The purpose of this assignment is to gain insight on the values that guide your life and how these values are enacted in your development as a leader. Your values will help you to create your philosophy of leadership. To begin, you will read “My Values and Philosophy” on pages 89-93 of the attached file. Then complete the Philosophical Orientation Questionnaire that begins on page 94. The result of the questionnaire will determine your basic operating philosophy (human, pragmatic, or intellectual). Once you have determined your operating philosophy, you will reflect on principles that guide your life by considering 3 questions:
• What is my life is about?
• What are the top values that I believe in and that I will never compromise?
• What action(s) am I taking to live by these values in my personal and professional life?
MY BASIC OPERATING PHILOSOPHY IS HUMAN VALUE.
Understanding your principles of life will then help you to establish a leadership philosophy that guides your interactions with others in a managerial, supervisory, administrative as well as peer-to-peer role. A philosophy of leadership answers the question: How do I see myself as a leader? Your basic philosophy is a critical examination of self and includes the following:
• Your responsibility to other people you work with
• Your attitude and approach to tasks
• Your priorities
• Your expectations of others
• What people can expect of you
Once an individual develops a set of thoughts about their leadership potential, their leadership philosophy serves as a guide for general actions and decisions in life. It is important to understand that as one develops and grows as a leader, their philosophy is subject to change which enables them to better understand their leadership ability in varied contexts. A leadership philosophy is also a moral compass for practicing ethical conduct in a leadership role. Importantly, it is a compass for human relations and service to others as a leader.
This philosophical process has strong roots in the “cognitive” approach to managing behavior which suggests that “values” drive “attitudes,” “attitudes” drive “behavior,” behavior determines actions. The outcome is how the philosophical process determines your leadership behavior.
This is a very personal type of essay but I want you to act as if you were me for this assignment. To give you an idea of who I am as a person, I have a very servanthood mentality. I try to provide for others before myself and I believe in hard work and being disciplined. I want high expectations of others because I hold myself to a high expectation.
You must include my operating orientation at the beginning of this essay which I have stated is Human Operating.
A Human Operating Philosophy appears to be based in philosophies of humanism
and communitarianism. With a dominant Human Operating Philosophy, a person will
tend to determine the worthiness of an activity in terms of its affect on specifi c other
people and its impact on the quality of the relationship he or she has with specific others.
