Leadership Images

Leadership 

Individual Team Photo

Leadership presents itself throughout all stages of life. We are led by those around us from a very young age and we grow to take on leadership qualities that can then inspire others. When this shift in behaviour occurs, often multiple times throughout life, we can then understand the importance of the connection we have with those who lead us and those we lead. This is the concept of giving back. Leadership has become an integral part of my career and my tertiary studies. The guidance I have found from those around me has helped me in extraordinary ways, for which I will always be grateful.

 

The image presented is one that reflects three core concepts that leadership entails for me: connection, understanding and goals. These concepts are all core values that I take with me in life, embrace and strive for often. The image depicts two team members coming together to engage in a goal setting task. They are alone and undistracted, completely engaged in the task at hand. This allows for committed communication, another important part of life I value highly.

 

Connection

The connection between the two colleagues exudes trust, friendship, and alignment. They are connecting in a way that a coaching leadership style would encourage. As defined in Harvard Business Review’s Leadership That Gets Results, there are six leadership styles that all have an effect on climate but only four of which consistently have a positive effect on results. I have personally been most drawn to the affiliative style, the democratic style, and the coaching style.

The coaching style of leadership develops people for the future through empathy and self-awareness. The employees in the photo embark on a journey of goal setting through a self-reflection that occurs in a peer-to-peer setting. This is my idea of when effect coaching leadership has been applied, where the team are then inspired to develop themselves and facilitate their peers’ growth at the same time. A highly effective tool for self-growth is journaling. This method of documenting thoughts, feelings, progress and goals, can be applied in many different areas in life. Journaling enhances motivation as it encourages deliberate practice (Kouzes et al. 2013).

 

Understanding

The concept of empathy has been very present in recent years, particularly when related to the workplace. I have always believed that understanding is the foundation of strong communication, emotions, and empathy. Without understanding, we can feel lost, close-minded and unable to connect. The photo depicts two people sitting down for the same task, while also talking through the process. Through this connection, they can both work towards gaining an understanding of themselves and each other. This type of connection can lead to a positive reaction to a co-worker’s positive experience, as opposed to any feelings of envy. In the Contingency Model of Positive Empathy, it is noted that perspective is crucial to empathy, while social comparison can lead to envy.

Goals

To me, one of the most important aspects of leadership is about goals: setting them, achieving them and reflecting on them. Goals are what set us on a path of fulfillment and success. Goal setting is often present in the democratic style of leadership, which encourages participation, collaboration and communication. The act of setting goals also sets an intention for us. It encourages us to explore our values and facilitate their presence in our lives, through our actions. When goals do not align with our values, it is easy to lack motivation to achieve them. Often, we find that having values in the first place is what drives us to want to set goals. Having strong leadership also plays a major role in the desire to set goals.

I chose the image as one that represents leadership in my eyes, because of three core principles that come together to define it: connection, understanding and goals. I have often been part of the subject of this image, where I’ve connected with a friend, colleague, manager or teacher who makes times to understand me, and facilitates my progress towards certain goals I have set out to achieve in life.

Team Leadership Image - Leadership

Leadership is built from strong foundations that are core values. Collaboration, empathy, and integrity were key focuses for our team when working together as a group. We found ways to utilise everyone’s strengths and complement our weaknesses. We supported each other's ideas well and make everyone feel included. This team approach developed from a laissez-faire leadership model where we each trusted everybody’s input to get the work done to a high standard (Robbins et al. 2018).

 

The image we chose to create as a team reflected these key values of collaboration, empathy and integrity because of how we felt we worked together. The image depicts a group of four people within a team, working together at a table with paperwork full of ideas and plans. This was how we came together to work on a group project. The only difference in our situation was a virtual setting, however we did not feel limited by our physical distance when coming together in video calls for brainstorming, collaborating and delegating.

 

Collaboration

The collaboration involved in teamwork provides strength, where the team as a whole are greater than the sum of each part. The shared connection between all contributing parties in our team made us stronger. While there was not one dedicated team leader in this instance, together we were able to apply the laissez-faire style to our team dynamic, which introduced a highly valued sense of integrity among us. We developed a solid trust from which we could easily work together.

 

Empathy

The image shows a close connection of team members all working together on a shared project, with one person standing. To me, this looks like many moments of strong leadership that I have witness at my work. The person standing reminds me of team leaders to set projects for teams while explaining them to the team in ways that make it fun and easily understood. The focused gathering of the team without any distractions demonstrates to me how much support the team has from their team leader. The leader is right there with them, an equal part of the team, and will help to guide them through the project.

 

Integrity

Integrity is crucial for a well performing team. The trust and honesty of all team members helps the group thrive as a whole. The laissez-faire leadership style comes with a solid level of trust and integrity as the group have a shared set of goals and level of morals by which to adhere (Robbins et al. 2018). The common ground shared amongst a team such as the one in the photo is usually developed with some time, experience and a common goal in mind. For our group work, we had calls to establish our team dynamic, brainstorm ideas, and delegate tasks once an idea was chosen. Our common goals were based our quality work, cohesiveness, and bring a great idea to life.

 

Leadership styles vary and only some of them are said to have positive results (Goleman 2000). The laissez-faire style, the affiliative style and democratic style are all leadership styles in which I have felt like I could thrive. There are going to be numerous different approaches to each of these as every individual leader will have their own method, however, it can always be helpful to use certain leadership styles as a guide when they have been proven to build strong teams in the past. Great leaders of the past provide anecdotal evidence of how leadership styles can eventuate; when this is paired with academic literature of the leadership theories, we have a wealth of knowledge to provide us with clear guidance on how we can approach our own leadership style with confidence. The importance of leadership is to ensure that teams, workplaces and peer groups thrive to the best of their ability with solid support. When a person feels like they are in an inclusive space with a strong leader, ample opportunity for peak performance is almost certain.