The seemingly straightforward topic of leadership was vastly examined and dissected during this honors experience. I quickly realized that every individual has their own definition of leadership and what it means to lead based on personal exposure; this was further revealed during everyone’s campfire stories that were presented to the class describing what leadership looked like to that individual and where it may have derived from. Even within the classroom setting, different philosophies and styles of leadership were interpreted in slightly different ways by every student. As groups, we had the opportunity to explore leadership in a setting that was not studied in class. From the path-goal theory of leadership to leadership across social media platforms, it was incredibly insightful to be introduced to various leadership applications from fellow classmates. One of the main points of discussion I took away from the class was how leadership differs from management. Someone fulfilling a managerial position at a company doesn’t inherently make what a “good leader” and vice versa; I discuss this in more detail in my leadership philosophy paper attached below. As the manager of concessions at a local ballpark, I saw that I had much room for improvement and could directly apply the course material to my job performance.

Showcase

The attachment below is my paper on my personal leadership philosophy. Posed as a form of reflection, our task in writing this paper was to consider how our outlook and beliefs pertaining to leadership changed after completing the course; this was done by drawing upon my leadership philosophy at the start of the semester, integrating class activities, incorporating leadership theories I studied, and utilizing character-based assessment results. Although my leadership ideology wasn't radically altered by the content of the course, I discovered that the depth of my awareness and understanding of my philosophy on leadership grew tremendously.