Of the four citizen science groups for the purpose of this assignment, the Philly Unleaded Project is selected, which I think best exemplifies the key principles of the citizen science movement and is the best fit for the Louisiana citizens I have chosen for shadowing.
Personal Leadership Development Plan
Training in personal growth and leadership self-development is usually completed with a final lesson. Its purpose is to develop a further program of action. At this stage, you unite all the concrete steps that you learned about earlier. They should form your program of independent development of leadership qualities – just as individual petals create a beautiful flower. On our site, there are many materials on the psychology of success and leadership. You can easily use them as a self-study tool. Therefore, it’s time to talk about the principles and rules for drawing up such a program. Since any planning should be based on priorities, it is useful to divide your plan into three sections (Avolio & Gardner, 2005):
- Short-term goals that you can achieve immediately or in the coming weeks.
- Medium-term objectives: activities or improvements, the completion of which may take several months.
- Long-term goals: the position or state that you would like to achieve in a few years.
Natural Talent and Deliberate Development
It’s sad to see how a born leader fails, but this happens often. Here is a typical example from our psychological practice. When a large Russian company engaged in air transportation recruited retired military officer Eugene, it immediately included him in the list of the most promising employees. In his case, this was more than justified because he had served in the Russian Air Force for many years and had risen to high ranks there. Having received a leading position in the company, Evgeniy radiated self-confidence and spoke a lot about his qualities as a born leader. He despised the theory. “I know how to command and treat people,” he declared. “It’s in my blood.” However, he soon acquired the reputation of an unimportant leader and a ruthless, trotting soldier. He spent more and more time in the corridors of the company’s main office, spinning intrigues against his colleagues. Not having received the next promotion in the service, which he claimed, Eugene was angry with the whole world. His career in the company did not work out, and eventually, he resigned before the expiry of the contract.
Sergei was much younger than Eugene. He came to work for the airline at the same time as Eugene and at first envied his talents and managerial experience. Realizing that he had fewer natural inclinations as a leader, he worked hard on himself, striving to maximize his leadership qualities. He attended courses, read books about leadership, and talked with successful leaders. Gradually, leadership features began to manifest in his actions. And he himself did not fully understand this process. He was just everywhere looking for opportunities for the practical application of the acquired skills. He constantly expanded his knowledge in this field. And he did not have to wait long for the next promotion. And soon, a chance arose. The company wanted to appoint Eugene director of the company’s branch. But he refused to go under a plausible pretext – supposedly for family reasons, but in reality because he did not want to leave the organization’s headquarters in Moscow. Moreover, he knew that things were very bad there and did not want his name to be associated with failure. Sergei immediately seized the opportunity that had fallen to him. With his leadership, he turned the regional branch of the airline into one of the most profitable branches – despite the extremely unfavorable economic year of 1998 (the year of the economic crisis in Russia). A few years later, he joined the company’s board of directors. The chairman of the board of directors, in his greeting, called him “a born leader,” which caused a sad smile (Kolb, 1984).
Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
About creativity in real business, they write and say quite a lot now. However, this emphasis, as a rule, is placed precisely on the creative side of the matter. The place of creativity in the activities of the organization (company) remains, as it were, off-screen. At the same time, this aspect is not only interesting but also useful. If we put together several creative people, then we will get a lot of interesting but completely useless ideas. “Ideas, even the most remarkable ones, are useless if they are not used. … Until they are implemented in practice, they will remain in obscurity.” As you can see, this is not all. In this regard, consider such concepts of the modern organization as “creativity,” “innovation,” and “entrepreneurship” and try to link them with each other.
In the United States of America, there is Johnson & Johnson in the field of hygiene and medicine, ZM – in the field of high-tech products for the industrial and consumer markets, and Procter & Gamble – in the consumer goods market. Citibank, one of the largest banks in the world with more than a century of history, is the author of many innovations in various fields of banking and finance. Historically, Germany’s Hoechst was one of the world’s largest chemical and pharmaceutical companies and was known for innovation. In 1999, Hoechst and Rhône-Poulenc combined to form Aventis, so Hoechst should not be described as a continuing independent company.
Well-known wisdom is mistaken in that it claims that entrepreneurship and innovation are natural, creative, or spontaneous phenomena. If there are problems with them in the organization, it means something hinders them. The fact that only a minority of existing successful companies are actively engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation is seen as evidence that existing organizations are suppressing the entrepreneurial spirit.
But in fact, entrepreneurship is not natural or creative. This is work, and therefore, based on the available evidence, the correct conclusion would be the opposite of the widespread view. The fact that a significant number of existing companies – among them a very large number of medium, large, and very large organizations – have succeeded as entrepreneurs and innovators suggests that any company can engage in innovation and entrepreneurship. But it must consciously strive for this. Entrepreneurship and innovation can be learned, but this will require effort. Entrepreneurs perceive entrepreneurship as their duty, so they are accustomed to it, working on it and improving their skills.
1. Who is the leader, and why do we have leadership qualities?
Reklama
A leader (from English lead – to lead) is a man who is able to lead. Today we will consider leadership as applicable to our lives. Let’s consider the leader as a person who “leads” his life himself and does not swim with the flow, blaming the circumstances and bad deeds of others. The leader is often a very inviting concept, and everyone really wants to try himself in this role. But it is not suitable for everyone, just like the work of a sleeper or baker does not suit everyone. And this is normal. The reason leadership qualities can be useful for everyone is that they give us the strength, skills, and opportunities to get out of the influence of negative circumstances, to love our lives and make decisions in them, and to take decisive actions when necessary. So, what can we do to develop the qualities of a leader?
2. Learn Proactivity
Proactivity is a quality that means that you get out of the influence of surrounding circumstances and start making your own decisions on how to act and live. You stop complaining about your difficulties, knowing that you and only you created them yourself, and you decide to put up with them or fight.
In other words, no one else is responsible for what happens in your life except for you. You get tired of your work—you have chosen it or have allowed someone to choose it for you. Were you treated rudely in the store? Only you determine how to react to this; you do not change another person or the circumstances.
3. How to become more active?
Try at least once a day to solve an existing problem through your behavior, not blaming others. Does the husband always forget to buy bread? Knowing this, buy it yourself and ask your husband to do something else. Do you have an irritating colleague? Think about how you can rise above the situation and change your behavior to free yourself from this irritant.
You are constantly brought unfair bills for utilities, and you pay because you do not believe that you can prove anything to the utilities. Try it! We guarantee that many of your attempts will be successful, whatever you do. And even if something does not work out, the inexpressible feeling that you are controlling your life will soften the possible frustration from failure.
4. Set your goals correctly
The whole life of a leader is an activity. He is always busy with something, and his employment is subordinated to a certain goal. The goal is not only general and global in life but also narrow, depending on the issue being addressed. In other words, if he does something, he always knows why he needs it. This helps to avoid not only unnecessary actions at work and in personal life, but also unnecessary work and an incorrect partner. And it’s valuable. The right goal is closely related to the fulfillment of your promises. Let everything that you promise to do be your goal. And you will decide on your own how to achieve it, even if achieving the goal will require more effort than you expected.
References
Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.001
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall. https://www.worldcat.org/title/experiential-learning-experience-as-the-source-of-learning-and-development/oclc/9764009
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