Where the Leaders Stand 1

Jonah Pruitt
Personal Leadership Philosophy
11/24/2014
Where the Leaders Stand
The greatest leaders in our world, the ones we do and do not know, shape, create,
and change society and never let societys status quo define them.

Leaders refuse to

accept mediocrity and push boundaries for themselves, others, and the morality and
wellbeing of society as a whole on a regular basis. By taking this class in leadership, I
have come to the realization that everything that goes into leadership comes from that
principle. Every decision we make affects others, and true leaders are very sensitive to
this idea. Leaders stand on a fine point between self, followers, and society. They turn
and focus on different areas at different times, but a balance and understanding of each is
always present. When leaders stand on this point, they are poised to be great; and that is
where I want to stand.
Taking this idea of balancing others, self, and society to a more personal level
allows for analysis of my leadership in the real world. My goal to stand on that balance
point requires several practices and understandings of others and myself. Using various
leadership theories, mainly Authentic Leadership and Relational Leadership theories, I
have developed a working method for my leadership style. Combining my personality,
strengths, natural gifts, morals, and learned knowledge has led me to develop a personal
methodology to leading that relates to my bigger philosophy of standing on the balancing
point. Though there are innumerable components and nuances to leading well, I
personally focus on five areas: others empowerment, maintaining a sense of humor,

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authentic positive attitude, learning from every step in that process, and reflecting on the
long term or societal influence of my leadership. These goals are not presented in any
order, because they are all interrelated and overlap. Just like all theories and philosophies
with leadership, there is no right answer and every situation is different, but my
philosophy and method stays the relatively the same in most instances. For the future, I
really wish to develop my listening skills, emotional intelligence, and practical morality
so that I can become an even more potent leader.
The first area is others empowerment, because a leader without followers is
simply a person. I first came into contact with the actual idea of empowerment when we
studied the Relational Leadership model. According to the model described by Komives,
Lucas, and McMahon (2013), the empowerment of others as: (1) a sense of self that
claims ownership, claims a place in the process, and expects to be involved, and (2) a set
of environmental conditions (in the group or organization) that promote the full
involvement of participants by reducing barriers that block the development of individual
talent and involvement (p. 116.) My definition of empowerment is less technical: give
everyone the chance to be passionate and excited about the project. Not everyone will be
as passionate about a project as I may be, but it is important to allow others the
opportunity to become passionate and part of the project. In practice, I try my best to
notice the little things people bring to the group as well as their major contributions.
Things such as starting a google.doc for the group without being asked or suggesting a
possible change in wording will almost always get a thank you or compliment from me.
When people feel noticed, they tend to do more for the group, because they feel
empowered. The more the followers do, the more invested they become, even if the

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project is tedious. I encourage my group members to contribute to the project in their
own way with their own talents and skills. Soon they manage to do most of the work
autonomously, and I take on a more managerial role. My use of empowerment is best
seen when I worked as backstage manager during high school.
My leadership was greatly shaped by my time as stage manager at Chesterton
High School. I had to work with directors, actors, my crew, and the administration in
order to put on the best show we could. My specific task was to orchestrate all sets,
props, and backstage movements before and during the show. I managed to talk one of
my friends, Jacob Lambrecht, into becoming more involved backstage for one
performance. Using the idea of empowerment, I encouraged Jake and the other
crewmembers to actively make choices about the stage design and structures. They
applied their woodshop knowledge and common sense, and I would help correct mistakes
they made while also celebrating the successes. Soon, I could see passion for good craft
and quality appear in even the most apathetic members. This was a direct result of my
never mothering them or controlling every choice, which was more freedom than they got
in the classroom. I was active in the choices, but I usually let them have the final word
on the work they did. Today, I know that almost all of the crew that I taught and guided
still works backstage or even acts in the production partly due to how I was able to
empower them as builders and contributors.
Long before my time on stage, I was developing a skill that helps me to this day.
This skill is humor, and it is a skill that can greatly help leaders identify with others and
effectively establish trust. I find humor to be an essential part of leadership and
Komives, et all, agree that humor is a great way to diffuse tension and create harmony (p.

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321.) I do not pretend to be a great humorist or even remotely funny, but I endeavor to
laugh whenever I deem it appropriate. Many times, people reveal that my intelligence is
intimidating and causes people to avoid participating. I use self-depreciating humor and
sometimes-goofy puns to make me seem less like an intimidatingly smart robot-man and
more like the passionate, approachable leader I hope to be. A project done without
humor tends to be dull and lifeless as a final product because there is no vibrancy or
spontaneity. Dean Robert Probst of DAAP even stated that a sense of humor is an
essential component in life as well as leadership (personal communication, Oct. 22,
2014.) People love to laugh, and that connection is vital in leading.
I find humor to be essential while being in college, especially DAAP. Though I
would not call myself the leader of my studio class, I have been called the
personality of my section. This title originates from my use of humor in easing
tensions between our teacher, ideas, and each other. One late night, most of us were in
studio working on a project called the section cube. Everyone was having trouble and I
was deeply frustrated with how little progress I was making. Brooding and silent, we sat
thinking and rethinking their projects. Instead of dwelling on my slow progress, I leaned
back in my chair and said loudly: I got accepted into DAAP and all I got was this
[expletive] cube! Immediately the class erupted into grateful laughter, allowing
everyone to relax. Even though I was not required to say anything, I tried to make the
night a bit better for my friends, and that was worth me seeming a bit silly. Humor is a
natural tool I use to ease hurt feelings and frustrations, and I hope this works to make me
a better leader.

