who usually doesn't sweat the small stuff. I

know I will get back to that person.

A few of my favorite lessons from The Last Lecture were not to be afraid of the

challenges or "brick walls" in your life (Pausch, 2008). Perseverance is everything when it

comes to "brick walls." It may take a while to climb, but you can face your challenges head-on

with creativity and a willingness to adapt. This lesson is very relevant right now with the current
4
Final Paper

health crisis. I have had to adapt to juggling working remotely, keeping my children entertained,

and schoolwork. I have struggled more with working from home and spending time with my

kids. I have recently decided that I will leave my more complex projects for when I get back to

the office and instead work on simple, easy-to-do tasks that still allow me to feel productive.

Now, I can play outside and enjoy my extra time with my children.

I also enjoyed the story about pouring soda in his nice car to teach his niece and nephew a

lesson about how things are not important; people are (Pausch, 2008). I have tried hard to

practice this while being home with my kids. I can't say I have been the perfect student at this

particular principle, but I want to be. I have been known to have a temper when things get

spilled, or messes are made because that was how I grew up. I had a very anal mother who

wanted everything clean and spotless. So, I have made an effort to let these things go and do my

best to live by Randy's advice. Again, I'm not going to sweat the small stuff and focus on what is

important; my family.

Randy's ability to motivate and lead others to realize their dreams was incredible. He

knew what he wanted in life and was able to help others do the same. He had a lot of

characteristics of a charismatic leader. Charismatic leaders can “bring about changes in

followers’ values, goals, needs and aspirations” (Shamir, House, & Arthur, 1993 p. 579). This

perfectly sums up what Randy was able to do for his students, colleagues, friends, and anyone

who reads his book or watches his lecture.

Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People was my favorite assignment

of this whole course. Probably because it was very informal but allowed me to reflect on

everything I read without worrying about how I was going to fit it into an APA formatted paper.

I am excited to start implementing some of the principles I learned in the book, particularly the
5
Final Paper

advice to make people feel special and talk about their interests (Carnegie, 1981). I think this

will make a significant impact as I go out to meet and solicit donors. I need to start doing more

research on the donors before our visit. I hope by doing this, I could be considered a "good

conversationalist," and the donors would want to continue to build a relationship with me and my

organization.

I also liked all of Part 3 on how best to deal with difficult situations and people

(Carnegie, 1981). You don't always have to agree with other's points of view, but it is essential

to be respectful, sympathetic, and listen to their side of things without injecting your opinion. By

doing this, you should be able to “soften the most cantankerous old cuss alive" (Carnegie, 1981,

p. 167).

This book shared several of the traits you would see in dyadic leadership theories like

transformational and LMX. Transformational leaders “engage with others in such a way that the

leader and follower raise one another to a higher level of motivation and morality” (Lowe,

Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996). Transformational leaders can inspire people to their way of

thinking and pay close attention to other's differences, which is what this whole book is about.

Graen & Uhl-Bien (1995) suggest that LMX leaders thrive on mutual trust, respect, and

obligation toward each other to develop partnerships with others. I think a good recipe in

making friends is building trust and respect. Being a good leader, parent, and friend would be

hard without them.

Conclusion

I learned so much more about myself during this course than I could have ever imagined.

I sparked a fire in me that I haven’t had in quite a while. I know now that I don't have to float
6
Final Paper

through this life doing things that make me unhappy. Life is short, and I can do so much more

with it.

References

entrepreneur. 2020. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved May 3, 2020, from

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entrepreneur

Carnegie, Dale (1981). How to Win Friends and Influence People. New York: Simon

and Schuster.

Gergen, Christopher & Vanourek Gregg (2008). Life Entrepreneurs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Graen, G.B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development

of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-

level multi-domain, perspective. Leadership Quarterly, 6, 219-247.

Pausch, Randy (2008). The Last Lecture. New York: Hyperion.

Lowe, K.B., Kroeck, K.G., Sivasubramaniam, N. (1996).  Effectiveness correlates of

transformational and transactional leadership:  A meta-analytic review of the MLQ

literature.  Leadership Quarterly, 7, 385-425.

Shamir, B., House, R. J., & Arthur, M. B. (1993). The motivational effects of charismatic

leadership: A self-concept based theory. Organization Science, 4(4), 577. Retrieved from

https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.fhsu.edu/docview/213828944?accountid=27424