Leadership Reflection Based on Class Presentations and Stephen Covey's Book

Leadership Reflection
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Leadership Reflection
Leadership refers to the ability of an individual to influence others towards a given goal (Carmeli, Meitar & Weisberg, 2006). It involves directing and influencing others to accomplish a particular objective while at the same time being responsible for the whole group. For individuals to be effective leaders, they should start by developing self-awareness. In 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey outlines a framework for personal effectiveness. The book offers important insights into self-awareness which is essential in becoming an effective leader. This essay is a reflection of the challenges I have encountered in taking my role as a leader. It highlights the challenges based on the principles outlined by Covey and class presentations.
In the first habit, Covey (2004) indicates the need to be active. He believes that what distinguishes us as humans from all the other species in the inherent ability to examine our character and control our effectiveness. I have to admit that I have not been proactive. Instead, I have been reactive in my approach to issues. I have always thought that things happen to me and that there is little I can do about it. I have increasingly felt out of control and failed to take charge of my life. For example, coming from a humble background made me think that I was not suitable to become a leader. I felt that others were more suitable for taking positions of leadership because they were privileged. I felt that I could not change my circumstances which led me to shun away from being proactive. However, reading Covey’s book has made me recognize the need to become proactive. Covey indicates that change must start from within by deciding to improve my life.
Group five’s presentation, “Leader Success and Failure” outlines optimism and confidence as some of the requirements for self-awareness. The group refers to Winston Churchill who was a Prime Minister if the United Kingdom. Winston believed in staying positive even in the worst of situations (Troitiño & Chochia, 2015). Regarding confidence, the group refers to Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc. who displays confidence in his activities. Considering both Winston Churchill and Elon Musk, I have realized that I have lacked both optimism and confidence to lead. The lack of optimism has prevented me from envisioning a better future and inspiring others. I find it challenging to inspire even my classmates to work towards achieving a particular goal. For instance, I shy off from being a group leader for the fear that I may not inspire the members to achieve the objectives of the group. As a result, I allow other classmates I consider to have the optimism and confidence to lead.
Additionally, the group outlines the ability to deal with the setback as essential for self-awareness. The group refers to Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company who had to deal with failure to become successful. Ford was dyslexic, a severe learning disability (Buxton & Provenzo, 2010). However, Ford used the challenge to his advantage. Although today Henry Ford is a household name, he was initially known as a failed engi...