Journal Summary

Cochran, 1

Katie Cochran
Fall 2015
LEAD 7000
Dr. Wendy Griswold
Journal Summary Paper

Journal Summary

Cochran, 2

Having the ability to lead a group of people is considered an inborn trait in some, and a
learned ability to others. While society may not agree on where leadership comes from on
personal levels, one thing that many can agree is on that leadership, and especially strong levels
of leadership, can change lives, can change the course of a mission, and it can lead to changing
the world. Leadership is the ability and lead a group, small or large, through the unknown or
known. Strong leadership, though, is the ability to lead a group, small or large, through the
unknown, known, tragic or perfect times, through a thunderstorm or through a sunny, calm day.
Strong leadership is the strength of a leader being portrayed through their followers, and those
followers gaining the leadership knowledge and skills to take that into the world with them. As a
leader on my small undergraduate campus, I often found myself thinking Im a leader here, but
could I tackle a bigger campus?. After all, its easy to be a big fish in a small pond, but its not
always easy to become a big fish in the ocean. As I have participated in the journal articles for
the course LEAD 7000, Ive found myself digging deeper than ever before in an effort to
understand where my leadership values and experiences come from, but also where they will
lead me in future endeavors.
My personal mission statement for myself intertwines with my leadership mission
statement, and I feel that our leadership mission statements should always reflect our personal
lives, as our leadership style and theme comes largely from our personal lives. My personal and
leadership mission statement is: To serve, enjoy the moments that come to me in my leadership
journey, strive for personal improvement while improving those around me through
encouragement, and to allow my passion to fully reach all those around me.
In breaking down my mission statement, one would find that it includes a string of
thoughts, and not just one main thought. I chose a mission statement like that because I felt that it

Journal Summary

Cochran, 3

summed up my leadership experience thus far in my life, and that is that leadership and
leadership styles and theories dont always fit together in one square box, nor can it always be
summed up in one simple, precise sentence. To break down my mission statement, it would look
like this: To serve those that I lead in order to properly display the most important and rewarding
type of leadership (servant leadership; because the world needs more servers and less takers); to
enjoy every moment as a leader knowing that its an honor when youre given the opportunity to
lead; to strive to improve myself as a leader just as much as I strive to improve those around me,
and most importantly: allow my passion as a leader to become contagious and to spread to all
around me that they, too, can lead.
The first portion of my mission statement to serve sums up my leadership in the most
accurate ways. Northouse (2013) lists off the ten characteristics of a servant leader, some of the
few that I feel as a leader I uphold is listening, empathy, awareness, stewardship, commitment
to the growth of people, and building community (221). As a leader, prior to this course and
throughout the duration of this course, I have always put the needs and wants of those that follow
my lead ahead of my own in order to best serve them. Being a servant leader allows us to spread
the message to our followers in a manner that isnt overwhelming, overbearing, or only in our
personal interest. In fact, a servant leader must consider the needs of their group alongside their
own, and sometimes make the humble decision to allow their followers to guide the group
alongside their leader in order to effectively lead them. In my leadership experience, I have often
times performed as a servant leader, and I am confident that throughout the rest of my time as a
leader, I will always hold characteristics of being a servant leader.
As a leader, one thing that ive learned the most about myself is that I am a teamworking-leader. In Northouse (2013), Hills Model for Team Leadership states that it is based

Journal Summary

Cochran, 4

on the functional leadership claim that the leaders job is to monitor the team and then take
whatever action is necessary to ensure team effectiveness(289). As I wrote my journal responses
and reviewed them, I found that I will go above and beyond for a team im leading, and that this
helps my abilities to confront issues as well as create an atmosphere of comfort and trust, not just
for the team im working with, but also for myself.
In my time with my journal partners, Brittney J. and Brittany D., I was offered a fresh
perspective from two athletes. In dealing with them, I noticed that a lot of their leadership
experience and history stemmed from being athletes and instances when they impacted their
team or their team or coach impacted them. The reason that this was so beneficial to me as I read
their perspectives was that it allowed me to see into a world that ive never been a part of, but
always admired. I enjoyed the aspect of their time in leadership as athletes, and I found it to be a
key role in their lives, which is the most important key for any leader; to find that key portion of
their life that instilled in them their drive to become a leader and their eagerness to lead.
As I depart the course and continue my journey of being a leader and growing my
leadership abilities, I feel that one department I could grow in as a leader is the ability to follow
more than lead when necessary. I have struggled through leading out of selfish pride when I
didnt want to give up a leadership position, only to look back at the experience and know that
the organization I was leading would have been better served had I handed the leadership over to
someone else. It takes a strong leader to step aside when necessary, and it takes humility to take
that step. I think that the greatest leaders in history were humble and lived a life of humility, and
I think that for myself as a leader, I could best serve those around me with a little more humility.
Overall, I found the journals to be highly beneficial over the course, and they impacted
my knowledge of myself as a learner, but also of other peoples leadership styles. I will take to

Journal Summary

Cochran, 5

heart all of the information and leadership abilities that we shared together, and I am confident
that my leadership abilities have gotten stronger and much better due to this assignment, and im
honored to depart the assignment feeling more ready than ever to take on leadership assignments
that I feel are in my realm, and I will utilize the knowledge from the course and this particular
assignment in my future leadership endeavors.

Reference
Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, United
States: SAGE.