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Personal Philosophy of Leadership (2nd Edition)

This précis revisits an opening statement on a personal philosophy of leadership: that initial statement was informed by theories of leadership; formative experiences of leadership; cultural identity; trends in the development of post-bureaucratic organizations; and sundry work experiences. This revised edition offers reflections on the initial statement, drawing from scholarly readings, discussions, and other developments since the "first edition".

Related Papers

Carlos Aguila

Leadership can be considered as a universal phenomenon that has been studied from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and approaches throughout history. Researchers and academics have tried to find what makes an effective leader grouping ideas and principles in different theories of leadership. Doyle and Smith (as cited in Malik, 2013) proposed four categories of leadership theories: Trait theories, Behavioral theories, Contingency theories, and Transformational theories. The purpose of this paper is to propose a leadership philosophy framed by ethical principles and practical actions which may eventually serve as a guide for lifelong leadership development. The first part of this paper presents a brief synthesis of three theories – path-goal, transformational, and servant – to propose a theoretical framework for the construction of a personal philosophy of leadership. The second part of the paper presents the first lines of my personal philosophy of leadership based on Mertz’s (2014) proposal which is described through three components: a theoretical framework, a set of guiding principles, and a set of desired behaviors.

In a significant sense there is no philosophy of leadership. Such a statement may seem strange as the opening gambit of a chapter that is ostensibly concerned with ‘philosophy of leadership’ but the provocation is not without purpose. Indeed, the assertion may be defended on a number of counts and from a variety of perspectives. In the first place, it would be foolish to claim there to be but one, singular, philosophy of leadership. Common sense dictates that there are, at the very least, multiple philosophies of leadership populating, and coexisting in, the contemporary organizational world. In a post-modern or post-industrial age characterized by fragmentation and individualism it is perhaps unsurprising that philosophies of leadership proliferate. At the limit, it could be argued that there are as many ‘philosophies’ as there are individuals who think of themselves, or are thought of by others, as ‘leaders’ or as occupying leadership roles. We live in an epoch where there are strong Romantic and heroic imperatives to ‘be one’s own person’, to ‘make one’s mark in one’s job or career’ and thus to give expression to one’s individual ‘philosophy’. Much, of course, depends on the precise (or imprecise) semantic boundaries that one places around the terms ‘philosophy’ and ‘leadership’ and with that in mind we intend to give careful attention to possible meanings of these terms. Accordingly, a consideration of the semantic force that philosophy carries in leadership contexts will be central to our concerns in this chapter. In a related but slightly more normative vein, we shall also be asking what semantic force philosophy should carry in relationship to leadership practice.

Journal of Leadership and Management; 2391-6087

Betina Wolfgang Rennison

The theoretical field of leadership is enormous-there is a need for an overview. This article maps out a selection of the more fundamental perspectives on leadership found in the management literature. It presents six perspectives: personal, functional, institutional, situational, relational and positional perspectives. By mapping out these perspectives and thus creating a theoretical cartography, the article sheds light on the complex contours of the leadership terrain. That is essential, not least because one of the most important leadership skills today is not merely to master a particular management theory or method but to be able to step in and out of various perspectives and competently juggle the many possible interpretations through which leadership is formed and transformed.

The Social Development of Leadership and Knowledge

Robert Warwick

Sverre Spoelstra

This book is a philosophical exploration of the relationship between leadership and organization. Each chapter in the book sheds light on this relationship by exploring leadership with respect to a particular theme: charisma, authority, religion, language, authenticity, image and followership. These themes are linked to popular notions of leadership, such as transformational leadership, authentic leadership and servant leadership. Offering insight into the ways in which leadership is understood in contemporary culture, the main thesis of Leadership and Organization is that understandings of leadership today are still shaped by the figure of the charismatic leader, even though charismatic leadership itself has lost much of its appeal. The clearest expression of this paradigm is the leadership-management distinction, where the leader is someone who transcends the organization and the manager someone who resides within the organization. Drawing on a broad variety of sources in continental philosophy, the author explores the central philosophical question of how leadership can be understood in relation to organization.

Public Administration Review

Montgomery Van Wart

Fila Bertrand, Ph.D.

Leadership and the numerous concepts on leadership styles have been subjects of both study and debate for years. Every leader approaches challenges differently, and his or her personality traits and life experiences greatly influence his or her leadership style and the organizations they lead. Furthermore, leadership is a notion resulting from the interaction between a leader and followers, and not a position or title within the organization. This essay examines some of the contemporary theories of leadership, the leadership qualities and traits necessary to be successful in today's competitive environment, the impact of leadership to the organization, and the importance of moral leadership in today's world.

