Exemplary Leadership Essay

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I enjoyed reading The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership article and found it worthwhile. “Leadership is not about personality; it’s about practice.” This statement is highlights that not all leaders are born with an innate ability to lead. The five practices of exemplary leaders are: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. I will explain each practice individually and provide a personal prospective on how I have seen them applied. Model the way – “you have to open your heart and let people know what you really think and believe.” I found this quote very convincing. From my experience, leaders that believe in the project or task and voice their values allows them to create a more open line of communication and set a positive tone for the group. This practice is very important in any leadership role because “people follow the person first, then the plan. “ Inspire a shared vision – having the desire to make something happen and create change. In order to do this the leader must understand their followers and “speak their language.” Effectively communicating the overall vision and expressing what you stand for are the key components to this practice. I have worked on projects where the overall goal was not 100% clear. When the goal is not clear people have a propensity to lose focus and move on to other things. Challenge the process – for me, this practice was most the interesting. “Leaders are pioneers, people who are will to step out into the unknown.” I agree with Warren Bennis “leaders learn by leading, and they learn best by leading in the face obstacles.” The experience of leading a group through a project or task provides the leader with a list of do’s and don’ts for the future. I recently completed my first Six Sigma project and I learned many things from it, things that I will take

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