Master of Science in Leadership

It was 11:52 PM on a Thursday night. I am alone in a small room with a cot, a computer, and a phone waiting for it to ring. The building is unmarked and uninhabited except for myself taking on my first ever solo overnight shift at a short-term crisis counseling hotline. The phone rings and I let it for a few rounds. Finally, I take a deep breath to compose myself and answer. “National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, this is Aaron,” I say in the most compassionate and neutral voice I can muster in my panicked state. Image from: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/media-resources/ I’ve heard the platitudes that our experiences shape who we are, but Bill George makes an interesting point that our experiences alone do not shape us. How we process our experiences and receive feedback about them is what can develop us into an authentic leader (Key Step Media, 2012). As a counselor for the suicide prevention hotline, I had plenty of experiences that still sit with me to this day. If it wer...

When I worked at the United Way of the Coastal Empire I was handed a book by the director of resource development who was my direct supervisor. The book The Leadership Challenge (2012) by J.M. Kouzes and B. Z. Posner collected dust in my office until earlier this year. At the time, I was not quite aware of leadership theory. Since then I have come to understand The Leadership Challenge as transformational leadership theory and I’ve learned that many of the leaders in my past did their best to embody this leadership style. Transformational leadership, according to Northouse (2016), “is concerned with improving the performance of followers and developing followers to their fullest potential,” (p.167). This goal looks beyond the confines of transactional leadership, this for that exchanges, and encourages citizenship behaviors that put the well-being of the group, or organization, above the needs of the self (Bass, 1999).  My career has largely been in the nonprofit sector wish is, in...

Leader-Member Exchange Theory resonates with me as the most holistic and realistic theory of leadership that I have studied thus far. This theory views leadership not as something that a leader does to their followers, but instead as something that exists between the leader and their followers. Leadership exists in the space between the leader and follower and in the relationships that form between the two (Northouse, 2016). The most effective leaders that I’ve had the honor of serving under have valued relationships above all else, using leader-member exchange as a cornerstone of their leadership philosophy. When I have a high quality relationship with my leader, I feel valued and am more likely to dedicate myself to the organization. Relationships matter greatly to me. Despite this, LMX is not without its flaws. When the focus on leadership is on relationships nepotism and implicit biases come into play and can cause great discord in organizations. Studies have shown that members who...

Radical Self-Accountability  A close confidant and friend of mine Jade Jamie (personal communication, 2 October 2020) is a health and wellness coach. We recently discussed a concept she calls radical self-accountability. To Jade, everything is her own responsibility, even events that many would see as out of their control. If Jade cannot control the outcome of an event, she instead takes responsibility for the reaction she has to that event. Before radical self-accountability Jade found frustration and anxiety in life. She felt that others had control over her life and were responsible for her suffering. With this new outlook of self-accountability in life, Jade now sees that suffering, success, and everything in between is of her own doing. Reflecting on this I see that this is something that also guides my own actions and outlook on life. I feel responsible for what I do and how I react to the events of my life. I can’t change the world, but I can change how I react to it.  ...

In life, we take on a multitude of roles. At this moment in life in particular I have many. I am an Academic Advisor for students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, I am a trainer for volunteers who want to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate, I am a husband to my partner, and confidant to my friends. Reflecting on the different roles that I play, I notice that they can all be viewed through the lens of directive and supportive behaviors as described in Leadership: Theory and Practice (Northouse, 2016). Here, I reflect on the leadership behaviors that I use in the first two. In some circumstances, behaviors that lean towards a directive one-way communication meant to provide “structure, control, and supervis[ion],” are necessary; in other circumstances, behaviors that are supportive or two-way meant to “praise, listen, and facilitate” could be more or less important (Blanchard, 2008).  Academic Advisor: High Supportive, Low Directive In the role of Academic Advisor, I ...

As a trainer in trade and at heart, I view assessment as an ideal way to gauge growth and track progress. It can be tricky to assess one’s own progress, so reaching out externally to a self-assessment to a third party perception is helpful. Northouse (2018) provides a useful leadership traits assessment instrument that uses this concept exactly. I completed a self-assessment of my leadership skills and reached out to members of my family, friends, and colleagues to ask them to rate me on my leadership traits. The results can be found in Table 1.1.    Leadership Traits Questionaire Results From Leadership Trait Questionnaire (Northouse, 2018, p. 90) The results from this self-directed survey reflect that the incongruence between my self-rating and the average of the 5 who rated me on my leadership traits was on average 2.07% lower. I am impressed by this result as it indicates that my-self perceptions are largely congruent with how others who know me personally perceive me. One...

I was recently asked to develop my own definition of leadership. Inspired by the integrative definition of leadership developed by Winston and Patterson (2006) and leadership as defined and described by Northouse (2018) I came up with the following: A leader causes a follower to change in a way that helps the follower achieve something that they desire. The role of leader and follower can be assigned, or emergent. That is to say that a leadership-follower relationship can arise out of formal positioning, like that of a manager and subordinate. Leadership can also arise organically, or emerge, within any group or relationship that forms in any setting (Northhouse, 2018). An environment that allows the leader-follower relationship to work both ways can be mutually beneficial to those involved. I believe that my supervisor and I lead one another to ensure the success of our campus. While she has the formal role of supervisor (an assigned leader) I emerge as a leader in our group when she ...