Positional and Dispositional LeadershipTM: Reimagine Leadership: Trilogy of The Nature, Age, Taxonomies, Morphology, Practice, Mystery & Mastery of Leadership, Part 1

Dele-Israel Ikeorha

In this groundbreaking book, "Positional and Dispositional LeadershipTM: Reimagine Leadership, the authors embark on a revolutionary journey to redefine and reinvent the concept of leadership. Through a comprehensive, original, and universal organic framework, they challenge conventional wisdom, reimagine leadership and offer a fresh perspective on the nature, age, taxonomies, morphology, practice, mastery, and mystery of leadership. Treating leadership as a universal natural phenomenon perennially misunderstood in terms of analysis, application and teaching; they lay down sound foundations for learning how to lead effectively. At the heart of their work lies the introduction of two natural taxonomies of leadership: Leadership by PositionTM and Leadership by DispositionTM. This groundbreaking concept unravels the complexities surrounding leadership and sheds light on what has been obscured and rendered obsolete over the past millennium. With resourceful clarity, admirable originality, authoritative quality, and definitive authenticity, the authors reimagine, reframe and reinvent leadership scholarship, theory, and practice. The experts delved into the profound and transformative nature of leadership, reimagining its very essence and offering a comprehensive, practical, usable, robust, adaptable and feasible framework for understanding and applying leadership principles and systems in diverse social settings. The book offers a fresh, innovative and intriguing perspective on leadership, delves into the deeper, more complex aspects of leadership of interest to those are seeking a deeper understanding of leadership theory and practice and a focused exploration of specific leadership taxonomies and their impact This book simplifies and makes leadership easy by exposing fundamental principles and considerations about leadership on which the structures of leadership are built as it affects conceptualization and practice of leadership. Their comprehensive framework systematically resolves complexities while concluding that with purposeful study coupled with disciplined practice almost anyone can become an effective leader. Dive into this profound and transformative work and discover: • A deep original insight into leadership that espouses an organic theory of leadership unmatched in any book in the last one thousand years. • A fresh approach to explaining the leadership task through the exposure of leadership functions, taxonomies, orientations and styles. • An organic and realistic theory of the practice of the universal phenomenon of leadership. "Positional and Dispositional LeadershipTM" is not merely a book; it is a catalyst for change. It empowers individuals to grasp the essence of leadership, cultivate their leadership potential, practice successful and effective leadership and contribute to a better, justier, fairer, richer, and safer world. Embrace your leadership future. Embrace "Effective Positional and Dispositional Leadership™."

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE

Vivian A . Ariguzo , Michael okoro

Diverse views have emerged on leadership definitions, theories, and classification in academic discourse. The debate and conscious efforts made to clarify leadership actively has generated socio-cultural and organizational research on its styles and behaviours. This study seeks to identify the theoretical views of various academic scholars on some of the main theories that emerged during the 20 th century include: the Thomas Carlyle's Great Man theory, Gordon Allport's Trait theory, Fred Fiedler's Contingency theory, Hersey and Blanchard Situational Theory, Max Weber's Transactional theory, MacGregor Burns' Transformational theory, Robert Houses' Path-goal theory, and Vroom and Yetton's Participative theory. Empirical discourse that revealed findings of academic scholars have enshrined the import of leadership in organizations. Various academic literature that already have been subject to validity and reliability tests were reviewed and used to arrive at the findings. The study postulated the Mystical-man theory after a rich discourse and recommended it as the ideal theory for all Christian leaders to adopt as it is assumed to provide above average performance at all times, irrespective of followership behaviour.

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• v.25(4); 2020 Jun

Perspectives: Go quickly, start now: a personal leadership philosophy

Context is everything. I write this against a backdrop where leadership, its presence, its manifestation, its absence and its consequences are in the spotlight both in my home country and across the world. For me, leadership is political, situational, contextual and personal. On a personal level I have functioned as a leader working within the complexity of global health for many years. Irrespective of the technical specialty in which I work, my focus has always been on organisational change (improvement) and influencing the behaviour of others. Change in this context is predicated to a large part on managerial leadership and support, and these elements have been described as critical for successful organisational performance and the implementation of quality improvement ( Roebuck, 2011 ; Ryan, 2004 ). Indeed, if I consider my current context, then accelerating progress towards the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the ultimate health-related goal of universal health coverage (UHC) requires leadership – a key structural attribute of a functioning health system – ‘If the top is not interested, it will not happen’ ( Koegler, 2011 ).

