One does not have to be an executive to be a leader
within a group of people. In Executive Leadership, my concept of what a leader
should be, in retrospect, seemed two-dimensional when compared to what this
course was driving at. With the help of author John C. Maxwell, through his
book Developing the Leader Within You;
I was able to better pinpoint certain tactics, even if I was already practicing
some of them as a leader, I was not aware of it. Personally, I think I got more
out of this book and the other course text, Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power, than what the course
director probably intended; for I read them both cover to cover. While in this
class, I was still owner of my own franchise bakery, and it was at this moment
that I began to test the skills that I was learning in this program and
applying them to real world scenarios at work. It is also here, that I realized
that business is not conducted on a two-dimensional plane, but rather that it should
be viewed as the summation of a number of angles and perspectives that come
from all around. Different situations require different leadership skills and
attributes. At my business, whenever a situation arose that required my
leadership skills I purposefully tried a different tactic, taken from the
course, just to see how those teaching would translate into the real world. I
was surprised by what I achieved as a business owner that month; and to this
day I continue to pay attention and self-assess my performance as a leader in
society.
