Diamonds & Disagreements in Authentic Leadership Chapters 1-3

Personal Development for Leadership
Reflection # 1
Chapters 1-3 (pages 1-83)
1 Diamond: What concept, passage, information, or insight from the text, Authentic Leadership is interesting or meaningful to you? (Please either directly quote the passage or paraphrase it and include the page number). First summarize the idea, then analyze and evaluate it, and then connect it to yourself (your personal or professional experience), another text, historical or current event.
I found my diamond in the text when I came across the concept of a playful frame of mind on page 58. According to the text, to increase outsight and evolve towards adaptively authentic leadership, having a playful state of mind is essential. The author asks the reader to think of leadership as trying on possible selves as opposed to working one oneself, which can be difficult. Adopting a playful attitude helps one open multiple possibilities. In order to do this, the text suggests learning from diverse role models, working on getting better, and avoiding sticking to one’s specific story.
In this case, the text warns about being too rigid, which can hamper a leader’s ability to learn new ways of getting things done. Having a playful mind means experimenting and not sticking to particular ways of addressing issues. I believe this takes away the seriousness that may come with leadership situations and consequently propels one to be more creative in dealing with leadership challenges.
I found this concept interesting primarily because I have before learned about playfulness from a video on Youtube by Sadhguru, an Indian yoga guru. I find the idea of having a playful frame of mind as described by the text to relate significantly with Sadhguru’s perception of playfulness. According to the video, being playful is being responsible and responsive to life (Sadhguru, 2017). From the video, when we are playful we can pay attention to everything around us. Therefore, with the emphasis of the book, my understanding of the importance of playfulness in opening possibilities has been boosted.
2 Diamond: What concept, passage, information, or insight from the text, Now Discover your Strengths is interesting or meaningful to you? (Please either directly quote the passage or paraphrase it and include the page number). First summarize the idea, then analyze and evaluate it, and then connect it to yourself (your personal or professional experience), another text, historical or current event.
I agree with the idea that “for an activity to be a strength you must be able to do it consistently.” One cannot claim activity to be their strength if they cannot do it consistently. According to the text, one must also derive some form of intrinsic satisfaction from the activity. In this sense, therefore, a one-off success at something does not imply that the activity is their strength. This is why in soccer we have individuals within the team that specialize in taking penalties or free kicks.
I agree with this idea because it relates to my life. One of my biggest strengths lies in writing. I believe my strengths in wri...