If I were to summarise my leadership story in a Tweet, it would be something like this: #graduatenurse #healthvisitor #infectionpreventionist #MBA #national #international #president #director #charitablework #author & #consultant. My own approach to leadership is influenced by my journey and by other factors including the academic literature, a library of leadership books and the individual leaders that have inspired me on the way. My story started with a nursing degree in the last century. That then progressed to my first ward, a novice nurse with a surprisingly bold voice, convincing those more senior to me to let me lead on the development of a nursing philosophy. Bringing colleagues on board, using a typewriter to print the co-developed philosophy (co-developed with staff and patients and their families), proudly framing and displaying it at the entrance to the ward. This is nothing special and I know that many colleagues will have executed similar things, particularly of my generation – but it’s my story and it’s the foundation for everything that happened next. I remember challenging colleagues on the rituals I saw all around ( Elliott et al., 2015 ). I quite literally digested the book by Walsh and Ford (1989) and probably recited it in my sleep. All of this I’m certain I undertook with annoying zealousness, but I think it set me on a path, a journey, and was a little bit of leadership bursting to get out. I didn’t realise it but I was challenging injustices and championing patient-centered care and the true value of nursing. And I was doing so in a position of being an outsider, at that time, and on that ward in the north of England, I was ‘the only graduate nurse in the village’. It was a stigma of sorts and I think it affected how I developed. I learned a lot.

Jump forward a few years and I’m a specialist nurse, an infection preventionist, in a big tertiary referral centre in the UK, managing a team. Another fork in the road and I decide to study for a master’s in business administration (MBA) rather than pursue further studies related more closely to the technical aspects of microbiology and infection prevention and control (IPC). This was perceived as a strange decision by some of my peers, but I was excited to learn more about how organisations functioned and the role of leaders therein. I wanted to be an effective (nurse) leader. Another decade passes and I find myself working at the World Health Organization (WHO), one of very few nurses (still the case although there are slightly more now than then) and in a relatively senior position, working alongside medical doctors. I lost count of the number of times my name plate in a meeting stated ‘Dr Storr’. I learned not to apologise for not being a doctor. On numerous occasions I was on the receiving end of a look of horror when I corrected senior medical colleagues at big international meetings to explain I was in fact a nurse. Anyhow, none of this stopped me moving forward, and over time my work has evolved to its current focus on supporting low and middle-income countries in building stronger health systems. It has also included a quest to lobby for IPC to be taken seriously beyond its echo chamber – a work in progress – trying to influence policy makers, those working in disease silos. And ultimately trying to position IPC as a fundamental component of quality care, to build a case for IPC as something that’s relevant to the SDGs, particularly goal 3.8 on UHC and quality ( Storr et al., 2016 ). All of these things have fed in to how I have developed in all aspects of my professional life and in particular as a leader. They have shaped my leadership philosophy.

My leadership philosophy is therefore underpinned by what I consider to be my purpose in the world of work. It may sound grand, but as I’ve developed I seek to be a powerful force for good in global health, to influence others to make healthcare safer, more equitable, and of a higher quality for all people with no one left behind. In particular it’s influenced by the work of Heifitz ( Heifitz 1994 ; Heifitz et al., 2009) and the notion of ‘adaptive leadership’. I became familiar with this work from personal interactions with Peter Pronovost – a ‘thought leader’ in the field of healthcare quality and safety. Intrigued to learn more I bought the books and set about reflecting on how this translated into my day-to-day reality. Heifitz and colleagues explain that adaptive leadership is concerned with mobilising people to tackle tough challenges and to thrive. My approach is also based around the central idea of a leader as a principled, authentic visionary – one who inspires others by acting as an exemplar. At its core are integrity, humility and empathy. It also draws on a number of theories including transformational leadership ( Boal et al., 1988 ; Boerner et al., 2007 ), performance-oriented or charismatic/value-based leadership ( House et al., 2004 ) and more recently authentic leadership that has attempted to overcome some of the criticisms of the former ( Michie and Gooty, 2005 ). Boal et al. (1988) describe the impact that transformational leaders have on the behaviour of others ‘lift(ing) ordinary people to extraordinary heights’. Transformational leaders act as role models, are respected and trusted, promote self-efficacy and provide meaning and challenge to the work of their followers ( Boerner et al., 2007 ). They galvanise followers around a vision of a better future ( House et al., 2004 ). It’s the vision part of this style of leadership that I like – transformational leadership per se coming in and out of fashion (and not without its critics). Lilley (2017) got it spot on when he said that leaders are ‘visible, have a vision and share it often’. So if I had to write my own vision statement it would be something like this. My vision is to inspire others through my actions and beliefs as an ethical humanitarian, in particular to empower others to believe in their capability to surpass their wildest expectations and to see their power as agents of change and improvement in a healthcare context, to improve the quality and safety of healthcare. My overriding purpose is to continue to be abundant, to engage others in realising dreams through inclusivity, togetherness and always with an eye on pursuing equity and social justice.

As well as having a personal vision, in recent years I have been stimulated by some studies of leadership, sat down and considered my own core leadership values, and these also inform my approach to leadership. My values in particular are influenced by recent literature on the cultural elements necessary for sustaining high quality compassionate healthcare ( Dixon-Woods et al., 2014 ) and the criticality of understanding one’s own values and emotions ( Michie and Gooty, 2005 ). My five core values are as follows: (a) I believe in social justice and that a single individual can shake the world gently (quote adapted from Mahatma Ghandi); (b) I believe in tolerance and respect for others in the pursuit of equity in healthcare – everyone is worthy of being cared for with compassion as a human right – no one left behind; (c) I believe in the power of collective action and teamwork, grounded in trust, in the pursuit of effective, safe high-quality healthcare; (d) I believe in ethical humanitarianism (actively engaging in the promotion of human welfare and social reform); finally, (e) I believe in humility, the power of listening and the capability continuously to reflect on one's actions ( Quinn, 2004 ), balanced with inner strength and belief, as a prerequisite for self-improvement.

