Leadership

Chapter 1 of the Obolensky text begins with a reflective exercise. Create a reflection blog that responds to the questions asked in this exercise.

leaders and how do you think we can close this gap?Additionally, while we live in a world with more information about leadership and leadership practices why is it that we have an apparent gap in the quality of our leaders and how do you think we can close this gap?

            So the word is out and leadership has taken on new meaning over time, we can see the change when we think about how our parents were brought up, how they raised us, and how the younger kids will view the world that we live in. Why is it that every generation seems so different from the last? Sometimes it feels like we are running away from the ideas which many of our parents tried to makes us believe in. 

I fully believe that there is a large and constant changing trend, if we go back just to the end of World War II, we can see how every generation was almost the complete opposite from the prior generation. After WW II we had many parents who came back from the war and raised their families in a very strict manor, these kids eventually took part in the hippie/Woodstock generation of the 70’s. The next generation went in the opposite direction and took to the family oriented, well educated, business minded individual which we saw well into the 80’s, 90’s, and until recently. I think that this newer generation will eventually get back to the hippie/ Woodstock, rebellious mentality of peace and love in which money is not as important. I see a growing trend with this new generation and I also believe that religion will take a back seat for a while, times are changing fast and leadership always goes hand in hand with these trends.

Since I am technically a part of one of the younger generations, I guess that I am supposed to fall into this hippie mentality, but I have found it difficult. I notice that there are certain leaders which are making their voices heard through social media. I see a growing hate for law enforcement, and I sadly see more people stepping on our American flag along with other rebellious activities. I could never follow this trend, in fact it hurts me to see this type of leadership. It seems that these leaders would like to tear apart something which has given them better lives than the majority of the world gets to experience.

As a child I grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods, I lived in the south Bronx of NYC. Most children that come from these neighborhoods pretty much stay in the same situation when they grow up, there is very little upward mobility. Luckily I was able to join the military as I got older and it opened my eyes to how amazing this country is and everything it has to offer me. Joining the military helped me learn to appreciate authority and respect my leaders, it gave me an appreciation for the hard work of people that put their lives on the line. True leadership lies in those that put their lives on the line everyday so that people like me can continue to live prosperously. When individuals step on the flag of the United States and try to hurt officers of the law, they are insulting the hard work of those people that put their life at risk.

Leadership is very powerful, it can make people do amazing and also harmful things; I guess it all depends on which side you are with. There is no more powerful tool than an effective leader that can rally the hearts and minds of individuals, a leader like this can harness great power. Leadership is powerful and requires someone that knows how to use that power for good, we have seen what can happen when powerful leaders with bad intentions assume a position like that. The gap between good and bad leaders continues to expand with time because perhaps we are not as prepared as we should be. Leadership education is essential, we need to learn about how to be a leader and having strong ethics. "“Leadership in any form cannot produce results without a context within which to exist” (Oblinsky, 2014), this is essential when we look at leadership; powerful leaders exist by playing to their constituency. Good leaders push the agenda of their masses, this can create powerful results.

 If we are to bring the gap closer to eliminate bad leaders, I believe that we need to focus on leadership education. Most people learn leadership skills from their elders, instead of learning leadership in this manor, we need to treat it as a science. Many Universities across the world have taken on this task and we can now learn about how to lead the correct way. This is a much needed science to learn in a world which is changing so rapidly. Every day we are advancing at alarming rates, along with that advancement comes responsibility; I fully believe that the race of mankind will rest in the hands of our future leader.

Reference:

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Farnham, Surrey: Gower.