Davina Jones

A great leader has to be flexible and adaptable while keeping their vision in sight. The lesson mentioned being empathetic. I read that the difference between sympathy and empathy is the extent to which you experience the emotions and feelings of a person and their situation.  With sympathy, you feel the impact for someone - you feel compassion and concern, but you may not necessarily share the same feeling in the moment. With empathy, you feel the impact with that person - you share the experience with them as if you are going through it yourself. I think a leader… >>>

Comment on Danielle Trueba's post: You're right, Danielle. When I was younger, I used to hear some adults say, "Do as I say, not as I do." That is such a misconception, because kids almost never only do what they hear; they do what they see. Actions usually stick in the mind more deeply than words. This is true for adults as well. We can be influenced in positive or negative ways by those who we call our leaders. 

I appreciate a leader who is honest and can admit mistakes, being transparent with the team. It doesn't diminish the strength of their role. It makes them stronger because the team will come to respect their courage and openness which creates a safe space to share successes and failures so that the team can grow and learn together. 

I learned that I usually lead with a coaching style of leadership. This is very accurate as I tend to gravitate toward encouraging and developing those around me because I have a genuine interest to see them do well and succeed. I enjoy building close, long-lasting connections that foster trust and confidence. A few things I have to watch out for though is to make sure I resist pushing people toward learning for learning’s sake. Just because it's important to me doesn't mean others will be motivated in the same way. I also sometimes focus more on processes and systems… >>>

Leadership is like a farmer who buys a huge plot of land and envisions crops growing and cattle grazing. Management is her building the fences in the right places so the crops don't grow wild and the cows don’t wander off. :D

Leadership is ultimately about influencing a group to accomplish a goal. While this course focuses on leading within organizations, I believe the size of the group and the setting are less important than the ability to influence people toward a vision. Success also requires having trusted individuals you can rely on to help with implementation. I also believe it's possible to be a great leader in one realm, but a more effective manager in another (e.g. leading an organization, managing family finances, volunteering, etc.)

One insight that I can relate to is the myth that top performers make excellent management candidates. I agree that it is not necessarily true. I've known people who were very productive and highly successful as an individual contributor but struggled to lead a small team. They had a hard time relating to the different personalities of their team along with the varying skill sets. I've also seen people who were promoted to management because they were charismatic and had the gift of gab, but struggled to grasp the technical details of the work that their team did on a… >>>