I end this reflection with a more recent leadership experience that solidified all of the theory I had been carrying around within me. I have always wanted to challenge and change things in a positive way; especially the status quo. As a younger, more novice nurse perhaps looking back I was too zealous but I don’t regret a thing. Shake it up. Make people think. We should never stop doing that. More recently I was president of a 2000 member-strong charity – the Infection Prevention Society (IPS) of the UK and Ireland. I headed up its board of directors and this role for me was all about the realisation of the power and influence of leaders as agents of positive change. I realised I could work with the board and the members to help transform the organisation and I did this for a short time. In this time, I tried to support the society to become, and be perceived as, a force for good. It was a wonderful experience of putting into practice some of my leadership principles. In particular, this experience was about moving quickly, and drawing on all of those academic change management principles I’d digested over the years. The presidential role lasts 2 years (with 2 years as vice president). Time was limited and acting slowly was not an option – we had to create that sense of urgency (Dixon Woods et al., 2014; Kotter, 2007 ). We had to convince the members that change was vital for survival. First, we asked a series of questions: what was the overriding vision and mission of the society, what had it achieved in the last year and where was it heading in the next 5 years? The answer to this was simple – no formal vision and no formal plan. Under my influence the board simultaneously invested time listening to all members – what did they want? They told us, and over the coming years we listened. It was that simple, but it took a certain kind of leadership. The approach has been written up and makes interesting reading ( Storr et al., 2012 ). Here are some snippets. To win over the unconvinced a number of things took place – the survey acted as a catalyst to generate the evidence for change. It helped to craft a manifesto, a mantra, a script to sell the need for change. I convinced the board and the members that we had to ‘reinvent’ the society starting with co-developing a fresh new brand starting with a new logo. I implemented a weekly communication with all members, directly from me, that is, a personal touch. I started monthly drop-in sessions for members to connect directly with myself and the board. For me, success hinged on making the president role come to life – to be a visible, listening leader. We co-developed core values for the board to act on, as the standards that would drive all of our actions and nurture a previously absent (in my mind) sense of accountability to the members. I personally tried to lead by example. To engender in all members the unique influence they had over the million and a half people who worked in health and social care in the UK and Ireland, and therefore ultimately over the people who accessed healthcare – to make it focused on the impact we had on patient’s/people’s lives. I knew that success would be the execution of the strategy and its sustainability beyond my 2-year tenure – setting the stage for the next president and the next and so on, to give a solid long-term purpose to the board’s work.

What I learned from this experience were three things. First, that respect and reputation go a long way in convincing others of the need for change. Part of my success was that the board believed in me and they believed in me because I had a track record. Second, that the belief of the board (and ordinary members) gave me the courage to grasp the opportunity to transform the organisation – they made me feel that anything was possible. Third, that a mandate for change is critical – gathering evidence and listening to people made the difference between success and failure. To the virgin leader, what I have to teach is simple – it’s all about the planning. But paradoxically, I would also emphasise that it’s equally important not to be too rigid and ‘over plan’. Hold on to a small number of what you consider critical things you want to achieve and be prepared to listen and change direction. I did come across a number of organisational constipators who resisted change at all cost. I listened, but I let those around me drive the change forward using the momentum that had been generated through the manifesto/mantra and the member feedback.

The belief of others was ultimately what made the change possible and successful. If someone else believes you can do something, even though you may doubt yourself – that can make all the difference between stopping and carrying on. The belief of others coupled with your own inner passion for change is a perfect combination for success. And my own belief and how I sold this was critical. I built a compelling case for change and articulated that case in a calm and systematic manner – I developed a script and stuck to it. I made it clear that the benefits of the change were that as a successful society we could change people’s lives. Indeed, this emerged from the vision that was co-developed across the organisation.

Ultimately, what I’ve learned over the years is that to make an IPC programme work, in the largest, most highly specialised hospital or in a small remote rural health post, requires leadership. In particular it’s about making sure that we can influence the right people to make the right things happen. Communication is key to this. To make an impact and to change people’s lives, whatever model of leadership we aspire to, must be translated into leadership actions – ‘the messages that leaders send about their priorities are communicated more powerfully through their actions than their words’ ( Dixon-Woods et al., 2014 ). Informed by Covey (2004) and Bradberry and Greaves (2009) I reflect on my leadership approach at least each year, and even have a structured action plan to help me develop further as a leader with strong emotional intelligence. A clear, time-bound plan has helped instill a sense of urgency that guides and supports how I live out my leadership philosophy in the real world. As Berwick (2004) articulates perfectly ‘go quickly, start now – delay is waste’.