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The first to components of my leadership style deal with others and their
development, the next two implicate my personal growth. Learning by leading others is
very important to me as a person and young leader. When we took the Strengthsfinder
test, Learning was one of my highest strengths. Using this new knowledge, I applied it to
how I lead. My goal is to understand how to lead better and gain general knowledge of
various subjects simply to learn more. In short, I love to learn new things, about others,
leading, and random facts or secrets along the way.
A recent example of my drive to learn is my experience with UCs boxing club.
When I arrived at college, I knew I wanted to learn everything I could. With my limited
free time, I decided to join the boxing club on a whim. I have a non-violent personality,
so when I tell people about boxing, they tend to be a bit confused. I joined boxing not
only to be physically active, but also to learn about a sport that has always fascinated me.
Boxing gave me an outlet as well as an opportunity to become a leader in a completely
different setting then I am used to. Pushing my boundaries to learn more is part of my
personality I hope to expand and use in my leadership to better my emotional and general
intelligence. So when I learn things about people or processes, I hope to be able to apply
them later to more effectively lead a group and grow my knowledgebase.
The next component of my internal component is having what Avolio and
Gardner call Positive Psychological Capital (p. 322.) Of all the parts of my style, I
struggle with this part the most. Positive Psychological Capital is identified [as] the
positive psychological capacities of confidence, optimism, hope and resiliency (Avolio,
Gardner p. 322.) This plays into the Authentic Leadership model, in which Positive
Psychological Capital is a pivotal component. Authentic leaders have a deep

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understanding of self, and as such, have a great deal of Positive Psychological Capital
(Avolio, Gardner p 320.) This positivity is apparent to all followers and gives the leader
the ability to be flexible, confident, and resilient. People are naturally drawn to people
with Positive Psychological Capital, and I hope to have a great deal of this capital.
Reflecting on this, I realize that I do struggle with maintaining a positive attitude.
When I am upset, I have trouble compartmentalizing the issue and it detracts from my
duties as a leader. My flagging positive attitude can have negative effects on my team,
which further lowers my confidence. My lack of positivity disrupted my team when I
was a cheerleader. For many years, I struggled with attaining tumbling skills. This
frustrated me, which lowered my confidence, optimism, and hope in myself and team.
The team and coaches easily read this frustration and low opinion of cheer and myself.
Over an extended time, this negativity wore away at our relationship. I allowed my
perceived inadequacy to infiltrate my perception of my team, and looking back, I wish I
had maintained a more positive attitude. Today, I commit to increasing my Positive
Psychological Capital in order to avoid another instance where my leading is brought
down by low self-esteem and a negative attitude.
Finally, a leader must think about the long term, social consequences of his
leading. Though this may seem simple, oftentimes the morality we act on in the moment
can have repercussions that last long into the future. In order to be effective, leaders must
establish a series of morals that are unflagging and comprehensive. The need for this
commitment comes from the fact that all followers, peers, and superiors of leaders will be
affected by the moral decisions the leaders make, possibly for years to come. The most
effective leaders take a stance on an issue only after long contemplation of the

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consequences of their actions. Moving forward in my leadership journey, I hope to grow
my ability to think on a moral level in the long term.
For several years, I was a coach for the boys gymnastics team at my gym. This
position gave me a unique chance to possible shape these boys lives. The team was
comprised of boys from the ages of five to ten, and teaching them was a great joy in my
life. During my time as their coach, I sometimes wondered how my teaching would
affect their lives even after they left the gym. I am sure there are no major changes in
their personalities, but I hope I was able to instill a sense of what a good leader does and
how to work on a team. Also, I wanted to be a general role model for the boys, because
leading by example is very important for children of that age. I would include small
sayings such as dont tell yourself you cant and working hard is easy with friends
that I can only hope are still with them. I was proud of their progress physically, and in
retrospect, I am proud of our personal growth as a team.
As leaders, we stand on a point between ourselves, others, and society in general.
This point moves upward as we become better at leading, allowing us to see more of the
horizon. The best leaders stand on the point of a mountaintop, where they can see and
understand all three parts of leading. I am only a freshman in college, and I have a lot to
learn. My journey has only just begun. I hope that someday I can stand on the
mountaintop with the other leaders and see that horizon.

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Refrences
Avolio, B., & Gardner, W. (2005, January 1). Authentic leadership development: Getting
to the root of positive forms of leadership. Retrieved November 21, 2014, from
http://www.keyleadership.com/Downloads/Authentic Leadership Development
.pdf
Komives, S., & Lucas, N. (1998). Exploring leadership: For college students who want
to make a difference (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.