Acknowledgements

Special acknowledgements to the inspirational Dr Ann-Michele Gundlach, Assistant Professor – Adjunct, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health who deepened my understanding of the principles and practice of principled leadership.

Julie Storr originally studied for a degree in nursing at the University of Manchester before specialising in infection prevention and control (IPC). She is co-founder and director of S3 Global and currently supports a number of WHO teams (e.g. quality, water, sanitation and hygiene and antimicrobial resistance). She is on the steering group of Healthcare Information for All (HIFA), a trustee of Peoples-Uni and an honorary adviser to the Tropical Health Education Trust.

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Different Areas of Leadership and My Own Personal Leadership Philosophy

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The oxymoron of leadership, works cited.

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• Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78-90.
• Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2006). A leader's legacy. John Wiley & Sons.
• Luthans, F., & Avolio, B. J. (2003). Authentic leadership development. Positive organizational scholarship, 241-258.
• Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.
• Shamir, B., House, R. J., & Arthur, M. B. (1993). The motivational effects of charismatic leadership: A self-concept based theory. Organization science, 4(4), 577-594.
• Sosik, J. J., & Godshalk, V. M. (2000). Leadership styles, mentoring functions received, and job-related stress: A conceptual model and preliminary study. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 21(4), 365-390.
• Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations. Pearson.

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• Development of a Personal Leadership Philosophy: An Experiential and Reflective Opportunity in the Graduate Classroom

Carly R. Speranza and Angela Pierce 10.12806/V18/I3/A2

Introduction

The study of leadership became a scholarly activity in the early 20 th century, and since then multiple practices and approaches have taken hold in the workforce (Northouse, 2016).  Today, bookstores are filled with shelves of manuscripts and publications devoted to the art and science of leadership.  In the same way, leadership degrees, certificates, and development programs continue to gain traction across the United States.  Leadership is a hot commodity, and everyone seems to be asking themselves, ‘How can I be a more effective leader?’  Even more so, many struggle with how to define and articulate what type of leader they are and their overall leadership identity (Figliuolo, 2011).

The National Intelligence University, a federal, accredited university in the Washington D.C. metro-area, has successfully utilized an experiential exercise since 2013 in their leadership education curriculum that assists its graduate and executive-level students to develop and openly share a proposed personal leadership philosophy.  The authors of this article have utilized this exercise approximately 25 times, and have had great success and real-world feedback from students on its implementation inside the classroom and outside in the workforce.  Ultimately, the production and presentation of a leadership philosophy helps students to reflect on their own leadership efficacy and how they can improve as current and future leaders.

Literature Review

While leadership philosophies are utilized extensively in the business arena, aside from blogs and leadership development websites, there remains limited leadership education scholarship available on how to create, adapt, or utilize a leadership philosophy in the workplace. Yet, as leaders rise through the ranks, a personal leadership philosophy can help navigate the rough waters and assist leaders to be more proactive versus reactive in the office, as well as help to establish an identify as a leader (Derue & Ashford, 2010).  A core philosophy can also ultimately help leaders to establish relationships across an organization (Walker, 2015).

In 2011, Mike Figliuolo published a book One Piece of Paper that walks the reader through four aspects of a leadership philosophy:  Leading yourself; leading the thinking; leading your people; and leading a balanced life (Figliuolo, 2011).  In this sense, Figliuolo touches on the popular leadership education practice of authentic leadership.  Authentic leadership emerged in 2008, and is composed of four main components: self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency (Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wensing, & Peterson, 2008).  With regard to formulating a leadership philosophy, self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, and relational transparency are critical building blocks to establishing one’s leadership philosophy.

Self-Awareness.  A leadership philosophy is written from a personal perspective; as such, self-awareness is imperative for an individual to author a truthful philosophy.  Self-awareness includes understanding one’s own goals, motivations, strengths, weaknesses, emotions, and morals and values (Northouse, 2016).  This awareness is often gained through self-reflection and introspection where the individual asks himself or herself, “Who am I?” (Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May, & Walumbwa, 2005, p. 347).  Kouzes and Posner (2012) referred to this period of reflection and introspection as an inner journey.  This journey enables one to discover what they truly value and believe in, so that in a position of leadership they are able to make tough decisions, act with courage, and choose the best path forward (Kouzes & Posner, 2012).

Internalized Moral Perspective.  Often associated with self-determination theory, internalized moral perspective is a self-regulatory process used by individuals to guide them to make decisions using their internal values and morals (Northouse, 2016; Walumbwa et al., 2008).  An individual who has a strong internalized moral perspective is more likely to make decisions inline with his or her internalized perspectives, and is less likely to go against their values or morals to stay in step with a group or organizational values if they are opposed.  If these values and morals are expressed succinctly in a leadership philosophy and the individual has a strong internalized moral perspective, their subordinates should be able to predict their leadership behavior and decision making (Walumbwa et al., 2008).

Relational Transparency.  Relational transparency is defined as presenting yourself openly and truthfully to others.  As explained by Northouse (2016), relational transparency is self-regulated as individuals are capable of masking their true selves in front of others.  Kernis (2003) found that relational transparency is a critical component to authenticity as it requires one to be real, both good and bad, in front of others that they are in close relationships with.  While leaders will seldom be open books with their subordinates, they do need to be truthful and genuine, or they risk losing a subordinate’s trust. Subsequently, the creation and sharing of a leadership philosophy is equivalent to opening a chapter up for others to read and reflect upon.  This is similar, if not sometimes equal, to the well-established practice of constructing stories to establish a leadership identity (Hersted & Frimann, 2016).

Leadership Education Pedagogy.  Experiential learning in the classroom has been around for quite some time, and according to McCall (2004) learning leadership through experience is often most effective. Essentially this leadership education exercise ensures that students engage, “in the learning process through discussion, group work, and hands-on participation” (Wurdinger & Carlson, 2010, p. 2) that mimics real-world application. Subsequently, this classroom exercise provides a leadership development and reflection opportunity that is critical to maximizing leadership learning (Guthrie & Jones, 2012).  Moreover, this provides an intentional experience, followed by a reflection opportunity to enhance and further develop students’ leadership identify and self, that according to Guthrie and Jones (2012) can be difficult to find, but is paramount in leadership education.

The Leadership Philosophy Assignment

The Leadership Philosophy assignment consists of two parts: a written document and a presentation.  This assignment has been successfully incorporated in two different types of graduate leadership and management courses at the National Intelligence University – one to full-time students who meet weekly for ten weeks, and the other to part-time students who meet eight-hours a day for one full week.  In both environments, students are assigned readings to help them understand the purpose of a leadership philosophy and self-reflect on who they are as a leader.  These readings include: Kouzes and Posner’s (2012) “Leadership Begins with an Inner Journey”, Garner’s (2012) article “Developing an Effective Command Philosophy”, and Chapter One from Figliuolo’s (2011) book One Piece of Paper .

To prepare students to formulate their personal leadership philosophy, one classroom instructional session scheduled for approximately 60-75 minutes is devoted to “Developing a Leadership Philosophy” and includes discussion in key areas: the concept of a personal leadership philosophy; ways to codify it; when and how to communicate a leadership philosophy; and lessons learned (or examples).  Each student is then provided time outside of class to write or update their personal leadership philosophy in preparation to present it to a small group.  Upon receiving personalized feedback from others in their small group, students are given additional time outside of class to incorporate any changes to their written document prior to turn in.

Instruction.  To encourage student reflection, we begin the classroom session with a modified scenario from Kouzes and Posner’s (2012) “Leadership Begins with an Inner Journey”:  Imagine returning to your office and discovering that you have a new leader; What do you want to know about that person?  An instructor can anticipate a wide variety of responses: the leader’s values; what the leader cares about; expectations; leadership style or approach to leadership; what frustrates the leader (i.e., hot buttons); why the individual wants the job; background experience; and changes the leader plans to make to the organization. This classroom discussion can provide insight into themes that might resurface later in the session when discussing what a leadership philosophy is and is not.

Following the scenario discussion, it is helpful to gauge the group’s experience by asking how many students have previously written or shared their leadership philosophy.  Since each student has a different degree of leadership experience, and some have never formally led a group, an instructor can increase efficacy by reminding students that developing a leadership philosophy is important even if not in a positional leadership role.  As Maxwell (2005) notes “leadership is more disposition than position.  With the right attitude and the right skills, you can influence others from wherever you are in an organization” (p. 60).  Additionally, the process of developing a leadership philosophy can inspire students to reflect on who they are and who they want to be as a leader.

What is a Leadership Philosophy?   Once the scenario discussion is completed, one can pose the question “what is a leadership philosophy?” to invite discussion among students.  First defining “leadership”, and then “philosophy”, helps students reflect on the meaning of the concept.  While there are many definitions of leadership, in our program we often use Northouse’s (2016) definition of leadership as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (p. 6).  Philosophy can be defined as “a set of ideas about how to do something or how to live” (Merriam-Webster online, 2018); however, students might identify with other definitions.  When combined, Garner (2012) and others concur with George Ambler’s definition of leadership philosophy:  “A set of beliefs, values, and principles that strongly influences how we interpret reality and guide our understanding of influencing humans” (p. 77).  Ambler (2012) contends that a person’s philosophy of leadership influences their behavior and reactions to others and surrounding circumstances.

In the classroom we have also found it helpful to contrast this discussion with what a leadership philosophy is not.  Often times, when a leader shares a leadership philosophy, the presentation may transition to their vision for the organization.  While vision is important for a leader to share, a personal leadership philosophy is different from an organization’s vision, goals, or objectives. It is also not a summary of past positions and accomplishments.  That said, an individual might include a story of how an experience influenced them as a leader, or connect their core values to an organization’s values and their leadership approach to achieve an organizational vision.

Ways to Codify Your Philosophy of Leadership.  Writing a leadership philosophy is not an easy task for many students.  When examining their values, beliefs, and expectations, students may discover that they have so many that it is difficult to narrow down what should be included.  Additionally, while a person’s core values generally do not change, students who have previously written a leadership philosophy may find that what they choose to emphasize does change.  These modifications may be the result of promotion within an office, entering a new organization with a different organizational culture, experiencing a new season of life, or influence from first-hand experiences and lessons learned.  As Garner (2012) notes: “Determining one’s personal philosophy is a continuous mental practice, a process of constant self-evaluation and the questioning of personal assumptions, beliefs and values, all of which ultimately will result in how well we manage individuals and situations we encounter” (p. 77).

The instructor can provide students a list of questions to help students reflect and focus their leadership philosophy.  Questions can include:

• What significant events have shaped you?
• What are your beliefs about people and outlook on life?
• What core values describe and guide who you are as a leader?
• What traits, characteristics, skills, styles, motivation, goals, etc. do you bring to leadership that makes you effective?
• What is important for your team to be effective?
• What is your preferred communication style?
• How do like to receive information?
• What are your expectations for yourself and others?
• What is your role in developing others?
• How do you want to be remembered?

The written leadership philosophy document may also take on different formats (e.g., bullets, paragraph form, etc.) depending on the audience and delivery.  As instructors, we try not to define exactly how a student should format their philosophy to allow creativity and personal preference.  However, regardless of the format, it is important that students are clear in what they communicate.

When and How to Communicate Your Leadership Philosophy?   There is no one right answer related to when and how to share a leadership philosophy.  However, an instructor can focus discussion around this question to help students think about how their audience, comfort level with sharing, and environment might influence their personal approach.  For example, some individuals may prefer to share one-on-one with team members during their initial performance feedback sessions, while others may prefer to address the entire workforce.  Some students may prefer to design a one-page handout version that they can email and post outside their office; others may prefer a paragraph version that they can verbally share.

Instructors can encourage students to think about how they increase the chances of others remembering their leadership philosophy.  A scene-setter opening/closing, a personal story, or a quote can help create a memorable leadership philosophy.  However, some students may not be comfortable sharing personal information.  Word choice also plays a significant role in how others receive and relate to a leadership philosophy, especially when a student intends to share directly with subordinates.  Instructors can encourage students to personalize their message by saying “you” and connect personally to their leadership approach rather than saying “leaders should”.

Lessons Learned and Examples .  We often ask students who have shared their leadership philosophy in the workforce to offer any lessons learned; this can be an effective approach for maintaining classroom engagement in the session.  Similarly, those who have not shared their leadership philosophy before may have feedback related to what they have heard before in an audience of someone sharing their personal leadership philosophy.  Each class may gravitate to certain themes, depending on the group dynamic and experiences; however, the following lessons learned may be helpful for students to consider throughout the process of developing their leadership philosophy:

• the use of buzzwords may come across as insincere if not careful;
• acronyms may not be understood by everyone;
• there are different perspectives on including personal religious beliefs and/or what level of detail;
• the concept of work-life balance has different meanings and may need a caveat for when the job requires something different;
• conveying preferences for situational leadership could come across to some as providing “special treatment”;
• the organizational culture and climate of the audience may impact the tone of what is shared;
• it is important to consider how much personalization is right and when to be implicit or explicit;
• using words such as “I promise to” may need to be caveated since some things are out of a leader’s control; and
• word choice and order matters (e.g., what message do you want to leave the audience with).

Some faculty members also choose to share their own personal leadership philosophy with the class and may invite those who have already shared one before to offer an example to the group.  Personal leadership philosophy examples can also be found on the Internet; for example, the Academy Leadership website (https://academyleadership.com/LeadershipPhilosophy/) is a popular website containing examples of leadership philosophy.   However, instructors may need to caution students from determining what is “right” from examples, since everyone’s leadership philosophy is different.

Written Document – Guidance and Rubric.  Our course syllabus directs students to type out their personal leadership philosophy (one page preferred; no more than two pages).  The format of the written document is the student’s choice (e.g., single space, prose style, bullets, etc.).  Students are authorized to make changes to their leadership philosophy document based on others’ feedback and turn in a final version a few days later or by the following class session.  The Leadership Philosophy Paper is typically worth 15pts/15% of their overall course grade and is graded in accordance with the following guidelines:

Substance (10pts):

• Clearly articulate who you are as a leader and/or your ideas on leadership.
• Convey specifically what you value and believe in, what you expect of others and what they can expect of you, and how this impacts your actions, decisions, or behavior as a leader.

Style/Format (5pts):

• Communicate ideas effectively; consider the flow and organization of material; ensure proper sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.
• The format of the document is your choice (e.g., prose style, bullets, spacing, etc.); think about what format would be the most useful for presenting your leadership philosophy.
• No research is required for this assignment; however, if you use any quotes ensure you provide the properly cited reference.

Presentation and Facilitation.  Once written, students are assigned to small groups of four to six students to share their leadership philosophy.  Since many students have not developed or shared their leadership philosophy before, small groups offer a less intimidating environment yet allows students to learn from others.  Once in the groups, students are asked to first identify the scenario that they envision presenting their leadership philosophy (e.g., with the individuals they currently lead, following a promotion to a new office/organization, etc.).  This is important since the intended audience can sometimes impact content and delivery.  The first time this exercise was implemented, students were asked to present their leadership philosophy as if they were addressing a new office.  This scenario was adjusted to be more flexible and have maximum utility for students upon completion.  For example, individuals who were promoted within their office might have a different approach than individuals transitioning into another organization.  Additionally, the content and style of delivery might be different if sharing one-on-one, with a small team, or addressing a large organization.  Following the scenario explanation, each student has five minutes to present their leadership philosophy.  Following each presentation, small group members provide feedback and ask questions (approximately 10 minutes).  If time permits, following the completion of the exercise, a large-group discussion helps students reflect on learning points and common feedback themes from the small-group exercise.

There is flexibility in the amount of time required to implement the exercise, which is dependent on the size of each group, time allotted for implementation of the exercise, and availability of faculty facilitators to assist in the implementation of the exercise.  In the full-time program at the National Intelligence University, the exercise is usually led by the lead instructor of the course.  Students are typically divided into groups of four, and the instructor observes groups simultaneously.  This approach takes between 60-90 minutes to complete, depending on how much the instructor encourages discussion.   In the week-long class, however, students are divided into three groups of approximately six students in each group.  Each group meets in a room with a different faculty facilitator, while the lead instructor floats among the groups.  The time allotted to the presentations is 90 minutes in the small groups, and then a short discussion back in the large group to hear their reactions to the exercise.  Prior to the presentations, faculty facilitators are provided additional information on their role as a facilitator.  Faculty are asked to ensure each student presents their leadership philosophy to the group in the time frame provided, and time is allotted for a brief feedback discussion amongst the group.  If the facilitator needs to encourage students in the feedback portion, one or more of the following questions might draw out discussion:

• What is something that you think [the student] did particularly well? Or ask the student what he/she thought went well.
• Were there any parts that could use more clarity or explanation?
• Would you do anything different in the future?
• How comfortable are you with your leadership philosophy?
• What was memorable? [These are just representative of the type of discussion desired in the feedback portion].

Faculty facilitators are also invited to attend the earlier instruction session on “Developing a Leadership Philosophy” to ensure they understand the classroom culture and dynamics.

Outcomes & Conclusion

  As discussed in the application section, this leadership education assignment involves quite a bit of student self discovery and questioning.  As such, during this specific assignment, it is recommended that the instructor(s), once the initial information is presented, move away from being a lecturer and take on a facilitator role in effort to maximize student learning.  This practice encourages students to engage with each other and cultivate an environment of shared responsibility, especially during the presentation portion of the leadership philosophy (Doyle, 2011).  Additionally, because of this student engagement level, we recommend that instructors present this assignment early in the course to enhance group dynamics and extend the personal learning and discovery that takes place.  This also enables instructors to relate back to the leadership philosophy discussions throughout the remainder of the course.

As an instructor, helping students see the “why” behind writing a leadership philosophy is important to motivate them to examine and clarify their views of leadership, their personal leadership identity, how they react to circumstances, and their expectations for self and others.  As Garner (2012) states, “[t]he way we see ourselves as leaders guides our actions, our behaviors, and our thoughts. It provides the foundation of how we influence others” (p. 77).  Ruggero and Haley (2014) contend that this resulting consistency and predictability can positively impact a leader’s credibility and trust among followers.  Kouzes and Posner (2012) further clarify the purpose of writing a leadership philosophy: “The better you know who you are and what you believe in, the better you are at making sense of the often incomprehensible and conflicting demands you receive daily” (p. 120).

As students learn and reflect on other leadership concepts, instructors can encourage students to continue to refine their leadership philosophy and remind them of the value of doing so.  This assignment is directly applicable to students’ current and future professional positions as leaders and something they can apply immediately to their job.  The leadership philosophy experiential exercise equips students with knowledge and experience to share their leadership philosophy with their teams upon return to their offices or future organizations.   This assignment can also help students in their professional development (e.g., job or promotion interviews) by clarifying who they are as a leader.  This leadership education graduate-level assignment is an exceptional experiential reflection opportunity that students and faculty can enjoy in the classroom and readily apply in the workplace.

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